Welcome
Welcome to The Scuba Diving Zone
Scuba-diving is a past-time that has grown in leaps and bounds over the years because of the natural beauty that lies beneath the waters.
Hard earned
Scuba Diving tips for new divers:
by Jacob Mojiwat
Learning to scuba dive was one of the best
decisions I have ever made. Even these days, every time I go diving,
the thrill is just like the first dive.
Along the way, many
experienced divers have shared their own diving tips with me. Some
other tips are gained from my own experiences – usually after a bad
one. Here are some of the tips to share with you.
When choosing
a mask, it is best for you to try on the mask before buying. Put on the
mask, and inhale through your nose. Make sure you don’t have any hair
stuck at the skirt of the mask. Hold your breath and see if the mask
stays on and not fall off. Check to see if air is leaking into the
mask. If the mask falls off, it usually means the shape of the mask
skirt isn’t suitable for your face shape. Try as many brands and models
as possible.
Most new masks have a protective film on the
window. This can cause fogging problems during your dives if the
protective film isn’t cleaned away. Before diving with a new mask,
clean the window with a recommended cleaner liquid or defogging liquid.
If you can’t get hold of one, try rubbing some clothing powder
detergent onto the window and soaking your mask in water mixed with
clothing powder detergent and leave it overnight. I’ve had great
experiences using this method. Cleaning your mask before the first dive
is very important. I should know. I’ve dived at great dive sites but
was so busy doing the “flood and clear the mask” manoeuvre to clear the
fog that I didn’t see very much, or just saw lots of blurry things at
best.
On my dive trips, I’ve also found it useful to bring along
some clothing powder detergent packed in a small pill container. I just
clean my mask with detergent at the end of the day ready for the next
day’s diving. Great way to keep my mask crystal clear all throughout my
dive vacation.
Have you ever felt the regulator in your mouth
seeming to be pushing your mouth to the left during your dives? You
know, the feeling that if you don’t bite hard enough on the mouthpiece,
the regulator might just get pushed out of your mouth? If you don’t own
an octopus with built in swivel at the regulator, or don’t have a first
stage swivel, you might experience this discomfort. One way to fix this
is to buy and fit in a regulator 2nd stage ball swivel. Another way I
found quite useful to me, is to turn the air tank slightly in the
clockwise direction. As you assemble the Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
to the compressed air tank, with the BCD facing away from you, instead
of having the K-valve face directly away from you, turn the tank
clockwise by about 30° so that the K-valve is pointing slightly to
the
right before securing the BCD to the tank. You should be able to feel
the difference.
If you regularly do boat and shore dives, I
recommend that you get a pair of booties and open heel diving fins.
Having booties on as you enter the sea from the shore will protect your
feet from sharp corals and stones from cutting your feet. You can walk
comfortably to a certain depth before putting your fins and begin your
dive. On the boat, you will at least minimize your chances of slipping
on the wet floor.
For open heel fins with those removable
buckles, the best way to put on your fins is to slip the strap over
your heels. While to take them off, by slipping the strap under your
heels and removing the fins. I know this advise seems to make the
buckle useless, but from my experiences and many other diver’s
experiences, the time we most often lose a fin strap or buckle is at
the end of a boat dive when we take off our fins by unbuckling while in
the water before getting on the boat. And finding a replacement strap
or buckle while on an island dive trip can be somewhat frustratingly
difficult.
At the end of your boat dive, when you take off your
gear before climbing on to the boat, always take off your weight belt
first, then your BCD and lastly, your fins.
I hope you find some
of these tips as useful to you as it has been for me. Here’s to wishing
you a great diving experience on your next diving vacation.
About The Author
Jacob
Mojiwat runs Sipadan Diving Vacation (www.SipadanDivingVacation.com), a
booking service website for resorts on Mabul Island, the gateway to
diving at Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai Islands. He is passionate about
diving and has managed to convince many of his friends to take up
diving. He lives in Kota Kinabalu, just a short plane ride away from
Sipadan Island.
jacob@sipadandivingvacation.com
Scuba
Diving Gear Reviews and Advice for Beginners:
by Tony Howell
"Scuba Diving Gear Reviews and Advice For
Beginners"
It
can be an exciting or terrifying experience - buying your first
scubadiving gear. When you first walk into the Aladdin's cave just
groaning with the latest dive technology, your question is likely to be
"Where do I possibly start?" The answer is quite simple. Choose your
dive centre very carefully - then, if you enjoyed your scubadiving
course, trust them to outfit you with the best dive gear for your type
of diving.
When you select your dive centre start by
establishing the credentials of it. Generally, the more status the dive
centre has, the more it has been audited for quality and customer
service. If possible, choose a PADI 5 Star Career Development Centre.
Failing that, try a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre and so on
down the retail status list. Other training agencies have similar
ratings. Word of mouth is another very strong indicator as most people
tell others about a bad experience.
After you have completed
your course, unless you are totally focused and do it beforehand, you
will want to buy your our scubadiving gear. There are literally
thousands of different dive items on the market and each scuba retailer
offers a selective few brands. Normally these equipment lines are
complementary so that the dive centre should be able to satisfy novice
or experienced recreational divers through to highly experienced
technical divers. If you are about to buy your own scuba gear take time
to read our advice.
Probably the most critical dive equipment is
the regulator and buoyancy control device BCD) combination. The
regulator should be selected on performance and reliability, that is
ease of breathing at the depths you intend to dive to. Do a careful
price comparison if your budget is critical. Your scuba dive centre
retailer will guide you here.
A BCD must be comfortable but most
importantly it must be able to lift your face clear of the water at the
surface. The inflator mechanism must be easy and fast to operate. Check
the lift of a BCD before you start loading the integrated weight system
up with lead weight. While it may lift you wearing a wetsuit, it may be
overloaded once you take it off to pass it (with any integrated weight
& cylinder) into the boat. Recreational BCDs are not designed for
technical diving and should not be used for that purpose.
You
will need to consider your instruments as well. Whatever your financial
position you will need a submersible pressure gauge (SPG) and compass.
It may be cheaper to purchase a dive computer rather than a depth gauge
and timer / underwater watch. Dive computers show dive and surface
interval details as well as guiding your ascent speed. Some give
integrated information on nitrogen absorption and gas consumption. With
a computer it is easy to retrieve dive information so you can log your
dive.There are also Nitrox computers for sport divers and multiple gas
computers for tech divers. Get your dive instruments in a console for
easy reference.
For regulators BCDs and instruments, check the
warrantee. If you intend to travel, it should be worldwide. Some offer
lifetime warrantees for parts. Beware buying product over the Internet,
as there may be no warrantee. In many countries, scuba dealers will not
honour internet warrantees, as the product was not bought through a
licenced dealer and ownership is hard to authenticate.
You will
want to stay warm and may only need a shorty wetsuit in the tropics. As
you move further away from the equator, you might need a full length
5mm or 7mm wetsuit or even a drysuit. Try to buy the best you can
afford as you will not enjoy even the most spectacular dive if you are
trying to stay warm. Night diving is fantastic - only if you are warm.
Comfort and fit are critical.
When you select your dive mask try
every one on display. Ssniff in hard and listen for air leaks to ensure
an exact fit. Additionally, press the mask in over your nose and brow
to ensure there is no contact. Some mask lenses can be changed for
prescription lenses. If you wear glasses ask your scuba dealer which
ones will take prescription lenses. Identify the dive masks that fit
then try those few again. When you get to the best two, choose the
cheaper one. If your mask does not fit well, you will not enjoy your
scuba diving. Resist the temptation to buy a cheap snorkel. You need a
good one so you can breathe on the surface face down. Accept the dive
centre retailer's advice.
Fins are your propellers. Get fins
that fit your feet properly, without placing pressure on your toes or
the bridge of your foot. Always wear your own dive booties when trying
on fins. Split fin technology is state-of-the-art now and worth every
cent. Try for a soft or medium flex fin. If you want to be a technical
diver, select firmer split fins. Get spring straps if your retailer has
them.
You will need weight unless you are negatively buoyant at
the surface. When you purchase your BCD, consider one that allows you
to carry weight in the BCD weight pockets rather than around your
waist. Many women do get minor bruising on the hips through wearing
heavy weight belts. With a drysuit you will generally need more weight
than you would with a wetsuit. Contoured weights are preferable to slab
weights.
You are now set to have fantastic scubadiving
adventures. Enjoy the freedom of gliding in the ocean current along
coral encrusted walls, through underwater canyons, exploring timeless
shipwrecks or absorbing the stillness and tranquillity of a freshwater
lake. Wherever you are, you will enjoy your scuba diving if you are
confidant that you have chosen your scubadiving gear wisely.
About The Author
Tony
Howell is the owner/manager of New Zealand Sea Adventures, Wellington's
only PADI Career Development Centre. Tony's qualifications include:
PADI Course Director, PADI Specialty Instructor Trainer in over 25
specialtys, TDI Instructor Trainer (IT), First Aid & CPR IT,
Coastguard Tutor/Examiner and Service Technician IT. Tony has helped
hundreds of people to choose the best scuba diving gear to give them
the most enjoyable and safe diving experience. www.scubadiving.co.nz
tony.howell@scubadiving.co.nz
Disclaimer
To the best
of our knowledge these are all from either the public domain or free to
use, and a link either has been or will soon be placed on our link page
whenever possible to credit the sources of the photos and tips.
If for some
reason we have inadvertantly placed a photo or image or article that is
not freely
available we will be glad to remove it upon request.
We hope you enjoy these photos and tips.