in Diving, News, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Indonesian Reefs are being harmed by diving and snorkeling according to

Diving and snorkeling contribute to coral reef damage according to research by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB).

The study, conducted at Panggang Island in the Thousand Islands regency between April and June 2013, found that diving and snorkeling in the area had destroyed 7.57 percent and 8.2 percent of coral reefs per year, respectively due to divers or snorkelers who kicked, stepped on, touched or took the coral.

WWF Indonesia marine and fisheries campaign coordinator Dwi Aryo Tjiptohandono said that the main cause of damage to the reefs was the amateur divers’ inability to float and irresponsible divers who took coral for souvenirs.

According to a recent report by kompas.com, vandalized coral reefs were also found in Raja Ampat in West Papua. An Australian who lives in the area, Doug Meikle, uploaded three photographs on Stay Raja Ampat’s Facebook account, which showed three areas of damage.

Meikle said that this vandalism was not the only thing that was destroying Raja Ampat’s coral reefs. Live-aboard anchors were said to be responsible as well. “[The live-aboard anchors] are even worse than the vandalism,” he said.

The head of the underwater tourism acceleration program, Cipto Aji Gunawan, said that the Tourism Ministry would revoke the license of dive operators who were involved in damaging the reefs.

in Diving, News, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Scuba Diving Dinner?

Pulling on their scuba gear and flippers at a swimming pool in Brussels, Nicolas Mouchart and his wife Florence are not just going diving – they’re going out for dinner.

Lowering themselves to the floor of the pool, an especially deep one built to train scuba divers, they swim to one end where their restaurant awaits, five meters (16 feet) below the surface.

“The Pearl” is a two-meter wide white sphere tethered close to the pool’s floor. The diners jettison their weighted belts before swimming underneath and up into the pod that looks like a cross between a lunar landing craft and a giant spaceman’s helmet.

Food is served by expert scuba divers who deliver foie gras, lobster salad and champagne in waterproof cases before leaving the diners peering out of the portholes, enjoying the strange tranquillity of eating in an air pocket, completely submerged.

“We are launching a new era of restaurants,” said John Beernaerts, who founded the NEMO33 pool in the Belgian capital a decade ago.

The restaurant, where an underwater meal costs 99 euros ($106) per person, took more than a year to build and multiple attempts were needed to perfect the design, mechanics and food delivery system.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Mouchart, 41, his hair still wet after the return swim through the warm – 33 degrees Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) – water to the pool side.

“It was the first time in our life that we ate underwater, which was really fun. It’s a unique dinner and we will remember this all our life.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HvXJtNWqcM

in Diving, News, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Handing Out Scuba Certifications

Royal Caribbean is now the only cruise line out there with onboard Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Five Star Dive Centers, where guests can become certified scuba divers as part of their cruise vacation.

Program Details

Royal Caribbean’s partnership with PADI offers a range of programs; from a 30-minute Try Dive program ($29) for those who just want to get their feet wet, to PADI’s Reactivate Program for certified divers who want a refresher ($59). Those who want to center their vacation on diving can enroll in the Open Water Diver course to earn their complete certification, which starts at $599 per person.

The course begins at home, with an online course that will ultimately leave more time for actual scuba diving while on the cruise. Once on the high seas, divers will test the waters in the ship’s pool before heading out to complete the four mandatory, open-water training dives in some of the world’s most beautiful waters. The training dives will be split among two ports, and upon returning home guests will be certified divers that will be able to plan and execute dives on their own.

How to Book

Guests can book their PADI course before boarding through the Cruise Planner, or while onboard at one of the PADI Five Star Dive Centers found on ten ships across the fleet: Oasis-class, Freedom-class, and Voyager-class ships, as well as Anthem of the Seas.

Featured photo: Flickr Creative Commons

in Diving, News, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Florida Scuba Diving Sculptures

It’s not every day you get to flipper-kick your way through the staterooms of a sunken ship and gaze at artwork while you’re at it. But for scuba divers who visit Fort Lauderdale, it’s as simple as paying a visit to the Lady Luck, an underwater art exhibit located off the coast of Pompano Beach.

It’s the latest addition to Shipwreck Park Pompano, a cluster of shipwrecks off the coast of Pompano Beach. The centerpiece is the Lady Luck, a 324-foot tanker vessel built in 1967 that was sunk off Pompano Beach on July 23, 2016.

As divers swim in and around the ship (which is as long as a football field), they are treated to underwater artwork created by local artist Dennis MacDonald. We’re talking poker tables, “card sharks,” slot machines on the ship’s deck, a cascade of gigantic dice, starfish and an octopus dealing craps.

All make for great scuba selfies.

in Diving, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Underwater Scuba Diving Gun-Rack!

Carrying around heavy guns can get tiresome. Don’t you wish that somebody would get off their rear end and design a motorized gun carrier system for our under water hunting needs? A Scuba Diving Gun-Rack! -Me too! Looks like there’s no more need to wait on such an ingeniously helpful device! Enter the…

Sea Doo Seascooter DPV Dive Gear Mounting Board

Not since the Bass-O-Matic has there been such a clever and useful water-sports invention. I can’t wait to get my hands on a test model. Enjoy this video product explanation!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2vkWa8XbQ

in Diving, Review, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

SeaLife Micro 2.0 Review – Leaky Housing & Malfunction

Underwater cameras provide an amazing service. They take pictures UNDER THE WATER! Underwater cameras that keep-on taking pictures under water provide an even MORE AMAZING service in my book. I wish that I could say that the SeaLife Micro 2.0 64GB camera is “MORE AMAZING” than other underwater cameras, but I can’t; can’t do that because the SeaLife camera broke and malfunctioned on us while scuba diving in the Cayman Islands. The real kick in the nuts here is that the SeaLife Micro 2.0 64GB underwater camera along with a SeaDragon 2500 light system, were Christmas presents for my son. Made me feel bad to have gifted such a POS camera to my kid. Maybe I should have spent more on his gift to get an underwater camera that actually works for more than about one hundred photos? -Yes, I should have done more research before spending around $1,000 USD on the camera and light combo.

Thank goodness we had our trusted GoPro cameras with us at the time or else, we would have been S.O.L. when it came to getting some cool underwater shots on the many scuba dives during our dive trip, like on the Kittiwake wreck for example. Stingray City for another example. Dive sites that are very special and cost a load of cash to get to when you consider the aggregate vacation price.

Check out these pictures of the leaky housing that caused the diving death of our SeaLife Micro 2.0 64GB underwater camera:

NOTE: The deepest depth the camera went to on our trip until its death the second day into our dive trip was about sixty five feet. -Not very deep!

Be VERY CAREFUL when it comes to buying underwater and dive cameras! I will be staying away from SeaLife cameras from now on or until I’m comfortable that they’re making a better product. SeaLife Micro 2.0 64GB FAIL.

saltydog@sd

Here’s how much the SeaLife Micro 2.0 64GB costs.

Condensation kills!

Are those water droplets INSIDE the camera housing?! YES, those are water droplets INSIDE the camera housing! Dammit!!!

in Diving, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Dive Badges

What are Dive Badges? -They’re fun records of your dive achievements! Like our visual Dive Logs, Dive Badges enable viewers to very quickly understand where you’ve been with your scuba diving career. Check it out, they’re FREE!

saltydog@sd

And if you’re a Boy Scout, check this out! CLICK HERE!

in Diving, Review, Travel Posted by SaltyDogs

Inexpensive Waterproof Compass Review

Sometimes having a compass with you while scuba diving is extremely handy. And some of the electronic compasses that you find on higher end dive computers (electronic compasses) need to be calibrated too often in order to be useful if you forget to do so right before your dive.

Here’s a cool compass from ScubaPro for under $100…

I ordered one of these ScubaPro compasses and it’ll be here in a couple of days. After I receive it, I’ll take some pics and edit this article with their addition. Also, we’ll get these into the water soon and check them out and report back.

Precise Navigation Anywhere in the World

The FS-2 compass provides a unique tilt angle of up to 35 degrees, making it easier to read and operate in almost any position.

With a floating magnet separate from the compass rose, the FS-2 has greater operating freedom than conventional compasses. This means you can use the same compass for both Northern and Southern hemispheres, making it the perfect navigation instrument for traveling divers.

Technical Information

Scratch-resistant and durable oil-filled polycarbonate case.
Highly luminous dial for easy reference in low light conditions.
Side view window for easy and accurate navigation.
P/N: 05.017.101.
Compass MANUAL CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOAD

And here’s a compass from Phantom Aquatics for under $30…

The build quality and feel of the Phantom Aquatics Compass is decent. -Not great. Not terrible. I like that it’s made in Taiwan as opposed to being made in China. That usually means better build quality and attention to detail IMHO.

Happy and SAFE diving!

saltydog@sd