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Good reminder to always be prepared to treat DCS or other medical emergencies, have insurance, evacuation plans, know where the nearest chamber is, etc... Because you can follow all the rules and do all your deco perfectly and still get sick (even if it's extremely unlikely). Will be...

Yeah the only thing you can really do is have a towel or cloth to get any droplets when you have it open, and bring lots of fresh desiccant packs and use them. Unless your housing has a vacuum port, since lowering the pressure inside your housing also lowers the dew point, making it less likely...

I don't think anyone knows. Indonesia has 127 active volcanoes, so odds are that some are going to be doing something at any point in time. It's a hazard of the region, just like storms are in other areas.

Yeah I don't think anyone is going to dispute that if you have any sort of cardiac issues you should think hard and get a thorough medical evaluation before any diving. No different than people with epilepsy or other sudden-onset medical conditions, which while not necessarily life threatening...

That's gonna need a bit of a rinse.

Probably not much at all. Most of the pumice/ash that falls on the ocean will float and form rafts. Some could get into the water column and perhaps slightly impact vis, but I doubt the marine life will care or notice.

Not a doctor, but I'm somewhat skeptical about the statements about drug strength/concentration increasing like gas partial pressure with depth. I'd strongly encourage you to get additional opinions/explanation and/or actual literature and data on that. Is it just these meds? Why don't divers...

Haha ok, "Fiji Time" strikes again. I'm sure they'll get to it at some point, but I think the idea was to have a small bar and some seating down by the beach there for use in the afternoon/evening.

Nice report. I'm curious, did Taveuni Dive Resort have their sunset bar and whatever else built down on the beach by the jetty yet? When we were last there in early 2024 Carl was talking about their plans for that since they had recently acquired the land down there where they school used to run.

Very cool, please post and let us know how they work for you once you've been able to dive them.

Never had any operation ask for my AOW cert or require it for dives all over the Caribbean, Fiji, Thailand, and in the US. By the time I went and got my AOW after 50 dives or so, I'd already logged multiple dives in the 120-130 foot range. Honestly the only reason I got AOW is because I wanted...

Yeah those strobes should do well for Ikelite. It looks like they took the DS161 and integrated the curved front lens and slightly more compact design of the DS230/232, so compared to a DS161 it should have better beam width without a diffuser if you're so inclined. It'll be interesting to see...

Maybe relevant to this discussion, I noticed Ikelite just refreshed their DS-161 strobe into two models. The DS-165, and the RC-165. The DS-165 appears to be just a refreshed DS-161, but interestingly they split off the RC-165 which is the same strobe with a fiber optic connection in place of...

Yeah I had similar requirements and did a bunch of research earlier this year and ended up booking a 10 night Raja Ampat/Misool trip with White Manta for January 2026. The only box of yours that it doesn't really check is uncrowded dive sites since some of the itinerary is the popular RA sites...

Yeah, I imagine enforcement will be completely discretionary and probably only done in egregious cases. Like, a dive op won't care about little accidental stuff, but if a diver is blatantly handling animals or knocking over coral and they think it might be on photo/video or that other guests...

No problem with any of that, except the "stay 2 meters above reef" bit. For new divers sure it makes sense, but for experienced divers with good buoyancy control who want to see macro life or take pictures, you need to get down in there and it can absolutely be done safely and responsibly...

I carry a small UK Remora titanium blunt tip knife with a cutter attached to the waist belt of my harness. I've had it for a while and it's fine cause it's basically zero maintenance and it doesn't rust, but if I were doing it over I'd probably just get some good titanium shears in a pouch...

Yeah it's certainly valid to criticize their design aesthetic and philosophy as it might not be for everyone. Ikelite very much makes utilitarian products with an emphasis on function and reliability above most other things, especially with regard to their housings which are still roughly the...

To be fair, it's one person in this thread who has apparently had all the technical issues you mentioned with Ikelite. I don't share any of those, with the exception of one broken battery toggle I had after many years that you can replace for a few dollars (and you can carry spares). I don't...

I've never experienced or heard of any issues with their chargers. The huge old international ones, or their current ones. Could've possibly been an electrical issue on the boat that fried them?