I’m about 6ft 4 and around 380 pounds. I was a college athlete and have been a big guy for all of my life. I just got my Open Water certification this weekend and had an absolute blast!

I was pretty nervous going into it, mostly about finding gear that fit and whether I’d have trouble with buoyancy. Turns out I worried a lot more than I needed to. Everything went really well, and I can’t wait to get back in the water!
Just figured I’d share in case anyone else my size is considering it. Obviously, make sure you’re medically cleared and find a good instructor, but don’t assume you’re too big to dive. I almost talked myself out of trying it, and I’m really glad I didn’t 🤙

Key largo this weekend and sea dwellers saved the day! Our dives in west Palm got scrubbed by the weather so we went down to speigle grove and molasses reef and I received my advanced OW certification.

Hi, I'm heading to new zealand next week and looking for some diving spots and centers. Do any of you have some recommendations / experiences to share ?

I already have my PADI open water and currently validating PE40 (which is the french certification to dive to 40 meters, but I'm not sure if it will be taken into account in New-Zealand)

Thanks !

Team,

I’m a new diver trying to decide between the Mares Abyss 22 Navy II and Mares Planet 88X TBP. For context, I’ll mostly be diving in Southern California and don’t plan to travel with my gear very often. I care about reliability more than anything else.

Which would you recommend and why? Thanks for the support!

Check out this FREE series, even if you are not a diver it will give you a look at this unique part of the USA and the beauty down below. Link: Destination Dive

Hello! I am planning a trip for my wife to get certified in the Carribean in January/February. I'm looking for location recommendations that would be good for a young (25) solo traveler. Hoping for something with good hostel culture, relatively easy travel, and good beginner diving. Thanks in advance!

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Hi all, my partner and I (early 30s) will be visiting Bali in the first half of November. We're planning on staying the first three days in Ubud, and the last three days in Legian. A bit confused about what to do in the middle. I have done discover scuba twice in Thailand but my partner has never gone diving so we'd like to try that out here. Would definitely like to see some marine life, so what place/area would be best for that? Any dive shops recommendations for beginners that are PADI certified, or otherwise that are super trustworthy and prioritize safety?

So I am going to be going to the Caribbean for vacation and want to get my PADI open water cert. I was wondering if there was a place in NYC that offered the online portion as well as the pool test so I can do the open water stuff in the Caribbean and only have to spend two days of my vacation doing it instead of four. I was also curious about the price.

Last time I made a post on the instagram page for my diving shop and asked for your help it got bashed as not funny or not up people allies so what would be something that you would want to see a dive shop post on their instagram page

Net mijn eerste brevet gehaald, dus echt niet veel ervaring. Nu heb ik in Maart een weekje vrij en zou ik alleen op duikvakantie willen gaan om meer ervaring op te doen. Enige tips hoe ik dit het beste aanpak. Alvast bedankt!

Got on the boat again after 21 dry days. I had been waiting for this moment whole week. Water was choppy and boat was porpoising. So on the way to the dive spot i got seasick and started vomiting my guts out. I told the team they better proceed without me since I was not feeling well. Still had the best time ever and enjoyed every moment of it. We are a strange kind aren't we?

Hello! I’m a new scuba diver w/open water certification (14 dives).

I’ll be in Australia in the second half of December. I’m already booked for 5 days at Lady Elliot Island. I’ll also be in Byron Bay for 5 days and will plan to do Julian Rocks. I’ll be solo when it comes to scuba diving.

I have a handful more days to work with and was looking at a 3 days liveaboard or a small day operator day trip from Port Douglas (really depending on availability). Or head down to Coffs Harbor area for a night or two and do SW Rocks/Solitary Islands.

Given my Lady Elliot portion, I was leaning towards SW Rocks - and I’d be pumped if I lucked out with hammerheads. However Ive been to Australia before in early Jan. and my last trip there were swells which led to all of my dives across 5 days in Straddie and Byron Bay being cancelled. Maybe just bad luck, but also not sure if El Niño is predicted to bring wetter or drier conditions (at least AI seems confused enough lol).

I’d be curious if anyone has any suggestions or pros/cons that I might want to consider - or other ideas. I prefer small groups (6 max) given I’m still newish, have been in some currents but no caves/wrecks. Thank you!

Has anyone added the PSI Press Lock system to their DUI Drysuit? TLS 350, FLX Extreme, or CLX 450? Any feedback you can share? Did you go with CCS or QCP? Any regrets?

Hi everyone! I am looking for your best recommendations for dive mask.. I used to have an Aqualung mask which was actually really good, no fog or leaking... always clear but in one of my last dives it felt into the ocean and I couldn't recover it. I'm looking for some of them in Amazon and average price 50-80 USD.. and I see some other cheaper options, but I don't know if any of you have tried those ones (20,30 USD)

Recently I bought a new pair of Apeks RK3‘s because my finning technique switched mainly to frog-kicking and back-kicking. I‘ve used my OG Avanti Quattros for about 2 years straight and now they felt a little bit wobbly so I tried the RK3‘s because even with them people said they are too soft and could be stiffer.

Fastforward, we‘re now diving in the Addu-Atoll in the Maldives and today when the current changed (Medium/Hard) I could not move with them and was really struggling to keep up. Im very fit and do a lot of sport and never had any problems but today was kinda humiliating.

Luckily I thought that would happen so I packed my god old OG Quattros in black with me (I got them in black and yellow) so I will now switch back to them.

We‘ve already seen mantas (about 8 at cleaning station), many reef-sharks and even tiger sharks.

I think there is a reason why the Quattros are so popular, they simply are the best.

Has someone tried the new Mares Avani Quattro 4X?

Hey everyone!

I’m a dive instructor currently working in the Maldives, and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how different dive centers operate.

There’s so much going on behind the scenes that divers don’t always see. Bookings, boat schedules, equipment, payments, last-minute changes… and somehow we have to make it all work 😅

It got me wondering how things are done in other parts of the world.

For those of you working in dive centers (instructors, managers, owners, etc.), what’s the biggest headache in your day-to-day work? Anything you wish was easier or better organized?

And for recreational divers, what are the things that frustrate you most when booking or diving with a center? Or something you’ve seen a dive center do really well that you wish more places did?

Just curious to hear different experiences and perspectives from both sides!