I WAS ON A TRIP TO TULAMBEN to dive the Liberty wreck for three days. The first day was recreational dives followed by two days of technical diving. I had a cold and sinusitis leading up to the trip, but the conditions had cleared up …
DAN® MEDICAL INFORMATION SPECIALISTS and researchers answer your dive medicine questions. “I have developed Bell’s palsy. Due to its internal effects, are there any reasons I should not dive? I understand the risks of its external effects — but could diving cause …”
WHEN DID YOU START DIVING? I got certified in 1992 on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. For the next five years I dived in Turkey, Thailand, and on the shipwrecks of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, Scotland — all over …
I TAKE A GIANT STRIDE off the back of the boat and splash into a cascade of tingling, magical bubbles. The sea’s embrace is chilly; I can feel the 74˚F water through my 5 mm wetsuit and thick 4 mm hood. My vision clears as the …
FEBRUARY 6, 2022 HAD ALL THE MAKINGS OF A PROMISING DAY out on the water in the Gulf of Mexico off Destin, Florida. Though I work at a dive shop, this was a recreational lionfish harvesting trip with friends …
THE DIVE INDUSTRY IS FULL OF DEBATES. Should you use a jacket-style, back-inflate, or backplate and wing buoyancy compensator? A canister light or a cordless light? A weight belt or integrated weights? Regular fins or split fins?
FIRES IN COMPRESSED OXYGEN EQUIPMENT are rare, even though we hear about life-threatening accidents — a rebreather fire, an emergency oxygen regulator accident, or a gas blending system fire. Several key questions arise …
OF ALL THE FISHES IN THE SEA THAT ANNA ADORES, blennies perch high atop her favorites list. Her fascination with the tribe of typically small, hole-inhabiting bottom-dwellers …
DESCENDING THE LIMESTONE STAIRS OF BONAIRE’S famous 1,000 Steps dive site in full scuba gear is challenging. It’s just 64 steps down, but it feels like many more. Once you make it down, you’re rewarded with a Caribbean reef teeming with life …
GETTING COLD ON A DIVE IS UNPLEASANT, but if it progresses to hypothermia, it becomes potentially fatal. Even more than discomfort, considering the physiological and psychological stress it can cause, being cold is potentially risky.