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Hi. I have several suggestions that may fit your "primitive" :-) tastes: 1. Bonaire - As one poster above says, a perenial favorite of Rodale's Scuba Diving reader's poll. Favorite hotels/dive ops include Buddy Dive, Sand Dollar and more. 2. Chinchorro Banks - Fly into Cancun and drive your...

I tend to prefer non-all-inclusive as Cozumel has so many great restaurants. Perhaps you'll reconsider. I've stayed at Palace (highend, close to town, all-inclusive, has spa, no beach but has house reef, should be wired for high-speed internet), Coral Princess (middle to highend, should be...

Depending on the size of your BCD, you may be able to put it in your carry-on. I pack BCD, Mask and Reg in my pullman, and camera+strobe in backpack. To protect other scuba gear, I wrap them with my 3mm (or thicker) neoprene wetsuit. If wetsuit is only 1mm thick, I'll use bubble wrap or beach...

Always good to have a divehorn/whistle, mirror and SMB. I love my $40 SMB from Scubatoys. It is inflated by octo underwater (by itself or at depth with a reel). I prefer this over mouth inflation on the surface (some prefer otherwise). It is made of cordura, has a brass clip, D-ring and purge...

I only know that Ti tanks are sometimes used at very high altitude for climbing. I read about it in Alexander Bookrev's book about his adventures climbing Everest, K2 etc. I recall he purchased them in bulk from a Russian maker before each expedition. (Bookrev died on an avalaunche on K2 a few...

I think it pretty much depends on your kicking style (for example, flutter, bicycle or frog kicks, and small continuous kicks or big kicks with rest) and your physiology (such as muscle type - sprinter or long-distance muscles), and there might be differences between kicking on the surface...

I think you did fairly well, considering this was only your 3rd OW dive and you're able to analyze this objectively afterward and take steps to improve (by practising mask removal at safety stop) and not freak out and giving up on diving. Aside from checking with your finger, you can also try...

Tommy, the prices for the packages are a little high - you can definitely get same for about 20% less online. But for this relatively basic package, I can see the benefits of buying from LDS as the savings aren't that much and you can't try them if you purchase online. The oceanic V-12 and...

My entries: Peter Hughes or Wayne Hasson, owner of Aggressor fleet Or perhaps Bob Hollis of Oceanic (he's been in the business since 1965), or President/CEO of Sea&Sea, Canon?

I agree with CrawlfishDiver. Get only what you need now (bare minimum) - mask, snorkel, booties and fins. You can rent most of them even after you're certified. If you can, ask to try the shop's gear in the pool or try on other divers' personal gear (look for other friendly, helpful divers/dive...

HI. I use a Sealife SL960D (not the SL960 for Reefmaster) strobe slaved to my Canon A520+housing. It is cheap ($300 at Scubatoys, less at Leisure-Pro if in stock). It allows the shooter to adjust flash intensity manually (I find less is better and frequently use the minimum setting) and lasts...

Sounds like you and your wife prefer all-inclusive resorts and more "established" family-friendly activities in addition to good diving. My top choice is: New Providence (Nassau - capital of Bahamas) - casino/aquarium/waterpark on Paradise Island, duty-free shopping, all-inclusive resorts on...

Hi. Sometimes there's greater variation within a wetsuit brand (between models and thickness) than between brands. I love my Bare Arctic 7mm, Camaro 3mm and Akona 1mm. And I've heard great reviews about Pinnacle's 3mm suits. I think fit (snug with no excess space or flabby part of wetsuit) is...

Awesome pics, Parabolic. Thanks. IMHO this is the best time of the year to dive Central CA coast, with the best vis. Dive safely.

Hello SuperKingKong, Welcome to the US. It is too cold to dive in many locations in the US without at least a 3mm or more right now. Definitely not in Boston (you'll need a drysuit). The Keys, Palm Beach-Miami area and Hawaii are the only places I can think of. Visibility tends to be lower and...

I think they're still trying to figure out the cause of death. If it is an infectious disease that persists in the aquarium, then the remaining whalesharks may be at risk. As far as I know, there aren't any records of whalesharks being released from captivity (there aren't many whalesharks in...

DiveGirl55, I've signed. If this succeeds, I hope they are released into the Atlantic, because I'm very skeptical they'll survive for long in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Whaleshark fins are among the most prized fins on the Asian market. Asian fishing vessels are taking tons of sharkfins for...

My take is it depends on what kind of diver you are. If you are knowledgable about diving and read up a lot on diving physiology, safety, dive techniques etc, maybe you don't need to, except when the dive op requires it (e.g., deeper wreck dives - but sometimes they let you dive if you show...

I know Scubatoys carries fins from Cressi-Sub, but I can't find my favorite mask (Cressi-Sub Big Eyes), but found it at Leisure-Pro: http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/CategoryID_958/Context_954/Sort_Stock/DescSort_0/Filter_1%3d398/CSBMB.html?Hit=1 Why I like it: Low volume; I can see what I have...

I think the issue is volume of air (air expansion) in the lungs as one ascends. I hope I get this right from reading my Divemaster workbook last week: there is 1 atmosphere of pressure change for each 33 feet of seawater. So 1 gallon of air at the surface (1 atm) is compressed to: 1/2 gallon at...