NAUI is the acronym for the National Association of Underwater Instructors. It was founded in 1960 and is one of the oldest diver certifying agencies in the world. It is unique in that it is a worldwide, democratic, membership association, whose Board of Directors are elected instructor members who represent the membership and establish policies for the association.¹

NAUI courses are very thorough and routinely exceed minimum industry standards. The basic course is Scuba Diver, which takes the non-diver to open water certification. This is followed by Advanced Scuba Diver which improves your overall knowledge and skill in the water. It is designed for newly certified divers and introduces them to many different types of activities available to certified divers. The Master Scuba Diver course helps you acquire leadership-level academic knowledge and enables you to participate in advanced diving activities .²

Other NAUI courses include Rescue Diving and Nitrox Diver. Leadership level courses with NAUI include Divemaster and Scuba Diving Instructor.

The NAUI ideal is “Dive Safety Through Education”. The NAUI slogan is “The Quality Difference”. The corporate mission statement is “to enable people to enjoy underwater activities as safely as possible by providing the highest quality practical education, and to actively promote the preservation and protection of the world’s underwater environments”. The NAUI credo states that businesses and individuals are entitled to do business with whomever they choose and we (NAUI) do not demand that they be exclusive to NAUI. They do however expect NAUI members to represent and support the NAUI organization to at least the same extent they support any other organization.³

To become a NAUI leader, it takes more than desire. The step up to leadership levels of Divemaster and Instructor is a challenging process. It entails performing and committing to the limits of your ability.

The primary goal of NAUI leadership training is to help the candidate become as successful a diving leader as they can be. The training has four aspects:

1. Acquiring diving knowledge and developing the ability to perform and demonstrate specific essential water skills.

2. Learning leadership skills and developing an effective personal leadership style through study and the observation of other leaders.

3. Benefiting from evaluation and coaching on all aspects of leadership responsibilities.

4. Gaining experience through exercising leadership skills under the supervision and guidance of a NAUI Instructor. ⁴

As a NAUI leader you will develop an attitude that places the highest concern for student and diver safety. Published minimum standards of achievement are treated as goals to be acquired and exceeded. The instructor candidate will embrace the tenets of over-learning, maximizing individual potential, public speaking, developing personal best aquatic skills, minimum and no impact environmental activism, and learning by doing.⁵

NAUI Leadership and Instructor training is founded on the “Loved One” concept. That is, it is only those we would trust to train our loved ones to dive that we graduate at any level and especially so for leadership and instructor certification.

Ultimately, when you become a NAUI Instructor, you will have academic freedom. That is the freedom to meet the students academic needs. You are not required to follow a specific order of training , you are allowed to explore and innovate ways to teach and help individual students and divers meet certification requirements. ⁶

Becoming a NAUI instructor is about embracing a set of values that transcend the mundane pursuit of a vocation. It is about becoming filled with a passion to achieve one’s personal best and helping others to achieve the same .

¹ Barocas, I. (2003). NAUI Leadership and Instruction. p. 4. United States of America: NAUI.
² Carroll, S. (2000,2004). NAUI Scuba Diver. p. 7. United States 0f America: NAUI.
³ Barocas, I. (2003). NAUI Leadership and Instruction. p. 8. United States of America: NAUI.
⁴ Barocas, I. (2003). NAUI Leadership and Instruction. p. 5. United States of America: NAUI.
⁵Barocas, I. (2003). NAUI Leadership and Instruction. p. 6. United States of America: NAUI.
⁶Barocas, I. (2003). NAUI Leadership and Instruction. p. 7. United States of America: NAUI.

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I recently had the opportunity to meet an expert in underwater camouflage during part a month long educational seminar on Saba (see www.seaandlearn.org for more information).

I had lunch with one of them and just chatted about his research on camouflage techniques. Somehow frogfish came up and I asked him if he knew why it took them so long to change their colors to camouflage themselves, versus groupers and octopus and so many other species of fish that can switch in a flash. He looked at me dumbfounded and said he never realized they could change color, to which I replied “We have one here on Saba that’s changing from yellow to green as we speak…!”

He shook his head and started praising us – the recreational divers. We are the ones that see so much more than the scientists do. We gather more information, we see the changes, we see the interactions, we watch the oceans transform. We are the world’s ambassadors to the oceans.

It got me thinking: just because we’re “recreational divers” doesn’t mean that we don’t pay attention. But I think we do need to make a conscious effort to be more involved in each of our dives.

The majority of divers are vacation divers – they leave their grueling office job to go somewhere warm where they can shut their brains off and play with the fish. But our brains aren’t really turned off. And with a little engagement we can take a normal every day dive and turn it into a rich learning experience that could possibly help save an ecosystem.

But first you need to build a knowledge base. Knowing that the little black and white striped fish like to chase off divers and leave little hickeys on their legs if they get too close isn’t useful. Knowing that those fish are a type of damselfish called a Sergeant Major and that those big purple patches they are swimming around are egg beds that they are protecting – that’s better information. When you started diving one of the first things you probably learned about were cleaning stations. First someone pointed out those funny-looking purple shrimp to you and told you they were Pederson cleaner shrimp.

Now we had a name for a face. And when we floated nearby for a while we noticed that all kinds of fish would come to these shrimp and let them crawl around in their mouths and gills. The more we watched, the more we learned. Now when you see a parrotfish stop and angle its head up you look for the little tiny shrimp or cleaner fish nearby because you know that posture is a signal to the cleaning station saying “I’m not going to eat you, I just have an itch.” And we know that instead of posturing, Groupers will darken their colors to black as the approach, as if sending the same signal in a different language.

Just a few weeks ago I was astounded to see a Peacock Flounder displaying the most electric shade of turquoise on its spots that I had ever seen. I followed it for a few feet because I was absolutely mesmerized by the color. And right before my eyes the flounder sailed into a cleaning station and the Pederson Shrimp started crawling all over it. Now that was a pretty clear signal!

When we know what we are seeing underwater we can then understand what is supposed to be there – what species, what behaviors are normal.

When a sudden change happens we are the first to see it and recognize its value, from a rebound in the local grouper population to an invasive species showing up in our backyard. So pay more attention on your next dive – whether it is your 2059th dive or your 4th – and make a point to learn something. Find a fish you don’t know the name for and look it up, or stake out a cleaning station and watch all the different species that pay a visit. The more we learn, the more we ask questions, and the more we want to know.

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Since PADI is “The way the world learns to dive” and a ‘PADI course’ has become synonymous with what is actually an entry-level Scuba certification, being an SSI instructor, I have necessarily developed a concise stock answer to this article’s title-question.

In this short series of articles I will be exploring in detail what the differences are; to dive operators and dive leaders as well as (potential) students and divers in general. In this first article we will take a look at the beginnings of the agency. Knowledge of the early days is essential in understanding SSI’s current policies and will even shed some light on the birth of the dive training industry as a whole.

When Scuba Schools International came into fruition in 1970, its founding members had all previously belonged to the National Association of Scuba Diving Schools (NASDS), a retailers’ association.

PADI at this point did not issue certifications and, as its acronym suggests, was an association of instructors, not retailers. The only other viable certifying agencies in existence were NAUI and YMCA, both of which had very similar anti-sales philosophies, in line with their not-for-profit status; they viewed themselves as purely educational bodies that actively discouraged instructors from selling equipment in the classroom context. They taught people to dive, period.

SSI developed with a view that teaching and equipment were not separate entities. While training is most important, SSI’s view is that divers can’t be truly successful unless provided with both the training and the tools to go diving — dive stores are seen as the perfect environment to provide this equipment, along with the air fills, trips and dive experiences that divers need. Furthermore, there is noone better suited to control the quality of training than those with the most to lose — the dive facilities. SSI was and always will be a dealer organisation.

The aim is to have a network of SSI Dealers that provide professional Scuba Schools with an internal system of checks and balances.

The owner/manager is a director of training who customises SSI training courses to fit the needs of the local market and monitors staff to provide the highest quality training possible. To the dive instructor this means that one must be affiliated with a dive store and conduct training through that store in return for access to pools, training materials and facilities, travel opportunities, and employee training in equipment sales and service. To the Dealer this means trained, sales-oriented employees and the ability to maintain a desired level of service.

What does this mean to the average diver or student? Honestly? Not much. There are good and bad dive shops all over the world; operators with integrity and straight-up fly-by-night cowboys; great instructors and total dickheads, regardless of agency.

You will read in many places and hear from a variety of sources that it is the instructor that matters, not the agency. Although this is often true and I agree with the sentiment to a certain degree, there are some marked differences in the training you might receive — what you learn and the way it is taught.

How SSI differs in this respect will be the focus of my next article.

Popularity: 3% [?]

As the official Shark Diving Jedi I want to welcome everyone to the most exciting section of Scuba Jedi!

Whether you actively seek out encounters with the ocean’s top predators or if you just bump into the occasional reef shark you are a Shark Diver and in my opinion that makes you a very lucky person.

If you have yet to see your first shark then stay tuned. Over the coming months I will be writing about some of the sharkiest places on the planet. Places that you will want to visit. Places where you’re guaranteed to see more than your fair share of sharks.
But, before I launch into stories about adrenalin drenching encounters with sharks there are a couple of things that I want to make crystal clear…

Firstly, sharks are not monsters. If you’re hoping to read about ferocious, man-eating, blood thirsty beasties you should head over to the Scuba Diving Marketing Section. Sure, some forms of shark diving can be dangerous but sharks do not prowl the oceans looking for tasty divers to munch. If that were the case they would consume every unsuspecting swimmer that entered their domain. After all, even a small shark could make short work of a human intruder if it wanted to.

Sharks are graceful, intelligent, magnificent animals. Some are large, powerful and bold but most of the 500 or so species (that live in virtually every marine habitat from freshwater rivers to the abyssal marine plains) are small and reclusive. Most are so shy that they have not yet been photographed in their natural habitat. And, unless there is a serious shift in thinking, many may become extinct before we learn anything about them other than the value of their fins.

Secondly, remember the expression ‘Don’t try this at home’ before you get too excited and leap into shark infested waters while waving around a bleeding tuna carcass. If you want to interact with sharks at very close quarters, join an organized shark dive. As I already mentioned, sharks generally are not interested in biting people. Humans are bony and don’t have a high enough oil content to make them a very productive snack. We probably taste bad too.
However, when divers feed fish to sharks it changes all that. Sharks can’t conceptualize such an alien behavior as another animal offering them food for entertainment. So, when they see divers with fish they interpret it as if the humans are competing predators.

Depending on how bold they feel, they may circle at a distance or rush in and try to steal the food. Sometimes, this inadvertently results in a shark bite.

Experienced shark diving/feeding operators usually know how far they can take things without the sharks getting out of control. So, at least initially, stick with the experts.

May the sharks be with you,

Andy Murch
Creator of the Elasmodiver Shark and Ray Field Guide
Staff Photographer at Shark Diver Magazine
Shark Diving Jedi

Popularity: 1% [?]

I want to share with you a dilemma which I had about ten years ago just before I moved to Spain, that for itself is an interesting story, but we’ll skip it for now.
Ok, I’m moving to Spain, but where exactly am I going to start the new part of my life in that big country? That was relatively easy with the help of the great universe forces and what is called meditation. I sat on the floor with a map of Spain, my eyes were closed and while meditating I pointed with my finger … Valencia.

OK, never been there or anywhere in Spain, but I liked the answer since it’s located on the coast line and I’ve always loved to sit next to the sea, hear the waves and relax.

Now there was the next decision; what am I going to do? I had a few options I was thinking about, and I remembered the advice of a good friend of mine: “do what you really love…”

Easy answer… I love diving. It was also backed up with some list of facts: I was diving for about 23 years, Instructor for about 10 years, I had Navy diving experience, underwater Archeological experience, underwater photography and had an photo exhibition, add to that I’m commercial skipper and already crossed the Atlantic, the Indian ocean, the
Mediterranean and the North sea… with all that experience and skills I’ll open my dive center.

With that decision of building my Dive center, I start learning the Spanish coast to be able to find the best and the right place for the center.

The Iberian Peninsula have a shape of square, Portugal is located on the west side of that square. On top of Portugal it’s the Spanish province of Galicia, with two seas: the Atlantic Ocean on the West and the Cantabrian Sea on the North.

In Galicia you can find excellent food and very nice people… but to dive there… that’s a different story. If you are familiar with the diving around UK or Ireland, then you’ll find it similar: hard sea, high waves, strong currents and very little visibility… in summer the sea temperature can get to 16-17C and winter drops to 5-6C.

East to Galicia, on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea there are the provinces of: Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country. All have the same hard sea conditions.

The Spanish south coast is the Andalucía province known as “Costa Del Sol” and Gibraltar. Most people think Gibraltar divide between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. But actually that imaginary “line” is going from Portugal at the point of the Peninsula to Morocco.

No matter where the “line” is, the sea conditions there are very much affected by the Atlantic: strong currents, low visibility and relatively cold water temperature.

On the Spanish East coast are the provinces of: Catalonia “Costa Brava”, Valencia “Costa Blanca”, Murcia and the side of Andalucía.
The “Costa Brava” is known for its cliffs, bays and walls dropping to the sea creating a rocky underwater landscape, in that Northern area the water temperature is 3-4C colder then of the “Costa Blanca” which is well known for the white long beaches starches for almost 400Km. these long beaches are “cut” in some points with mountains and rocky beaches. The longest “cut” is starched on about 60 Km. from Denia to Benidorm. And my dive center “Mermaid Diving Moraira” is located in the middle of it, in Moraira – An old fisherman village, hidden between bays and mountains which are made of limestone rock. Many caves and caverns were created in those mountains during millions of years, allowing us now, 10,000 years after the Ice era, after its melted sea level rose about 20-30m. To dive in those caves

That was exposed to sun light during the Neolithic period.

I will certainly return back to stories about those caves and many other dive sites in another article.

From Alicante to the southest point of the Peninsula, most of the area is mountains dropping to the sea. In there, located the town of Cartagena is the ancient Cartago, with its very deep navy port, about 800m. That area is a popular dive area, known for its deep dives with strong currents and cold water temperature caused by the deep sea.

To conclude, Spain a special dive area in Europe, with many possibilities to offer the divers, with endemic marine life that exist only in the Mediterranean trough historical wrecks and Archeology, a project we are planning at the moment.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Oh my god, did I just write that? I mean… how do I dare? Did I forget that diving is fun. That diving takes me places, that diving helps me meet people, do things? (sound “PADI” familiar?)

Well, do I seriously think that Night diving sucks? Oh yeah! I think it sucks…I mean, I really don’t like night diving. I think it is overrated, I think you get colder than normal.. and I simply find that each night dive I do, I end loosing gear, and complaining about how cold it is… and how rough the conditions are at my local dive site.
So overall… I don’t like it and I stand up today saying: I’m a Scuba diving instructor and Night diving sucks.

But that’s the point of this article – it is OK not to like some sorts of diving.

Ladies and Gentleman, diving girls and diving boys I don’t like night diving… and by saying this I feel like I just freed myself from a huge weight on my shoulders. The reason? It seems the diving community can’t accept that you don’t LOVE all types of diving.

It all started with my wife, (I met her thanks to diving) , while I was working in Egypt… that’s when I heard the terrible words:

I only like doing 1 dive per day and I only dive when it is good visibility.

What? Are you serious…? What are you talking about – I asked. Don’t you know that REAL divers, we dive anywhere, everywhere, that’s what REAL divers do.

But then she answered with a simplicity that destroyed my EGO of Super-amazing-diving-instructor:

Well… if I don’t have fun while diving… what’s the point?

And that’s when I started to understand one thing about scuba diving: this is something we do for fun.

If Diving is a way of life, I will presume we want to live a life surrounded by pleasure and fun. Unless you come from catholic roots like me (mom this goes to you!) and you grew up with the guilt syndrome … the main purpose of life is to achieve happiness and to have the best time possible while we are here. Therefore if we take scuba diving as a way of living, we should take that not all types of diving are fun.. and in fact avoiding the type of not-fun-diving can help us have a better time, the next time we decide to dive in the conditions we prefer.

You may think that diving in a lake with zero visibility and in a dry suit is fun.
You may think that diving trying to find small animals in coral gardens is fun
You may think that gearing up with twin tanks and 1 extra tank for deco stop is fun.
Fair enough…
but what if you don’t think it is fun… what if you just want to dive, in good conditions, in warm weather, with excellent visibility.

Then? Be brave enough to do it and be brave enough not to dive in places and locations you don’t want to dive.

That’s why if I say that I hate night diving in a “public” divers meeting, I can guarantee everyone will point their fingers concerned about my afirmmation. It seems that we have allowed the “divers society” to define what a REAL diver is all about.

“REAL Divers dive anyday at any time…”
“For a Real diver any day diving is better than any day at the office”…

Are you for real?

I don’t remember when “at the office” I have been dragged against rocks and have had my equipment damaged thanks to an aggressive swell and horrible winds.

I believe we have to remember the basics of recreational scuba diving: We are supposed to have fun… we are not navy divers, we are not police divers.

It took me over 5 years to understand this concept, to understand and respect that for my wife diving is a way of enjoying the marine environment … at her time… on her rhythm on her own rules.

She is a Divemaster, she is not tough like a SAS diver,neither is she a tech diver trying to break the next depth record… she is a recreational diver, a diver that understands that her love for diving is like any other “love relationship”. It needs to be nourished, it needs to be cared for gently.

Why is there the need to push us to jump in the water when the water is rough?
What is there the need of “having to dive”…
Sometimes allowing other divers to say no without launching a series of retoric comments… shows more respect to each persons passion and respect for their own scuba diving …

Scuba Diving changes depending on the sea, the color of the water, the type of diving, the dive buddies and the objective of each dive.

So free yourself from loving and hating some parts of diving, free yourself from enjoying what you want from diving and let the rest of the world judge what type of diving they will do trying to find what they define as Fun.

And if you want to know what REAL divers are? Anyone who respects and loves going underwater to enjoy life, silence and the peace of being one with the sea. Nothing else, nothing more…

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As a scuba instructor, I always have students wanting to know
“What’s wrong with buying used scuba gear?”

I try to approach this delicately. When buying from a dive shop you have to be certified to purchase all primary equipment (bcd, regulators, tanks, etc.) but now a days with eBay and all the local classified ad venues, it’s just to easy to pick up a full set of gear pretty cheap with no diving certification.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you can find a good deal on good used equipment, but you have to be careful. First of all, you should wait until after you have some knowledge about what you are looking at when buying scuba gear. That’s part of the basics in the open water class. I occasionally have a student or two who will bring in their “Great” find and ask me what I think of the 20 year old regulator (that probably hasn’t been serviced in 10 or more years). I just shake my head and remind them they will be using my equipment in their Open Water class, but they might be able to make a lamp or something out of it.

If you are going to purchase used gear here are just a few tips on what you should be looking for. Tanks Must be Hydrostatically tested every 5years and visually inspected every year. If there is no visual inspection sticker in the last 10 years or no new hydro stamp since 1989, lol, be leery (to say the least). There’s no telling how long that things been sitting in the dank garage empty. You wont know if it can even be used until you send it to Hydro. Bet you won’t be happy when it comes back condemned with a cracked neck (unusable) and you just lost whatever money you paid for it.

Regulators are ever changing with the times. They have to be serviced every year. If you are buying a used regulator make sure you see the receipts or service records. Even if it hasn’t been used and just stored, o rings can dry rot and there is no telling what might be living inside of it. Just don’t believe Joe Blow when they tell you it’s been serviced every year. It probably hasn’t and definitely for God’s sake, even if it has been serviced, put it in the pool , bathtub, hot tub, (just kidding) Put it somewhere and check it out before you actually go dive with it. If it is a full set it might have a burst line, frozen first stage, dry rotted o rings, etc. This is life support equipment. All joking aside, your life depends on whatever gear you decide to buy or use.

Computers have changed dramatically over the last few years. You can’t even compare what a computer back in 1999 could do compared to today’s dive computer. If you still want that used module make sure it works properly. You want to actually put batteries in it and make sure it comes on. Make sure the previous owner hasn’t violated it or locked it down. Also make sure the battery compartment is clean and dry. After you do get it home you will definitely want to look up the manufacturer online and try to download a users manual if you don’t get one with the computer.

Used wetsuits, masks, fins, boots, soft line gear are abundant. So if you go that route just make sure it’s in good condition and fits properly. Check the skirt and the strap on the mask for holes or dry rot. Check all fin clips and straps for dry rot. Some fin clips aren’t replaceable if they are to old or the fins aren’t made anymore. So, if the clips look bad don’t buy. Most fin straps can be replaced. Wetsuits, well what can I say, if it’s in pretty good condition go for it. Just remember, there are two types of divers. Those who pee in their wetsuits and those who lie about it. Think about that when you are buying that used suit.

Until Next time, Happy Diving!!
Scubajen

Popularity: -1% [?]

“Fins to the left . . . Fins to the right, and you’re the only bait in town.”

If we don’t change our behavior toward sharks, someday they might only exist in the lyrics of a popular Jimmy Buffett tune.

When divers encounter sharks they usually have good stories to tell. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty rare occurrence these days. The need for shark conservation is critical, for reasons we’ll discuss here.

A contributing factor to the severe decline in shark populations is that many people have a negative perception about sharks. Barbara Bridges, President & CEO of Stealth Pilot Productions, and a member of the LinkedIn Group Ocean Champions, explains why sharks suffer from a serious public relations problem:

“In the past twenty years television specials have contributed much toward saving wilderness and wild species–including establishing the need for marine protected areas. The lamentable exception to these preservation efforts are sharks–the wolves of the sea. Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’ still uses a highly exploitative, blood-in-the-water approach to filming these Alpha predators. Sharks are just as necessary to maintaining a healthy marine environment as plankton, coral, the smaller species of food fish, or whales. Discovery Channel, while ostensibly ‘celebrating all wildlife’, annually contributes to countless shark deaths worldwide by promulgating widespread panic and fear.”

The story of one particular shark typifies their plight.

Diving in Cozumel, my dive operator Alison told me about a young nurse shark that she thought had been born with a deformed nub of its front dorsal fin (nurse sharks have a second dorsal fin, back toward the tail). Hence, Alison named him Stubby. Over the years we watched Stubby grow from a 4-foot youngster into an 8-foot adult. Fully grown nurse sharks can attain 14-feet.

Diving Cozumel’s Yucab Reef one morning, we were preparing to ascend when Alison spotted Stubby below us, hunting along the coral. We descended and watched him corner his prey in a small cave. Our group of four divers formed a semi-circle at the cave opening. We watched Stubby thrash his long tail, forcing himself into the narrow opening to devour whatever he had trapped, probably a lobster. After several minutes Stubby’s body shuddered, then relaxed as he consumed his meal. When he wiggled backward out of the cave, he was sporting a “remora beard.”

Stubby was startled to see a bunch of bubble-blowers around him. He turned quickly and I shot another photo (below) as he swam away, right between my legs! I was sure glad his dorsal fin was “stubby”!

One day a couple of years ago, Alison told me she had seen Stubby trailing a fishing leader from his lower jaw. Shortly afterward, Alison never saw him again. Perhaps as an adult, Stubby had expanded his hunting range out of Cozumel’s protected park, and had been taken by a fisherman. Or, Stubby might have been captured by an illegal poacher within the park.

I recently contacted Alison for background on this article. She hopes Stubby migrated north, and is happily swimming somewhere else. But Alison said, “I do not know why once reaching full adulthood he would begin to gradually move northward. There is a lot that I don’t understand about nurse shark behaviour; I just observe. The only thing for certain is that I really, really miss Stubby ”

The most likely scenario, however, is that Stubby’s fate has been the fate of too many other sharks: overfishing. In a mere 30 years, humans have reduced the world-wide shark population by 90%. As the demand in Asia for shark-fin soup and other shark by-products increases, the pressure on their dwindling population intensifies.

THE SCOREBOARD: Millions of sharks (conservative estimates range between 10 and 20 million; higher estimates range from 70 to 100 million) are killed annually by long-line commercial fishermen seeking tuna and other fish, drowned in gill nets and drift nets, intentionally slaughtered by shark finners, or killed in shark sporting tournaments and by other “recreational” fishing activity.

Sharks, on the other hand, kill approximately 10 humans per year. That’s less than die from lightening, bee stings, and food allergies. If you shout “SHARK!” on a crowded beach you’ll clear the water in a minute. Yell “PEANUTS!” in a restaurant and I doubt much would happen.

A 2008 NY Times article illustrated the threat to sharks:

NY Times Article

The key point to consider: Extinction is a one-way street; there is no re-wind and no replay!

WHAT CAN WE DO?

First, the obvious: Don’t eat or purchase shark products.

Most important: Support efforts to ban shark fishing. Many countries, such as Palau, have done this.

Story: Palau Bites Back

Websites where you can get more information:

Shark Conservation Act of 2009

Ban Shark Finning

Shark Alliance Press Release

Shark Conservation Society

To find additional websites about shark conservation, Google “Shark Decline”.

Popularity: -1% [?]

Costa Rica, known as one of the most bio diverse countries on the planet and eco tourism capital of the world, but diving?! Even to date, in the whole grand scheme of things Costa Rica is not the first place that you would think of for Scuba diving, but why not?

Costa Rica has so much to offer both underwater and above water that it should definitely be on your list of places to go and blow some bubbles. I am hoping that as I write about my many experiences throughout Costa Rica diving I can show you what an incredible place it is and why you have to come and experience it for yourself.

The country has 3 main diving areas along the coasts of Costa Rica as well as the world famous Coco Island, each one holding its own draw. The pacific coast as many of you know is not as tranquil and calm as the Caribbean but along with that comes the big fish and adventure! Whilst the majority of the wildlife stays the same, depending on the time of year some areas may be better than others. All areas of Costa Rica are affected differently each year by the wet season and the dry season, for example the southern pacific coast experiences larger amounts of rain in September /October time whereas the north pacific coast, gets effected by winds around February time. All in all though the diving remains pretty consistent.

The three main coastal areas for diving are the Northern pacific coast, also known as Guanacaste province, the central/south pacific, Puntarenas province, and the south Caribbean coast. If you are heading north you will find that there are a number of dive shops spaced out along the coast from Tamarindo up to Playa Hermosa.

You can experience local dives here where they are many sightings of eagle rays and sting rays, or head to one of the two famous offshore sights Catalina Island and the bull islands, home to the impressive bull sharks. Definitely worth a look if you are there the right time of year (June to November).

The central pacific coast also offers some inshore sights around Playa Herradura and Manuel Antonio national park, as well as Cano Island, often referred to as the mini Coco Island. If you want to see white tip reef sharks this would be the place, with many of them on each dive resting and swimming around the sand patches. There are also some deep offshore sights around this area, some places for those with a real sense of adventure and right now, in the middle of one of the humpback whale migration time who knows what you could see.

The third coastal area for diving in Costa Rica is on the southern Caribbean coast around Puerto Viejo. This area is home to a beautiful shallow reef, in the Cahuita area with dive spots running almost to the Panama border. Don’t forget though that here, the Caribbean coast can be affected by rains and storms, so check what time of year you go.

With the country being so small you can easily travel around and visit some different places to get the most out of your diving here, and with this series of articles, you can take everything you need to know before you get here and have some awesome dive time.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Out of the wheelchair and into the blue. I can go backwards, forwards, up, down, and side to side. It’s just like being an astronaut in space. What freedom. Try scuba diving.

Scuba diving in recent years has become the focus as a good sport for disabled people to have a go at. In the United States it has been taken on as a project for wounded United States Forces veterans as rehab through the Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba scheme. This is a recreational activity being banded as a genuine source of rehabilitation for those considered ‘disabled’. What would be the bonuses of this?

Despite its ‘extreme James Bond’ image, scuba diving does provide a number of bonuses for those who want to give it a try. To get under the water and into a weightless environment can offer un-paralleled freedoms for all. This is before we even consider what beauty and excitement can be encountered under the surface.

In contrast to many sports for wheelchairs such as wheelchair basketball, cycling or rugby there is no need for customized chairs or equipment when a disabled person goes scuba diving. There is no wheelchair in the water and aside from things like wetsuit adjustments (which non-disabled people need as well); there are no massive equipment changes for the individual.

In the same way in many cases there is no penalization for having a disability. Some disabled people have risen all the way through the professional ranks of instructor and above.

After a fall from a third floor balcony 4 years ago I was paralysed below the waist and unable to walk again. However I was lucky enough to have been involved in scuba diving before my accident. Since my return to diving instruction just 1 and ½ months following my discharge from Stoke Mandeville Spinal Injuries unit in the UK, I have continued, working my way up the PADI ladder to the highest rating that can be held by a PADI professional: Course Director which means that I don’t just teach diving but also teach others to become instructors. It was also interesting to learn that I was the first person to reach this level with PADI, seeing how natural scuba seems to me.

The great thing about scuba diving is that it offers someone like myself a chance to throw off those constraints that I have on land in to an environment where I am the same as everyone else in the water. The only difference is that I swim with my arms rather than my legs. I want to be able to share that feeling with other people in my situation, who maybe feel that they could not do something, which is still considered an extreme sport. They can and in many cases are better than non-disabled divers. Even if the person have a more limiting condition, provided that they pass the medical they can be taken diving and see and do things that 95% of people will never see.

Another great advantage is where scuba diving can take you. Since my accident and carrying on scuba instruction I have worked in Thailand and Egypt. I have also dived in Australia, Kenya, Malaysia, the USA, Spain and Croatia. Pretty much anywhere there is water you can dive so why not have a go?

So who can dive?
In the past few years, I have taken on diving courses, paraplegics, quadraplegics, amputees, people with muscular dystrophy and there is the possibility of diving for many other people including Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, and hearing and visually impaired to name a few. In the same way as non-disabled people if you pass the medical saying that you are fit enough to dive then you can be introduced to the underwater world.

The IAHD (International Association for Handicapped Divers) provides a training program, which is recognized by the major training organisations such as PADI, NAUI and SSI. In addition it has programs which train diving instructors to work with disabled people to try and counter previous skepticism encountered by pioneers in disabled diving such as Fraser Bathgate.

Are there any medical benefits from diving?

There are the obvious mental benefits provided by a sport, which breaks down the barriers so much and introduces a whole new world.

I myself cannot emphasise how much it helped with my rehab. Having gone from 100 mph to nothing in an instant and to be told I could still dive and make few changes was a great help. I’m just glad I knew about diving and now want to help as many people who haven’t thought about it, as possible discover it.

Some scuba instructors have remarked that some people they have worked with have actually had less pain underwater than on the surface. Certainly with guys I have taken into the water the change that you can see in people from the moment they take their first breath is staggering. The determination of some of the divers has been incredible too. In efforts to further the possibiities Fraser Bathgate the worlds first ever paraplegic diving instructor and Director of Training for the IAHD is constantly working with governments and medical services on new initiatives for the disabled in scuba diving and rehabilitation.

Physiotherapists of the UK National Spinal Injuries Centre have remarked that there could be genuine use for scuba diving in spinal rehabilitation programs. There is an assessment that where initially people were skeptical that it was too good to be true at first, now it is becoming more accepted as government organisations and medical groups work with the IAHD and other scuba organisations towards implementing more scuba diving for the disabled.

Where can you learn to Dive?

The best place to start is by looking on the web to find your nearest dive school and instructor. The IAHD’s website provides information on where you can find you local IAHD instructor or IAHD Dive centre. PADI provide a similar service on their website. There are also initiatives like try dives run at dive centres worldwide. It is certainly something that everyone can do on holiday and adds an extra dimension to a holiday in contrast to just lying on a beach and opens up a massive array of destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia to name just a few.

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