Bought this in Facebook. Caught my eye since I've never seen this shape in a dual lens. Also has a pretty cool textured rubber strap. Looks vintage, brand says Ikari. Nothing shows up in Google except their single lens masks. Image search brings up welding goggles. Planning to replace rusted parts and see if still dive worthy.

Been fighting buoyancy since certification — constantly finning up or sinking, too much brain space on it instead of looking around. Something clicked on a reef dive this weekend: breath control alone kept me hovering, and I stopped thinking about it. Spent the whole dive just existing next to the reef instead of managing depth. Anyone else remember the dive buoyancy finally went automatic?

Just got back from a fresh water dive trip and while talking to a few other divers I was surprised to hear many are running over 20lbs of weight while using 3mm wetsuits. This surprised me because that is so much I would drop like a rock. I use 8lbs of weight and am perfect and have nice buoyancy and trim. These divers were similarly built to me and were running similar gear. So my question is am I running to light or am I missing something here?

Hey everyone! I recently found out that Louisiana has 2 crystal clear lakes which was unbelievable at first due to it being a swamp, but it’s surprisingly true! So i thought with Florida also being a swamp state that there’s the possibility of freshwater lakes in Florida to scuba dive or even snorkel in ? Since Florida is my 2nd home state , i don’t mind scuba diving in water with little to no life to see as long as i can see my surroundings.

I’ve heard decent reports about Lake Denton , Lake Aurora outside the town of Lake Wales , Lake Louise in Windermere , Lake Weir in Ocala , Blue Cypress Lake in Vero Beach , and Compass Lake in Alford ?

I know that there’s several cold springs to scuba dive around but was wondering if there’s any actual lakes or if those mentioned lakes are any good for underwater visibility ? I KNOW that most of the 7,800 lakes that the state offer are naturally dark with undesirable visibility but surely if Louisiana even has 2 that are crystal clear , Florida has to have some too right ?

Thanks in advance

Hello All. My wife and I will be in Barcelona in a few weeks. It’s our first time to Spain and I can’t pass up the opportunity to dive. I just dove the Mexican cenotes with a dive master who is from Barcelona and he recommended diving in Tosha Del Mar. it looks beautiful.

2 issues:

1) we planned on using Barcelonas robust public transportation for the trip, so we don’t have a rental car. Can one be rented for a single day that will do hotel pickup and drop off? All of the major companies require a trip back to the airport.

2) my wife does not dive but loves the beach. Google raves about the public beaches in Tossa Del Mar. is it safe? Can my wife hang out at the beach for the morning while I dive? Afterwards we could explore a bit, find a nice meal, and drive back to Barcelona.

All help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I need help choosing an action camera. I'll primarily use it for scuba diving down to 40 m (130 ft) and freediving down to 20 m (65 ft), often in low-light and shadowy conditions.

My options are:

- DJI Osmo Action 4: I like it because it seems to offer the best value for money.

- DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro: I like the built-in depth gauge feature when used without the waterproof housing.

- DJI Osmo Action 6: Better video quality in low-light conditions.

- GoPro Hero 11/12/13: I haven't looked into them much, although I've read they're not as good as DJI cameras for diving.

- Insta360 Ace Pro / Ace Pro 2: I like that they feature Leica lenses, although, like the GoPros, I haven't researched them much.

Long battery life is also important to me.

Which one would you recommend? Is there any other action camera I should consider?

Edit: The Mission 1 is too expensive for me.

Hello!

I am a diver based in the UK with an upcoming work trip to Sydney mid-December, and looking into doing some diving either before or after, but I know nothing about diving in Australia!

Looking mostly for life, as we get a lot of wrecks in the UK.

Comfortable diving to 40m + some deco, but only if there are interesting things to see, and not looking to do big tech dives. Perfectly happy doing 10m dives if all the fun things are up there.

The GBR is obviously the most well known, but it seems like diving there in the summer isn't really recommended? Would the south east coast be better? Would that mostly be day trips?

What would you recommend?

Thanks!

Just looking for advice, not to get roasted. I know this is a problem and I would really like to improve so I'm *that diver* when I travel next year.

I've been told that I seem to be all over the place underwater and that my spatial awareness is really bad. I somehow end up way too close to my buddy (or too far), go too fast or just dart ahead randomly, seem distracted (usually I'm looking at small stuff tbh) etc, and I'm not trying to be. My friends are thankfully very tolerant and kind but I really want to be able to move past this. I just feel I'm not where I should be based on how often I dive.

I've been trying to work on it, I dive most weekends right now, and I don't know how I'm still this bad and what else I can do to improve. I have AWFUL spatial awareness and would say I'm not great at reading body language either. I'm not kicking things up/touching things. It's just everything else lol

Are you constantly just watching everyone? How do you balance that with appreciating your surroundings and actually enjoying the dive?

My BC, an older SeaQuest black diamond, has mesh bottoms on the pockets. I have had a couple holes in the underside mesh that have gotten together over the years and unionized to make sure I can’t use the pockets.

I’m not very skilled at sewing. What methods do you use to repair these holes but still retain the drainage?

It's hard to even tell these were taken while diving when a diver isn't in the frame. The water was so clear.

I was thinking about this after Women's Dive Day.
When I first started diving, I never understood why people called scuba a sport. I thought, "You're just floating underwater."
That changed once I got into cold water diving.
Carrying tanks over long shore entries.
Learning doubles.
Maintaining a drysuit.
Somewhere along the way I started strength training—not because I wanted to, but because diving demanded it.
As a 5'2" woman, I realized that many of the things my male dive buddies could do without much thought required a lot more work from me.
And honestly, that's okay.

What surprised me even more wasn't the physical side.
It was the gear.
I'm not talking about pink gear.
I'm talking about sizing.
For example, I own a pair of full-foot Gull Barracuda fins where I literally have to wear dive boots inside them just so they don't fall off.
The smallest Halcyon tech fins I could buy are really designed around something like a men's US size 9 drysuit boot.
Neither of these stopped me from diving.
I adapted.
But it made me wonder how often women's gear is actually tested on women with smaller feet, hands, and different body proportions.

I'm curious whether this is just my experience.
For the women here:
What's one piece of dive gear you've had to modify, size around, or completely work around because it simply wasn't designed for your body?
And for instructors, shop owners, or manufacturers:
Has the industry gotten better over the last decade, or do you think this is still a real issue?

I am going to dive Fort Wetheril in RI next week and plan to stick to the West Cove. Aside from just messing around and swimming aimlessly, is there a recommended plan for this spot? I am specifically not going to the wall since I am just looking for an easy beginner dive to see some cool stuff. Is it recommended to just follow the side of the cove and then cut across to make a full circle and work your way back, or is there a better way to do it?

Hi! We are doing DSD this weekend. Where is the best dive spot experience for us friends? :)

Please assume deep cert to 40m held + 50 dives

I've been diving 10+ years, and currently logging around 20 dives a year. I have always been interested in learning more and taking it to the next level, and with that I just signed up for a TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures class. I meet all the prerequisites but have some questions for those who have done this class.

I've read through the AN manual, and there are a ton of different formulas on partial pressures, O2, etc.. Do I need to memorize these?

How difficult is the water work in this class? I will be taking in in a tropical location but I've never juggled 3 tanks (a twinset plus deco mix tank).

What was the most difficult part of the course was it for you?

Any feedback and suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

My partner and I are planning a trip to NZ in early December. The primary goal is some van life exploration but we're both divers and would like to see if we can sneak a few dives in.

Looks like Poor Knights is highly recommended, I'm curious if that's a dry suit required dive? (we're both warm water divers and would need to get our dry suit cert ahead of time.

I'm a bit of a novice diver (12 dives) and curious about the skill level recommend for poor knights

Open to other recommendations as well!

(also, is there a good site for reviews of specific dive sites?)

Hello so to get into it I've been diving for 13 years not 100% consistently but im at 65 dives including dives of over 110 ft. Before you comment I know this isn't as experienced as I could be. I'm an advanced diver certified and need 1 more certification to become a master diver if I chose to.

I have been renting gear recently if that info is important and On my last dive during descent at about 75-85ft I started feeling like I couldn't breathe, I started to panic and started ascending but reminded my selfie to my nitrox I couldn't ascend and needed to calm myself. So I started taking deep breathes to try and calm myself down but I eventually stabilized myself but for the rest of the dive I was very anxious and I don't understand why this is happening when I have had 10 years no problem. Only other dive problem I had was when I was first starting out in a water hole and my regulator fell out and rendered me unable to breathe. It was a deep dive so I also couldn't surface I had to do a safety stop.Thank god it had a dive bell. So I was able to catch my breathe but could that be where this anxiety is stemming from even though it was a decade ago.

Besides breathing excercises any other tips?

With Florida lobster season coming up soon, there is always the discussion amongst my group whether we're going to be freediving, running a hookah setup, or scuba diving. So what do you all think the best way to hunt bugs is - freediving, scuba, or a hookah system?

For anyone who is new to or unfamiliar with lobster hunting, each method has its own advantages. Freediving keeps things simple and lets you move quickly from spot to spot, but your bottom time is limited by your breath hold. Scuba gives you much more time to search ledges and work on difficult catches, and you can get on much deeper reefs, but you need more gear and have to stay on top of your buoyancy and gas management. Hookah is sort of the middle ground. You get a continuous air supply without wearing a tank, but are limited to shallower depths based on what hookah system you run, and the amount of people you have on your system.

I personally have done all three, and don't think there's a single "best" method. I think it depends on the conditions and depth of the spot you're at. If I'm going out to shallow water spots getting towed behind the boat looking for structure, freediving is my choice, but If I'm planning to spend time at deep spots searching ledges, scuba is hard to beat.

So I'm curious where everyone stands - Which method is your go to?

I was certified in Florida for Open Water through SSI, back when I was 12. From then till end of high school I did a lot of diving in springs, rivers, ocean, etc. probably logged around 20 dives, though my log book is gone. Since then I got busy and fell out from the hobby. I am 32 now, but really want to get back into it. I want to be safe and competent. I am trying to decide on a full course from scratch through PADI or doing some kind of refresher. I also feel I had some gaps in my knowledge even when I was actually diving. Any thoughts?

Background: originally certified 40 years ago, logged 15ish dives (mostly warm water), didn't dive for 30 years, (re)completed open water cert a month ago, have done two local dives (New England (US)) since. I am now preparing for a trip to Ibiza, Spain next week, where we will do one dive trip/two dives with a local "cattle boat" type operator.

My questions are about gear to pack and rent, in particular as it relates to managing my trim.

My trim issue is floaty feet (my body really really wants to do handstands in the water), which was mildly troublesome in the pool and a big problem last weekend in a 7mm wetsuit. (I didn't have this problem 40 years ago, but equipment was different then, and my body was VERY different then.) (BTW I am female, tall, very long legs, 46% body fat.)

So my questions...

- Ibiza in August, what kind of wetsuit should expect/ask for? Maybe if I use a shorty, that will take care of the floaty feet (less buoyant legs), but I do get chilled easily.

- The internet says to solve floaty feet with heavy fins. I could buy some, but that means lugging them to Spain and I'd rather not, plus I won't have time to try them out before Ibiza. But if the fins I'll get as a rental will suck anyway, then perhaps heavy fins are the answer?

- I have a pair of 5mm booties that fit my hard-to-fit super wide feet. Those too presumably contribute to floaty-foot syndrome, but I am not optimistic about finding full-foot fins from a rental place that actually fit my feet. Options?

- My instructor recommended I get ankle weights but I am hesitant to try out brand new equipment for my one dive trip in a new location.

- Finally, not gear-specific, but I am anxious about weighting on the dive boat. It's been *decades* since I have participated in one of these big group dives, and getting my weight right has been a difficult (meaning time-consuming) part of my 6 recent dives. How does this work? Will they give me time to test out my weighting? Will they have enough weight? (I required 38 lb with 7mm wetsuit, presumably somewhat less in whatever I will wear in Ibiza, but still...I'm a big girl.)

(I should mention that I will not have time to dive or even get to a pool to test gear out before leaving for Spain.)

Thanks for advice!

Hello everyone!

In approximately one month I will be doing the SSI open water diving course and I already feel pretty nervous, so I decided to ask here if there is any advice you can give me or if there is anything I should be doing now like studying theory or something like that.