ScubaDiving HQ

What You Need To Know About Scuba Diving

Scuba diving is the activity adored by innumerable men and women across the globe. Scuba diving lands you deep in the world of water where you confront the flora and flora kingdom that lies much beneath the land on which we live.

For the beginners

The obsession for the sport of scuba diving has encouraged almost all the tourist destinations to play, practice and teach it. However, those who are naïve to scuba diving should make a judicious start by trying it in resorts. These scuba diving resorts have special instructors that guide you to develop the some basic skills of the sport. It is the best way to learn without casting your life to danger. Many good resorts offer a certification program on completion of which you are awarded by the certificate. This certificate is deemed to be legal in some countries before making your first dive. So it is better to get certified rather than feeding others with opportunity to impede your most cherished dream.

Scuba diving camps too are good training spots. The coaching is available there for all those who want it. They not only gat the newcomers acquainted with the game but also the learned divers can go there to enhance their diving skills.

For the skilled and professionals
For those who are perfect at the sport, the journey is never ending. It is because there is no scarcity of the scuba diving destinations.

· The foremost in this regard are the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Both the places have a volley of beaches that keep the divers busy throughout the year.

· Not to be overlooked are the crystal blue beaches of Florida and Hawaii that are vibrant especially during the winters.

· Besides these, the American area from Latin to South America is a perfect host for scuba diving. For the most part of the year the water is warm that makes the experience all the more majestic.

· Amongst the coveted destinations to dive are also ‘The Great Barrier Reef’ and ‘The Coral Sea’. The threat of damage of the all-embracing coral here makes it most often mandatory to be assisted by a guide.

· The islands of the Mediterranean Sea namely Manijin Island at Cyprus, Maze and the Greek island Crete are excellent scuba diving spots.

· The mesmerizing dives in the midst of staggering wreck of colossal vessels can be experienced in the islands of United Kingdom and Ireland. The islands like Oban on the west coast of Scotland, the Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, Scotland are prominent wreckage diving sites of United Kingdom. Ireland too has illustrious places like Fastnet Rock, Stag Rocks etc. in this regard. The wreck sites also include premier places like Yongola of the Southern Queensland.

· When it comes to Australia, the country is brimming up with the divers almost the entire year. The Austalia’s Great Barrier Reef and the islands off the Queensland coast the paradigms.

· The wonders of bionetwork beneath water can be explored and cherished at the famous sites like Tasmania, the Heron Island Bommie, The Castle of Southern Queensland; Lomaivitis, Fiji, Suzie Bommie and Papua New Guinea of Pacific Islands; The Tubbataha Reefs (Sulu Sea, Philippines), The Shark Point (Thailand) in Asia.

· Remember, like flowers have a blooming season, trees have time when they shed their leaves; similarly all these sites have their favorable and adverse timings during the year. It is better to collect complete information about your destination before heading there. The task can be accomplished online as well as through agents, guides etc.

The Diving and Safety

1. Scuba diving is not a kid’s play. You require requisite skills and knowledge about the sport. It is better to make your first dive with someone not just familiar but is perfect at the sport for safety is better than cure. Make sure that you move into water with the adequate gear.

2. Check the equipment before diving for once you dive, you will not get a chance to do that and it’s malfunctioning in the water can be hazardous.

3. But before the tools, get your health check up done by a doctor. If you have any ailment for instance cardiac problem, diving without medical done might call upon serious difficulties.

4. Make dives in the daytime initially till you become perfectly qualified for a night dive.

5. At the outset, assist yourself with a guide. Guides will nourish your abilities and educate you more about the sport. Guides are also necessary at places with extensive coral reef system for they (the corals) are too vulnerable.

6. Don’t mess with any animal inside especially fish like shark. It might invite grave jeopardy.

7. There should always be someone who is outside water who knows your whereabouts and is monitoring the weather and water activities.

About the Author - Mansi agarwal writes about scuba diving city topics. Learn more at scubadivinghotspots.com

Scuba Diving In Bahamas

One of the most fun and luxurious thing you can do when going to a scuba diving holiday is to find a well furnished live aboard diving cruise ship near your dive destination. This will make your scuba diving experience much more comfortable because you don't have to wake up early in morning to be transferred to your dive boat by your dive operator.

You will also save the hassle of traveling back to your accommodation after your dive. This pattern of a conventional scuba diving vacation activities repeated over and over again the next few days of your diving holiday is not only time consuming, it is a needless activity and can be solved by liveaboard scuba diving ships.
Furthermore, you can only dive locations near you and will be unable to go further out to sea to other better dive spots located further away. On top of that, there is the time taken to take you to the dive location and then coming back to shore again. You will be wasting a lot of your holiday time doing all these traveling.

With liveaboard scuba diving cruises, you will save all the time and the inconvenience. You can now go island hopping and explore new dive sites everyday. Oh, did I hear you say that live on board scuba diving ship vacations are expensive?

Well, I have good news for you. Liveaboard scuba diving ships vacations need not be expensive. On the contrary, this type of vacation may even be even be cheaper because you need not stay in a hotel, engage a dive operator and get more savings from hiring transportation.

One of the best and least expensive liveaboard dive cruise ship operator I have found in the Bahamas is Black Beard's Cruises . Black Beard's Cruises offers liveaboard scuba diving vacations in the Bahamas and the Caribbean Seas. They will take you scuba diving which will include an exotic wreck dive, beautiful wall diving, night dive, drift dive and even shark dives.

Black Beard's liveaboard ships are not real ships as they are a fleet of three luxurious sailboats named Sea Explorer, Morning Star and Pirate's Lady, which can also take you diving in the Caribbean seas in Western Bahamas.

Shark Diving

The most popular dive in Black Beard's diving itinery is the sharks dive. Caribbean reef tip sharks, huge nurse sharks even the elegant but ferocious tiger sharks are seen frequently. Colorful coral reefs teeming with marine life sit in depths of 15-100 feet, so divers of all levels of competency can get to enjoy the scuba diving experience in their Bahamas diving holiday.

The western part of the Bahamas was hideout of pirates in ancient times. Without the fear of pirates in these days, the Bahamas islands offer spectacular diving in warm, crystal clear tropical waters teeming with colorful coral reefs and marine creatures.

After your diving trip, you can also visit Bahamas Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and Theme Park. The Atlantis Paradise Island Resort is one of the world's most beautiful and elegant resort with a casino operated by Kerzner International.

If you are going for a diving holiday anytime soon, why not try a liveaboard scuba diving vacation in Bahamas?

About the Author - Chris Chew is the author of Exotic Travel Tales.

Scuba Vacations

For those who have taken scuba diving courses, scuba vacations are the next step to enjoying the treasures of the deep and perfecting their diving skills. In almost every country in the world that is by a warm water coast, there are scuba resorts and scuba vacations just waiting to be discovered. Popular destinations for scuba vacations include:

• Australia
• Honduras
• Tahiti
• Indonesia
• Hawaii
• Galapagos

and many other breathtaking locations. Depending on the time of year and the popularity of the destination, you might be able to find discount on scuba vacations. However, many die-hard scuba divers would rather spend a little extra money for the best quality scuba vacations. Nevertheless, much of that money is spent on fancy food and five star accommodations rather than on the quality of the scuba experience, so it is worth doing some research and take into account your priorities before selecting a scuba vacation.

A popular place to go for a scuba vacation is Montangi Island, which is close to Fiji. It is, however, a bit out of the way, and requires various forms of transportation to get there, but the spectacular beauty of the island and the large lagoon is well worth the trip. The lodging has gorgeous views of the ocean or the lagoon, and the resorts offer free tank refills as well as frequent transportation from the docks to the islands. Local nannies are provided for babysitting, if both Mom and Dad are going scuba diving, and many parents who go on scuba diving vacations to the Montangi Island report satisfaction with the local women as caregivers. The island is located around an extinct volcanic equator and has a striking 440 foot high promontory stretching upward. Many people who come to the Montangi island return for subsequent scuba vacations.

If you are looking for great scuba vacations in the states, try Hawaii, with its many islands and gorgeous locations. The Kauai island is one of the most popular place in Hawaii for scuba vacations. You can choose vacations that focus on other activities, such as tennis and pool swimming, in addition to scuba diving, or resorts that are “scuba intensive” and provide opportunities for diving daily and sometimes at night. You should take into account your level of experience and be careful not to overstrain yourself; if you are a beginner, you can always warm up to diving and go on more advanced scuba vacations at a later date.

The most sophisticated scuba vacations offer 50 foot luxury speed yachts with doors and ladders designed for efficient entry into the water. The yachts should have an excellent record of safety and have a high ratio of guides to guests. Many of these yacht scuba vacations will last for 7 days, with options to dive every day and also a free night dive. When you are not diving, you can enjoy comfortable rooms, internet, a mini-bar, a laundry service, and other amenities.

Before embarking on your vacation, it is important to consider the focus of your trip. If you are the only person in your family who is interested in scuba vacations, you will want to choose a resort that is geared toward activities besides diving to keep other members of your family amused. However, if diving is a family obsession, you might want to consider dedicating your entire vacation to diving, and choose scuba vacations that focus more on the diving experience than on other activities.

About the Author - Matt Garrett Cheap Air Travel scubavacations.org

Scuba Diving During A Cruise Vacation

Say you want to scuba dive but your significant other is not a diver and would rather do other activities like shopping. If you both decided to go on a Caribbean cruise vacation, is it still possible for you to go scuba diving? The answer is yes. This will be a big relief to all certified scuba divers who are going on cruises with itineraries that include such great scuba dive destinations as Cozumel and Grand Cayman. After all, as certified scuba divers, it would be a shame to go to these ports and not dive.

Many cruise ships offer scuba diving as part of their available shore excursions. Some ships even have small dive centers on board for those who want to take introductory sessions in the ship pools. These cruise lines will often have business contracts with local dive operators at each port that has scuba diving. These local dive operators will take certified scuba divers on boat trips on behalf of the cruise lines. Booking and payment will be through the cruise ships rather than the local dive operators. The cruise lines claim that if for any reason the scuba trips run late, the cruise ships will not leave port until all passengers from these cruise ship organized excursions are back on board. They won’t wait around for passengers who decide to take their own excursions not booked through the cruise ship. This is how the cruise ships try to convince divers to take their excursions even if the cost is usually at a premium compared to what local dive operators would normally charge directly.

Another way to get some scuba diving in during a cruise vacation is to make arrangements and book in advance with local scuba dive operators at each port you are interested in diving at. Although there is always some risk in missing your port departure if your own outing runs late, just make sure you plan your own dive trips so that you are back on the ship well in advance of port departure. Usually if your cruise ship arrives at port early in the morning, you could book the morning dive trips with the local operator and still have the rest of the afternoon to shop or do other sightseeing. For later arrivals where you would miss the morning dive trips, it is still possible to take the local operators’ afternoon dive trips but in this case, it is very important to make sure that you confirm what the estimated time of return to the docks are. If you can return to the docks at least two hours before the cruise ship’s scheduled time of departure, than you will have ample time even if the dive boat returns a bit late. It it’s only an hour or less, the timing may be too tight. See if the dive operator has a shorter single tank afternoon trip which might get you back to the docks earlier.

Some local dive operators even have special pick up and drop off services to and from the cruise ship terminals to their dive shops. These dive businesses are obviously making an effort to take some dive business away from the cruise ship organized excursions. These particular local dive operators would be ideal if you could find them before your cruise vacation. Otherwise, you may have to take a local taxi to the dive shop if it is not within walking distance of the cruise ship terminal. Of course, this is usually not a problem either and even with the added cost of taxis, the overall cost of going with a local dive operator may still be lower than the cruise ship organized dive excursion.

Some cruise ship passengers have successfully gotten on local dive trips without any advance booking. These divers just walked into a local dive operator once at port. Although this is certainly feasible, it is not recommended especially in a destination that fills dive trips up quickly. With the internet, it is quite easy to make arrangements with many local dive operators in advance of your cruise vacation. Tell them which day your cruise ship will be coming in and the expected time of both arrival as well as departure. Some ports like Cozumel have more than one cruise ship terminal so it’s important to let them know if possible which one your ship will be docked in. They will then give you your best options for some scuba diving for that particular day.

Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com

Scuba Dive The Florida Keys

One of the best areas to scuba dive within North America is in the Florida Keys, a long string of islands just south of Miami. For any scuba diver traveling to southern Florida, even a quick day trip to the Florida Keys is worthwhile. There’s great scuba diving all along the Keys from the first community of Key Largo, through to the middle at Marathon and all the way to the end where Key West is located. One can get to Key Largo in about 45 minutes from Miami and the protected Pennekamp marine park in the surrounding waters offers much more marine life to see than the waters off Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Key Largo in particular is a scuba diver’s town with numerous dive operators and some retailers who carry diving equipment and gear.

One of the great things about scuba diving in the Florida Keys is the variety of dive sites for every level of diver. Many of the nicest coral reefs loaded with fish are located in beginner level dive sites like Molasses Reef and French Reef. With depths of 30 to 50 feet, these are perfect dive sites for newly certified scuba divers as well as those who wish to do night dives. There’s even some good wreck diving in shallow dive sites like the Benwood wreck where the resident marine life will not disappoint any diver. For more advanced divers, there are some spectacular deep dives featuring large wrecks like the Duane, a former coast guard ship sitting upright. The most recent ship that was sunk for scuba diving is the Spiegel Grove which again is for advanced divers.

Many scuba divers from North America and other parts of the world come to the Florida Keys for their open water certification dives as well as more advanced training. Accommodations are plentiful right in the communities along the Keys and range from simple motels all the way up to high end resorts. Many have special packages just for scuba divers where there’s an arrangement with one of the local dive operators. There’s also relatively inexpensive accommodations in Florida City which is the closest community back in the Florida mainland about 20 minutes from Key Largo. After the day of diving, there are lots of restaurants serving fresh seafood for even the hungriest of divers.

Another attractive feature of Florida Keys diving is the cost. Especially for the quality of the dive sights, the cost of diving here is lower than in many of the Caribbean destinations like the Bahamas and Cayman Islands. For those who are not ready to try scuba diving, there are some decent sites to snorkel in the Keys including one of the best in the U.S. at Looe Key. The marine life that can be seen here has convinced quite a few snorkellers to finally pursue scuba diving certifications. The Florida Keys has enough other activities to do besides scuba diving to keep non-divers busy. There’s interesting shopping, water sports, beaches (near the western part) and even two places to interact with dolphins. Of course, there’s also the funky scene at Key West.

The one aspect about scuba diving in the Florida Keys that some divers may not like is that the dives are not guided by divemasters from the various scuba operators. Divers who are used to following a local divemaster like the diving in destinations like Cozumel, will just have to team up in buddy groups here in the Keys. Despite this drawback, the Florida Keys still offers great tropical scuba diving without leaving the USA.

Clint Leung is a NAUI certified Master and Rescue Scuba Diver. He is also owner of Free Spirit Activewear http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com 

How To Get Certified In Scuba Diving

The first two steps in getting certified in scuba diving is to make sure that you are a reasonably proficient swimmer and you get medical clearance from your doctor to take up the sport. As for the swimming, you don’t have to master every type of stroke. Scuba certification only requires that you are able to swim about 200 yards using any stroke you want and to be able to float or tread on water for about 10 minutes. If you are in good general health and are comfortable in the water, then you should be able to scuba dive without any problems.

There are about 1,900 professional scuba dive centers in North America alone and your local ones should definitely be checked out. Most will run basic certification programs on a regular basis. These centers or shops should be listed in the yellow pages and you can also check with websites of some of the major scuba diving certification agencies such as PADI or NAUI as they will also have listings. Sometimes scuba diving courses are offered at universities too.

Make sure that the course you are interested in taking as well as its instructor are certified with one of the major scuba diving training agencies. This will ensure that you get proper, safe training for both the technical background knowledge and practical skills required for certification as a scuba diver. You also want to end up with an internationally recognized certification card if you want to go scuba diving at various locations around the world.

Some vacation resorts offer ‘resort’ courses lasting a day or two which offer beginners some very basic training in order to try out scuba diving. These are not certification programs. Full certification programs involve classroom work, exams, practical skills sessions at a pool and usually about four open water dives in the sea (lake or ocean). The duration of the classroom work and pool sessions vary from a very intensive weekend (with advance reading) to once a week over several weeks. The open water dives will usually take two more days. Dive centers located in the tropics also offer basic certification programs that last several days to a week. Although the intensive weekend programs are quite feasible, many feel that basic scuba diving courses spread out over a few weeks will help beginners learn the skills better. Scuba diving does involve new skills and to learn them all during one full weekend may be too much for some people.

As for which scuba diving certification training agency is the best, there isn’t any one recognized organization that is better than another. PADI is the most popular in the world but not necessarily better than NAUI or SSI. NAUI course are often more technical in the classroom than those offered by PADI but both will adequately train you to be a scuba diver. The more important factor would be the individual instructor and your own effort during training/studying. In fact, many scuba diving instructors have certifications from several training agencies.

For people living in the more northern regions, there are a few possible routes to take in order to obtain certification. One can travel down south to the tropics and do the entire basic certification course down there in warm weather. However, this will take up a good portion of a vacation since reading, classroom, pool sessions and open water dives all must be done during that time period. A second option is to take the entire course including the open water dives back in home territory. This usually offers beginners the most time since courses can be spread out over a few weeks. However, the water up north is not as warm as in the tropics and the scuba diving could be seasonal. A third option is to take all the classroom and pool sessions back home and then go down south to do the open water dives in warm waters. Many people have taken this route. Your instructor back home will give you a referral letter to bring down to an instructor located down south who will oversee your open water dives. This is a good combination of taking ample time back home to practice the skills in the pool plus getting the classroom work out of the way followed by having nice warm water to dive in for the open water dives. One thing to be aware of if considering this option is to make sure that your travel to the tropics for your open water dives is not too delayed after finishing up with your pool sessions at home. If too much time has elapsed, one could easily forget the skills learned in the pool by the time a vacation comes along.

The underwater world has so much to offer and only a small percentage of the world’s population will ever have the privilege to see it in person rather than on television. Become one of these individuals who will have the honor of exploring the oceans by getting certified in scuba diving.

Scuba Diving In Costa Rica

Costa Rica is an eco-tourism paradise with rain forests, exotic wildlife, volcanoes and much more. This little Central American country is also an interesting place to scuba dive. Most of the diving in Costa Rica is done on the west coast Pacific Ocean side with an area up in the Guanacaste region located in the northwestern part of the country and another south of the capital city of San Jose near the middle of its west coast. If flying into San Jose, one would have to do some internal traveling to get to either of these two locations.

The Guanacaste area is a bit easier to get to especially if one could arrange a flight right to the town of Liberia in northern Costa Rica. There are some seasonal charter flights from North America directly to Liberia. The town of Playas del Coco which is used as the main base for divers is a short cab ride from the Liberia airport. There are restaurants and small hotels in Playa del Coco including a few American owned scuba dive operators. These dive operators usually have special package deals available which include both diving and accommodations with one of the local hotels. Everything in town is within easy walking distance.

I made a trip for scuba diving here during the late fall season. The operator I used was Rich Coast Diving. The local Costa Rican divemasters from Rich Coast they took all of the scuba equipment including tanks down to the beach every morning by pickup truck.

The dives ranged from about 60 feet to 85 feet with mild to moderate currents. One thing that all divers will notice here is that the diving in Costa Rica is very different from the usual Caribbean reef diving. The visibility is a lot poorer and there are some noticeably colder thermoclines. The poor visibility is due to higher amounts of plankton in the local waters compared to the Caribbean Sea. In some dive sites, we had to swim through sections of water which turned into an almost brown color soup. This cut the sunlight from the top drastically. However, there is a huge plus side to this poorer visibility. The plankton attracts larger marine animals and if divers came here to see the big ones, they will not be disappointed.

Even some of the reef fish here are larger. For example, the trumpet fish we saw down here are significantly larger than the ones found in Caribbean waters. Also, there are much more porcupine puffer fish here. Previously in Caribbean waters, I’ve seen only a few porcupine fish and they are usually alone. Here in Costa Rica, I saw large schools of them. We encountered large schools of other fish types on a regular basis as well.

The local divemasters here definitely work in a different way compared to their counterparts elsewhere. In many Caribbean locations, the divemasters would promote a ‘look only, no touch’ rule. Here, the divemasters actively turned over every rock to find interesting creatures for us. They would catch them in their hands and pass them over to the other divers. Over three days of diving, I held a seahorse, an octopus, a spotted eel, an orange color frogfish and a puffed up porcupine fish. Of course this practice of handling marine wildlife is debatable in terms of ethics but it was certainly an interesting experience holding these creatures in my hands. The divemasters were certainly hard working for sure though as they were eager to make sure that the guests had good dive trips.

Large animals such as giant sea turtles, stingrays and white tip sharks were also spotted. On one occasion which I will never forget for the rest of my life is when a very large school of cow-nose rays headed straight for our group of divers. They looked like a huge squadron of alien spaceships. They went right through and past us while we watched in wonder. Then they disappeared. This memorable experience was much too short lived.

So for a very different type of scuba diving compared to the Caribbean without traveling too much further, Costa Rica is an interesting destination for divers to consider. There won’t be crystal clear visibility but the marine life will be different with more large animals to see. The diving itself is also very reasonable in cost being significantly lower than in premium priced locations such as the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. In addition, there are many other things to see and activities to do on land besides the scuba diving which makes Costa Rica a very full vacation.

Scuba Diving the Red Sea In Egypt

For many Europeans, traveling to the Red Sea for scuba diving is like many North Americans going to the Caribbean. For a scuba diver based in North America or anywhere else outside of Europe or Africa, a journey to the Red Sea is considered one of the more exotic scuba diving trips. Like other overseas travel, getting to the final destination is the hardest thing. The Red Sea can be dived from ports in both Egypt and Israel but most international scuba divers do so from the Egyptian side. There are two major scuba diving areas in Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada. Sharm El Sheikh at the northern part of the Red Sea is the more established center having been a popular vacation resort area as both Egyptians and Europeans have been vacationing here for many years. The local scuba dive industry grew along with the overall steady growth of classy resorts, shops and other tourist services in Sharm El Sheikh. Hurghada, once just a sleepy fishing village along the west side of the Red Sea, is starting to grow as scuba divers discover this alternative to Sharm El Sheikh.

More than likely, travelers going to either Sharm El Sheikh or Hurghada will have to fly to Cairo before connecting with Egypt Air or taking a bus to their final destination. Many scuba divers turn their Red Sea diving trip into a major extended holiday in order to both dive and see the many wonderful ancient Egyptian sites such as the pyramids. There are many things to see and do in Egypt in addition to the ancient ruins including museums, markets and Nile river cruises. So it is highly recommended to do some research and plan accordingly for any trip to Egypt as one would not want to run into the situation where not enough time was allocated to see everything one wants to see there in addition to scuba diving.

Many of the scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh are affiliated or close by to a hotel resort. Most of the dive shops are actually owned and staffed by Europeans working in Egypt. This is similar to the situation in the Caribbean where many of the scuba operators there are American owned. The Red Sea has a higher salt content than Caribbean waters so it is recommended to add 4 to 5 more pounds to the amount of weight divers usually use. Like most European diving, the scuba community here in Egypt uses the metric system so weights will be in kilos while air pressure will be in bars. Most dive computers should be able to display both metric and imperial systems.

Many scuba operators in Sharm El Sheikh use a very interesting system for scuba tanks. Rather than using their own tanks, their dive boats go to a common central barge anchored in the harbor. This is where all the scuba tanks are supplied from and the dive boats collect the number of tanks they need for day’s dive trips. At the end of the trips, used tanks are dropped off at the same barge before heading back to port.

The majority of the dives in the Red Sea are semi drift dives where the dive boats drop off divers at the dive sites and then pick them up afterwards. One very different aspect of the Red Sea compared to other dive destinations in the world is that the coral reefs here can extend up to very shallow depths. As a result, the standard safety stops at 15 feet are done drifting among many of these sloping reefs along with the accompanying marine life. Therefore, these are some of the most scenic safety stops scuba divers will ever do. This is certainly different from the usual bland safety stop in the Caribbean. One thing to note is that the maximum allowable depth for recreational scuba divers in Egypt is 30 meters which is about 90 feet.

As expected, the marine life in the Red Sea is spectacular. There are many species of fish, crustaceans and marine plant life here that are not found in the Caribbean. In fact, many of them are indigenous to the Red Sea only. While lionfish can be extremely rare sightings elsewhere, they are quite abundant in the Red Sea which is a real treat for scuba divers. It is also not unusual to jump in the water to be among a large school of tuna or other fish. Many night divers will see coral reefs here to be more spectacular than in the Caribbean.

For many scuba divers, the Red Sea is one of those ‘must dive at least once in a lifetime’ destinations. It is a very unique place to dive especially with the desert background visible from the dive boats. The excellent diving with the many awesome sights of Egypt make the Red Sea a dream dive trip for any scuba diver.

Spiegel Grove, The Largest Florida Keys Shipwreck For Scuba Divers

The latest shipwreck dive site in the Florida Keys for scuba divers is the USS Spiegel Grove. This is a former US Navy Landing Ship Dock that was sunk in 2002 to create an artificial reef in Key Largo, much like the Duane and Bibb ships were in the same general area. The Spiegel Grove is 510 feet in length and 84 feet wide making it the largest of the shipwrecks accessible to scuba divers in the Florida Keys. This wreck sits at a depth of 134 feet near Dixie Shoals and the depth at the highest point of the ship is about 60 to 65 feet depending on the tide level.

The Spiegel Grove had been lying on her starboard side after initial sinking and was reported to be a great dive. Hurricane Denis which greatly affected the south Florida area, actually made this wreck dive even better. The waves and surges from the hurricane were strong enough to push the entire ship to an upright position much like how the Duane is sitting. This resulted in better orientation of the ship for scuba divers especially since there are some swim throughs located throughout the wreck.

Most of the scuba dive operators in Key Largo have dive trips to the Spiegel Grove since this site is the latest rage in the local scuba diving. Since it is a deep dive, advance certification is required. Scuba divers can also dive the Spiegel Grove as part of their advance certification course. The dive plan for this wreck is very similar to that of the Duane. The dive site is often in an area with heavy currents so as soon as divers jump in the water, they have to go grab a line and pull themselves towards the front of the dive boat where the line is attached to the descent line. Divers then pull themselves down towards the wreck. Unlike the Duane which has descent lines on both ends of the ship, the Spiegel Grove has three lines since it is a much larger ship. The ascent and safety stop is on these same lines since the currents can be strong at any depth. It is highly recommended that any cameras and other devices are secured by lanyards since losing them in these currents is possible.

As one descends on the Spiegel Grove, one will see just how large this ship is. This will keep many divers excited. Lots of divers in the area have dived the Spiegel Grove before and are only happy to dive it again to explore the different compartments accessible in the wreck. This ship is also unique as it has a large crane in the stern area since it was used as a landing ship dock. For enthusiasts interested in the beauty of shipwrecks themselves, this will be considered a great dive. The only downside to this dive is the amount of marine life on the wreck. Barracuda, large angelfish and other fish can be spotted on the Spiegel Grove but not nearly as many as on the Duane. This is why some divers may still prefer the Duane over the Spiegel Grove if marine life is their primary interest in scuba diving. But the Spiegel Grove is still a relatively new dive site compared to the Duane so in time, the amount of marine life will increase at this site making it even better in the future. Both the Spiegel Grove and the Duane are highly recommended dives for all scuba divers with a minimum of advance certification when diving in the Key Largo area.

Traveling With Scuba Dive Gear And Equipment

With today’s state of air travel and airport security, scuba divers often have to decide how to travel with all their dive gear. For those scuba divers who plan to rent all their equipment at their destination, this isn’t an issue. However, the trend in diving has always been that as divers become more experienced with more dives logged after initial open water certifications, they tend to want to use their own equipment rather than rent. This is especially true with masks, regulators, wetsuits and dive computers. Avid scuba divers will often travel with their entire gear including fins and buoyancy compensators. Of course because of weight issues, scuba divers rarely travel with tanks or weights.

I have an air integrated Oceanic scuba dive computer that I wouldn't want lost or delayed in checked luggage during my dive trips so I always carry it on with me on airplanes. I have never had any problems going through airport security. Sure, they might check my stuff because scuba dive gear looks pretty foreign to most airport security staff but that's okay as my scuba dive computer always got through. The only thing I have to be careful of is how I pack it. On a few occasions, I had put the computer in a soft bag that also contained my regulator, another piece of my own scuba equipment that I would prefer to use rather than deal with a rental. During travel, one of the buttons on the dive computer must have gotten accidentally depressed which activated the device. Because of the altitude and/or pressure changes during a flight, the dive computer thought that it was going on an actual dive. It started beeping because it didn't like the statistics it was sensing which was a bit annoying on board. After the flight, my dive computer actually locked out for 24 hours. It was a good thing that I didn't dive until the next day. So from now on, I always pack my scuba dive computer in a box which prevents accidental activation and then the box goes into my carry on baggage. I also carry on my mask as well as my log book and certification cards. I wouldn’t want to be refused for diving by a dive operator in case my checked baggage was lost so it is highly recommended to carry your log book and certification card with you.

Everything else like my wetsuit, booties, fins, snorkel and buoyancy compensator goes into my checked baggage. If my checked baggage is lost, stolen or delayed, I can always rent the extra equipment I need without losing any dives. Some folks believe that one should not check in any large scuba dive bags with the dive flag displayed as it may advertise luggage containing expensive dive gear. In this case, one can always pack a flexible scuba dive bag inside a larger regular suitcase. So a good rule of thumb to use is to always carry on the scuba dive equipment that you can’t afford to lose or be without for your diving and check the rest.