r/scuba

I have run into a situation where my brother/dive buddy and myself disagree and I want some opinions.

Some background I have advanced open water and he has open water, the dive shop where he got his open water strictly taught using the tables, and didn't really mention computers at all, while my courses have mostly taught how to follow your computer, while briefly covering the tables.

We both currently have dive computers, I have an aqualung i550, and he has an i330R.

The last dive we attempted, he had forgotten to charge his computer and we had to cancel the dive (not a big deal, it was local).

This caused him to be very annoyed at the dive computer and he says this would not have happened if he had an analog depth gauge. For this specific dive he would have been correct as it was a 30ft floor. However this is not the only dive that he has said this, and he constantly says how he doesn't trust or like his computer and would rather use tables.

I am curious what the general sentiment around tables vs computers is. I personally am all for computers with the table only as a backup/reference tool.

getting my open water certification next week with my partner, then we plan to do some local dives before getting our advanced open water next. Just curious on everyone’s take on the SoCal SCUBA community in general. We plan to join the dive community team at our local shop too but just curious + would love any input 🤿

Curious how people handle this in practice, not just in theory. We all know the rule of thirds and when to call a dive based on gas, but I've been thinking more about the nongas reasons to thumb a dive early and how hard those decisions actually are in the moment.

Last week I was on a boat dive, conditions looked fine on the surface, but once we dropped down the current picked up more than expected and viz dropped off fast. Nothing catastrophic, but something felt off. I called it for myself and signaled my buddy up. Felt slightly embarrassed on the boat even though I knew it was the right call.

What I'm realizing is that the technical side of turn decisions gets taught pretty well, but the judgment side, the gut feeling piece, doesn't get as much airtime. Group dynamics make it worse. If everyone else seems fine, it's easy to override that internal signal.

How do you personally decide to thumb a dive when nothing is technically wrong but something just doesn't feel right? Does it get easier with more experience, or does the social pressure from a group never fully go away? Interested in how people at different experience levels handle it, newer divers and experienced ones alike.

Hi all, ill be going for RA from August 30 to Sept 5 and I am trying to decide to take the 3 day open water course before going to RA, or there in RA itself.

I am a total beginner never had a single dive, and im not sure if this plan will take too much time/fun from my trip, even though it sounds like diving past 10m or so in RA seems the best thing to do, but at the same time, for the very first dive being the course itself, if that can be too troublesome as maybe just fun dives and snorkel will be good enough for such a short time and for a very first experience.

I will also be spending around 3 days in tulamben, and was thinking of doing the 3 day oepn water course in tulamben instead and then going to RA ready for anything.

Was anyone ever in this situation and could give some idea if dive in RA with some certificates is a must or if that would make any difference really just for people with more experience that has done some diving and want new experiences?

Thanks!

I recently got a Sherwood Blizzard. I am new to Scuba so if what I am about to say is stupid, please be kind.

I went on a short dive to test my new gear, and I had a ton of air left in my tank after. Around ~2300psi.

I figured I still had water in my second stage, so I held the purge button down on both my primary and backup to let air out. I did this for a while. Took it from maybe 2300psi to 1400psi.

After I did that, the hoses were cold (expected since we have high pressure going to low pressure) and my primary second stage sounds like its leaking a tiny bit of air now. Did I break my second stage? I really hope I didn't. I literally just got it. I have never heard that you can't hold the purge button so I thought that would be okay.

Ok so I always want to be better at diving and I think my trim needs work. I have over 150 dives under my belt mostly in tropical water, no wetsuit, tusa fins, 3 mil booties. My legs are always negative buoyant a little bit. I’ve tried carrying a 1 lb weight in hand and holding it in the Superman position, moving my weights up my tank, moving my bc all the way up where my head is just poking out of it like a turtle sucked into its shell, bending my knees where they touch the bottom of the tank… but no matter what without small consistent “flips” my legs will sink. I go out a ton with very very experienced guides (talking 10k plus dives) and none of them have suggestions, no one is able to point me in the right direction, and everyone says I’m just fantastic and they don’t notice it… but I do. All my safety stops end in the vertical position because I just can’t stay horizontal. I would like to keep my same fins because they break down and allow me to travel carry on. Thinking of trying maybe 5mil booties. Any other tips, suggestions, or criticism?

Hi there! 3 of us all AOW with 30+ dives. Looking to go to La Paz, MX around Nov-Jan for the best chance of Sea lions + whale sharks.

I'm looking for recommendations of dive shops + accommodations.

Necessary to rent a car?

Thanks in advance!

Long-term planning for a cruise next December, and looking for dive recommendations. Currently we're scheduled to visit Willemstad, Curacao, Oranjestad, Aruba, and Cabo Rojo, Dominican Republic. Anybody have any recommendations?

Any suggestions on good diving resorts in Thailand?
Ban’s in Ko Tao looks like a good fit for a vacation, but hoping I’ll find all recommendations here. I’ve never traveled to Thailand before so open to ideas.

I was kayaking yesterday on the Manistee River and unfortunately lost my phone to the river. I thought I had everything backed up, but not everything was saved to the cloud. Does anyone know a diver in the area that I can hire who can recover it so I can recover what I lost? It was dropped in a portion of the river that is about 2 meters deep. I know it's a long shot, but there's no harm in trying.

I have a set of first stage Apeks DST (swivel turret) with DIN port.

Depending on the valve I'm screwing it into (take doubles 300 bar valve as an example), I often find that

1. I have to screw it in -a lot- to get it to sit correctly without leaking when pressurized, causing pain in my delicate fingers, and/or
2. No matter how tightly I screw, it will not be enough, and it will leak around the handwheel connector/screw when pressurized

I noticed that the threads of the port seem to be machined differently to, e.g., Halcyon/Scubapro/Xdeep, where the latter threads taper off; Apeks threads seem to have the threads more 'square' in the finish. Could this be the cause?

Or am I missing something much more obvious? This is the same on a newly serviced set of regs, so O ring is correctly seated, DIN connector is screwed to correct torque, etc

Hey guys, ive been working on my trim but I justt cant get my legs up with neutral or slightly negative fins on, what are some recommendations for positive fins? Ideally a bit more on the budget side

Im a new diver and haven't gotten to try a lot of styles of fin so far, just hoping for something that can make getting in trim easier