Snorkeling

At first it feels a little frightening, but with each next dive you feel relaxed and confident. Proper diving equipment helps you to feel no discomfort in this situation. Then if you swim in salty water, your body floats on the water naturally, and you do not have to exert yourself to keep on the water. In Dead Sea, for example, you probably would not be able to drown at all. And fortunately snorkel and mask allows you to glide in the water as relaxed as possible, it can be likened to flying in your sleep. Still, fins help you to swim faster and control your movements in the water like a fish.

For a colder climate you may want to put on a wetsuit that protects your skin from freezing. If cold water is not the case, you may find a lightweight long sleeve skins that are both thin and stretchy. Or, like most people do, you do not add anything to your swimming trunks.

As far as mask is concerned, it should not leak, or should not leak much, otherwise  you have to take it off and get rid of water inside after each dive. It should not be tight or loose. Both tight and loose masks tend to leak and cause other problems, even damage to the skin, either by rubbing or pressing. Your mask should have a self-sealing valve on the top. Make sure the mouthpiece of your snorkel is comfortably located between your teeth, without any part pressing too much to your teeth.

Fins should be preferrably made of rubber, no hard plastic, please. Otherwise it may result in painful sores on your feet. I like simple fins that completely cover my feet.

Before going underwater you should test both mask and snorkel together, whether they fit and feel alright. Carefully position a small rubber strap that attaches your snorkel to the mask, so that the snorkel goes just above your left ear (or right ear, it depends on your preferences and left-handedness). Take a deep breath and bite your mouthpiece, then dip your head in the water. If you feel that your snorkel contains some water, you should exhale sharply to get rid of it in the snorkel shaft, it is called blasting.

It is a nice idea to have a buddy going with you or at least waiting for you onshore. In case of emergency you should be able to call for somebody’s help. That is why you should be careful about your diving and snorkeling gear.

Georgian Bay

You descend in still water that looks like air, you forget that you do not belong to this underwater world, you want to explore some sunken ship wreck, you swim into a haunted realm. Here at the Fathom Five National Marine Park, about thirty meters below the surface you see a deck of the Arabia, a nineteenth century schooner, with bubbles trickling in front of your face. You see masts, anchors, chains and a wheel stand that remained as such for centuries thanks to cold water that preserves it like a pharaoh chamber. You do not believe that this ship was sunken during a storm more than a century ago. This diving experience never really clouds in your memory.

After one adventure you want another, and as Vladimir Vysotsky sang about alpinists, if you want to find something better than mountains, you find out that it is only mountains. The same goes with deep blue waters adventures. When you experience this once, you want to explore more and more, and travel the globe in search of the most epic adventures. Different scuba divers have their own ideas of what characteristics the best diving sites should have. Some people believe that the farther the better, and you should fly and drive as many days as possible to get the best impressions. For example, to get to Wakatobi Marine National Park in Indonesia in 1990s you had to travel as much as three days, but despite this arduous journey you have one of the best diving experience, with Wakatobi’s prolific reef and coral system that you can find anywhere.

California Channel Islands

Other people would prefer to dive closer to their homes, like in California Channel Islands where kelp forests are unique, where harbor seals and sea lions frolic, and the bottom is covered with invertebrate life. These sights are enchanting and picturesque. You just swim in rays of light through the kelp forming a golden canopy.
Still other diving aficionados prefer adrenaline fueled adventures in wreck diving looking for World War II sunken vessels or gliding with whale sharks near Utila Islands in Honduras.

You do not want to forget your diving gear such as a diving knife or your underwater digital camera to take with you on your adventures.

Luminox Navy SEAL Dive Watch

It is also water resistant for more than two hundred meters (20 ATM) making it an option for a recreational diver. It has a black and large plate with a case of 1.7 inches in diameter and 0.4 inched thick. This wristwatch is topped by a ratcheting and unidirectional rotating bezel with 5-minute Arabic numerals as well as coin-edged detailing. Its black dial face is contrasted by white numeral markers and big white baton hands including a second hand, as well as date function located at three o’clock position. The set includes a black polyurethane diver’s strap that is very comfortable for your wrist. This watch also features a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating.

So what is unique in this watch? The most notable part is its luminosity system, with tiny self-powered micro gas lights (made with borosilicate glass capsules) that are embedded into the hands and hour indicators of the face of the Luminox Navy SEAL Dive Watch as well as on the turning ring. So there is truly no need for any external light to charge this watch, nor is there any necessity in pushing any button to light up the face as other electroluminescent watches feature.

Luminox is a company that was found by a creative forward-thinking individual, Barry Cohen who decided to use a Swiss self-powered illumination system to make watches more visible in low or no light conditions. He and his partner developed a unique illumination system that was later named Luminox Light Technology). The company name itself stands for Light for the Night – Lumi (Latin word for Light) and Nox (Latin word for Night). The Luminox company patented a cutting-edge technology for luminescence and readability for their innovative line of products.

We recommend you a Luminox Men’s 3001 Original Navy SEAL Dive Watch. You can buy this watch at Amazon online store:

The first choice we would like to review is a SeaLife DC 1200 that is advertized as being able to catch them all – underwater fish of all kinds, either butterflyfish or surgeonfish, porgy or chubs, snappers or grunts, flounders or scorpionfish, sharks or rays, or any other colorful sea creature, as well coral reefs, ship wrecks and even buddy divers. Nobody will hide from this snorkeling camera! It has a 12-megapixel sensor and has four different color modes for tropical and temperate waters.

SeaLife DC 1200

You will not feel disgusted with onland pictures taken by this camera yet its better use is underwater where you can get bright and sharp pictures.  Manufacturers of this camera made its design very  diver friendly. They got rid of usual buttons that are located on the back panel of many cameras and can be pushed mistakenly. Instead of this set the SeaLife DC 1200 has so called piano key controls, a set of five buttons operated by a thumb.

The SeaLife DC 1200 has a convenient shutter button that can be easily found and pushed by your fingertip, as well as a lever that not only scrolls through menu items but also is capable of zooming in and zooming out with one finger. You do not have to release your grip and miss a valuable shot.

So these know-hows, a patented piano key set and a central command lever make this camera a very attractive to prolific underwater photographers who value its usability and design.

You can make significant improvements to this camera by buying accessories available at the manufacturer’s stores. For example, Digital Pro Flashes help to make a vibrant color pics in dark waters, and wide angle extension provides panoramic view if space does not allow you to catch all the objects in your view, or you want interesting effects.

With SeaLife 1200 you can make macro photos as its autofocus system allows to produce sharpness starting from only four inches. The other end is infinity, of course, by default.

The SD memory card with capacity of 4 GB allows to shoot more than two hours of video, and you can dive as deep as 60 meters to shoot with this camera. Even if you like extreme diving, the camera body is fully armored, so it will not crash even if it hit a stone. Other options include manual control of aperture and shutter speed, as well  as automatic color correction. There is a full year of warranty that applies to a camera body and waterproof housing.

Another great camera that we would recommend is a Liquid Image Video Series Digital Camera Mask that is unique in design as it is built right into your diving and snorkeling mask. Your hands are free for your diving tasks like cutting some ropes with your diving knife. Yet you can capture fantastic images or video at the same time. The video is shot at D1 (full TV or DVD of PAL or NTSC in 720 pixels wide resolution) quality.

Liquid Image Digital Snorkeling Camera Mask

The maximum depth that this camera was tested was 33 feet, or about 10 meters, but you will hardly need deeper shots as an average diver, what to say of snorkeling. You will find it very hard to go deeper than five meters without special equipment, so this camera fits pecfectly well for shallow diving.

It has a decent five megapixel sensor and a good aperture lens with 2,8f. Camera Mask can focus on objects located as close as 1 meter, and as far as infinity. It has a bright 100 to 200 ISO sensitivity, so you require a flash for darker waters. Integrated mic and auto white balance add on to this camera characteristics.

With a slot for an SD card you can use up to 16 gigabytes of this extra memory allowing you to shoot four hours of video and more than twenty thousand of pics.

LCD status panel helps you to see meny settings and keep track of recorded images, and USB 2.0 connection along with a cable that is included in the pack lets you  have a fast and smooth transfer of data to your PC. Even loaded with batteries, the mask weights no more than 1 lb.

Manufacturers of this mask made it in only two sizes, that is, a Medium Size for most faces and nationalities, and Large Size for those having larger faces. Other accessories include LED Side Lights and Color Filters, like Blue Water Filter for tropical salty water, and Green Water Filter for temperate waters.

And the third and the last option that we will have a few words about is a GoPro Wrist Hero Camera. It is a very innovative solution of a spy-like camera that fits on your  wrist like a bracelet or a watch. Despite its miniature size, it shoots a TV quality video and makes 5 Megapixel pictures. It is very convenient for active divers or snorkeling enthusiasts. It is shock proof and waterproof, with a glass lens. Its capacity allows to shoot 56 minutes of video with sound, and make shooting photo series of three pics at a time, as well as a series mode of capturing image every 2 or 5 seconds.

GoPro Wrist Hero Underwater Snorkeling Camera

So let us make a little conclusion of what digital underwater snorkeling cameras we reviewed. For those who are used to traditional point-and-shoot cameras, we recommend SeaLife DC 1200, with an innovative set of piano keys. To keep your hands free during your dives you can buy a Liquid Image Video Series Digital Camera Mask, and extreme diving enthusiasts will love the GoPro Wrist Hero Camera that does not feel like a camera at all, but can help to preserve your best memories of underwater adventures when you utterly need it. Now it is time to choose yourself what fits you best in your situation and for your specific personality.

Do not forget to take your favorite diving gear (and a dive knife) as you may encounter dangers underwater.

Many of us who are fond of diving think from time to time what could happen if this was our job, if we got paid for what we love to do, and this seems like a dream. Yet there are enthusiasts who undergo special training programs to come closer to their goal. At the end the job does not look like a job, and you could have a lot of fun if you really love diving.

There are many specialized diving jobs like police or military divers, shipwreck divers or rescue divers. For a recreational diver the first position to start with is divemaster (guide) who assists more experienced instructors with classes, leads review courses and makes guided tours. There are varied procedures necessary to qualify for a divemaster, but in PADI certified divers take some advanced courses for a rescue diver, and then as soon as they have at least twenty logged dives they can sign up for a divemaster.

Scuba diving instructor is a higher level for a divemaster who should have at least sixty logged dives before enrolling in Instructor development training with PADI. He should have at least six month of diver certification. At first one gets a position of assistant instructor, then open water scuba instructor. By that time he already has more than 100 dives. This job allows to teach divers and certify newcomers. You can also go on with your diver education in a few different directions in specialized courses of wreck diving, search and rescue diving, instructor training or underwater naturalism.

Underwater photographer or filmmaker is a creative profession that is popular as many people are delighted by nice underwater imaginary. It is a complicated task to capture images in these conditions, so you could become famous by filming ship wrecks or beautiful corals. There is a special PADI Underwater Photographer course.
Oceanographer or marine biologist is a scientist who studies habits, breeding, migrations of marine wildlife. He also records all kinds of fluctuations of coral growth and observes changes in underwater world. It is a desired career for people with scientific background, and you should have proper degree to start this.

There are also ancillary jobs connected with different types of diving. You can be office worker in a diving center or a janitor, working at sales department or on live aboard ships and enjoy discounts and free dives. Never forget your diving equipment such as a diving knife, to take with you on your dives. Titanium dive knife is yet another great option.

This knife has good reviews in terms of its functionality and durability. It has a sharp blade and works great with gloves. It has a comfortable grip, too.
It can be used for scuba diving and boating, both for outdoor and indoor tasks, in case a good knife is needed, literally unlimited uses. The only disadvantage that is mentioned sometimes is the quality of its steel.
It has a special patented secure locking system. So when you squeeze its handle, the knife is released from its sheath. It is very handy in diving tasks as all you need to do is just squeeze the knife handle. So it is both easy to get it when you need it, and difficult to loose it.

But even when you loose it, it is no big deal as the price range of about forty bucks allows no big grief, you can easily buy another one. If you want to look at the more expensive version, we recommend a Wenoka Squeeze Lock Titanium Knife, Tanto Tip.
With a 304 stainless steel alloy, Wenoka Big Squeeze Lock is sometimes criticized for the quality of its steel.
The design of this knife allows to pry, cut and scrape without damaging the blade, as it is secured solidly inside its sheath and yet allow quick access.
Its low price as compared to the great characteristics that it has, is very attractive to customers, and that makes Wenoka Dive Knives popular.
Apart from great locking system, the knife has a 4,5” blade, with overall length of the knife of 9,5”. It is easily mounted on your legs with special straps that are included in the kit, as well as a belt clip on the knife sheath.
So this knife is a great solution for both beginners and professionals as a main or a backup knife that will be useful in any diving or snorkeling tasks or even in home tasks.

In Tobago locals will offer you all kinds of snorkeling tours, especially on the Buccoo Reef. It faces Venezuela. The sea life is abundant, with colonies of fish.

Stingray City

Stingray City is noteworthy for an unforgettable experience of swimming with stingrays. This kind of creatures is dangerous in other place, but here all of them are quite tame, and you just watch them gliding around you in clear water.
Curacao Underwater Marine Park offers a lot of opportunities for snorkeling along its 20 km of beaches on the southern coast. Apart from diversity of fish species, it has sunken ships and different types of soft and hard corals.

Bonaire Marine Park

Bonaire Marine Park is famous for its diving tours, yet there are a lot to see with your snorkel. Swim a couple hundreds meters away from shores, and you will find a lot of beautiful reefs, one of the most popular of which is Klein Bonaire.
The island of St. Martin is known for the untouched beauty of its nature, as government makes a lot of efforts to fully protect its waters. A lot of tiny coves in shallow waters, along with colorful reefs and fish make this place truly unique.
The Grenadines. Here you can find a lot of deserted places where you snorkel alone diving from white sand beaches. Here literally every island will provide excellent snorkeling opportunities, with one reef stretching for a 1,5 km.
However simple snorkeling could seem, you might consider taking precautions, as well as put on useful gear that you have for your diving. One of the most important items is, of course, a diving knife that is your true friend in many both diving and snorkeling tasks.

Recently we spoke elaborately on diving knives and especially titanium diving knives that excel in many situations. Today I want to recommend you a beautiful tool for your diving experience that is quite multifunctional and handy.It is a perfect accessory for any kind of underwater sea emergency situation.

This knife has a full length of 9.5 inches, with a 5-inch, 1-piece blade that is made from titanium, and a sturdy and sleek tang. With its nice serrated top surface you can cut through many tough materials. The bottom part has a main blade with straight edge along with a decent line cutter.

One of the most important characteristics is that you do not need to wonder how to wipe the scum from the junction between handle and blade that is usually difficult to reach. This knife you can disassembly completely with no extra efforts.

Quick-release sheath and straps allow to fit it perfectly on your body, without contact with regulator or tank.

As an experienced diver, I would love to take my dive gear and scuba to the fresh water lakes that are full of wonderful aquatic life. Here I get access to a whole new range of opportunities, of new worlds of underwater beauty. Yet there should be certain precaution of altitude diving as it is quite a different atmosphere for a human being, the way we breath and the air pressure is different.

Usually we refer to certain decompression tables for our diving. Yet they may become highly inaccurate in terms of altitude diving. The tables deal with controlling release of nitrogen absorbed at the time of dive, yet at the condition that you dive at the sea level, at normal atmospheric pressure.

As soon as you climb at about one thousand feet above the sea level, the pressure goes down, so the conditions are significantly different for your human organism, so you need to account for them. Altitude diving is basically any diving that is done at the height of one thousand feet above the sea level or higher. If you do not follow specialized procedures, you fall at risk of decompression sickness.

Actually the data for altitude diving is relatively scarce, so the attitude should be more conservative. You should follow the procedures with utter attention.

Sometimes two different situations of altitude diving and flying after diving are confused. As far as flying after diving is concerned, we speak of either single dives (requiring  minimum preflight surface interval of twelve hours), repetitive or multiday dive (minimum eighteen hours of surface interval), or those requiring decompression stops (more than eighteen hours). So at flying after diving your exposure to lower pressure actually follows diving, but at altitude diving this exposure precedes diving. So you should never apply the same procedures at these situations.

Also be careful when diving at one altitude and then diving at yet higher altitude. There should be different procedures for both kinds of diving. We will dive into altitude diving more elaboratively soon. Stay tuned with us, and do not forget you diving knife or titanium diving knife with you.