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Are you talking about going overseas to work at a shop as an instructor, or are you talking about leading dive trips to overseas locations and perhaps teaching (finishing up student certs, doing an AOW or other continuing ed cert, etc.) while there? If the latter, do you have a current group of...

I tend to agree. But the airlines created this mess in the first place. They charge for checked bags, encouraging people to bring the largest bags they think they can get away with in the overhead bins. Then, because people get antsy to board so they can be sure to get overhead space, they are...

I put my regs and computers in a small backpack as a carry on, along with a t-shirt, board shorts, and a book, and small personal items. If there's no overhead space, I just put the backpack under the seat in front of me. That won't work if you bring a larger bag of course, but works fine for...

I dove with Tres Pelicanos and had a good time. I will say, though, that the dive briefings were, well, very brief. "Ok, this is [site name]. We'll go down to 80, 90, maybe 100 feet. Ok, let's go!" As a more experienced diver amongst other experienced divers (all or most of whom were single...

My review of diving in Bonaire is far from negative. The diving everywhere in the world, and particularly the Caribbean, is suffering from a host of issues (this also includes freshwater sites as well), and isn’t what it used to be. As Sylvia Earle says when asked where her favorite place to...

I second this. Plus, they are great for traveling since they are relatively compact and very lightweight.

Depending on how many bags you have to lug, you can just walk across the street from the airport to Diego's taqueria, have yourself some awesome fish or shrimp tacos, and then catch a cab right there. There are usually taxi drivers waiting outside Diego's, but if there aren't any just ask them...

You REALLY have to inflate the crap out of a Fusion to get so much air in it that it will blow off rock boots and fins. You were probably massively overweighted.

Since it’s so easy to learn to manage two buoyancy controls, and since most divers don’t dive doubles, why is it such a big deal? Again, dive however you want. And I certainly agree that you will pretty much have to use your BCD if you dive doubles. But it’s not a problem at all to use your...

I don't really understand those who say that using a drysuit for primary buoyancy compensation is dangerous. If it was good enough for Dick Long, who, if I have my diving history correct, wrote the first training standards for drysuits, then it's good enough for me. The issue is to be properly...

I recall reading an article (perhaps on Scubanomics?) that said something about the number of active divers decreasing in recent years, but the number of new divers slightly increasing. These new divers tend to be younger than the active diver population, but are also less likely to continue...

Perhaps. But we don’t know for sure because it wasn’t studied as part of an experiment. There was no control group, we don’t know how rigorous people were in adhering to the protocols, etc. It’s entirely possible that the situation would have been worse, or gotten worse faster, if not for the...

It’s the color coding STINAPA uses for dive sites and SCTLD. Orange means caution is advised and red means SCTLD has been found at the site and is actively spreading.

No one is denying that the Caribbean reef ecosystems are struggling. But when you come in hot with a statement that Bonaire reefs are "dead" - your word - it is indeed hyperbole. Where do you get your 75% dead coral figure from? PS: White Hole is on the east side and is easily accessible...

Fiats are also made in Italy. Just sayin'.

Bonaire's reefs are stressed for sure, but they are not completely dead. Far from it. For what it's worth, I dove Bonaire last October and Cozumel in November and found Cozumel's reefs to be in far worse shape than I saw in Bonaire. And I wouldn't tell people to cancel their trips to either...

It shouldn't have anything to do with your teeth, since you should be sealing your lips around the end of the mouthpiece anyway. You only need to clamp down with your teeth with just enough force that you aren't death-gripping with your lips alone. So unless you look like Cletus Spuckler (aka...

I vote the same. The Rescue course requires a good familiarity with doffing gear while task loaded and under stress. I think it's better to be a more comfortable diver before jumping into it. Second, getting emergency oxygen provider training is also a good idea. It dovetails perfectly...

From my limited experience (just one recent trip to Coz), the attraction of diving there is because of its overall value proposition. As others have said, getting there is fairly inexpensive for many Americans, the diving is pretty cheap, and the lodging and food are very reasonable. I don't...

I haven’t used a Jon line before so maybe I’m wrong, but I always thought they were for clipping off to an anchor or mooring line? OP was holding onto the reel end of a DSMB. A Jon line would’ve effectively just added a few more feet of line, no? Not sure how that would help a diver maintain a...