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Tag Archives: Education

Hydros Pro Review

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Hydros Review

At the November 2015 DEMA show, I saw my first Hydros BCD prototype. I thought that it looked really good and that it should make a great BCD. I didn’t need a new BC at the time, as I had an X-TEK BC that I was perfectly happy with. Two years later I started thinking that I need a new BC for travel and warm water. I signed up for a two-week dive vacation in Cozumel and I really needed to reduce the weight of my luggage. I decided to go ahead and purchase the Hydros.

Fast forward a few weeks and I’m sitting in the lobby of Hotel Cozumel & Resort. More than 40 dives later and I’m getting ready to return home. I think that I gave the Hydros Pro BC a good work out. Overall I’m very happy with the BC.  The fit of the BC is superb, thanks to the way the BC conforms to your body. Even with my 19cf pony tank attached to the tank strap, the BC did not roll around. The BC I purchased was a large and it was more than big enough for my frame.

Features

One of the features of the Hydros BC is that is customizable. You can adjust it to custom fit you.

  • add pockets
  • attachment points
  • change color schemes

Continue reading→

SCUBAPRO Seawing Nova Fins Review

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White Seawing Nova Fins on a diver

I became a certified SCUBA Diver in 1990 as I have shared many times throughout the blog. That means that I have been a certified SCUBA diver for 28 years this year. In that time, I have had the opportunity to dive with multiple different dive gear combinations. Last year we did a feature of our favorite SCUBA Products. One of my favorites was my Black Twin Jet Fins.

A few years ago when the Seawing Nova fins were offered in purple, Nicole bought a pair. Around that time, I started thinking I needed to try them again. They had recently been redesigned, so it was time to give them a try again. Eventually, I bought myself a pair in white. After using those Twin Jet Fins for over 10 years, it is really hard to use a different pair of fins.

As many of you may know, we just returned from a 15-day dive trip to Cozumel in early March. Before I left, I decided to take the White Seawing Nova Fins to try as well as my trusty Black Twin Jet Fins. Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Ramón Bravo

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Today, let’s cover the last installment of the statues located just off the coast of Cozumel and just to the right from Cozumel Marine World. The first statue we discussed was that of none other than Jacques Cousteau. The Second statue was none other than Sylvia Earle. Finally, the third statue is Ramón Bravo. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee or beverage of choice, and let’s learn about Ramón Bravo.

Underwater Statues in Cozumel

Statue of Famous Diver Ramón Bravo in Cozumel

Ramón Bravo

Ramón Bravo was a Mexican SCUBA diver, photographer, and underwater filmmaker who was born October 21, 1925. Bravo got his claim to fame initially being a famous Mexican swimmer who competed in the 1948 Olympics at just 23 years old.

This love of the water soon brought him to the sport of SCUBA diving. Once he was hooked, he became an underwater photographer, gaining both fame in American and Europe as an oceanographer. An oceanographer is involved in the study of the oceans physical and biological features. Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Sylvia Earle

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For those of you who went to Cozumel, did you have a good trip? We can’t wait to hear all about it!! Today, I figured we might stay in Cozumel. Last week we discussed the Statues that are underwater near Cozumel Marine World. In fact, we focused on Jacques Cousteau. After that post went live, I got a message that they actually dove that site last Wednesday. How fun is that? Today, let’s look at another one of the statues. Today we’ll focus on Sylvia Earle.

Underwater Statues in Cozumel

Sylvia Earle Statue in Cozumel Mexico

Sylvia Earle

Sylvia Earle was born August 30, 1935, in Gibbstown, New Jersey. As a young child, she and her family moved from New Jersey to Florida. Her parents were outdoors fanatics and ecstatic when she showed an early interest in outdoor exploration. That love led her to earn an associates degree from St. Petersburg Jr. College, a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, a Master’s of Science and Doctorate from Duke University. Continue reading→

February 2018 Post Recap

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If you’re keeping track, we’ve now finished the month of February. Gosh, where is the year going? Before you know it we’ll be bringing in the New Year. Time, please do us all a favor and SLOW DOWN! If you remember in January we did a Post Recap, mainly because we had 31 blog posts for the month. However, we thought it might be fun to track our posts throughout this year.

Here we are, doing a blog recap for February, that way if you missed a post, they are all right here at your fingertips! Now, compared to last month, we had considerably less blog posts. For one… there are only 28 days in February, but for two we didn’t blog every day. This month we had 5 blog posts with 2 reposts to Facebook. Links to all 7 posts are below. Click on the picture to read them in case you missed out!

Now let’s look at the top 5 blog posts for February:

  1. 2016 – Scubapro Hydros Pro BC Review
  2. 2017 – Mantis M2 Personal Dive Computer
  3. 2017 – Seawing Nova Fins
  4. 2018 – Hello from Cozumel
  5. 2015 – Chili Cookoff Official Rules and Silent Auction Items

Honorable Mentions:

Continue reading→

Underwater Statues in Cozumel – Jacques Cousteau

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As most of you know (and if not I’m letting you in on a secret) we still have a group trip going on in Cozumel right now. Who is jealous? Especially of those who went for 2 weeks and missed out on the nasty cold weather last week. Since we still have a group in Cozumel, I thought it might be fun to do another post on Cozumel.

Today we’re going to feature the Statues that are underwater just to the right of Cozumel Marine World.

The Statues of Cozumel

Last year when we had a group down there, Deb and I were diving off the shore from the Cozumel Marine World Pier. That day we had a couple different groups go out. Everyone kind of dispersed in multiple directions. Deb and I went right. Not too far from the pier, we came across three statues. We knew one was Jacques Cousteau, but the other two were a mystery. Once we were back, I started doing some research and we found out that the woman statue was Sylvia Earl and the other male statue was Ramón Bravo. So the question is, just who are these people? I’m so glad you guys ask these questions ;).  Today let’s focus on Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau

States of Cozumel - Jacques Cousteau

Jacques Cousteau is kind of known as the Father of SCUBA Diving. Continue reading→

Foreign Travel Tips – Forgotten Items

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Since there is a group of people getting ready to leave the country and head to Mexico, today is the perfect time to address some of the most commonly forgotten items.

C-Card.

Never Leave Home Without It! Okay, that might be a bit extreme, but if you are going on a dive trip, this is your ticket between getting to dive and not getting to dive. So maybe that should be restated to say, never leave home on a dive trip without it.

One good backup plan is to get yourself registered online through SDI so that you can download a digital copy. Remember, this card is the difference between giant striding off that boat and sitting there riding the waves. Continue reading→

#31in31 January 2018 Post Recap

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I’m not sure about you but I feel like January came and went like a whirlwind. It seems like we were just announcing the January plan and BAM! It’s gone. I would like to say a special thank you to everyone who helped me out by writing guest posts…

Without the help of these wonderful people, my 31 days of blogging might have been a little sparce. We all collaborated, discussed, and started writing. I set a deadline that I needed all blog posts submitted to me by December 1, 2017. I knew that deadline wouldn’t stick, but it gave us something to work toward. By mid December I had 17 of those posts up and ready to go for January 1. WOW! I was amazed and I need to say thank you to everyone who helped me with that.

I had the last post in my possession as of January 19th. So… we didn’t meet my deadline but I’m telling you… this was a major accomplishment! I’m in shock that my people love me that much! Okay okay, so maybe my people love you that much since you are the reader of the blog and we did this for you!

Next comes the interesting part… to Deb and me at least… Continue reading→

Boat Diving Etiquette

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Be considerate to other divers as well as boat personnel by following these suggestions:

Tips on Boat Diving Etiquette

  • Arrive early. Be on the dock in plenty of time to board the boat. Don’t keep everyone else waiting. We’ve learned in the past that the boat personnel knows Grady and they arrive earlier than he tells them.
  • Have your C-card and waivers filled out and ready to hand in. Better yet, stop by the dive shop and turn these items in ahead of time.
  • Be prepared. Have all your equipment in your mesh bag and ready to hand to the boat personnel. Don’t come dragging your equipment to the boat piece by piece. That’s not to say some pieces won’t fit in your bag, but don’t bring a BC then go back and get your fins and then go back etc, etc. Have it all with you and ready to go.

Continue reading→

Snorkeling

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Doug snorkeling with his dad in Cozumel

Snorkeling

What’s a great way to introduce someone to the underwater world?  What’s a good way to explore shallow dive sites?  What’s a good way to spend your surface interval?  What’s sometimes the best way to get close to some of the most skittish marine life?  The answer to all these questions is snorkeling!

If you’re visiting a tropical location that has SCUBA diving, there’s a pretty good chance that the same dive operation that you’re using on your vacation, can also take you to a dive site that is also good for snorkeling.  Why would you want to do that, you ask?  If you have a friend, parent, or significant other that has traveled with you that would like to see the underwater world, but doesn’t want to or can’t SCUBA dive.  Snorkeling can be a great way to introduce and to share the underwater experience with your friend. Continue reading→