r/scuba

Looking for a tech friendly dive operator in the Caribbean. Not tied down to any area.

Ideally a situation where they offer room/board and tech diving. Looking to do “shallow” tech dive then one or two recreational dives a day.

Suggestions appreciated.

I have been told both that massages after diving are bad (getting nitrogen more into tissues) and good (getting nitrogen out of tissues). Anyone know the real answer?

I know questions about fins are common, but I’m having a lot of indecisiveness about the ‘perfect’ new fin for me, and want some advice. Apologies for the long post. 

Ideally, I want a lightweight travel fin that works for diving and snorkeling (frog kicks and flutter surface kicking). I split my living time between the US and SE Asia. I dive often when in Asia, but snorkel daily, so more actual time snorkeling than scuba. Some of the sites have strong currents.

Tusa Liberator X-ten fins have been my main go-to for over 35 years (here come the downvotes haha). I’ve tried lots of recreational fins and hated most of them. I love my old school jet fins and bought some OMS Slipstream jet fins, but still think they’re too heavy. 

I’m curious if Deep6 Eddy’s (size L) or Tecline Lightjet fins would be appropriate for my use? Are they terrible at flutter kicking? The reviews I’ve read have conflicting opinions. I’ve also read good things about Go Sport fins or other ‘travel’ fins, but concerned how they are in currents. I’d rather have a stiffer fin that does what I want when I need it. 

Appreciate any advice and anecdotal experience that would help me decide.

TLDR Main considerations:
-Performance for my use (flutter kicking, some frog kicking, etc)
-Weight (lightest possible)
-Wear with 3mm full booties (size 10)
-Length (trying to stay under 22”-ish)

Hey! I'm starting my divemaster course soon and I'm looking into buying my equipment.
I'm especially looking for recommendations for my regulator setup.

I'm gonna be diving in warm water mostly, and will most likely want to do the instructor after the divemaster. I'll also be travelling a lot, so I can't really look into the servicing aspect right now, as I'm not sure where I'll be staying.
I currently can only afford to spend up to 500€ on the complete setup with regulator, octopus, finimeter and inflator hose.

Are there any brands you can recommend?
Are there any that you would discourage me from getting?

One shop is selling the following (all complete setups)
Mares Dual 2S - 385€
Mares Dual 15X - 428€
Cressi XS Compact AC 2 - 389€

Without finimeter and inflator hose:
Scubapro MK2 EVO R105 - 417€
Scubapro MK11 EVO DIN S207 with R105 Octopus - 493€

Is any of these considered "bad" or "unreliable"? Also, is it easy to attach finimeter and inflator hose myself?

Thank you very much in advance!🫶🏻

I'm exploring the stay and dive packages offered by Dressel Divers. Was wondering if anyone has any experience going on these vacations - they seem to be a partnership with Iberostar. Primarily interested in either Cozumel or Montego Bay. Any experiences or opinions

Planning to buy my first fins and am considering the Avanti Quattro Power fins (closed foot style version of the Avanti Quattro +). These are slightly longer than the Avanti Quattro + but I have been recommended these by the instructor I am planning my next scuba dive trip with. Mares official website says that they are suitable for diving, free diving and spear fishing. Just wanted to know other people's opinion on these since I see a lot of talk on the Avanti Quattro + but not much about the Avanti Quattro Power. I mainly do fun dives and usually in tropical waters.

Context about me: AOWD with \~80 dives, decided it's time to get my own BCD. No plans for sidemount or tech diving anytime soon.

I did my Wreck Spec and would be interested in more wreck penetration dives in the future.

Mostly going to dive around South East Asia, warm tropical water diving with single back-mounted ALU 80 tanks.

Tried a BPW for the first time last month on my most recent dive trip. Couldn't really say that it helped my trim a lot, it was a bit hard to tell for certain. But overall it seems like most BPW designs are modular, would last longer and be repairable in the long term.

So far the main advice about gear that I've seen are:

1. Ensure that local dive shop can service/repair

2. Ensure that parts are available easily (standard modular system)

I was initially very interested in XDeep Ghost & Zen due to the supposed ergonomic designs and saw a couple of people using them, they had good things to say. After doing some more research I realized that they use a proprietary system for the Ghost and some proprietary parts for the Zen, so I started considering other brands.

I went down to a dive shop the other day and narrowed it down to the following, based on what they have and recommended:

1. Tecline Peanut 16 (Alu plate)

2. Tecline Donut 13 (Alu plate)

3. Dan Sun Titanium Mono 32 (Titanium plate)

No specific reason why Tecline over other brands. I live in Singapore so the other BPW brands easily available are Dive1 and Audaxpro. Checked these other brands out at another dive shop and wasn't overly impressed with them. Considered Halcyon for a brief moment but don't really see the need to pay 1.5-2x more for one of those.

After doing some reading, I decided that Alu backplate would be a good fit for me.

However the titanium backplate from Dan Sun seems very cool. Am I just falling for marketing?

:)

The company (Dan Sun) seems relatively new and niche but the BPW system would be modular, so I could always replace any of the components if things go really bad?

Open to other options if anyone has any suggestions.

Budget is 1300-1500 SGD (not super strict).

I need advice for what to choose. I really enjoy diving and already got a divemasters. I am currently taking a bachelors in Environmental Engineering.

I do prefer working with my hands and want a job where a large part of the job is that.

I am autistic and can’t sleep in the same room as someone who is snoring, even a bit, but I assume that others in the field have a similar problem and use things like noise cancelling headphones and other stuff.

I do take prescription medicine but it doesn’t affect my diving and is very possible to stop taking them if necessary since they aren’t critical or necessary for me to function.

So if anyone can give me pros, cons, pointers, or any other advice on what to do that would be greatly appreciated

I got PADI OW cert and wanted to do Advanced. But it seems that PADI splits this into Advanced and Deep Diver while NAUI combines this into one.

In my area it's harder to schedule NAUI lesson than PADI (which is why I did OW through PADI) so I wanted to see if it's worth trying to schedule with NAUI for Advanced.

Hi everyone. I am visiting LA in a week, and I am thinking of diving in the waters of Catalina Island. I am looking at Eco Dive, and just called them.

I'm OW certified with partner (she is too). I was told that there is no dive package that typically includes a guide in SoCal. For EcoDive, I basically I have to book the boat ticket for the guide + pay per dive.

Is that truly a common thing in SoCal?

Apologies if this sounds ignorant as I typically dive overseas.

Revisited a DPV dive in Lake Champlain that we haven't done since 2021 at the height of COVID-19.

Honestly, it's probably the most boring wreck in Lake Champlain but it's a fun scooter run. The Horse Ferry may not look like much but it's a pretty unique wreck. A ferry propelled by actual horses.

We scootered out to the Horse Ferry and then to the end of the water intake pipe from downtown Burlington waterfront. Visibility was very good in the shallows but a bit murky at depth on the wreck itself. Lots of fish at water intake pipe.

The really nice part is that because we were so shallow the water temperature was 60 degrees (~15c) for the entire dive with a max depth of 45ft (~14m). I am sure that temperature will start dropping rapidly soon but it felt pretty "tropical" today.

Total distance scootering is approximately 3.5miles (~5.7km) roundtrip with about a 2 hour runtime.

Hi! I’m currently doing my Open Water certification at home (academics + confined-water/pool portion) and want to travel somewhere to complete my four open-water referral/check-out dives.
I’ll be traveling solo and won’t have a dive buddy, so I’m especially interested in hearing from other solo travelers who did their certification this way.

I originally planned on Cozumel, but getting there from where I live is turning out to be too hectic.. I’m considering Hawaii or Southeast Asia, but I’m very open to other destinations, especially somewhere with warm water, good conditions for a new diver, and a dive community that’s welcoming to solo travelers.

If you’ve done this, where did you go and which dive shop/operator did you use?

Thanks! I’d love specific dive-shop recommendations rather than just destinations.

So I’m in central VA and work many weekends. I have a cruise the first week of March and have done my elearning and will do my pool sessions before October ends. I’ve called a place that’s willing to do my checkout dives at Lake Phoenix, which would be early November. How cold will this be, or should I try and do my checkout dives on the cruise?