How to Shine at Night Diving: Tips for Using a Dive Light
Dive lights are necessary for you to see at night underwater; they’re also your principle means of communication at night. In the daytime they…
Scuba Skills and Videos
In Over Your Head: Exploring Overhead Environments Safely
Seeing a sunken hulk materialize out of the blue is a thrill I never tire of. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ship, plane,…
In between Worlds: The Diver on the Surface
My first voyage aboard a submarine was an event to remember. I had worked and planned for years, and then finally the time was…
Drift Diving: How to Use Current to Your Advantage
If there is a force of nature that disrupts dives and disorients divers as much as any other, it is current. On the flip…
Muddy Waters: Techniques for Low-Vis Diving
Call me a wimp if you want, but my enthusiasm for diving is proportional to how far I can see underwater. It is safe…
Did You See That? The Art of Observing Marine Life
The fish, a spectacularly colored grouper, paused and opened its mouth. Finning only slightly to maintain its position just a foot (30 cm) or…
Ins and Outs: How to Choose Entry and Exit Locations
Entering and exiting the water are fairly simple tasks once you learn the correct techniques. From shore, divers shuffle in with fins in place…
Shore Diving Made Simple: How to Set Up a Base Camp
Although it rarely is part of the Open Water certification course, selecting and setting up a base camp is a skill that every diver…
Cavern Diving: A Beginner’s Guide
You’re gliding into a vast underwater cavern. In the crystal-clear water all around you majestic stalactites hang down from the cavern ceiling like icicles. Cone-shaped stalagmites rise up to meet them. Gnarled tree roots snake through the cavern’s roof to get a drink of water. But wait…you must be dreaming, because you’re only an Open Water-certified diver. You can’t possibly be exploring the inner sanctum of an underwater cavern, because this type of diving is suited for only those expert divers who’ve had a lot of advanced training, right?
Diving Dry: How to Don A Dry Suit
For years I procrastinated about using a dry suit, until a friend, who was tired of hearing me complain about being cold, offered to…