scuba

This was taken with my old camera and even with filters everything looked blue. Anyway pulled up to look in the coral and see if anything was hanging out and saw this pair of shrimp near the bottom. They slowly came up to the top and offered me a cleaning, the rest of the group had already moved off a bit so I couldn't hang around for too long.

I believe this and other things were included in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T0AKDo28WE

My images are stills from video that I have taken on my dives around the US and the Caribbean. https://www.youtube.com/@MuttMuttOutdoors/videos

This was a very nice dive in Mahahual Village Mexico. If I get a chance I'm going to try and go down for a couple months and dive a couple times each day with my 117's.

For anyone interested: Spotted Drumfish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_drum

You can see a set of four juvenile spotted drumfish I got to see in Cozumel here: https://lemmy.world/post/33477888

My images are stills from video. I believe this footage still needs to be edited but feel free to take a look at my available videos. https://www.youtube.com/@MuttMuttOutdoors/videos

This Grouper was really hanging around during the dive but this was one of the best shots I got. Before this happened I actually had to put some of my rescue skills to use. https://lemmy.world/post/33388878

As with most of my content this is a still from video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIC6FEcrh4

This barracuda had literally just swam through the group about 4 feet away from the other divers and myself. After it passed for some reason it decided to look up a little bit.

A little bit later we had an Eagle Ray go right past the group. Had some really good dives that week.

This image is a still from video which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkzbT7altCQ

For anyone wondering I'm using a DJI Action 4 in a housing mounted on my DIY FigRig. https://www.muttmutt.us/my-current-camera-setup/

One of the best dives I have had in Cozumel. This ray was within ten feet of me and I had just had a closer encounter with a barracuda.

This image is a still from video which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkzbT7altCQ

Got to see these guys on the reef in Cozumel Mexico. Honestly wish I could spend a month or two diving there. The dives were truly amazing that day. I will post some pictures from those over the next few days.

For anyone interested: Spotted Drumfish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_drum

Snake Sea Cucumber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapta_maculata

My images are stills from video. I believe this footage still needs to be edited but feel free to take a look at my available videos. https://www.youtube.com/@MuttMuttOutdoors/videos

Saw this guy while diving off of Roatan a few months ago.

As with most of my content this is a still from video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIC6FEcrh4

This happened in Roatan with a combined group from Jewel and Harmony of the Seas, so I figured I would share with everyone as a lesson and urge those with some experience to continue in your education. For anyone wondering I am PADI Rescue certified.

I was buddied with an older woman who was open water certified, as we were both traveling alone. The first dive she was cold to the point where I saw her hand visibly shaking so I got her out of the water asap. She rented a wetsuit and they added a few extra pounds. The second dive maximum depth was 60 feet and we were dropping in right near the edge of the reef. I started my decent and leveled off near the top of the wall around 50 feet with the rest of the group and checked my buddies position she was a couple feet away near the dive master in a vertical position watching her console and equalizing. She was a few feet behind the edge of the wall and continued descending. She had froze and was fixated. The dive master and guide were making noise and she would look up but could not see through her bubbles. Once I realized she was not stopping I began to descend with her. She was about 15 feet below me when she finally hit the bottom at 100 feet... thankfully we were not over the area where it drops to 300 to 1000+ feet. I again signaled for her to come up and she acted as if she was stunned and just stood there. I descended to her and she showed me her console. She never added a single whisper of air to her bcd.

I tucked her console into her bcd under her arm and added a little air to mine and grabbed her inflator with my left hand and her cylinder valve with my right and began to add air to her bcd until we began to rise. I swam upwards towing her and along with me until we got to 50 around feet and rejoined the group. The dive master and guide had stayed behind with the main group. Our accent was pretty much uneventful and I got her leveled off and stabilized with a neutral buoyancy and we completed the dive.

It still gives me chills to think what would have happened if she was over deep water and I had not been there. I know I would have dumped my air and hauled ass to get to her but if I hadn't been there she would have likely been lost...

She was open water certified and claimed that she stopped counting after 50 dives. She was overconfident in her skills even after freezing up and requiring someone to come get her. And insisted that she didn't need to get any more training.

Even if you are only diving a couple times each year achieving rescue diver is an admirable goal as it will also help you keep your head in a potentially bad situation. I always want every person who goes into the water for a dive to come home safe and sound even if you are not diving with me.

Was diving with Sea Sports Belize when this guy decided to come by. This is just a still from the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAtSXg0dDk0 if anyone is interested.

Around my area it's around $400-$800 prices seems to be pretty big in difference.

I've only dove a few times and am interested in doing it regularly. Though, this is probably a really expensive hobby.

You guys know of any way I can get certified (Advanced and rescue) for a cheaper price or even paid for? I know that my uni has a bit of a discounted rate but was wondering if there are any other options.

Maybe I can do a little marine surveying volunteering for a free cert idk.

My wife, a dub and I are all certified and I'm starting 2 more kids on certification this winter. I'm looking for an air integrated wrist computer that can monitor multiple wireless units (preferably at least 4). Anybody have any favorites or recommendations?

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I found this super interesting!

I'm currently the proud owner of an Apeks XTX200 regulator set (FSR 1st stage, XTX200 2nd, XTX40 octopus). It's generally a good piece of kit, but I'm not very happy with it for two reasons:

1. At my regular breathing rate, both membranes make an annoying fart sound. I've never experienced this on my other, much cheaper regulators (Aqualung Calypso, Cressi AC2). Cleaning, servicing, changing the membranes doesn't help.
2. It's too overcompensated for my taste - above the 5m (~15ft) line I have to work for the air, below 18m (60ft) it actively tries to blow me up. I can adjust it depending on the depth but it's inconvenient. According to my LDS there's nothing that can be done about this.

With breathing being something that I rather enjoy doing, I'm willing to spend a bit more on high-end gear. So far I've only heard great things about Poseidon, and the Xstream Deep Mk3 looks fantastic on paper.
The thing is that the next Poseidon dealer is a three-hour drive away, so testing it before I spend the better part of 1 1/2 grand is not possible. Does anybody happen to have had a chance to compare the two, or other experience with Poseidon gear?

Anyone have a recommendation of n a good dive shop in Cancun? Looking to do a cenote dive in early January and had looked into Chad Mool cenote but wondered if anyone has had an excellent experience somewhere else?

This article introduced me to a bunch of wildlife hand signals that I hadn't yet learned.

I’m looking forward to:

• A week-long liveaboard somewhere warm
• Diving the sardine run at Moalboal, Philippines
• Australia’s Gold Coast

Pretty new diver here, about 40 dives, and looking for advice.

Just finished up a week of dives in Grenada, and made a point of paying attention to air consumption. Based on Internet advice, I focused on breathing deeply and exhaling completely, counting 4 seconds in, 6 seconds out. Doing this, my computer reported average SAC has dropped from about 0.8 to 0.5, and I'm not the one calling dives for gas anymore. This seems like a great improvement.

However, my buoyancy goes to shit when I'm doing this. Breathing more "normally", I can maintain a neutral depth with good trim. But with this more efficient breath control, I go up and down several feet with every breath. This actually makes it pretty easy to control when I ascend and descend, but obviously isn't great for most of the dive.

If I try to breathe normally-but-slow, I feel like I'm hyperventilating.

So what's the trick here? How do you both breathe efficiently and control your buoyancy?

I think I'm pretty well weighted, since I have no problem maintaining my safety stop with the shallower breaths.

Seeing any one of these things during a dive would be a highlight of my life. Being able to experience all of it at once puts this at the top of my scuba bucket list. Maybe one day...

You don’t want to overheat in a thick wetsuit in tropical waters, and you also don’t want to freeze or risk hypothermia in a thin wetsuit in chilly temperatures.

My current dive kit:

• XDEEP Ghost Deluxe with both back cargo pockets (one for backup mask, other for SMB+line)
• Apeks XTX50 with DIN DST and yoke converter for travel (at the moment, I’m diving with pretty standard length hoses, but may move to long hose in the future) I use a bungee necklace for my octo, so take a bit of a hybrid approach.
• Shearwater Perdix with AI sensor
• I have an old Oceanic watch dove computer as a backup
• Cressi Digi 2 as an in-line backup to my dive computer as well. I’m not afraid to have my pressure be digital. If that ever breaks, then I may change my mind. It’s nice to have the digital depth as well in case my dive computer ever malfunctions.
• Backup ScubaPro compass
• Fins are not pictured, but currently using Folding Fins. I really like them except the way that the boot holder clips into the base feel like a bit of a point of failure. Have been exploring travel fins, but they all appear to be positively buoyant, which I’m not sure about.
• My masks are both Hollis M-1. Highly recommended for comfort and visibility.
• Sola Wrist Light
• DiveRite CX2 as my backup light
• I carry standard line scissors and a Zeagle Line Cutter
• Camera is not pictured, but is a DJI Action 2 in a waterproof case with a handle. If I use the double case, it will last two hour-long dives. If I use the single case, it’s about 1.5 dives. It really varies though based upon resolution and whether I keep it on the whole time.
• I have an XDeep bolt snap on my primary second stage reg and the one with the larger hoop on my Digi 2 pressure gauge. The octo uses the bungee bolt snap system in case I want to clip it off instead of using the necklace. I’m doing PADI Rescue Diver soon and they don’t teach using a necklace, so I’m forced to do it their way for that course, then will go back to necklace.
• Wetsuit is 3 mil Henderson
• ScubaPro booties, hood, and gloves
• I found that a roll-up tool bag works nice for a save-a-dive kit.
• Additionally, I alway pack some o-ring lube because I hate having a hissing connection with the yoke.

Thoughts?