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The Andaman Sea is definitely where it's at for the better diving in Thailand. I've stayed on Phuket during four trips, and appreciate its more central location for diving the small islands to the south, the Similan & Surin chain to the north, and even Krabi Province for some cave diving. The...

Welcome to the sport! Diving in the Sound / Salish Sea can certainly be challenging this time of year, but very rewarding nonetheless. Aluminum 80s are not a good match for cold water diving. You will be better off in several ways with at least a couple HP 100s. Those or the Faber FX 117s would...

That Bodum French press is great for car camping, but can be an issue to clean. Needs lots of water and paper towels. Unscented cleaning wipes can also work. I've never brought one when traveling overseas though. Sometimes the local coffee can be quite good. The best I've ever had was in Bali -...

Yes, what others said about streamlining, building leg strength, etc. And my favorite fins for dealing with current are the Mares Excel+. They travel with me wherever we might find some stiff currents, which is everywhere for open water diving, including Thailand and the Philippines. The Excel+...

I was first certified when I was 49. At the time a single Aluminum 80 felt extremely heavy on my back. About that same time I also started practicing Yoga, initially Vinyasa style and later Hatha as well. The yoga helped tremendously at rebuilding muscle and core strength. It also helped me...

Well then there's the fact that properly equipped divers will point and laugh. More seriously you are negating one of the best advantages of a BP+W system, which is streamlining. A 40lb wing is going to be flapping around like a big pair of Dumbo ears, and trapping gas that will be more...

Here is a link from an email I recently received: nitecore-sc2-2-channel-battery-charger This is the charger you will need, and the site carries the batteries that I mentioned. Local shops usually don't carry odd battery sizes like this one. The batter setting in the computer is Green-ICR16340.

The Liquivision battery compartment is very tight and requires a specific size to fit. Most RCR123 batteries will not fit. What you need is an unprotected 16340. I've had good results with the Efest flat top IMR 16340 3.7V Li-Mn batteries. They are available in 700 mAh, which has plenty of...

Yeah, I'm one of those nutty guys who dives in Puget Sound. The diving here is surprisingly good. Just make sure you have a warm (dry) suit. We're moving into summer conditions, so the visibility will be cycling from terrible to decent over a two to three week period. Last week was terrible. If...

Whenever I need to make sure a piece of gear fits properly, I try to find a shop that carries what I want, and make the purchase from that shop. I've bought two drysuits a couple wetsuits and other soft goods from shops in my area. Things like regulators, tanks and other hardware I'm happy to...

I was briefly considering one of these, as I require a somewhat strong prescription. However I've found that having a conventional mask made with my custom prescription works quite well, and is preferable to the overly complicated Hydrooptix. They weren't around for very long at all, and don't...

Surfing wetsuits have a few differences that make them less suitable for diving. They are really just meant to b used on the surface, and are cut differently around the arms and neck for greater mobility and comfort. They also use a softer neoprene that will compress more at depth and lose its...

I can only comment on ocean dives just outside the marina at Puerto Adventuras. Compared to Cozumel, they are just so-so. Still, it is warm water,with generally decent vis. I've heard lots of good things about sites farther south, off shore from Akumal. However, the real jewels of the Yucatán...

A good way to avoid leg cramps is to alternate kicking styles. Frog kick alternating with flutter kick is pretty effective. Hinged fins such as the X-Streams or Novas are not as efficient for the frog kick, hence my recommendation for standard blade style fins. I dive in Monterey every year...

Once you have zipped up your drysuit, you can cool off a little by getting your head wet and wetting the outside of your suit if it will be a few minutes before you can get in the water. If a shower is available, use that. I like to bring a big bottle of water with me to douse my head and stay...

I have a pair of Mares X-Streams, and used them for a short while, including a trip to Kauai. They were nice lightweight fins for travel, and had reasonably good forward propulsion. However they lack good sidewalls for more precision maneuvers and anti-silting fin kicks. Specifically, they don't...

Keep diving, that's what drysuits are for. Besides some of our best visibility in the Puget Sound region is during the winter.

The Fourth Element undergarments are sized to allow for layering. The Arctic in a given size may be worn over the Drybase or Xerotherm layers of the same size. I like the Underarmour wicking base layer, and wear a Waterproof 3D mesh vest as a middle layer under my one-piece Arctic during the...

Bring the drysuit. It will keep you much warmer at depth in addition to being far more comfortable on the surface between dives. I get asked this frequently for diving in the Seattle area, which has very similar conditions to the U.K. I always recommend diving dry.

Besides learning how to switch bottles safely, TDI Adv Nitrox also serves as an intro to tech course. It introduces the student to anti-silting fin kicks and may be taught with a twin tank gear configuration, either backmount or sidemount.