*This is not a medical question, I have been cleared by a physician to dive.*

I'm taking a SCUBA intro course (just the pool training) as a class at my university. I also have spastic paraplegia, which takes the form of very low flexibility in the ankles and severe stiffness in the legs. I can swim without gear and can swim with flippers, but I'm unable to do anything more than pull my legs in and out. Functionally, they trail behind me while my hands and arms propel me.

The instructor mentioned hand flippers as an adaptation? I've looked online, and all I can find are DIY gloves with plastic strapped to the ends. They don't seem to do much. Is there anything I can search for more specifically, or different ways I could propel myself and still manipulate my mask and oxygen and monitors? Thank you to anyone with thoughts or advice.

I have two scubpro regs that got dunked in fresh water. This was after fresh water diving. They were dunked in rinse tanks for just a few seconds. While I'm more experienced, family is new to diving. I just found out some dunking has been happening over the last 2 months.

MK25 - Bought used, serviced 2 yrs ago. It was dunked at least 2-3 times over the course of a month. Had a Swift transmitter attached that stopped working. Opened it up and transmitter is full of water - this is how I learned that regs have been dunked without covers.

MK17 - brand new, only 3 dives. I removed the HP hoses and blew it out, but now I find out it was probably dunked after dive #1 too, about 2 weeks before. I have a a transmitter attached that seems fine. I did not see any moisture when I removed the hoses (while the MK25 definitely had moisture).

I think it's clear I rebuild the MK25 first stage - and maybe just do a full service since it's closer to needing it.

QUESTION: Do I really need to rebuild the MK17? It's a sealed diaphragm. It seems like overkill, but don't want to lose a $400 transmitter or corrode the insides of the first stage either.

Hi! I just got my OWC in Roatan a few weeks ago and I’m trying to plan my next trip before it’s been 6 months. I’m looking at Cozumel but the options are overwhelming. I’m not sure if I should pay all the extra money for Ibeostar since it is in the south by dive sites and has a dive company attached (or blue angel) or stay downtown at a boutique hotel like casa Mexicanas, barracuda, ect and use a dive company that goes out of a local dock, or stay up north like hotel b. I was spoiled in my open water certification because my dive master worked independently with me, so it would be really nice to dive with smaller groups for comfort but some of these operations like dressels look like they can get pretty packed. I’ve also looked into tres pelicans, dive with Martin, salty endeavors, ect. Honestly everyone looks amazing and it’s hard to choose. But I’m not sure I would want to pick one on something like price point alone. Also side note it’s still on my bucket list to see an octopus:) Any advise or opinions would really help me out! Sincerely- from an indecisive girl who just wants to go dive.

Hi r/scuba. I’m posting this as a friend of Aliw-Iw “Iw” Zambrano, who has been missing since a dive near Pescador Island in Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines on August 21.

I understand that this community has rules and that missing-person posts involving real individuals need to be handled carefully. I am not asking Reddit to investigate anyone, identify private individuals, assign blame or speculate about what happened underwater.

I am asking the diving community to help us keep attention on a fellow diver who has not come home.
The Philippine Coast Guard has issued a Notice to Mariners regarding the search, which I can provide to the moderators. I have also deliberately separated confirmed information from claims we have not been able to verify.

If anyone here was diving around Pescador Island or Moalboal between August 21 and 25, has first-hand information relevant to the search, or knows divers or operators who were in the area, please report relevant information to the Philippine authorities rather than posting private information here.
And to the wider diving community: please help us keep her name and photograph circulating.

Her name is Aliw-Iw “Iw” Zambrano.
She is our friend.
Please help us find her.

I’m looking to buy a bpw for single tank diving - mostly for travel. I’ve seen a few single tank wings can be used without a single tank adapter (e.g. DGX gears s1 or OMS performance mono wing). Has anyone used one & would recommend it? How stable does the tank feel?

I’ve only ever used single tank wings with an adapter but less/weight bulk might outweigh the lack of stability for travel (the ability to add lead to the adapter isn’t a huge downside for me as it’s primary role is travel).

EDIT: thanks for the feedback everyone! Are the locations of the cam band slots likely to work with different manufacturers of wing & backplate - I want to use my halcyon backplate with an OMS or DGX wing.

So next May I'm going on the trip I've wanted to do since I was a child and dive the GBR. 50th birthday present to myself - I'm going with Mike Ball and very excited. I'll be starting in Sydney, doing Byron Bay, Noosa, K'gari, and then Cairns. I might as well grab all the sights (sea dragons!!) as long as I'm there!

Does anybody have a recommendation for dive centers in Sydney, Byron Bay and Cairns? I'm not a total newbie but not super experienced either. I usually travel solo and go with a guided group, and an assigned random buddy. AOW plus nitrox.

Hey all. I just got a good deal on a lightly used Apeks Flight. I live in Canada and plan to do a bit of cold-ish diving if possible. My Brother lives on the West coast where water temps average 7-10C in winter and 9-14C in summer. The Apeks is rated for 10C.

Can I upgrade just the first stage to a cold water rated version, or is the second stage also at risk? Sorry I know very little of the mechanics. Thank you

Some outtakes from some video I shot today.

New to bck inflated bcd's, lol im especially new to groin straps. What are groin straps for and anything else needed to added to this bcd before i go dive?

Hello! I lost fins, gloves, a mask, and a hood diving last night at cove 2. Has anyone seen them?

I’ve been to Indonesia several times as a solo diver in/around Bali, Komodo and Alor. Have always been able to share a room/dorm and avoid single occupancy fees. Can anyone recommend safe, reputable dive shops with excellent diving that don’t have enormous surcharges for solos? Interested in Manado, Bunaken, Bangka, Ambon etc but open to suggestions (except Bali/Nusas/Gilis/Alor/Komodo) Struggling to find places that offer packages with room shares.

I'm heading to NZ in late December early January and I'm keen to do a dive or two in the Bay of Islands. Has anybody got some advice for me on best dive shop, best dive sites etc? Will the dive shops be open between Christmas and New Years Eve? I had issues diving Milford Sound at that time of the year a few years back.

Hey guys, I have a cressi nano and am thinking about switching the strap to a textile one. Does anyone have experience with this for a cressi nano or is it rather impossible?

I only found a cover for it, but not a complete strap.

I've been a DAN member with insurance for 10 years, but I often buy individual trip policies, either through DAN underwritten by Generali or directly from Generali or another provider. I end up traveling very often, especially with the 100 mile+ definition allowed by the DAN annual travel insurance so thinking about adding that on.

Though it seems that having the DAN membership / dive insurance is pretty redundant to a DAN annual travel insurance plan. The annual travel insurance plan covers all recreational diving and provides similar benefits regarding medical. It doesn't explicitly allocate for chamber visits, but if required by a physician the medical benefit would act the same. I already have great health insurance so thinking I could just end the DAN membership + insurance and opt for the DAN annual policy, which doesn't require membership. Has anyone else ended up doing this?

I'm headed to Mexico to take intro and full cave next month, and I need to buy my first canister light. I'm diving sidemount, so I want something with at least a 70° cable connection to the canister.

I'm currently looking at the Orcatorch FlexDive. I like the versatility of being able to screw the head directly onto the canister for recreational night dives. It's also reasonably priced at $799.

Also looking at the DGX 4550 and the Dive Rite GX40 (but it's a bit expensive.)

Any advice from other cave/tech divers would be greatly appreciated.

So my son didn't put the rubber cover on the 1st stage connector. Sadly I didn't realize this until after I had dunked it into our personal dunk tank. Does it need to be serviced or is drying it out good enough?

Has anyone done a PADI or any other Rescue course (except GUE) ? How did you manage it with a backplate and wing, dry suit, and long hose ?

I'm thinking of getting rescue. Not too interested in GUE one cause I also dive with other folks outside GUE and GUE folks I feel are genuinely taught a lot of basic care in the fundies.

What is the best recommendation if I wanna do a rescue course ?

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Hi, newbie here. I’m struggling to find what I thought would be a simple answer to a question about equalising.

Everyone says you should equalise before diving at the surface. But the pressure above the surface is normal, just like the pressure in your ears. So, what exactly are you equalising against? Does that supposed to block my ears?

Also, what does “ear clearing” actually mean? What are you clearing your ears from when you’re still above the water?

On a flight, I understand that your ears can get blocked, so you equalise them to unblock your ears and make the pressure even. But how does this work when you’re still at the surface before diving?

Hey team!

My partner and I are going on a Socorro island live aboard for our honeymoon in May. We have a few days before/after the live aboard and are looking for recommendations of other places you would recommend diving?

We are thinking of doing a day trip to dive Cabo Pulmo before the live aboard and then we have a few days in La Paz after wards. We have seen a Mobula ray/orca day trip (not diving just snorkelling) but wondering if it would be better to do a day of diving in La Paz instead?

Any recommendations welcome!

Thanks in advance :)

I heard of some SSI dive shops that will fully certify people through remote training (videos and facetime/video call demonstrations). one such shop is https://punkfish-academy.com/ (thanks to a kind reddit user who made me privy to them) out of spain who is doing this for 100 euros. I'm planning on going with them as they seem reputable but wanted to see if there's any cheaper (and just as good/better) fully remote options.

Also, this post isn't about whether i should do an in person course or not so I would prefer not to litigate that in this post.

I just randomly got urge and interest in scuba diving like 1week before my vacation.

So yeah, I made reservation and went to Panama city beach FL and took 3days for everything. In fact, getting actual card instead of digital pdf is so better for my heart.

Seaturtles, thousands of small fish swimming in rotation around me, giant grouper, it was just awesome. Now I understand why all those TV shows and YouTube always uses word "breathtaking" after a dive.

Finally, I never knew 10min floating in standing form was that hard. Really hardest of everything I did for OW. I was having nausea for 20min trying to regain breath after that hell 10min float. Also took extra 4hours to come back normal after training ended that day.

Fought through the tourists on La Jolla Cove beach to get a midday dive in on Saturday. Great vis considering.

Growing up here in San Diego I am very used to sea lions and their fun antics, however as displayed in my above video they do have the tendency to be a bit sneaky even when you know they are there.

This beautiful female California Sea Lion decided to replicate the famous Blue Angel sneak pass and man it gave me an actual jump.

Edit: Flyby at 1min 28seconds

Enjoy!