Shallow Diving

[nelsonrl]

I take it your wife is not interested in diving? I have found my wife makes a great dive Buddy. If she is afraid or objects, do not force the issue. I never pressured my wife to certify, but one day she told me we were signed up for classes. This was shortly after she learned sharks prefer their meals to be on the surface, you know where snorkelers normally can be found!


Now she is the one planning our next dive trip.

 

[LowDrag]

I am on board with Dennis and others that have mentioned SNUBA. That is what my wife and I did in the US Virgin Islands to catch the SCUBA bug. SNUBA was cool, we really enjoyed ourselves while doing it. This is definitely an addiction......which is funny because I do not have an addictive personality... Since getting certified all I want to do is dive and can't wait for the next trip. It doesn't matter where the dive is as long as we are diving.

I any event...whatever you choose to do, come back here and read, read, read. It has helped me beyond belief. I can ask all the questions I want to and people here are willing to help me out with good solid answers.

 

[danvolker]

The snuba or surface supplied air option is a great way to introduce a person to the underwater world.

Because they do not have to learn any bouyancy control, Tooka or Snuba divers have the single biggest problem in learning to dive, eliminated. The instructor weights a Tooka diver about a 1/2 pound positive, meaning if they stopped swimming completely, they would slowly float upwards. There is no "shift" in bouyancy, as even with a wet suit, the depth change on a 12 foot deep bottom is insignificant, in the 2.5 or 3 mil suits used when one is desired.


Personally I prefer the Tooka to snuba..Here is a Tooka Video demo....you only need to see a couple of minutes of this...after a few minutes, it goes into a Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park tour ( which non-divers do on Tooka )

Demo of non-diver using Tooka - YouTube

 

[LowDrag]

Personally I prefer the Tooka to snuba..

I don't see much difference, what am I missing if anything? For our SNUBA we had a single hose to each person and the raft was different looking but still functioned the same. Oh, and we were able to hit 20'.

 

[danvolker]

I don't see much difference, what am I missing if anything? For our SNUBA we had a single hose to each person and the raft was different looking but still functioned the same. Oh, and we were able to hit 20'.

There are some big differences in how a Tooka instructor takes people around compared to snuba instructors...and the equipment has some significant issues in the hose system.... In one of the recent deaths on snuba ( last year) a father and son were out on snuba....the father suffered a heart attack, so the instructor who saw this, grabbed the father and began helping him....however, the son had been swimming in the opposite direction when this event occured , and had gotten over 50 feet away and was out of sight....the son ended up drowning. The Tooka has a 15 foot primary, and this has a Y that will allow the 2 students/non-divers to get no more than 10 feet apart. It is also easy for the Tooka instructor to essentially steer the two students, from the y section.
NASE went to extreme lengths to make the Tooka exponentially safer than any previous standard for surface supplied air experiences for non-divers. Also the Tooka guide MUST be a bona fide NASE Tooka Instructor, not just a DM, and not just a scuba instructor.

Especially for a non-diver that is kind of "tentative" about the underwater experience, trying to enhance the safety potential is something I like. That is what I meant

 

[TMHeimer]

If you do wind up diving with snorkelers and one comes down asking to breathe from your regulator--no. I've heard of snorkelers doing this and then ascending holding their breath (not continuously exhaling the compressed tank air they breathed). Lung overexpansion injury.

 

[farsidefan1]

I was initially one who absolutely loved snorkeling. In Tahiti I tried snuba and was astounded at all I had been missing. The rest is history. The tooka mentioned sounds better as regards safety. We just put on a lead vest that nailed us to the bottom and we wandered around separately with virtually no guide till we got tired then ascended.

 

[sallybilliter]

Dear Dan,
Greetings from a licensed Snuba facility in the middle keys. Snuba Guides are dive professionals who must receive guide training and then a Snuba guide cert card from the organization based out of California. To date there have been no Snuba deaths in south Florida, as there are only three facilities that are actually trained to take Snuba tours in our area.. Unfortunately for our sport, many people inadvertently use the name for its popularity and merely to make the extra money. The Snuba hose is only 20 feet. Also, the raft is designed to hold the weight of our divers, so please check your sources. The three of us in Florida have never had a Snuba related death.
regards,
sally Billiter, v-pres Tilden's Scuba Center

 

[go2beaches2]

Good Morning Dan,
We are the owners of the other authorized franchise for SNUBA, Dive Duck Key in Duck Key Florida. We too can confirm that there have been no deaths associated with SNUBA. Our SNUBA instructors working here in the keys are required to not only be seasoned scuba instructors but they are also specifically certified to lead SNUBA activities. Sally already mentioned that the name SNUBA is sometimes misused to identify similar activities. Doing a simple search on the internet you will see that it is often confused with Sea Trek, which is a completely different activity. There are a number of similar systems that copied SNUBA's patented system ie: Tugatank, Hooka, Brownies Kayak Package, Torkle and now Tooka. What's next scorkle??? The main point is that SNUBA is a registered franchise and we have to adhere to their strict guidelines for training and use of their high quality equipment. (No plastic fittings like other systems) Our success as a SNUBA facility relies on our ability to provide a safe, enjoyable experience which we do with more than 2000 participants a year. We would ask that you please, consider the ramifications of posting inaccurate information about SNUBA. One easy way to rectify the damage caused by misinformation would be to simply remove your post.
If you have any further questions, please, feel free to call us at 1-877-FUN-DIVE
Thank You,
Joe and Wendy Hall, Owners Dive Duck Key

 

[danvolker]

Good Morning Dan,
We are the owners of the other authorized franchise for SNUBA, Dive Duck Key in Duck Key Florida. We too can confirm that there have been no deaths associated with SNUBA. Our SNUBA instructors working here in the keys are required to not only be seasoned scuba instructors but they are also specifically certified to lead SNUBA activities. Sally already mentioned that the name SNUBA is sometimes misused to identify similar activities. Doing a simple search on the internet you will see that it is often confused with Sea Trek, which is a completely different activity. There are a number of similar systems that copied SNUBA's patented system ie: Tugatank, Hooka, Brownies Kayak Package, Torkle and now Tooka. What's next scorkle??? The main point is that SNUBA is a registered franchise and we have to adhere to their strict guidelines for training and use of their high quality equipment. (No plastic fittings like other systems) Our success as a SNUBA facility relies on our ability to provide a safe, enjoyable experience which we do with more than 2000 participants a year. We would ask that you please, consider the ramifications of posting inaccurate information about SNUBA. One easy way to rectify the damage caused by misinformation would be to simply remove your post.
If you have any further questions, please, feel free to call us at 1-877-FUN-DIVE
Thank You,
Joe and Wendy Hall, Owners Dive Duck Key

Joe and Wendy,
I was only repeating what we had been told by PADI and the Insurance company, when a Dive Shop on singer Island was looking into being able to use a Tooka with normal PADI insurance....I think the mishap they referred to was in Mexico, and I could certainly check on the old correspondence, if you would like.
Are you saying that the incident we had been told about..the father and son, had never happened? If in fact, no such death ever occurred on snuba, I would immediately delete the post, and apologize for the innaccuracy....As things happened, when I had been trying to help get the Tooka thing going in Palm Beach, the accident I reffered to was being used as an excuse to refuse insurance through normal PADI insurance channels...Which previously would have been fine.
As far as I know, you guys have an impeccable record of safety. But the post was not referencing you.

Out of curiosity, what insurance are you using, since PADI and associated insurers were not interested?

And...as I think about it, my post was never intended to hurt any Florida operators, so with this in mind, I will pull the post down, as you have indicated to me that you see that this could hurt you. With a 20 foot hose and good Snuba guides, a non-diver should be bery safe, regardeless of what any insurance companies think

And..on trying to delete the post, there is no longer an EDIT POST option available....If a moderator reads this, I would appreciate it if the post we are discussing, about the Father and Son incident, is removed. If more information comes to light regarding that accident, lets allow Joe and Wendy to post that