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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?

I've used Ikelite strobes for almost 20 years. DS-125, DS-160, and now DS-230's. Pros: Straightforward to hook up and use, especially with an Ikelite housing obviously. Never had an issue setting them up with my Canon cameras or getting TTL to work properly (with the Ikelite adapter/dongle...

My primary rule is don't dive with a camera rig you can't afford to lose. Not so much due to negligence on my part, but emergencies can happen and if it's between my camera and a life (my own or someone else's) that's a no brainer. Yes that means you absolutely do take your hands off your...

Ikelite housings will compress to some extent at shallower depths than that, so you may have control issues even if the housing remains intact (which I'm pretty confident it would to at least 200 feet). I had to send them my R5 housing to adjust a couple of the top buttons like the video record...

Garuda is the flag carrier for the entire country of Indonesia, so not really in the same category as the discount domestic carriers. They fly all over the world, though mostly within Asia. We don't really have a national carrier in the US, but Garuda is much more along the lines of a Delta or...

Yeah that's normal and fine. Most resorts in Fiji have something like that in their FAQ to educate people about the culture there and present alternatives to straight cash tips to staff and crew, which are common in many other parts of the world like the Caribbean for example. That said, I...

Yeah, tipping isn't really a thing in Fiji. Many resorts have "christmas funds" or other similar pools to benefit staff, their families, and communities. It's common for people to unload any remaining Fijian cash at the end of their trip as a gift to those, but it's not mandatory or even...

In fairness, it's not like the liveaboards are all longlining their way across RA all day long. I'm sure they obtain and load provisions in Sorong (or wherever) prior to departing. There's no way the tiny amount of seafood they consume, even multiplied across all the liveaboards, makes a dent...

Yup. Having been diving hoseless/wireless AI computers for over 20 years now, I'll always have a small analog SPG somewhere. The Teric/Swift is more reliable than my old Aeris computer and transmitter and I haven't yet had any drop outs, but you do this long enough and you will have issues...