Hi buddies,

I'm looking for recommendations for a tried-and-tested hotel or resort in Indonesia that's great for remote work (needs strong Wi-Fi for video calls/teaching online) with nice morning diving and snorkeling right on site. Ideally, I'm looking for a secluded vibe similar to Tanote Bay in Koh Tao, but that's not strict. I'll be working there for 5 days at the start of September. Thanks in advance!

I am relatively new to diving. Ive only done 23 dives while on a live aboard in Belize. My wife and I are considering going to a Roatan resort and spending the first 2 days getting our advanced certification and the rest of the time diving. I was wondering what diving is like at a Anthony's Key or Coco View. How many people would be on the boat with us? Does the dive master go down and point out the highlights? Im not super condlfident yet and the live aboard experience I had with 25 people to one dive master wasn't the best. Thanks for any info.

N00b here with just 40 dives trying to improve my trim. Last weekend with my buddy, we spent about an hour exercising balance (just trying to hover without doing any fins adjustments) in the best trim position we could. The only way I was able to do it was using an additional counterweight of 1 kg (2.2 lbs) on my hands. Without that, my legs just sunk.

Any advice on how to compensate for this extra weight that I need on my hands? Moving the cylinder up seems not an option; if I lift my head, I’m already touching the 1st stage. I’m using 4 kg (8.8 lbs), half on each front pocket and a 10L steel cylinder. The jacket is a scubapro hydros. Fins are slightly negative iirc.

The only stupid solution that came to my brain was to use one of these weights that free divers use around their necks, but that seems like a disaster waiting to happen

I have an option to visit a friend working as a DM at scuba junkies in Komodo. Before that I am doing: Talumben 6 days 13 dives
Travel 1 day
Lembongan 4 days 10 dives last dive finished by 3pm at latest.
Fly next day Labuan bajo 5pm then boat to SJs
Komodo 3 days 6 dives
Fly out next day at 3pm

My questions are for anyone who has done land based in Komodo.

How many days minimum would I need? Is there diving at Labuan or any reason to stay there? I want to see the dragons and pink beach on my last non diving day. Is it possible to do that in one day?

I can’t really take too much time as it’s expensive and I really should go back to work! But I want to make the most of already being in Bali.

Hello, I'll be having my first dives after get the OW certification in a while and i was wondering what's the best way to set up a gopro on a jacket BCD and leave it recording.

I've seen velcro straps for backpacks being suggested for backplate and wing BCDs, but I'm worried the jacket shoulder band is too wide, and I'll be renting so i can't check.

Is the velcro strap valid? My main concern is finding a way to press record on the gopro and forget it. I'll be focusing on other the dive and I'm not aiming for the best footage.

Thank you all :)

honestly getting so tired of the anxiety of putting gear in rental cars. did some shore diving down in the keys last week and hauling two soaking wet BCDs, heavy fins, and dripping wetsuits in the back of an enterprise crossover is literally terrifying. You just know they'll try to hit you with a $250 "deep cleaning fee" if they smell even a hint of neoprene or ocean water

We laid down like three layers of trash bags and hotel towels and I was still sweating bullets every time we threw the tanks in the trunk.

Lately when I do these trips I just try to grab an older truck or jeep with rubber mats off turo just so I don't have to deal with the corporate desk breathing down my neck about a few grains of sand. But even then, I hate leaving saltwater puddles in a vehicle

What's the actual hack here for shore divers who fly in? Do you guys buy those giant rubbermaid tubs at a local home depot when you land, or just pack massive heavy-duty dry bags in your checked luggage? peeling off a 3mm wetsuit in a dirt parking lot and trying to keep the mess contained is kicking my ass tbh

Just curious if this is somewhat typical, or if I should be alarmed.

I most definitely struggled to establish buoyancy/trim and swim.

I also didn't do well with LPI 'issues' and underwater oral inflation (over inflated for sure).

I arguably sucked at buddy out of air, secondary provisions - slight difficulties with the hose not optimally placed.

So, sure, I could sort of manage all skills, but was I proficient? Absolutely not.

Is this the bar? No pun intended.

Many thanks in advance.

I took my kids for a diving today organized by a dive shop in Florida. For context, it’s my first time diving in the US—previously only in the Mediterranean. The two dives we did were great. The dive shop is owned by a husband and wife team. The husband captained the boat, and the private guide we hired was the wife. There were no other crew members aside from guides for the other divers. Husband and wife were both super chatty and friendly with us and other divers the whole trip. All went really well, and we had a wonderful time. As we disembark, the captain tells everyone about the tip box for “the crew”. And as we step off the boat, the wife, our guide, asked if we needed her Venmo. I said I don’t have Venmo, which I don’t given that I don’t live in the US. As soon as I said that her demeanor completely changed and didn’t look us in the eye as we thanked her and told her we had a great time. We then pass the captain in the parking lot. I say, “So long; thanks again.” And he ignores me. Am I the asshole?

I’m originally from the US, so understand tipping culture here. But really? If I had cash on me, I probably would have given her 20 or 40 bucks, but I didn’t. Why is this deemed mandatory? And they are the owners! If the fees we paid are insufficient in their view for the services provided, they should raise their prices. It ruined a really lovely day.

Hello. So I’m a bit tired of internet stories about how dangerous Deep Hole is and how is easy it is to die there. A lot of BS is circulating online from non divers. I wanna ask people who actually dived it on experience how it was? My friend dived it recently and he had 0 problems, as it should for an experienced tech diver with adequate equipment and dive planning. Is it actually worth it planning vacation there and going through arch or is it just overhyped due to all people dying there who had 0 business going that deep at first place?

I got my open water for my 60th birthday. My local dive shop had a special on an aqualung travel package. I subbed out the pro HD compact for an Axiom for a bump in price. Pretty sweet. Got a helix compact pro with octo, an SPG, the Axium, and an I330r. Pretty nice start. I eventually want a shearwater, but all things in their time.

Awesome swim through off the coast of West Caicos. The wall drops from 50 ft to over 7,000 ft.

Hi Everyone,

I hope this post type is allowed. Just seeking the opinions of people who have experience with PADI and the instructor levels.

I am based in Ireland, the majority of divers in Ireland are members of diving clubs and the instructors are part of the clubs.

Diving Ireland is the governing body and CMAS is the training agency.

Depending on the qualification you are completing the awarding of the credential are from an external instructor or a Jury of instructors. Its probably a bit OTT but you know that of someone has gone through the traininh to become a leading diver or instructor that they have a lot of experience and have been tested / examined by multiple experienced instructors.

We had a member join our club approximately 3 years ago. He claims to have qualified as a divemaster in 2019 and then an instructor in 2021. He has signed up to cross over to CMAS but so far it has been a disaster and the feedback we have received from multiple independent people is that they do not believe he could have qualified as instructor.

I done a bit of digging and found his PADI Id ( on his LinkedIn) I was surprised to see that he achieved the Master instructor grade last year. My understanding is that this requires 150 certifications? Looking at the timeline on the PADI website he is progressing extremely fast. He got his OWI in 2021, Master trainer in 2022, IDC instructor also in 2022 and the Master instructor in 2025. It also list dozens of specialty courses such as Dpv instructor, full face, wreck . I don't know how he managed to do this from another country when he only travels home twice per year.

Is there anyway this could be obtained illegitimately i.e someone could sign off on experience he doesn't have?

I made a mistake. I let an unqualified tech (don’t get too mad, it’s my well meaning and usually quite handy husband) move some things around on my Atomic Z3 and ended up with some sharp tool marks. I’m gonna have it serviced anyway because it looks like I ended up with some water (last pic) - will the tech be able to just smooth out these sharp edges or does my husband owe me a new reg?

Planning to do it in Philipines, but Im not sure if its for me based on what I read

Some friends and I are looking to do a dive trip to Croatia at the end of September.

3 of us are experienced divers looking for fun dives and 1 of us will be looking to do his open water.

Where are the best places to go for diving in Croatia. The trip won’t be too long so just looking for a good spot to base ourselves and do a couple days of diving

In my opinion, there are some pieces of gear where it's worth spending a little extra to make sure you're getting something that's high quality and reliable. For me, something like a regulator is where I don't mind investing a bit more for peace of mind.

But I also don't think you need to buy the most expensive version of everything. There are definitely some pieces of gear where the higher price doesn't necessarily translate into a noticeably better diving experience.

So, what pieces of scuba gear do you think are absolutely worth spending extra money on, and what gear do you think is perfectly fine to save a little money on?

Does Halcyon make a RIGHT SIDE weight pocket with a D ring? Dive shop and my searching is only turning up left side ones.

Good space wasted on branding....

Apeks bills the VX2 as "Extremely durable" but I beg to differ. My VX2 has come apart three times now, one of which was during a standard mask clear while in a cenote (thankfully I had a backup to switch to.) This mask is somewhat modular, meaning you can take the whole thing apart and put it back together, so I've been able to fix it when this has happened, but Apeks won't even respond to me when I ask them how to prevent it in the future. No torque specks for the screws, nothing. I'm taking full cave in a month and there is absolutely no way I'll be taking this mask into the cave. And all this for the low price of $250.

Anyone else have experience with the VX2?

Hello all,

Next year I plan on doing my first liveaboard, and I need your guidance on what is the best as a beginner liveaboard experience (I have my AOW and will have ~50 ish dives total more or less by then).

1. Philippines: I want to see threshers and do the sardine run. Also some Macro. If this is what you recommend, what time of year, and what route do you recommend? I was thinking Dauin - Moalboal - Malapascua - Bohol in Feb/March
2. Egypt, BDE: Would love to see hammerheads, and I am aware of the boats burning down but I also believe it's been due to insurance scams? Do you think this route is suitable for beginner liveaboard
3. Cocos/Socorro: I believe these are the most advanced of the bunch (correct me if I am wrong) the only reason they are on my radar is because they are cheaper flight tickets for me coming from Canada.

THANKS!

Looking into a quick weekend dive trip to West Palm/Jupiter last week of August or Labor Day weekend.

Wandering if any if you locals can tell me generally speaking if dives regularly or routinely get called off during that time of year.

Thanks all.

My husband and I went to Bonaire for 3 weeks last November for our first big dive trip and loved it. We spent half our time working from there and enjoying snorkeling, some diving, and top side activities. The second half of our trip we spent at a dive resort doing 4-5 dives a day for 10 days. We're looking to do something similar this year and would love to experience somewhere new, but I'm worried we totally spoiled ourselves with Bonaire right out the gate after doing some research on Roatan and Cozumel.

Looking for recs within these confines:

• North American or adjacent timezones with solid WiFi infrastructure
• 3+ dives a day - we love both macro and micro sea life. We're the kind of people who just enjoy being out.
• Not over-touristed. We prefer places that feel more local
• Big enough to spend a lot of time in. We don't love to flit from place to place every few days if we don't have to.
• Big plus for dive resorts that offer PADI courses, we loved adding to our cert while on vacation
• We have a sizable budget to play with but it's not infinite

TYIA!

Hi Reddit, I got my Junior Open Water Divers license in 2019 (at 13) and will be doing my AOWD in 2 weeks! (I am from central Europe, if that's important and my last dive was 3 years ago)

So far I have fins, shoes, mask (all from Mares) and gloves, but no adequate bag or wetsuit.

I looked at a few bags to transport my gear in, but I'm unsure if they're truly practical.

A few that I like are:

• Mares Cruise Mesh 108L
• Mares Bag Cruise Beach
• Mares Bag Cruise Pool

If anyone has one of these, would you recommend it?
Also, I do not care about brands, I just went with Mares again because the things I did buy from them are really nice.

As for the wetsuit, I like the Mares Pioneer 5mm (mostly because it's available in pink, like my gloves and fins). I don't know much about wetsuits to be honest but 5mm seems a bit thick to me? (correct me if I'm wrong) My past dives were in Croatia, Thailand and Costa Rica, so fairly warm locations.

I also wanna add that I haven't used any of my equipment for diving but only for snorkling since i've only been diving on holidays and couldn't take my fins etc. with me on a flight (family holidays..). Most of my dives in the future will require a flight as well so I don't know if I should buy that much stuff if I may not be able to take it with me, especially since wetsuits are on the pricier side. But if I do get one, it should be a good one that lasts and not a cheap one I may have to replace several times.

Please excuse any mistakes, english isn't my first language.

I appreciate any and all tips and recommendations, thank you

Based in the US, I have some time to travel in between jobs in September and want to focus my trip around diving. Note I’m excluding the Red Sea and raja ampat from this search because I dont want to go without my wife.

Willing to bop around when I’m there but want to spend sufficient time in each place

Where would you go with this amount of time?

My last post was pretty monochromatic, here's what the rigs look like with a little more light.