Chris Chew asked:


This article describes some of the better dive sites in South East Asia. As a scuba diver, you will probably know that scuba diving in South East Asia has always been very popular because of its vast species of marine life and rich diversity of colorful corals.

As a matter of fact, there are many world class dive sites in this region and with its excellent underwater visibility, South East Asia is indeed a scuba diver’s haven. So, here are some of the top dive sites in South East Asia many of which I have dived in several times.

We shall start with Indonesia and of course, the island of Bali cannot be left out. Perhaps the most dived site in Bali is the Liberty wreck. The wreck was a US army logistic ship sunk by Japanese submarine torpedoes during the last world war.

Liberty wreck lies in the depth of about 10m (32ft) to 30m (100ft) over 120m (385ft) of the sea bed. Divers can see guns, toilets, ship anchor chain among other things of a typical shipwreck. The wreck is heavily encrusted with corals and brightly decorated with gorgonian sea fans and sea anemones.

Scuba divers will also encounter large schools of trevally and more than 400 species of marine fishes and even exotic colonies of elusive garden eels.

Similan island in Thailand is another interesting dive site. Similan is located off the coast of Khao Lak which was hit badly by a Tsunami 2006. Nine granite islands made up the Similan islands. These islands are covered by luxuriant tropical rainforests surrounded by pristine white beaches and turquoise blue water.

This area is a protected national park. Below the water lie a sprawling underwater garden of deep canyons, coral gardens, huge granite boulders, caves and walls. Liveaboard scuba diving is the norm here.

Sipadan Island in Malaysia was made famous by Jacques Cousteau’s documentary entitled Ghost Of The Sea Turtles. This is an oceanic island which is not connected to any continental shelf that rises about 2000 ft on an awesome limestone pinnacle and mushrooms out at the surface.

Many dive magazines have named Sipadan as one of the best dive sites in the world and reported to have the largest variety of soft corals in the world. At Sipadan, scuba divers will encounter exciting drift dives, fascinating coral formations, turtles, lobsters, barracudas and even various species of sharks.

Manado, northen Sulawesi, Indonesia is the gateway to world class dive spots in the Bunaken National Park. Muck diving, meaning diving for little critters on the seabed in Manado bay is the norm here. In this part of Indonesia, you will encounter exhilarating wall dives, drop offs, huge napoleon wrasse, reef sharks and also another shipwreck.

Layang Layang in Malaysia is a breathtaking atoll. It is part of a shoal group in the South China Sea known as the Spratly islands. Here, massive numbers of barracuda roams the water, large pelagic fishes and sharks make this place home. Do not be surprised if you are investigated by a school of hammerhead sharks.

sheert asked:

Scuba diving trip to Sharm. Excellent tropical diving with coral and abundant fish life.
Booked through www.blueoceandiving.co.uk
Resort: www.ocean-college.com
www.sheerman-chase.org.uk

jcharsch asked:

The Scuba Guy was ask to discover fish. He found Spongebob hert by Squidward and took Spongebob home. The second video of Jay Harsch. (My Dad did the first Description)

Pat Carpenter asked:


While some might say there’s quite enough excitement above the surface of the water, Texas residents might want to consider a whole new world that beckons.

It’s the world of scuba diving — strapping on a tank and equipping yourself with the proper diving equipment to explore all that the world of underwater has to offer.

For those living in the cities of Dallas, Houston and Austin, exploring the world of scuba diving may mean traveling to the coast of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. But there are also numerous opportunities inland, with training facilities, including one in Athens, southeast of Dallas, available for training and recreation.

Those choosing to take up scuba diving will have lots of company, with an estimated 3 million Americans now certified scuba divers, many of them Texas residents.

While there are scuba diving possibilities in and around Texas, including the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, many scuba enthusiasts head to the warm waters of the eastern and western Caribbean, where coral reefs and marine life are aplenty. Some opt to stay at one or more of the hundreds of land-based resorts from which they can dive — or learn to dive — but many divers will want to stay on a boat, either crewed charter boats (in the eastern Caribbean) or live-aboard dive vessels (in the western area).

On a dive boat the crews are diving professionals, many being instructors who can help with a new diver getting certified or checked out if it’s been awhile since a person’s last dive. Charter captains know the most popular dive spots and have a few not-so-well-known favorites of their own. All of the boats have dive equipment on board and most have compressors to keep the dive tanks full.

Land-based vacationers may have to travel in a small open boat for an hour or more to get to a dive site, but those on a charter or dive boat are already there. Plus, they aren’t limited to one area; they can dive from one island one day and another the next. Indeed, on a live-aboard dive boat in the western Caribbean, a vacationer can travel more than 100 miles over the water during a typical seven-day trip.

It’s also often less expensive to charter — with food and drinks included — than to stay in a hotel or resort. Extras that hotels may tack on to a bill - - like rental fees for equipment — are almost always included in the charter fee.

There are many options for learning how to scuba. Open Water certification, which includes classroom sessions, a pool dive where you learn to use the scuba equipment, and four open-water dives, can be obtained in as little as four or five days. An increasingly popular certification method is to take the classroom portion and pool instruction at home, and then have your instructor write a letter of referral to a dive instructor in the Caribbean.

In the eastern Caribbean, especially the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, there are at least 40 yachts available with a certified diving instructor so you can learn right on board. The kinds of boats available range from 80-foot motor yachts and sprawling catamarans to smaller sailboats that cater to couples. Each boat and crew is different, but they all want their clients to have a great time.

If scuba diving isn’t exactly what you want, but you still want to check things out, snorkeling can be a wonderful way to get a window on what’s below. In St. John, USVI, as an example, there is a marked snorkeling trail in Trunk Bay maintained by the U.S. National Park Service.

Another benefit of crewed charters is the ability to dive after the sun goes down. Some 80% of all marine life emerge only at night, but with underwater flashlights, a diver is all set.

Live-aboard dive vessel operators say a diver is four times more likely to see large marine animals like manta rays, dolphins and whales than they are staying at a land-based resort.

If you want more information on scuba diving, you don’t have to go too deep. For a start, check out the NAUI, PADI and YMCA Web sites at www.naui.org, www.padi.com, and www.ymcascuba.org. Learn about Divers Alert Network (DAN), an insurance and medical program for divers, at www.diversalertnetwork.org. An excellent site for all-around information on scuba diving is www.scubadiving.com.[MSOffice1]

Scuba diving is one of those lifestyle activities that can energize those who try it. What can also be energizing is knowing you’re looking after your long term health.

paintballtechpb asked:

This is how to fill a paintball tank using a scuba tank. You will need-

$150 Scuba TAnk
$40 Fill Station

Usually it costs about $20 per year to maintain your scuba tank (hydro and visual inspection), and about $4 to $5 to fill it at your local scuba shop.

With 2 or 3 of these, you can play backyard paintball for days.

Enjoy!

EFPlighting asked:

Teens learning to scuba dive

JW T asked:


I have just bought an Apeks regulator and had it put together. I then bought a BCD separately and want to attach the inflator hose to the regulator. My inflator hose does not have an O ring at the end where it attaches to the regulator.

David Cowley asked:


If you grew up dreaming of searching for sunken treasure, you’re not alone.  Many young men and women have had dreams just like that, of searching the ocean floor for remnants of some sunken ship that was loaded down with gold coins and gem encrusted goodies.  That elusive treasure chest of priceless riches is everyone’s dream prize, and whether or not you need to fight off some pirates to get it is yet another matter.  But in all seriousness, if you are truly interested in finding some sunken treasure, where can you go?
Real hunting for sunken treasure is not as fictional or fantastic as you might think.  There are many scuba centers and guided tours that allow a tourist to scour some of the best sites where treasure might be found.  And while many of these scuba centers are located in exotic places like off the coast of the Bahamas or in the Gulf of Mexico, some sunken treasure can be found in much more accessible areas such as off the coast of the Jersey shore and California. 
These organized tours for sunken treasure are not as fruitless as you might immediately assume.  Many have reported that their tourists have recovered actual treasure that can be traced back to sunken Spanish ships and merchants that ran trade routes from Europe to the Americas.  Most companies that operate sunken treasure tours are very careful to check historic records of the routes of these ships and any known records of their location when they sunk.  They check these against ocean current directions and weather reports and make maps of possible locations where the ship’s treasures would now be located.  Of course there are no guarantees that you’ll ever find sunken treasure when you go on such a tour, but their guides are hoping that their tourists will find something - this is good for repeat business, of course.
Hunting for sunken treasure means knowing how to scuba dive.  Most tour companies will give you lessons, but if you’re serious about making treasure hunting a hobby, you may want to consider taking classes near your home.  You can typically find a class that is offered out of your local high school or YMCA, or anyplace with a pool.  This way you can get very skilled at diving and won’t need to rely on just a quick intro course.  And of course if you have the money at your disposal, you may want to search for your own sunken treasure and simply hire a boat to take you to your desired location.  This can get costly as you invest in sonar equipment and diving apparatus, but this is your decision to make of course.
One of the more popular treasure hunting enterprises is run by the decedents of Mel Fisher out of Key West Florida.  If you are willing to invest in the business they will allow you to dive on the Nuestra Senora De Atocha and Santa Margarita Spanish galleons that were sunk by a hurricane on September 6, 1622.  All treasure uncovered during the year are shared by all investors of that year.
Not many people actually get rich from finding that elusive sunken treasure, but it can be a fascinating hobby that will keep you occupied for years to come.
Happy Treasure Hunting.

Tyler Bliss asked:


The beautiful island of Maui attracts visitors with its beautiful beaches, abundant sea life, and warm teal waters. Some water sport adventurers prefer Maui’s snorkeling, floating languidly at the surface and gliding gently through the water, hovering above the sea life they are viewing. This is a comfortable place for those who have not spent a great deal of time in the ocean, but it can sometimes be difficult to get an up-close view of the sea life. Generally, only advanced snorkelers have the ability to dive down and completely submerge.

Others prefer to scuba dive in Maui, becoming completely immersed in the underwater world. Scuba allows you the freedom to really explore your surroundings, but it involves wearing cumbersome equipment and going through a lengthy certification process. This may not be very convenient for the person who only swims in the ocean once or twice each year, or is on a short vacation.

Maui Snuba offers the best of both worlds. It allows the swimmer to swim at any depth with which they are comfortable, limited only by the length of the air hose they breathe from. There is no lengthy certification process, and the swimmer does not need to wear any bulky equipment.

How Maui Snuba Works

Snuba is a patented system that allows the swimmer to breathe through a 20-foot hose. The air line is attached to a traditional scuba tank, which is mounted on a small, lightweight raft. As the swimmer moves through the water, the raft follows along. The only equipment the swimmer needs to wear while submerged is a mask, fins, and a light harness attached to your Maui Snuba raft.

A swimmer can remain submerged below the surface for up to an hour at a time in the waters of Maui. Snuba also offers the freedom to swim near the surface or dive deeper, depending upon the swimmer’s comfort level. This allows the Maui Snuba participant much greater freedom to explore coral reefs, or follow schools of tropical fish or the graceful sea turtles.

Certification is easy and only involves a 15 to 20 minute safety and equipment familiarization briefing. All Maui Snuba operators are experienced dive professionals who will not only provide you with your initial introduction, but will remain in the water with you in the event you need assistance.

Anyone in good health can enjoy Snuba, including children at least eight years of age. Those who have heart conditions or are asthmatic should not participate.

Where to Snuba in Maui

Many of the dive and snorkel tour operators in Maui also offer Snuba. These combined snorkel/Snuba or dive/Snuba boat tours visit all of the popular dive and snorkel locations, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the plentiful sea life that lives in Maui. Snuba is a great experience for young and old, as interacting with the miracles of underwater sea life is an incredible experience for anyone visiting Maui.

Molokini Crater is a popular area for Maui Snuba adventures. Not all of the dive locations within the Molokini Crater area are accessible to snorkelers, but several can be explored and enjoyed by Snuba – allowing you to see much more of the exciting sea life that lives in the Molokini underwater oasis.

The many turtle habitats visited by dive and snorkel boat tours are also an excellent place to for Maui Snuba. The turtles glide slowly through the water, and it is possible to swim along near them for extended periods of time. Snuba allows you the opportunity to interact more closely with these graceful underwater creatures, perfecting your Maui experience.

If you are visiting Maui, Snuba should be considered for your list of adventures. Your enhanced underwater experience will make you glad you did.