Best Travel Deals

Scuba Safety: Diver Wellness

Scuba diving is a lifestyle and as avid divers we maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to be able to keep our fins intact. Diver medical problems are (thankfully) uncommon but it is still a very important topic we wanted to cover. Here’s a bit of info and tips you may or may not know about Scuba Diving Safety from FamilyDoctor.org.

While there are millions of dives each year in the US, there are less than 100 deaths reported each year worldwide. In addition, fewer than 1,000 divers worldwide require recompression therapy to treat severe dive-related health problems.

Most severe dive-related injuries and deaths happen in beginning divers. To be safe, always dive within the limits of your experience and level of training. Good rules to follow for safe diving include:

1. Never try a dive you’re not comfortable with. During descent, you should gently equalize your ears and mask. At depth, never dive outside the parameters of the dive tables or your dive computer (information that helps you avoid decompression sickness).

2. Never hold your breath while ascending. You should always ascend slowly while breathing normally.

3. Become familiar with the underwater area and its dangers. Learn which fish, coral and other hazards to avoid so injuries do not occur. Be aware of local tides and currents.

4. Never panic under water. If you become confused or afraid during a dive, stop, try to relax and think the problem through. You can also get help from your dive buddy or dive master.

Never dive without a buddy or two

5. Never dive without a buddy.

6. Always plan your dive; then always dive your plan.

7. Be sure that your diving equipment can handle the dive you have planned and that the equipment is working well.

8. Don’t drink alcohol before diving.

9. Never dive while taking medicine unless your doctor tells you it’s safe.

10. Diving can be dangerous if you have certain medical problems. Ask your doctor how diving may affect your health.

11. Cave diving is dangerous and should only be attempted by divers with proper training and equipment.

12. If you don’t feel good or if you are in pain after diving, go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

13. Don’t fly for 12 hours after a no-decompression dive, even in a pressurized airplane. If your dive required decompression stops, don’t fly for at least 24 hours.

For more information on Diver Wellness read the full article here.

Best Travel Deals

Dive into Polynesia with Humpback Whales

Have you gone diving in French Polynesia yet? No? It’s DEFINITELY a bucket-list-worthy spot. This little piece of paradise becomes a hot ticket item between the end of July – October and there’s a BIG reason behind it.

Why?

Humpback whales.

These majestic creatures inhabit all the world’s oceans but at the end of autumn they trade in their cold feeding grounds for warm tropical waters and sunshine. What better place for warm clear waters and glorious sunshine than Tahiti? Tahiti is after all, the post card staple of the perfect vacation spot for whales and humans alike.

Every year from the end of July all through October humpback whales mate and give birth in the warm waters of French Polynesia before returning to the South Pole.

Divers and non-divers can enjoy the company of these magnificent creatures from the comfort of a covered boat or share the sea in a dive accompanied by seasoned diving instructors.

To learn more about whale watching in Tahiti, click to read Top Dive Polynesia’s Full Article.

Best Travel Deals

What is Nitrox and why do most Scuba Divers use it?

More than 60 years ago when Jacques Yves Cousteau first introduced the concept of exploring the underwater world, viewers watched the Captain and his crew strap on tanks filled with air and the concept of SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) would born.

A common mistake that was made was that these divers were taking down oxygen tanks, when in reality the tanks contained compressed air. The air that you and I breathe every day is a combination of nitrogen and oxygen (actually 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen to be exact). When you scuba dive, the longer you stay under the water (bottom time), the more nitrogen your body absorbs.

Photo courtesy of PADI

When divers absorb too much nitrogen in their blood stream, they develop a condition known as the bends. (This is also known as decompression sickness). To help divers reduce the potential for this situation, the dive industry introduced the concept of Enriched Air (or nitrox) in the late 1990s. Nitrox is simply a gas mixture that has a higher concentration of air and a lower concentration of Nitrogen. If a diver is breathing less nitrogen, the chance of developing the bends is greatly reduced.

For traveling divers, using Nitrox provides several important benefits. These include:

Longer Bottom Times: If you are breathing in less nitrogen, in theory you can stay underwater longer. This is important for divers spending investing in scuba diving vacations. Note: This won’t help if you’re an air hog who uses air quickly during the dive…  just a friendly observation.

Shorter Surface Intervals: Following every scuba dive, divers are required to have a surface interval where their bodies recover and burn off excess nitrogen brought into their system during the dive. This is common and part of the diving experience. When using Nitrox, the surface intervals are shorter because there is less nitrogen to burn off.

More Relaxing Experience: There is no scientific proof, but nearly everyone we have spoken with who uses Nitrox swears they surface feeling more energetic. We guess the only way for you to know for sure is to try Nitrox diving yourself!

All of the major scuba training organizations offer certification in diving Nitrox. For more details, contact your local dive center.

Best Travel Deals

Shark Week Shark Bytes

If you’re anything like us you flipped back and forth between Shark Week and the Olympic Closing Ceremony. Now that the Olympics are over, we can dedicate our week to our favorite underwater predators! In honor of Shark Week we created a jawsome infographic with some Shark Bytes to feed your Shark Week hunger!

Best Travel Deals

Shark-Week Worthy Links and Destinations

Photo Courtesy of scubadiving.com

Shark Week is back with a bite tomorrow night! We can’t get enough of these magnificent creatures and a whole week of sharks isn’t enough for us, so we trolled the Internet for some jaw-some shark stories and galleries to share with you.

Another for the Bucket List!

Ever wanted to get up close and personal with sharks? While it’s a nightmare for most, we’re first to jump into these Top 5 Destinations in the World for Diving with Sharks. From South Africa to the Bahamas, Noreen of aquaviews.com shares where you can swim with your favorite underwater predators.

Too close? Consider getting CAGED!

Photo Courtesy of aquaview.com

According to Terry Ward of scubadiving.com there’s nothing that gets your adrenaline going like being in the presence of a great white shark! There are only four places in the world where you can reliably get into the cage to dive with great white sharks and each one promises a very different experience. These sites also allow you to bring your non-diving friends or better half since they offer snorkel or hookah options. Click here to check out these 4 Places for Great White Shark Encounters.

Alright, STILL too close for comfort?

That’s okay; you can enjoy all the wondrous glory of these bad boys right from your laptop, in the safety of your own home. Click through for amazing underwater photography from scubadiving.com. From Hammerheads to Whale Sharks and Reef Sharks these astounding photos may entice your adventurous side enough to get you into the water with these guys!

Let’s Get Real

Photo Courtesy of scubadiving.com

Lately there have been a lot of shark sightings off Cape Cod and Hollywood has taken action! The History Channel is set to film a reality show called Shark Wranglers. The show features Chris Fischer and his crew aim to track and understand great whites in all their glory. From feeding to breeding habits  we hope they’re ready for the spotlight! Our only hope is for the safety of the sharks and of course the crew. But the camera captures everything and Fischer maintains that his methodology is safety.

Click here to read more on Lisa DeCanio’s article courtesy of bostinno.com.

Have your own jaw-some shark stories? Share them with us!

Best Travel Deals

Top 10 Shark Dive Destinations

Our favorite week is back with a bite starting Sunday, August 12th! Every year we follow Shark Week as we watch these glorious predators thrash, splash, and bite!

Watching these awesome creatures from a distance isn’t enough for us so here’s our Top 10 list of our favorite shark dive destinations, along with what species you can expect to see and best times to catch a glimpse of them.

  1. Gansbaai, South Africa (Shark island between Gansbaai and Dyer island) — Great Whites — April to September
  2. Cocos Island, Costa Rica — Hammerheads —  June to December
  3. Nassau, Bahamas — Reef and Tiger — all year
  4. Pacific Harbor, Fiji Bull, Lemon, Reef — all year
  5. Donsol, Luzon Island Philippines — Whale Sharks — February to May
  6. Darwin and Wolf islands, Galapagos — Galapagos, Hammerheads, Silky — all year;  Whale Sharks — April to November
  7. Aliwal Shoals and Protea Banks, South Africa — Bull (Zambezi) — November to May; Tigers –November thru May; Ragged Tooth  –July to November
  8. Rangiroa, French Polynesia (Avatoru and Tiputa pass) — Gray, Reef — all year; Hammerheads –January and February
  9. Richelieu Rock, Koh Tuchai, Thailand — Whale Sharks — January to May
  10. Neptune Islands, South Australia — Great Whites –June, July and August

If you can’t get enough of this, you can sink your teeth into our Pinterest for more scuba and shark photos!

Best Travel Deals

Top Eight Olympic Sports Divers Love

OK, so scuba diving is not an Olympic sport. But we still have plenty of sports to cheer for. According to research on more than 400,000 divers, many active recreational divers also enjoy other cross over activities that are on the Olympic roster.

We prepared this infographic listing the top 8 Olympic sports divers love to do, plus a few other interesting facts about divers. From diving with a significant other to shredding it on the slopes we don’t just get our fins wet, we know how to LIVE!

 

 

Maduro Memberships and Accreditations