Yeah, check out that site... There's not much info on it out there, but I did write a long thread describing the process on ValleyScuba.com (
http://www.valleyscuba.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52). You have to be a member to read it, but joining is free. There's a lot of info on it that some writers and I have pooled, but here's the basics:
"Since I'm such an enthusiast and know so few other kayak divers, I thought I'd post some tips and information here about it:
Kayak diving is a fantastic way to enhance your diving experience. Not only can you hit areas that are too far to surface swim, or too obscure or close for larger boats to visit, you also have all your gear and stuff right there for your convenience. Bring some water or food and you can have refreshments right there, ready to go. Not sure if you need a speargun or a camera, or something else? Bring it all, load it up and you can quickly see and get back to the boat to get whatever you need.
The key thing in kayak diving is Tying EVERYTHING Down. You will likely tip at some point, and you should take EVERY precaution to make sure all your gear is secure. One of my friends even suggests practicing in a pool putting your gear on, getting on and off the boat, and donning stuff in a safe, controlled environment. Makes sense to me.
I have a Wilderness Tarpon 120. It's a sit-on-top designed for diving, as many kayaks are (such as the Scrambler XT by Ocean Kayaks), with an interior hatch and a tank well in the aft for my BC and tank. Typically my arrangement is to assemble the tank, BC and regulator, have it all set, with the air off, stored behind me. I do NOT put the weights into the BC, because if the unit somehow falls off the kayak, it will immediately sink.
My kayak has a few strong ropes that loop over the whole unit and hold it in place. When that's all lashed down, I'll inflate the BC a bit to tighten it, as well as to make it buoyant in case I somehow tip over and it gets loose.
Then I use my goodie bag to store my mask, gloves, hooded vest, and fins, and weights, and latch it shut. This I put into the front hatch, clipped to a line, just in case. If somehow that hatch opens and I flip, everything will stay safe and secure.
Other extraneous bits of gear and equipment, like cameras, spearguns, or water I might store it in there as well, or a separate bag- no set rule, just as long as it's secure.
That leaves my wetsuit and boots- but I wear those while I launch the boat and keep them on as I paddle.
I also bring a dive flag with a float along, which I think is a good idea, so nobody thinks you've abandoned your boat and removes it. Some rope is also needed so you can anchor down.
When it comes to reaching the dive site, I'll stop, work on my BC, turn on the air, unleash it and tether it to one of the back lines, and plop it in water and inflate it so it stays buoyant. Next I'll go to the front hatch, put on my hooded vest, fins, gloves and mask (pay attention to the order you do this, do whatever works best for you, and pack your bag from the reverse order in which you need it) and hop off into the water, where I'll go to the BC and put it on, then snap my weight pockets into place. Then I'll secure my paddle and anything else, set the dive flag, secure the front hatch, and begin my dive, swimming down with the anchor line to tie it to the most secure thing I can find underwater, hopefully a big rock that I can loop underneath.
Then I dive and pay extra careful attention to the navigation and layout, so I know how to get back to the kayak without any trouble.
As for getting back on, it's pretty easy. You swim up to the boat, take your weights off, put them in the front hatch. Take off your BC, inflate it, and tether it to the lines on the back. Now use your fin-powered kick to push you out of the water and back on the boat with ease. Put your fins, gloves, and mask back in your bag and secure it, and then you can use your leverage to pull the BC up onto the boat (as opposed to being in the water and trying to PUSH it up).
Simple as that!
Some other misc. tips-
-Always kayak dive with a buddy. Once I dropped my BC overboard and thankfully had a buddy who could drop down to retrieve it. If not, I would have been sad, oh so sad.
-Make sure to secure the kayaks together with something very strong. I used a tether with a plastic clip, which broke in heavy swell. Dumb mistake. Maybe even anchor them separately, rather then just rely on one rope.
-Secure EVERYTHING down, even when you're about to do the dive.... I've come up and seen a swell has capsized my boat while I was underwater. Thankfully everything was tied down, so nothing was lost, but if I hadn't....
-I brought a reel around for a while, thinking I could clip it to the anchor line and use it as a method to find my way back to the boat with ease- just follow the line back, right? Even though the line was 300 feet long, we quickly ran out and I just dropped it and picked it up later.
-Kayak wheel carts are a very useful tool, especially when hauling your boatful of gear to places with a long path to the beach (Malaga Cove comes to mind, for example).
-Know your limitations- don't go out in the wind or heavy surf. Launching will be a pain in the butt, the wind will wear you out, and the diving will probably suck anyways, right?
-If you don't kayak much, practice launching the boat through the surf and coming back in, so you know how to do it and what to expect. Just stay perpendicular to the oncoming waves and you'll cut right through it and avoid getting rolled.
-If you wear glasses like me, it's a good idea to store them away and secure them while going through the surf zone when entering and exiting, but once you're through the rough stuff, you can wear them without fear of losing them. Still, one of those things that loop around the head couldn't hurt, right?
-Also, another thing that's good and makes things convenient is to clip everything on that you need to your BC- lights, knives, etc. I put my knife on my BC strap near my chest. It's just one less thing to have to clip on and off at some point during the dive, and simplifies it.
So that's it off the top of my head for kayak diving, at the moment. Any questions?"
