Big Drop Off, near the German Channel on the south side of Palau. Really epic wall from 0-40m with lots of soft corals and fans. Diving with the Palau Siren Liveaboard.

Hello SCUBA friends! My spouse and I are hoping to do a little diving on an upcoming trip to SoCal. We will be staying with friends near Ventura, and they’ve offered to watch our kid while we dive for a day 😊

We both have our Advanced Open Water Certification, but I’ve got quite a few more dives and experience under my belt in general. I’ve never done kelp or cold water though.

Seeing that dive guides aren’t a standard part of the dives in SoCal was a surprise to me! The additional cost is pretty high, so my question is - how much will having the guide elevate our experience? Is it a safety consideration at all?

I’m going to call them, but does anyone know off hand if we only pay the guide fee once, or if we each have to pay the guide fee?

Thanks for your thoughts!
(Photo from the Oregon coast, no dive photos handy on my phone :)

Hi all, any advice from UK residents who go on liveaboards or trips with more than 5 dives on insurance?

Have Barclays travel but only covers of 5 dives in any one trip.

Hi, I Just lost a silver chain in st peters pool on the main big jump, the item has a lot of sentimental value as my late grandmother gave it to me before she passed. Willing to offer €300 to anyone who finds it, ive been told its around 6 metres deep. Anyone know anyone or any contacts that would be open to retrieving it, would be much appreciated

Am considering a weeklong trip on liveaboard Blue Dream Phinisi in Indonesia in late 2027.

Has anybody been on this boat? What were your experiences? (Can't find much on line.)

Ive been using a gopro for the past couple years and want to move on to better closeup photos and video. Without spending a ton on camera/housing/lights, I figured it would be worth it to try the smartphone case. I was recently on a trip where someone took rather good looking photos with a divevolk case.

My question was about lighting. I have a spare galaxy 25 but wanted to know what those of you that use phones think of pictures that are maybe a foot to a foot and a half away from subject. Do you use lighting, and if not, are you happy with your results? Im not using these pics and videos for anything other than myself and friends/family.

I’ve been doing the digital nomad thing so generally traveling on a budget but my big splurge on this trip was a scuba dive, I’ve been looking forward to this for MONTHS.

I always have this lovely nervous butterflies because I love diving but don’t get to go very often so I’m always so so excited, but the one issue I’ve never had is trouble equalizing. This was my first night dive too.

I don’t know why but on the first tank, I was having trouble with my right ear equalizing, and I eventually was fine, and I was able to do my first dive, but idk, my right ear just wouldn’t depressurize when we came back up.

And between dives I was trying all the tricks, but I couldn’t get my ear to pop & it still hasn’t.

The divemaster / captain told me I could just try to go down with them for the second dive, & if I wasn’t good, they could send me back up. I felt I didn’t want to risk it, and I’m glad I didn’t because my ear started feeling really bad when I was on the rocking boat.

But I’m sad because I spent a ton of money on the 2-tank night dive, & I didn’t get to do this experience I was really looking forward to. And my ear is hurting (just slightly) it’s just blocked.

I don’t know what happened. I never have trouble with my ears, I always equalize early and often, but my right ear was not cooperating.

I’m just really sad. I know I made the right choice & I take it as a mark of my personal growth / maturity now that I didn’t complete the second dive, because a younger me would have ignored the way I physically felt in order to not miss out on the experience, and probably dealt with whatever the consequences were lol.

But I’m just beyond sad :(

I'm currently on a vacation on Cyprus and today I was diving the Zenobia wreck for the first time. Although I really liked the dive and the astonishing views, the pictures I took turned out to be mostly very bad quality. The last couple days on shallower dives I got much better pictures with the same setup so I think it might be due to the depth.

Just to be clear: I don't expect top quality pictures with my very basic equipment but I would really appreciate if someone could give me an advice on how to improve the quality since I'm gonna be diving again tomorrow and the day after too. Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I’m a newbie diver and I love it, but unfortunately I don’t live very close to places I can dive. Also the weather where I am has cold winters, so if I want to keep practicing in the winter (in the lake that’s closest to me) I have to do the dry suit course.

The problem is that the dive shop I go to (or any of the other shops) doesn’t have dry suits to rent, so if I decide that I want to do the course I might invest in buying one for myself.

Having said that, I don’t understand how they work haha. I had a look online and I saw that mainly there are two kinds (correct me if I’m wrong), one in neoprene and the other not. Could somebody explain the difference to me? What kind do you prefer? And what do the valves I see on them do? Thank you sooo much, safe diving!

Hello! My mates and I are going on a vacation diving trip soon with a larger group. When in our gear, we struggle to tell each other apart, but we have done well sticking together, so that has not been concern. In a larger group, however, it would be nice to easier tell each other apart.

I was considering making snug-fitting paracord 'friendship' anklets in different, bright colours that would go around our boots and above our fins. No loose strands, no hooks, just a plastic buckle. One for each person. Snug but not too tight. Buckle would make it easy to remove just in case. Are there any safety concerns anyone can see with this that I may not be considering? Thank you in advance!

I have a big problem of finding a really heavy duty bag/bulletproof bag to carry all my dive gear when I go out diving. Usually my problems with past dive bags have been:

• Size, where all my equipment barely fits. Although my long fins fit, even with my BCD fully deflated and wetsuit squished down as much as possible, it's still a struggle to fit everything without squashing my regulators.

• Zippers that don't come undone or seize up due to salt buildup (I do try to rinse out my dive bag as much as possible to stop this happening)

• and ideally has wheels so I can pull it along without carrying such a heavy load with my arms or back. I once had Beuchat bag with wheels, but I guess it couldn't handle the weight of all my gear over a while and the wheels eventually shredded apart.

I won't be taking it traveling on airplanes, so size is no limit.

Any recommendations please? Thanks!

I’m about to get my open water certification this weekend and my dive shop mentioned I need to buy my own fins. I’ve narrowed it down to mares avanti quattro plus and the tusa hyflex switch but I wanted to make sure I’m not missing any other good options out there. The quattro+ felt oddly bulky and awkward on land but the hyflex felt super comfortable. I think the switch blade might be a little smaller but would that make it unsuitable in open water against currents?

All suggestions are welcome!

So I'm a beginner photographer and everyone and their mum is telling me to use the rule of thirds to make my photos look more interesting, but I think it ruins them. When I use it it always looks obviously cropped and just strange.

Like I get it when you have a moving subject and you want it to be lightly off center so it looks like it's entering a scene, but for my photos I just think they look worse when I crop them off centre.

But I mean I have looked into the cropping "rules" or like those ratio things and I just can't seem to apply them to my photos without making them look strange.

Just to give you an idea, I added some photos to this post.

Can anyone please educate me on this?

Hey there. I’m a midwestern PADI DM and I’m used to the biggest predator in the water being humans and catfish. I’ve dove near sharks in the wild and up close in an aquarium, but I’m planning on going for something more intense. I’m going on a vacation in a few weeks where I will be going on bull shark dive with a locally owned shop. This will be a reef dive, not a cage dive. Obviously, I want to take as many precautions around these animals as possible. I know one of those precautions are to wear dark, non-contrasting colors. My BCD is the Aqualung ProHD. There are some pink highlights on some clips, zippers, and straps. Simialry, I have the TUSA X-Pert Z3 zoom fins that have some silver detailing.

This is a question for experienced bull shark divers: do you recommend that I find a way to cover the pink/silver? Or is it so little color that it wouldn’t matter, considering bull sharks’ poor eyesight?

I’ve been doing research leading up to this, but any recommendations for modifying my behavior and/or purchasing tools are welcome. I wanna keep myself, the group, and the animals safe. Thanks in advance!

I started my elearning for the enriched air nitrox with padi and I have gotten stuck on this part. For some of the numbers and stats that have been used in this and open water I figured not to get too hung up because as I dove more and learned more I would probably learn to understand it more clearly, but there are others that I felt like were important to get in the moment to grasp the concept. And that’s why this is bothering me because I’m confused about the 18 meters and 50 feet. Because why is the difference for no decompression limits larger there where there is only a 9 foot difference, compared to 72 and 59, and even 80 and 59 has similar no d limit differences when they have a 21 foot difference. Is there something special that happens at 50 feet, or am I overthinking this? Is the effect not linear like exponential, or do these numbers also assume required safety stops? What am I missing here? Is it something really obvious? I feel like I am dragging this in the wrong direction and I’m looking for someone to point me in the right one.

Browsing FB marketplace came across this dry suit. Now I know the recommendation is always going to be go get a fitted one seaskin is cheap. But it is also a little out of my price range right now. Talked to the seller he says it was never worn but did say the neck seal looks like it may be dry rotted and is unsure about leaks and that it probably needs new seals.

With all that information if you were going to buy a used suit how much would you be willing to pay?

Sadly do not have a repair shop near me so will more than likely have to send it out or learn how to do it myself to get seals replaced.

I've done some research but none of them clearly compares them. I'm muscled guy so my mobility is not great but decent, I had to unbuckle an average jacket BCD inorder to get in easily, if I don't loosen the straps.

I see the zen standard version has the normal harness while the deluxe version has the padding and a buckle design. But some reviews stated that the standard version is easier to get in and get out. Because of the way the harness routes in the backplate? I'm confused.

Hi!

I'm deciding between diving Esmeralda Canyons/Tackle Box or Turneffe North Atoll in Belize. For anyone who's dived both, which would you recommend?

Both tours would be with Scuba Sensation, so I'd also love to hear about anyone's experience with them.

I'm Open Water certified but have only completed 4 dives over the past 3 years. I'll also be diving solo, and I get a little nervous when it comes to setting up my equipment. If anyone has experience with Scuba Sensation, I'd especially appreciate hearing how helpful and accommodating their crew is with less experienced divers.

I am also open to other dive sites / companies.

Thanks!

As the title says does anyone have any experience wit the SSI Decompression Diver specialty? I'm looking to expand my diving tool kit and I've been playing around with doing this cert next year. I'm hoping to learn the basics of decompression diving and hopefully add a bit more security to my normal fun dives by learning how to deal with a deco gas and some limited decompression if need be.

Beyond just wanting to learn about deco diving, I've been doing more and more diving in Turkey and Greece as of late. I typically think of myself as a very safe diver but my dive guides and buddies went into deco on 4 of my last 5 dives in the region. They were all CMAS club divers and as far as I understand the training standards are a bit more advanced then the PADI stuff I've done so far. Of course, I'd love to go full tech one day but my family situation won't allow it for now. I'm hoping to learn how to plan some light decompression and maybe dive with a small 7l deco tank when I'm back visiting my wife's family for extra safty.

So for people with expierence of it, is the SSI decompression diver specialty the right one for me?

In case, it's relevant, I've done AOWD, Nitrox, Deep, Dry Suit with PADI and do a lot of vacation diving and cold water stuff here in Germany.

I have been a PADI diver for 21 years and have done all my training through PADI. I have thousands of dives loged in every environment imaginable.

I have ADHD and have to get a doctor to sign off on my medical each year, which has not been a problem for years. They write that I am limited to 40m, which is perfectly fine.

Now, PADI has introduced a new (September 2025) standard for instructors and dive centers stating that any restriction noted on a medical form means no to diving, even if a doctor says it is perfectly safe for someone to dive within their restriction.

I am limited to 40m but cannot take a PADI underwater photography course with a maximum depth of 30m as per PADI standards. The dive center will conduct the course at a maximum depth of 17m due to the dive site used.

I am medically fit and experienced enough to do the course, but I can no longer take the course or any training with PADI.

How is this not discrimination?

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a backpacking/scuba trip through Southeast Asia and am facing a huge luggage dilemma. I'd love to get some recommendations or advice from anyone who travels with heavy gear.

I'll be bringing my own complete scuba setup (BCD, wetsuit, fins, booties, mask, etc. — except my regulator and dive computer, which I'll keep in my carry-on for safety). Combined with my clothing and travel essentials, I'm looking at a volume of roughly 90L to 120L.

Here is my main issue with the type of travel I'm doing:

I'll be moving around a lot across Southeast Asia, that is, dirty roads, cobblestones, high curbs, ferries/boats, tuk-tuks, and long walks where I'll need to carry everything on my back.

Hard-shell 4-wheel spinners are completely out of the question: small wheels get destroyed on rough terrain, and hauling a rigid suitcase onto boats is a nightmare.

I also want to avoid obvious dive-brand bags (Mares, Cressi, etc.) because I don't want a giant "dive logo" advertising expensive gear inside while in transit or at airports.

What I'm looking for is a hybrid solution:

Large, rugged, off-road wheels (expedition duffel style) to roll smoothly on rough surfaces most of the time.

Concealable backpack straps / harness for when the terrain gets impossible, or when boarding boats/climbing stairs.

High durability to handle airport abuse and local transport.

A discreet/neutral exterior (looks like regular outdoor/mountain gear).

Has anyone who travels with dive gear in a backpacking style found the ideal setup?

Any advice, packing tricks, or bag recommendations are super appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Just got my first Shearwater, a Peregrine TX, and I’m looking for a good dive log app for my iPhone.
I’ve tried Dive Shearwater, but I’m already running into frustrations, including being unable to delete an imported test dive.
What are you using with your Shearwater, and would you recommend it? I’ve seen Subsurface, MacDive, and Dive Log mentioned. Mainly looking for reliable Bluetooth downloads, easy editing/deleting, and a decent interface. Free or paid is fine if it’s worth it.

Thanks!

I’m staying at a homestay in Misool and it’s my understanding they don’t coordinate dive activities for me, I have to arrange it myself - maybe over WhatsApp? It’s not a dedicated dive resort nor a homestay with a dive program.

Does anyone have recommendations of a dive guide in Misool?

AOW ~200 dives, I enjoy macro but happy with all types of dives

Hi fellow divers!

Since last year, I’ve been using a SANTI Avatar drysuit with a rubber neck seal.

Last year, during a diving trip (around 15 dives over 6 days), I developed a large open wound on my neck.

I received all kinds of advice at the time:

Use more talcum powder.

Use Seal Saver.

Cut a small piece out of the neck seal.

After the diving trip, the weather in Belgium got warmer, so I switched to my semi-dry suit.

This year, I’ve already done several drysuit dives without any problems. However, after my dive yesterday, I developed the skin irritation you can see in the photo.

Has anyone else experienced this? And how do you deal with it?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and advice! 🤿