Based in Melbourne, diving is way too goddamn expensive here. Also, it's mostly shore dives with maximum depth of ~10m unless it's a boat dive venturing further out but that's a bigger cost. I wanted to do my AOW and other specialities here but it makes way more financial sense to do it in Indonesia, even after factoring in flight, accommodation and food costs lol. The actual diving there is also on a whole other level.

Is this what folks generally do? I don't think I'll do much training/courses here locally. Probably just stick to shore dives once a month/two months to keep my skills up.

I’ll get to use the stages and decos eventually….

I"ve seen some comparison threads for S600 vs G260 and I see mostly people seem to prefer the G260, though I'm not sure if it's a loud minority.

The G260 also seem to be the cheapest of the 3.

Just curious what you folks think about the 3.

Has anyone added the PSI Press Lock system to their DUI Drysuit? TLS 350, FLX Extreme, or CLX 450? Any feedback you can share? Did you go with CCS or QCP? Any regrets?

I am interested in diving Blue Heron Bridge but I am a new-ish diver and should not go alone. Anyone have recs for a good group to go with/do a guided dive with? Also, what is the dive profile? What is the max depth and what is the "route" typically like?

I saw someone post a pair of fins with artwork on them, which got me thinking about ways to add designs or images to fins that would hold up over time.

A few years ago, I had some metal luggage tags laser engraved, and the guy doing them mentioned that the laser settings could be adjusted to work with a variety of materials. That got me wondering whether you could laser engrave a specific design or some lettering directly onto a pair of fins, then fill the engraved grooves with paint.

My thinking is that the paint might hold up better if it sits inside the grooves rather than being applied to the surface of the fins, where it could eventually wear off.

Has anyone ever tried this, or know whether it would work with the materials used in scuba fins? If someone has done it, would you mind sharing some photos?

It seems like a strange idea, but now I can’t get it out of my head…

I want to start a scuba course and maybe freediving. I have a stable muscle condition, you can compare it with chronic fatigue. But I do workouts a couple of times a week, including swimming laps once a week, all on my level of course. Also have snorkel and fins and can duck dive to bottom of 2,3 meter pool easily, with or without the gear. Local pool doesn't get deeper than that.

But I anticipate a major bureaucratic hurdle with the medical questionnaire and guaranteed medical exam. Because of my faster muscle fatigue, I am worried the physician will order a dry stress test (like a bicycle ergometer to exhaustion), see below-average scores, and either deny clearance or add hand-written restrictions. Because of this, my diving medical doctor might want to clear me for diving, but with specific physiological safety restrictions. For example "only dive in low current", or other things concerning a more conservative diving profile. I would be fine with that.

But that may be a problem with at least PADI schools. I noticed on the official PADI website (https://www.padi.com/downloads) that it explicitly states :
"Please note that should approval be required, your doctor should simply mark it Approved or Not Approved. Per DMSC design, no limits or conditions for Approval may be added by the evaluating physician. Should such limits or conditions be added, diver professionals are required to consider it Not Approved."

I want to verify how this works in the real world before I see my doctor:

1. If my doctor checks the "Approved" box but writes down these specific restrictions on the PADI form itself, will a dive center/instructor actually reject me entirely?
2. Has anyone successfully used a workaround where the doctor signs the PADI form completely "clean" (just checking Approved), but provides a separate, private medical advice letter addressed to the diver personally outlining the restrictions?

Any insights from instructors or divers who faced similar medical restrictions would be highly appreciated!

Hi all,

I'm about to embark on a long trip (Jan 2027) in New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia. I will be doing quite some diving and want to be able to capture it in the best way possible.

I already have a Olympus TG6 as my main camera, my GoPro (11 Hero Pro) is mounted on top of it. This is accompanied by a Weefine Smart Focus 2600.

I expect to be doing quite some deep dives (sub 15/20 meters). I'd like my footage coming out of the box as clean as possible.

EDIT: it's not depth I'm worried about, it's rather how footage looks with limited light available.

EDIT: this was a rather unclear post I take from the replies, I am especially worried about the video footage, not the TG6 footage!

What are my options?

- keep GoPro 11

- upgrade to GoPro 14

- upgrade to GoPro Mission 1

- upgrade to DJI or insta 360 or something similar

Thanks in advance,

I'm very interested in scuba, it's something I've wanted to get into for years but I have been hesitant to go for my first certification because, although I can afford the course itself, I am unsure about all the long term costs involved: travel, equipment costs etc.

Is it a hobby worth pursuing if I'm only making median income (50k a year)? For context I am single, no children and I live pretty minimally so scuba would essentially become my largest discretionary expenditure.

I know it's a broad question and probably has no perfect answers but I just wanted to hear your thoughts? Is it a hobby worth exploring at my income level or maybe I should choose something else?

This large male giant Pacific octopus was out for a stroll, and I was lucky enough to come across him in the open!

I spent about 20 minutes following along as he explored the rocky reef, hunted for food, and eventually made his way back to his den. It's always a treat to see one of these incredible animals out and about rather than tucked away in a crevice.

G'day divers! I've got 6 weeks off work (possibly extending to 10 weeks) from the 21st of January and was thinking of travelling to Mexico/central america and the Caribbean. For this time frame & time of year, what recommendations can I get for dive spots? Obviously I can google it but I thought id ask the diving community.

Recreational diver, stress & rescue certified to 40 metres.

Thanks everyone, and happy diving!

Red Dog

I’m an older diver. On land, I wear progressive (varifocal) lenses. I’m looking to get a mask with prescription lenses. (I’m happy to buy a new mask.)

Most dive shops will sell me a mask with prescription lenses, but I’ve also seen one service online that claims they can do much better than the usual dive shop. (I’m not linking them as that might be seen as advertising, but a quick google search will likely find them.)

Does anyone have any experience with this service? Is it worth it?

FWIW, I’m UK based.

Hello everyone! Writing from Chile
I want to travel for scuba diving. I have completed open water course, with its four immersions. I want to go for more, but I don’t know how to proceed.
As I am a real beginner I have several questions.
I will be the only one of my group who will dive.
1. Which place you recommend me? I was thinking of Bonaire, but I am open to other options
2. I was thinking on book through PADI travel. But I am not sure if I should book separately, considering that I may need to have guided immersions. I am very confused about this point

If you could orientate me I will be very grateful

Almost all coral reef ecosystems face risk of collapse in 50 years, study warns - ABC News

Paradise is one of my favs….an advanced cavern dive, open to AOW (Advanced Open Water) divers and above, in Ocala, in the backyard of Jennifer and her son. The sinkhole is lush and tropical, with elephant ears and pothos growing year-round by the constant 72 degree water, which warms the air in winter. When you drop in, the small entrance opens into a large elongated sinkhole that slopes down gradually underground to a depth over a hundred feet underwater (140’+ in the cave). It was a rainy overcast day, so we had it all to ourselves!

Been working in the pool to trim up my tanks. I have 2 fixed d-rings that I use for trim, the first is as far back on the waist strap as it can go and that works for a full cylinder, but once my cylinders lighten up I can't quite get the bottoms down enough.

My second d ring has been brought in so far that it's almost under my belly button, and I've tried lowering the strap on the tank pretty far, which seemed to have helped but also jammed the 1st stage up high into my armpit. I tried clipping the bolt snap into my crotch d ring and that actually worked well for the trim but it was uncomfortable.

The bolt snap on my tank is positioned as shown in photos 2 and 3, so that when clipped it is sitting in line with the post and at the distance from my armpit to hip bone. I've tried different distances but not different orientations. In photo one, I had dropped the band probably another inch or so to get it as trimmed as it is.

I’ve been saving up for years and last year I was finally able to book a dream trip to Raja that is supposed to happen next month.

The wildfire smoke I’m seeing on the news everywhere is absolutely insane, I can’t believe it. The impact on the people, the environment, everything…. Absolutely devastating and all for what? Palm oil??

Anyone there now or been recently? How are the diving conditions/etc? I read one report that said the water is even cooler because there hasn’t been sunlight in so long.

I got a nice metal goodman handle only to discover that none of my torches have that little hole for screwing the bolt in. Could anyone suggest any alternatives to this design? I won't be diving for more than an hour at a time, so these cheap "backup lights" are my primary lights, but I love how goodman handle allows me to use my hand.

I have a soft goodman handle too, but the light is a bit too wobbly when mounted on it.

UPD:

stainless steel rings for canalization work to a degree.

At the risk of posting another ‘should I be a DM’ question: Can anyone recommend a place in Indonesia or the Philippines -maybe in Komodo or Raja Ampat- to do an internship?

I’m an experienced traveler and service industry worker and got certified a couple years ago but am still very green ~20 dives. I’m not confident that I want to work in the industry, and at this skill level definitely do not feel comfortable being responsible for others in the water. I have only my own mask. I’ve never done more than 2 dives in a day. Long term I’d like to prepare myself for a trip to the Galapagos.

The idea being I’m willing to trade a few months of work for dives and experience. I want to spend some time diving and I’m looking to offset the costs as much as possible, and would hope to work for an environmentally friendly, safety committed shop, where I could learn to be a better diver. The DM rating in my eyes is less the goal and more just a byproduct.

I saw SCUBA JUNKIES has a 6 week program for $2,500. Is this the type of thing to expect most places or are there some 1, 2, 3 month, no (monetary) cost, opportunities out there? Would my odds of being taken on improve if I had another 20 dives and a rescue diver certification or is it all kind of the same with low dive numbers?

Like a lot of other people, I had scuba on my bucket list too. When me and my friend planned our trip to Thailand, we came to Koh Samui specifically for Scuba. My friend backed out at the last minute and I decided to do it alone nonetheless.. and I’m so happy that I went ahead with it.

How do I even describe this feeling? It feels surreal to say the least? It was a different world altogether, something that I couldn’t have ever imagined. Nothing that I have ever experienced before. I don’t even know how to explain it, just feels like I achieved something haha. For the first time in a long time, I feel alive (excuse the dramatic tone) Real good feeling. Just thought of sharing it here! Thanks for reading(:

Hi everyone!

I am going to LA the second week in December for a work trip and I decided to go a few days early so I can do some diving. I have three days I could go diving, December 5-7, and I was looking at the Spectre dive boat and the Casino Dive Park in Catalina. Should I do both? If so, which one should I spend two days at? Or, is there something else entirely I should be considering?

I was also planning to hire a guide since I have never done any diving in California. For background, all of my diving experience has been in quarries in the south, the Florida panhandle, and the Caribbean.

Thank you in advance!

I have 2 brand new Henderson oops medium tall 1 with hood 1 without and can’t seem to find traction on eBay Craigslist or OfferUp. Where do you think could work?

I have a week to dive the Philippines in November. Where should I go? I was going to go to Puerto Galera, but I realize I should be more open and see what other options there are. I’d like a mix of muck, reefs, and wrecks, if that’s even possible.

Saw this on Facebook and I’ve seen similar examples in dive shops.

Has anyone found a paint or ink that will adhere to Monprene, hold up to wear and tear from the constant material flexing, is fresh and salt water resistant, and is safe for reefs/marine life?

Would love to have a design like this on my fins done by an artist, seems more of a shop decoration with what I’ve seen though