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The Best Of Aquaviews 2010

Noreen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:00:51 +0000

With the year coming to an end, we’re journeying back through our archives of over 500 posts and listing the ones our readers have liked best. Here’s a look at some of our top viewed articles in of 2010 under different categories , if you’ve happened to miss any. Happy New Years!

Scuba & Ocean Related News

1. Amazing Videos:World Champion Free Diver Free Falls into Blue Hole (Posted: June 10, 2010)
2. James Cameron’s Love for Scuba Diving Shows in Avatar (Posted: January 4, 2010)
3. 5 Unusual But Incredible Underwater Inventions And Feats (Posted: August 13, 2010)
4. Richard Branson’s New Boy Toy- An ‘Underwater Plane’ (Posted: April 15, 2010)
5. Scuba News: Entangled Giant Tuna Drags Diver To 300 Feet (Posted: October 26, 2010)

Explore The Blue (Marine Life Related)

1. Meet The One in 2 Million Blue Lobster (Posted: May 19, 2010)
2. Sea Pens- Not The Underwater Writing Kind (Posted: May 26, 2010)
3. Creatures of the Ocean & Amazing Facts (Posted: February 12, 2010)
4. Bioluminescent Plankton: What makes it glow? (Posted: February 9, 2010)
5. Shark Facts And Fish Tales: 5 Biggest Misconceptions About Sharks (Posted: September 22, 2010)

Scuba Diving Articles
1.Top 10 Scuba Dive Computers (Posted: June 3, 2010)
2. Strange But True Scuba Diving Records (Posted: May 22, 2010)
3. Best Dive Sites: Top 15 Dives to Experience Before You Die (Posted: February 24, 2010)
4. Aquarium Scuba Jobs (Posted: June 30, 2010)
5. Top 10 Scuba Fins (Posted: May 18, 2010)

Destinations

1. Free Diving Haven- The Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas (Posted: June 29, 2010)
2. Scuba Dive With Narwhals in Newfoundland, Canada (Posted: April 12, 2010)
3. The Top 10 Coolest Places In The World To Take A Dip (Posted: July 7, 2010)
4. Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin’s Spectacular AquaDom (Posted: July 2, 2010)
5. Dive The Neptune Memorial Reef, An Underwater Cemetery (Posted: August 25, 2010)

Miscellaneous

1. From Trash To Treasure- Artificial Reefs Uncovered (Posted: April 1, 2010)
2. 5 Things More Likely Than a Shark Attack (Posted: October 22, 2010)
3. Scuba Humor: Top 10 Scuba Demotivational Posters (Posted: February 28, 2010)
4. Into The Depths Of Our Oceans-Layers Of The Ocean Revealed (Posted: September 13, 2010)
5. It’s a Beautiful Blue World Down There… (Posted: March 19, 2010)

* photo credits: photos by wiccked, dMap Travel Guide, doug.deep on flickr

Scuba Humor: 5 Steps to Avoid A Shark Attack

Noreen — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:06:51 +0000

1: Swim with fat people- Try to surround yourself with more appetizing companions. If you know them well, you might even try to switch their suntan lotion with A-1 Steak Sauce. This will definitely improve your odds survival. Hell even if you don’t know them, tell them you’ll put some A-1, I mean suntan lotion on their back. (wink, wink) If they say it would be weird because they only just met you, say “it’s only weird if you make it weird… …buddy.”

2: Don’t swim in the ocean- By not swimming in the ocean the odds of getting bit by a shark decrease by ten. If you are unsure if you are actually in an ocean, taste it. If it tastes like a soggy salty peanut bag at the big game, you’re in the ocean. GET OUT!

3: Listen out for the music- In the event that you are foolish enough to swim in an ocean, listen carefully for the music, as demonstrated in the marvelous documentary film Jaws. All shark attacks are preceded by the “daah-da, daah-da” The faster the sound gets the closer the shark is.

4: Don’t go into the water without a dive knife- This is not to defend yourself but to stab the person (a.k.a the decoy) closest to you in the case of a shark attack. Once you are sure the “decoy” is bleeding profusely…..swim for your freakin life. In the event the stabbed person (a.k.a. decoy) get’s eaten and the shark is still coming, start stabbing anyone within arms reach, it’s survival of the fittest at this point.

5: Don’t panic- Remember, it’s not about how you have lived your life, but how you leave this world. You my friend are about to leave this world. You are in the mouth of the most fierce predator in the ocean… so do something cool like wave to the people freaking out on the shore and yell, “I got him!”.

Scuba Diving Pet Peeves- Part 2

Nevin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:03:08 +0000

Here’s a list of some of Scuba Diving Pet Peeves as well as some not so intelligent advice from us, on how to overcome them.

Know-It-All Divers who think they’re better than the Dive Master
Isn’t it annoying when you have that one know-it-all diver in your group that’s probably only got 50 dives under his belt, and acts like he’s the one leading the dive? The diver that constantly interrupts the dive master’s briefings, tries to take over the dive underwater, brags about how deep he’s dived and the swashbuckling tales of how he spent a month on a liveaboard exploring the waters of Komodo Island to discover new species of fish! There’s almost one of these annoying divers on every trip, and the urge to sock him in the face is sometimes overwhelming.

Aquaviews Recommendation:

Don’t let these guys get to you! Ignore the Know-it-all or listen to his stories as a source of inspiration for your post dive happy-hours, as an interesting tale to make fun about with your friends. Follow your DM’s lead on the dive, and just remind yourself that the best divers are the ones that are humble enough to know that you never stop learning.

People who flail about underwater
A common pet peeve for most divers is often the one individual in your group that is as graceful as a Llama underwater. This is the diver that despite getting his/her AOW certification, never bothered to practice perfecting buoyancy and thrashes around like an octopus with epilepsy often bumping into everyone, scaring away the fish and disturbing the sea bed causing hurricane like destruction and clouds of silt everywhere he/she moves. As a diver you can just about resist the urge to duct tape his hands and feet or slit his wrists and let the sharks get to him.

Aquaviews Recommendation :

As an experienced diver, try offering the defaulting diver some practical advice or tips to improve his diving, he’s probably not even aware of his actions. If the fellow diver is unwilling to take up the advice then, try and take up position in front of the llama for your next dive, so at least you get better visibility and the non terrified fish!

Gear heads/ Dive Gear Salesmen
Some divers just never shut up about their latest scuba gear acquisition, and seem to spout nonstop about how one brand of gear is better than the other, and how the make you purchased just doesn’t compare. Often the gear head will try and recommend you the dive shop or website he purchased his stuff from, almost as if he worked there! The Gear Head is also the only diver around carrying so much stuff with him that there isn’t a single clip on his BCD free, from shark rattles to spit in a spray bottle, the gear head is the Swiss army knife of the seas.

Aquaviews Recommendation :

Ignore the gear heads rants, we all know LeisurePro.com is the only place to buy your dive gear from! Listening to the gear head sure beats spending hours researching the internet for guides. I’d stay close to this guy underwater, who knows when you’d need that high tech boat finding gizmo he’s got stowed away in his BCD pocket.

Photographers who tread on coral to get their shot
Our biggest Scuba Peeve goes to scuba photographers that have no regard for their surrounding or the marine ecosystem. In order to get their shot, they end up treading on or grabbing chunks of fragile coral, causing irreparable damage to the reef. It never fails to amaze how a diver taking up photography refuses to perfect his/her buoyancy first.

Aquaviews Recommendation:

Refrain from bonking the photographers head with his camera. If you have a camera yourself, take a picture of the diver destroying the reef and let the diver know that you were ashamed of the destruction he caused to the reef. Most probably he/she would get defensive but in most cases would be a little more careful next time. If he/she doesn’t seem repentant or repeats the offence despite the advice, report him to the resort manager, dive shop or if the reef is protected then the necessary officials can have the diver banned from diving the reef again.

photos from flickr by Saspotato, nao-cha, torbenator, Travis S.

Scuba Diving Pet Peeves -Part 1

Nevin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 16:31:24 +0000

Here’s a list of some of Scuba Diving Pet Peeves as well as some not so intelligent advice from us, on how to overcome them-

Choppy seas
Despite choppy seas being an unavoidable occurrence we still rate this high on our pet peeves list. A choppy ride on the dive boat to reach your dive site is simply a terrible way to begin your dive. It’s unsettling, uncomfortable and puts you in a foul mood for the days diving. Additionally rough seas and bouncy boat rides are a perfect recipe for sea sickness, and the last thing you want is to witness your fellow divers blow chunks off the side of the boat, or even worse still, you having to perform the Technicolor yawn off the side of the boat! Choppy seas also mean sea spray and waves crashing over the bow, which translate into a cold wet journey. While we know that scuba diving requires you to get wet, it’s still miserable getting wet on the boat ride to your dive site when you’d prefer to stay dry.

Aquaviews recommendation:

If the ride gets to choppy, put on your wetsuit, at least you won’t mind it getting wet! Your wetsuit will keep you insulated and warmer than wearing wet clothes in the wind. Carry along a dry bag with a spare change of clothes and a towel incase the seas get calmer, you may want to change out of your wet ones if you start shivering. Another Aquaviews top tip is to carry along with you a windcheater or rain jacket on the boat which will keep you nice and dry underneath, it’s something most of us don’t even think about doing, but wish we had when we see someone with the sense to bring a jacket along. To avoid sea sickness follow our seasickness guide here or play the revoltingly entertaining game of “guess what I had for breakfast?” with your fellow sea sick dive companions; at least it will clear your foul mood!

Long boat rides to the dive site
Let’s face it; we all want to simply don our dive gear and jump into the water, do our dives and then return to our favorite watering hole after, to down some cold & frosty ones. Unfortunately we often have to endure long boat journeys to reach our dive sites which can be unbearably agonizing at times, with nothing to do but stare out into the horizon or engage your fellow dive buddies in conversation which is hard to do over the roar of the engines. What bugs most divers about long boat rides is that fact that you get to the boat all charged up and excited about the days diving, and this excitement wanes and vanishes as you realize the time its going to take you to get there. Even more annoying is the realization of the return journey post-dive when you’re really hankering to sink those teeth into some food.

Aquaviews recommendation:

True to the saying that “the best things in life are worth waiting for” the same applies for the best dive sites are often the ones that take the longest time to reach. Be patient young grasshopper, try and relax and enter a Zen –like place to calm yourself before the dive. Carry along your portable MP3 player (see our article on waterproof options) or if the seas are calm, read a book; and if all else fails try and catch up on some zzzzz’s!

Having your Mask Kicked off your face by a fellow diver
Yes, most of us have been there either as the diver whose mask has been kicked off or the diver doing the kicking. Accidents happen when you swim in tight formations, but if you’ve ever had your mask kicked off your face you’d know how annoying it is, and if it’s happened to you more than once on the same dive, with the same person kicking your mask off again, then you’d perhaps be familiar with the murderous impulses that surge through your blood as you do your best to scowl at the other diver unsuccessfully underwater. You know its perhaps your fault for not keeping your distance, but that doesn’t stop this from being any less annoying.

Aquaviews Recommendation:

Don’t dive in such tight formations! It’s the ocean for crying out loud or another large water body like a lake. However if you are diving in an overhead environment such as a cave, cavern or even a wreck, its unavoidable not to stay close behind the other divers. In such circumstances you may want to swim with your arm extended in front of you, Superman style. If your fellow divers in front of you keep starting and stopping in open water, signal your buddy and overtake them. It’s no sense losing your cool underwater; you’ll only end up ruining your dive. Oh and don’t carry a dive knife with you…Just in case

Photos from flickr by: ShaneRobinson, ar.obrien

25 Ways to Tell You’re Addicted to Scuba Diving

Nevin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:03:22 +0000

You Know you’re Addicted to Scuba Diving When..

1.You flunked high school physics but you amazingly can calculate the partial pressure of a gas in equilibrium and its solubility and absorption rate by the body during a dive using Henry’s Law!

2. Every morning the sound of shaving foam (psshhhht) makes you want to go diving.

3. You’re the only one out of your office buddies that doesn’t snicker when the word “Off-gassing” is mentioned.

4. You get out of bed in the morning by doing a back-roll.

5.You’ve never watched Star Wars but you’ll watch “The Abyss”, “Men Of Honor” or “Deep Blue Sea” 100 times.

6. Then you finally start watching the Star Wars movies and think to yourself “Man, Darth Vader really needs to get that regulator replaced”

7. You show up at your neighborhood swimming pool during the off-season in full dive gear hoping to log some bottom time.

8. You’re the only one who isn’t blushing when you ask your friends, “Want to see some Nudi pictures?

9. You have more ‘C’ cards than credit cards in your wallet.

10. You’re more worried about your divers insurance payments than your health insurance.

11. Your preferred method of getting high is to get ‘narced’ on a deep dive.

12. When your kid’s first words are PA-DI instead of Dad-dy.

13. You see a perfectly good ship and think that would make a nice wreck to dive in.

14. You spend most of your time picking apart the unrealities in the latest Hollywood diving flick rather than watching the movie.

15. You automatically equalize your ears by performing the valsalva maneuver every time you step into an elevator.

16. You answer “Suunto” when asked what kind of computer you use.

17. You spit on your car windshield to prevent it from fogging up.

18. You can’t afford a wristwatch cos you spent all your money on an expensive dive computer instead.

19. While others long for Rolex, Omega or Tag Heuer on their wrists you’d settle for a Mares, Suunto or Oceanic.

20. When you think your neighbors’ vacation to Belize was a waste of money cos they didn’t do any Scuba Diving.

21. When getting a “reverse squeeze” has nothing to do with your girlfriend grabbing your butt!

22. You can’t remember your wedding anniversary but always know when Discovery Channels “Shark Week” is on.

23. You get excited about the viz while you go swimming in a pool.

24. The only suit in your closet besides your wedding suit…is your wetsuit!

25. And you need serious help… if your wedding suit IS your wetsuit.

*Photo credits: photo by joeduty on flickr

Top 10 Things You Never Want To Hear Your Dive Instructor Say

Noreen — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:13:47 +0000

10. “Hey, you’re the first guest since “the disappearance.”

9. “I’ll give you half off the dive today, if you know something about boat motors.”

8. “Currents? Oh, I wouldn’t worry about currents. If we don’t find you, search and rescue will.”

7. “Here put this mask on, your face is killin’ me.”

6. “I think I got some jerky stuck in my teeth.” (as he uses the reflection in your mask to check)

5. “Now this cylinder has 2000lbs of air in it. So bend with your knees.”

4. “I hope you’re as good as the last guy I took out. He saved my life! Twice…”

3. “If I teach you one thing today, don’t ever try to punch a shark when he has his mouth open.”

2. “Welcome to the food chain folks. You are no longer at the top of it.”

1. “Sorry I’m late. Had a Funeral to go to. I barely knew the guy, met him on the last trip…”

*Photo Credits: photos by Nemo’s great uncle on flickr

Scuba Diving Is Not For You IF…

Noreen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:41:47 +0000

Scuba diving, like anything isn’t for everyone. Here are a few simple ways to tell if it’s not for you-

1.If your fellow diver gives you the “Ok” signal and you give him “the bird.”

2. If you joke that safety stops are for wussies.

3. When your dive buddy gives you the “out of air” signal, do you say things like, “sucks to be you”, or, “Wait here, I’ll go get you some” while swimming off?

4. Do you offer to race other divers to the surface?

5. Do you spit in your wetsuit and pee in your mask?

6. If you think being neutral in the water means not fighting with your dive buddy.

7. If you wait for the tingly feeling, as a signal to surface.

8. If you have a hard time figuring out which fin goes on which foot.

9. Did you move to Kansas to avoid shark attacks?

10. If you don’t wear fins because it’s hard to walk on the bottom…

…perhaps diving just isn’t for you.

*Photo credits: Photos by Andy Ciordia, Gagliardo_ on flickr.