What happens in Egypt stays in Egypt
Teaching diving is something that I don’t often get a chance to do in this day and age, with the exception of the occasional Nitrox course. Then again, that is more theoretical- than practical application and doesn’t really include any “in water skill training”. Hence the smile on my face when I received the news that I was to teach the Rescue Diver Course and the Dive Master Course to an English girl called Ashleigh. My only concern was how I would manage to fit in the training parallel to guiding certified divers on liveaboard trips. Fortunately we had a week on land due to lack of bookings, so the theory and confined water training was easily completed with help from Theresa (my colleague on the boat) acting as a victim. We had a great time and since Ashleigh worked as a life guard at a swimming pool, prior to [...]
Categories: featured, Scuba diving destinations, Scuba Diving in Egypt Tags: dive sites in Egpt, diving in Egypt, Scuba Egypt
Cano Island Diving
Cano island is on the south pacific coast of Costa Rica. From my base in Manual Antonio it is around a 2 hour boat ride south, but that is going to reduced soon, thanks to the arrival of speedier transport. Cano island is a national park in itself so is subject to certain rules and regulations when visiting. You have to make reservations to start with , no rocking up the day of, and even when you are there you have to check before you dive, as there are limits to only 10 divers per sight. The north side of the island is the side that is open to the public and home to a ranger station and some very basic facilities. The reef runs all around the island but there are 7 specific dive spots that are drop points for diving. Saying that, most of the diving seems to [...]
The Great Lionfish Debate
For those divers who spend most of our bottom time in the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Southeast coast of the US, the word Lionfish might make you cringe a little. Seeing them underwater tears you apart – half of you wants to run over and stab it to death, while the other half whips out a camera to take a picture of those elegant fins. I’ve spent about a year and a half listening to people rave about this problem – from experts in the field to passionate divers – and I’m going to try to set the record straight about how the problem started, what’s being done to try to curb the invasion, and if we have any hope for the future. And I’m open to arguments – I’m no expert, just a good listener. I forget that some people have no idea what I’m talking about, so let me [...]
Categories: Conservation, Marine Biology Tags: Coral Reefs
Life after the PADI IDC – continue your education
Ok guys. Congratulations on becoming PADI Instructors. Give yourself a standing ovation. You have done exceptionally well to get to this level. Now you can give people a life changing experience as you introduce them and guide them through the world of scuba diving. Get out there and start teaching as much as you can. But what other options are also available to you now? Is this the end of the road? Does you experience stop after the IE? No way! Don’t let this be the end of your diving education. There are still more things that you can learn and also more things that you can offer people as a diving educator. For instance have you ever thought about being able to teach the things that interest you? Do you have a particular passion for wreck diving or perhaps underwater photography? Would you like to be able to teach [...]
Categories: Scuba Careers Tags: PADI, PADI IDC, PADI Instructors, Scuba Career
Welcome to the Dark Side — Closed Circuit Rebreathers
By now most of you must have heard of, if not yet tried a rebreather unit of some type. They fall into two main types Semi Closed units and Fully Closed units, to me in this present day and age the semi closed units (SCR’s) have out lasted there use and are pretty well obsolete except for specialised shallow diving, they were and are a stepping stone away from Open Circuit diving (SCUBA toward the world of true Closed Circuit Rebreather diving (CCR). Most rebreathers fall under the CCR category which in its self can be split further into two sub categories – Mechanical Closed Circuit Rebreathers (MCCR) or Electronic Closed Circuit Rebreathers (ECCR). The reason for these two sub-categories is mainly due to the fact that some people do not trust their life to a unit controlled by an electrical technology well underwater, others like me “trust the technology” [...]
Categories: Rebreathers Tags: Closed Circuit Rebreathers, dark side of diving, rebreather diving
