Scuba With Bill

IPIMAR, THE Portuguese institute of investigation of fishing activities and the sea, has announced its desire to promote scuba diving to Algarve tourists, in order to make the activity more sustainable in the region.

Portugal Promotes Scuba

Two scuba divers were pulled from the ocean Saturday in separate incidents within minutes of each other in La Jolla, a lifeguard lieutenant said.

About 11:30 a.m., lifeguards were called to the area of La Jolla Shores, where a diver was spotted floating face-down in the water by her dive master, Lerma said.

Two scuba divers rescued in La Jolla incidents

When West Virginians want to participate in an outdoor adventure, the obvious activities come to mind: whitewater rafting, rock climbing or skiing.

But the co-owners of X-treme Sports in Beckley think another outdoor activity will soon make a big splash in the Mountain State.

“Scuba diving is really growing in popularity,” said owner Alan Floresca. When he and Jim Holt took over the shop ten years ago, everything in it revolved around scuba diving.

After I went diving last weekend, I hosed off my wetsuit and hung it on the fence to dry. In this hot Florida sun, it dried in about 30 minutes, and I believe the sun killed any bacteria hiding in the neoprene. I don’t have a drysuit, though, so I don’t have any experience drying them. Consequently, I was pleased to learn about Dave Dalton’s snappy drysuit dryer. Of course, Dave Dalton is a tinkerer. You might not have to go to this much trouble to dry your drysuit, but if you like fooling around in the garage, then this kind of project might appeal to you.

How-To: Build Your Own Drysuit Dryer For $30 - Divester

When Ian Usher wanted to make a short film using his dog, Baxter, as its subject, he really wanted to take some underwater shots of the dog swimming. Rather than invest in an underwater camera and attendant housing, however, he decided he’d just make the housing himself. Using a borrowed Panasonic camcorder, some plumbing pipe, a piece of glass, and some sealant, Usher made his housing for $19. Here’s how he did it:

How-To: Make An Underwater Housing for $19 - Divester

If you’re on the hunt for some dive site information, then you might want to check out the aptly named dive site directory. Begun by Clare and Matthew Slightam as a free source of reference for the diving community, it’s a great resource for divers trying to scrape together information about potential dive destinations, especially those that are a bit off-the-beaten-path. When it began, dive site directory featured only 80 dive sites covering 3 countries. Today, it houses over 510 dive sites in 25 countries!

Dive Site Directory — A Directory For Dive Sites - Divester

A shark expert says there’s no reason for the public to be alarmed.

“It’s their ocean basically,” says John Naughton, Pacific islands environmental coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. “People if they use common sense they should minimize the chances of encountering sharks.”

Recent shark attacks and sightings no cause for alarm says expert

A recent item on Channelnewsasia.com highlighted the increasing popularity of diving amongst Singaporeans - the idea that it’s an expensive hobby has been thrown off and now many students are signing up to try out scuba. Now Singapore itself is not famed for its pristine waters, so I was wondering where these guys go to dive. Given their country’s location at the end of peninsular Malaysia, Singaporeans have a huge choice of world class, accessible dive spots around them. A quick Google found two established Singapore dive schools - Waikiki Dive and Orpheus Dive.

Singapore Scuba Diving - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia

John Moore runs Divebums, a San Diego-specific dive information website. Over the years, he’s made marine-themed t-shirts and calendars. However, his most recent creations focus on the little known — but increasingly popular — specialty courses known as Stupid Diver and Advanced Stupid Diver. These courses, of course, are only offered through the dive instruction organization known as the Professional Association of Stupid Divers (PASD). Once you complete the certification requirements (which are, very, very easy to do), you can get your own t-shirt and proclaim to the world that you’re a proud member of the Association of Stupid Divers!

Professional Association of Stupid Divers’ T-shirts Available NOW! - Divester

Unless you live in the Caribbean, and the water temperature is constant, knowing the sea’s temperature in advance of going diving would be great. If that happened, you could select accurately your exposure protection even before leaving home. In an effort to provide divers along Santa Catalina Island with this ability, Catalina Conservancy Divers (CCD) has installed a number of “temperature devices” (known commonly as thermometers) at multiple locations and depths around the Island.

How-To: Estimate Water Temps Before Diving - Divester