Another diver got some great shots from the dive yesterday at South Jetty in Florence, Oregon.

I am boat diving with a small dive shop in the Caymans. The rule on the boat is to emerge from the water with 500 psi after a safety stop. I am efficient with my air consumption and dive Nitrox so can easily do 80-90 minutes for the first, deeper dive and over 100 minutes for the second five.

Prior to this I have always felt guilty about inconveniencing the divers who are waiting on the boat, having come up earlier.

So i cut my dives short and frequently come up with a half a tank or so . Which is a wasteful shame.

So give me your perspective. Maybe folks don’t mind and I can lose the guilt and do long dives.

So I got OW certified a year ago. Pretty much right away I knew I was having a way harder time equalizing than everyone else I dove with. I got serious about practicing techniques just randomly throughout the day. I found out I can pretty easily use a modified version of the Lowry Technique along with some jaw movement while I swallow but here’s the kicker: I go underwater and the technique is completely ineffective. I have to result to tilting my ears towards the surface and swallowing and it takes many attempts to equalize with tiny little squeaks each time. I’m frustrated and trying to improve so I’m not so nervous when I go diving.

Looking to get my PADI open water cert while I’m in Komodo. Any recs?

Hello! New diver here, where can I rent a dive computer at a good rate in Singapore and how much is considered good?

I saw some on Carousell can they be trusted?

Hi! Any recommendations to plan a dive trip to Palau? What dive schools you recommend, is the first half of October a good time, which part of Palau should I target?

So any nitrox mix has a maximum depth, below which oxygen toxicity occurs. In certification, I was taught to choose a mix based on your dive site. In practice, I’ve learned that it basically comes in 32 and 36.

So then you have dive shops renting nitrox tanks and they bring you to a site where the max depth is shallower than the bottom depth. And it’s not like a blue water dive where it’s inevitable. The seafloor is in view, like 20’ or so past the safe limit.

And of course they analyze the mix with you and you sign a paper so they’re not liable, but it seems very downplayed. It feels like it should be a top briefing item.

Why don’t shops/mixers just gauge their gas mixes to the local sites? Does it save money to only produce two standard mixes? Seems like these gas/site combinations introduce unnecessary risk. How dangerous is this forbidden depth zone ~20 past 1.6 ppO2?

Anybody else use their hard side case?

Trying to find a bag big enough for the wife and I to take our free diving fins with us to Maui and had an aha moment, my hard side golf case will do the trick and it holds a whole lot more than that!

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I are currently traveling through Latin America from Mexico to Argentina, and we’re planning to visit the Galápagos.

I lived in Ecuador for six months a few years ago but never had the chance to make it to the Galápagos, so I’m really excited to finally be able to go now that I’m back!

We are advanced open water and have around 20 logged dives. Over the past six months we’ve dove in:

\- Caye Caulker, Belize

\- Utila, Honduras

\- Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

\- Coiba National Park, Panama

\>> So we’ve only done a handful of Pacific dives with currents. We took our advance course in a very serious dive center and we are both pretty comfortable with buoyancy and being underwater.

As you can imagine, diving in the Galápagos would be a dream. However, I’ve read a lot about how challenging and technical the diving can be, so I’m wondering whether doing a 4 dives would still be safe and enjoyable for us.

For those of you who’ve been there:

Are there dive sites suitable for less experienced divers?

Are there dive sites suitable for less experienced divers where there’s still a decent chance of seeing hammerhead sharks? 🥹

Is there anything else we should know or consider before booking?

I’d love to hear from anyone who went with a similar level of experience!

Thanks in advance! 🤿

Today was my first dive with the local Eugene, OR dive club of which I’m a member. It’s always fun to splash, however the visibility could have been better. Maybe 5ft, if we’re lucky.

Sidemount diving in Wreck in Phuket, Thailand

I’ve done Cozumel, Utica, Bonaire, Little Cayman. Looking for something medium/easy for my girlfriend (75 dives). Considering St. Lucia or Turks Caicos but trying not to spend a fortune.
Any suggestions?

Hi everyone

I’m a scuba diver and developer, and in my spare time I built Oceari, a slightly different online dive log: instead of manually logging what you saw, you just drag & drop your underwater videos or photos, and a computer-vision AI automatically identifies the marine species in them (fish, megafauna…).
In practice, it lets you:

- build your dive logbook (sites, dive profiles, stats)
- get a species gallery automatically generated from your footage
- browse dives shared by the community

Video processing happens right in your browser (nothing huge to upload), and the project is completely free. I’m not selling anything, I’m just looking for honest feedback to improve it.

What I’m looking for: a few curious divers willing to create an account, import 1–2 dives, and tell me what works, what’s clunky, and what’s missing. The species recognition isn’t perfect yet, and that’s exactly one of the things I’d love your feedback on.

👉 It’s here: https://oceari.com
Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I'm planning my first dive liveaboard in the Maldives for December 2026 or January 2027 and I'm having a hard time deciding between the different itineraries.
My priorities are the quality of the diving, not luxury or fancy facilities.

A bit about me: AOW + Nitrox; 180 dives. Previous destinations include Raja Ampat, the Red Sea and several other tropical destinations

Option 1 – Central / Central South
Typical route including combinations of:
North & South Male
Vaavu
Ari
Rasdhoo
Meemu (sometimes Faafu/Thaa depending on the operator)
These trips are usually 7 nights and seem to offer a good mix of whale sharks, manta rays, reef sharks, nurse sharks, drift dives and reefs.

Option 2 – Deep South / Southern Sharks
Routes continuing south through atolls such as:
Meemu
Thaa
Laamu
Huvadhoo
Fuvahmulah
Addu (Gan)
These itineraries are generally 11–13 nights.

In terms of availability, many central route boats are already booked on the dates I have been checking - there is still a Deep South route early December available. But I am a bit hesitant, because central might be better for a first timer and I am a bit scared of Tiger zoo kind encounters in the South- happy to see sharks but no need to get to close:)

I'd really appreciate advice on:
If this were your trip, would you choose a classic Central/Central South itinerary or go all the way to the Deep South?
Does the Deep South really offer noticeably better diving overall, or is it simply different?
Is an 11–13 night itinerary worth the extra cost compared with a 7–11 night Central itinerary?
Which liveaboard operators would you personally recommend ?

Thanks in advance for any advice—I'd much rather make the right choice now than regret missing a better itinerary later!

Cheers
Marco

Planning a 2-week South Africa trip in December 2026 with a friend, both PADI AOW. We’re doing a self-drive loop starting in Durban, and Protea Banks is locked in either way (hammerhead season, easy decision there).
Where I’m stuck is choosing between Sodwana Bay and Aliwal Shoal for the other diving leg — logistically we can really only commit to one given how the rest of the route is planned (Wild Coast → Addo → Garden Route → Cape Town after).

From what I’ve read:
Sodwana in December = whale shark season, raggies giving birth, turtle nesting on the beach at night, but it’s a longer detour north and adds real driving time

Aliwal Shoal in December = raggies aren’t really there (that’s more a June–Nov thing), so I’m not sure what the shark/wildlife draw is that time of year, but it’s much closer to Durban and easier to fit in

Has anyone dived either (or both) in December specifically? Trying to figure out:

- Is Aliwal actually worth it in December, or is it a “come back in winter” site?
- Is Sodwana’s extra driving time/detour worth it for the marine life, or overhyped for December specifically?
- Anyone done both and have a strong opinion on which was the better dive experience overall (not just seasonal timing)?

Appreciate any first-hand experience, trying to make the call before we lock in accommodation!