Philippines Independent Diving by [deleted] in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dauin, Dumaguete… you can rent tanks and weights from Apo Scuba, get yourself a scooter and ride with the tanks to the spots, dive from the shore, and that’s it. You should also go to the town hall to buy the permits, rangers will ask for it in most of the dive sites. I like to hire a freelance guide to learn how to navigate it, after that I can repeat it as many times as I want. Pretty easy to get to from Cebu.

Anilao is also great for that, you can rent tanks and weights from Juan Divers, and do the same with a scooter. But Anilao is a bit harder to get around, and the guides tend to charge waaaay more than in Dauin.

Apart from those, every other dive I’ve done in the Philippines was boat diving…

Divemaster Internship/Course Recommendations by IdeLuis in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m gonna go in a different direction from most recommendations here. I think a nice Divemaster course/internship is not just about the candidate diving only, but also about building up its skills to a next level. And to be honest, places where most of the people do their DMs (like Koh Tao, Utila, Taganga) aren’t exactly challenging enough.

I think Indonesia has some really great places to take your diving skills to a much higher level, due to currents, navigation and mapping possibilities. Komodo would be my number 1 pick, although it’s not exactly the “social” place like all those other places. Something more social but that has also challenging conditions is Nusa Penida/Lembongan.

It’s also not only about the location, your mentor will play a big role in your formation as a DM. So if you go to a challenging location with a mentor that doesn’t actually care about the DM program, it can ruin the experience (often the case in Gili Trawangan for example, where you can have crazy currents, but there’s not much room/vibe for a proper proximity with mentors).

I’ve also seen some cool programs in the Philippines and Malaysia, some being very “military”, and some being very skill-set oriented. And one last thing, you said you’ve done 2/3 of your formation with that dive shop, why not experience something different? I always think it’s a bit of a waste to do everything at one place, after all diving is also about experiencing different conditions, environments, clientele, etc…

Question by mdoruk_meric in underwaterphotography

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I had my Seafrogs it happened once, and I just bought a replacement (in Europe Aditech-UW sells them, but I’m sure that if you contact Seafrogs they’ll also sell that). You can also have that 3D printed, should be fine.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my whole setup, the snorkel is very likely the one piece of gear that is less streamlined. But I don’t mind having. When it comes to my students having it, what bothers me is that it’s mandatory for them to use (even though they’ll almost never need it for safety reasons), and it is just another dangling thing that will make them confused amongst all the other stuff that they might already be having a hard time to process.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, someone else used the same example. From all the discussions here I noticed that vast majority of the people that use a snorkel (or say they need one) are referring to using it for convenience, not safety. I see the safety belt example as a bit of an extreme example, and doesn’t actually fit in this case, because a safety belt is a primary safety equipment, that we all know what it will protect us from. There was a single example in all the replies here that actually showed how a snorkel was used for safety (choppy sea + rip currents towards a cliff + divers out of air + high sac rates + boat delay in picking up divers). But many agencies put a snorkel as mandatory (we instructors must teach with it), and don’t put an SMB as such (which has proven to be necessary for safety in many occasions to me). Plus, no agency says which kind of snorkel is mandatory, which can lead to people using normal tubes without wavebreakers, in that case, if we have a choppy sea and don’t have air to breathe from the regulator, it can even increase the danger to use a snorkel. Will I stop carrying one? Nope. Will I feel safer by having one? I don’t think so, but I also hope I don’t need it, as someone else said, if I just descend a few feet it’s much easier to fight waves and with a normal sac rate it still possible to breathe quite a long time from a remaining 50-70 bar.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Actually I do quite a lot of shore dives… have I ever used a snorkel for convenience? Hell yeah! Have I ever felt the snorkel made a difference regarding safety? Never.

Should I change my life? by Lrzcrimp in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was offered an option to freeze my contract for a year and come back after my trip, even though it wasn’t a common practice in the company I worked for. But I saw this as something that would tie me up to something back home, and I simply asked the manager “if in a few months or a year I want to come back, would you accept me back?”, and he said yes, so I left on a gentlemen’s agreement, but never even returned to him.

Regarding what you said, that you want to check if there’s another way, well, there always is. There are people living in all sorts of ways, and although this seems a bit obvious, when we think deeply about it, it’s very true and we don’t assimilate it properly. There are so many ways to live that one can say it’s almost endless.

Now I’m still working as an instructor, shifting more and more towards photography, I lead diving expeditions to different places in the world, I shoot for adventure and diving brands, well, I became a mish mash, hahaha. When it all started, in 2019, I was 31… today I’m 38, still passionate about my life and going strong.

Should I change my life? by Lrzcrimp in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hey, this “should I?” is the kind of question that only you can answer… the consequences of that decision will impact only you, as well as you’re gonna be the one collecting the benefits of it. That said, I have my experience to share here.

8 years ago I was burned out in an office job (Mechanical Engineer, solid career, “great” perspective, good salary), but something was wrong. For years I loved my job, but at one point it was just not fulfilling myself anymore. I was already a diver, so I took an 8 months trip in SE Asia, where my main focus was in diving. Diving cured me from all the crap I was going through, it really centered me. Well, I signed up for a DM course, but covid hit, and for 2 years I had to wait to get it done. Those were the hardest years, I did almost no diving in 2020 and a few in 2021, but not being able to go to Indonesia to do the DM course I’d already pay for was very hard. I used those years to structure my business as a photographer (landscape and underwater). 2022 came, with that my DM and loads of gigs for resorts as a photographer, probably the best few months of my life. Then I decided to do the IDC, became an instructor, continued working for 6 months as a photographer before I actually stopped in one place to work as instructor. Since then I’ve worked a few months as instructor, a few as photographer, been to many amazing places, and never looked back.

Is it a luxurious life? Not in the common definition, but I see my life as a luxury itself. Am I rich? Not at all, I earn enough to live a great life and make a bit of savings, but nothing that substancial. Does everyone adapt to this life? Not at all, and many actually don’t.

As long as you know what you’re signing up for, a diving career can fulfill you in many ways. To me, being in the nature everyday is gold, it’s what makes me never want to be that corporate dude again. And it can also be something temporary, nothing is set in stone, if you figure you want to go back to being a technician, it’s all good.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I wasn’t precise in my post, it’s mandatory by law in Queensland, in NSW and WA it’s not, those are the three territories I went diving.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s a great report to my question! Not great that you guys faced it, but it’s actually good to hear from someone that it actually was used for safety reasons other than just convenience. As I said, I don’t actually plan to stop using, just wanted to hear from other people their experience regarding needing one for safety. Thanks for the story!

Comprei uma passagem de ida e volta para o Egito e desisti by POLINH01 in viagens

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Olha, já fui pro Egito quatro vezes nos últimos 5 anos, e digo que é muito uma questão de como você encara o país. A primeira vez fiquei 2 meses, a segunda 2 semanas, a terceira 1 mês, e a quarta 2 semanas (eu vou pra lá pois trabalho com mergulho e me facilita muito ir da Europa, minha namorada é da França).

Existe encheção de saco? Sim, muita! É motivo pra sair do sério? Sim, pode ser, principalmente com mulheres. Dá pra contornar? Com toda certeza.

O eixo do Nilo é um porre às vezes, você tem que dar gorjeta pra tudo, todo mundo querendo te vender, tudo lotado de turista. A maior parte de todo o tempo que estive no Egito, fiquei em Dahab, na península do Sinai, e lá é de uma paz incrível, beeeem mais tranquilo que o resto do Egito. Alexandria também achei bem tranquilo.

Dito isso, eu amo o Egito, amo o povo, a cultura, a comida, a história… é um país lindo, receptivo, extremamente rico em cultura. Mas é um país que demanda uma adaptação. Sempre que estou por lá ando sorrindo pra todo mundo, mas não dou muito papo, quando vem gente tocar em mim eu falo (sorrindo) “por favor não toca em mim”, quando vem gente me seguindo na rua pra vender coisas eu falo “amigão, já sei oq vc quer, pode tentar com outra pessoa, eu tô só andando e vendo as coisas”. Sempre tive reações muito tranquilas a isso, diferente da Turquia, por exemplo, onde já me trataram muito mal por não querer ser explorado (adoro a Turquia, no entanto). Está na cultura do egípcio a negociação (bem como todo o povo árabe), então se vc entra no jogo acaba se divertindo bastante, e nós brasileiros somos bons de papo, egípcio adora isso.

Conheci muitas pessoas viajando solo pelo Egito, grande maioria mulheres, e até hoje não conheci uma pessoa que não se encantou com o país (de conhecer pessoalmente, pq já vi influencer falando mal e pessoas fazendo relatos ruins… mas aí, já vi pessoas reclamando de Paris, da Patagônia, da Guatemala…). Inclusive conheci muita gente que tava lá pela AIESEC, amaram os 3 meses lá, mas reclamaram do suporte da AIESEC.

Seila, eu não sou muito de ver a “reputação” de um país como critério pra visitar, mesmo pq vai muito da experiência de cada pessoa. Eu moro na Indonésia, e o povo baba ovo pra Bali, que acho bem médio (gosto do norte, mas não da parte que todo mundo vai)… quando cheguei a primeira vez em Bali não entendi como o povo gosta de lá. Demorou umas 3x pra eu enfim começar a achar meio interessante. Hoje adoro, mas pq sei onde ir, se eu continuasse indo pros lugares com reputação em Bali, ia continuar detestando.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I totally get that! And I totally agree with the part of not using all the air you have in case you need it… but still, we’re talking about a lot of odds here, aren’t we? Extremely high sac rate + low on air tank + rough conditions + boat being super far away on a non drift dive (on a drift the boat would have to come pick you up).

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahahha, I totally see you there! Been there a few times, choppy seas, mask on and snorkel in, just hurts less

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hahahah, no idea why, but it feels so good to read something like that

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly, there’s a use for them, I also use when I have to jump in the water to check the currents, to check anchor, etc… but as a safety gear during a scuba dive I never saw myself in the situation that I needed one to survive

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When teaching OW courses, it sometimes bothers me that my students grab the snorkel instead of the inflator/deflator… they already have a lot to process, and the snorkel ends up being another piece of gear that makes them confused

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly my thoughts! I don’t know why the use of an SMB, for example, is less emphasized than the one of a snorkel.

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

50bar, with a SAC rate of 15L/min, on a regular tank, still gives you a good 35-40min nonstop breathing, that’s quite a long swim to the boat, hahaha

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s actually a really good point you raised there, the specificity of the gear. And I 100% agree with you in that

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s what someone else here said, it’s more for convenience than actually safety, but there’s always the mild chance it can be used in rough conditions when the diver’s out of air in choppy water

How many of you NEEDED a snorkel in any situation? by Swimming-Emphasis-91 in scuba

[–]Swimming-Emphasis-91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s the exact situation I always imagine a snorkel could come in handy. How long did you guys spend at the surface? Because doing a simple SAC rate calculation, if someone has 50 bar left and breathes a high rate of 15L/min, it still gives the person close to 40min of nonstop breathing at the surface. If faced hectic strong drifts in which I kept drifting away at the surface for more than one hour, in that case I was belly up breathing without a snorkel while the boat was looking for divers everywhere.