Testing the Intova Sport HD

There are a number of small compact sports camera out in the market these days. Contour, Swann Freestyle HD, and the GoPro just to name a few. So far it would appear GoPro has dominated the market for mini sport camera. Every diver appear to own or have a friend that owns one. As good as the GoPro is, it too has drawbacks.

Anacapa Island Aug 18, 2012

It completely slipped my mind that I should really be posting about my dives on this blog. I have been randomly scattering links for my dives all over Facebook, Youtube, and other random social media websites. This simplifies everything posting it here. I can also give my feedback as well. So going forward, I'm going to just list all the relevant links for that dive here on this blog. I will most likely provide some brief information about the dive and destination that was traveled. Less works for me, less links spammed out, more blog entries. A win for everyone.

Diving the Oil Rigs

Eureka Oil Rig

There are currently 27 rigs off the shores of California… After 9/11, majority of the rigs were closed to the public for security reasons. Lucky for me, a quick boat ride from San Pedro marina will get me to three rigs that are still open for divers: Eureka, Elly, and Ellen (Elly and Ellen are twin rigs connected to each other). Oil rig dives are consider advance dives due to deep bottoms up to 1000 feet making it virtually bottomless and all boats servicing these dives are live boats. Being able to maintain neutral buoyancy on these dives is extremely important for these types of dives. The legs of the rig are completely covered with life surrounded by bountiful amounts of fish swirling about. Most rig legs will have to be periodically maintained and cleaned so they are scrapped leaving it barren and over time life will start growing on it again. Before we take a look at the dives, let’s look about the oil rigs themselves.

Tips n Tricks: Remember to Look Up

I remember one of things that was repeated constantly throughout the time while I was going through my certification programs abouts staying active and alert while underwater which is a very important defense mechanism. For example… it prevents you from running into fire coral, potentially poisonous fish, harming a reef, or dropping into the great abyss. However, it also prevents you from missing something important things.

My Father's Day Gifts

First let me begin by wishing all the fathers out there a Happy Belated Father's Day and kudos to my wife and two boys - they definitely get two thumbs for my great father's day gifts.  To say I was happy with my gifts is an understatement.  They got me gifts for my two passions -- golf (I'm no McIlroy but I sure have fun trying) and diving.  I was so excited to get from them the new GoPro dive housing which is the "fix" that they came up with for us divers.  I currently have for my housing a flat lens which my good friend Wayne gave me but I noticed that when you take pictures it leaves a halo effect but funny enough it doesn't when you are in video mode.

So....since I am going to dive this weekend at the Blue Heron Bridge I will be trying out my new lens and I'll let you be the judge on the "fix".  Stay tuned....

So...Diveonauts Dive!

Written by:  Rick Suarez, June 19, 2012

Catch a shark by its tail...

Whenever I tell people one of my hobbies is diving, I am often asked... are you not afraid of sharks? Honest answer? Yes. I am afraid of sharks... the ones in movies with a vendetta against humans because someone did something to their habitat. But no, I am not exactly afraid of the sharks here in California waters. Respect them and leave them be if you do not want uninvited attention. Most animals are suspicious of you and are probably equally worried that you are going to hurt them as you are afraid they are going to hurt you.

Dania Beach Pier Cleanup

Dania Beach Pier

Last Sunday a group of us headed over to Dania Beach to help with the pier cleanup that our local dive shop, Divers Cove, sponsored.  We were so fortunate that it was nice sunny day with absolutely no rain...which is saying a lot for a June day in Florida!  

Breakfast Underwater

My favorite meal of the day is BREAKFAST! Why you ask? Why breakfast? Because it's the meal I can have eggs in so many ways. Fried, sunnyside up, over easy, medium, poached, and scrambled. I would go ahead and venture that I make some of the best scrambled eggs. Don't believe me? Challenge me then to a cook off! Dare you. So what does this have to do with scuba? Not much really... except someone at Ocean Safari told me it was cool to crack an egg underwater. So guess what? We did!

Month of May in Review!

The month of May was an exciting month for scuba divers! Fun events, new toys, and with improving weather conditions makes for wonderful diving experiences! The beginning of the month kicked off with back to back events from Chamber Day and Eve to the Scuba Show. The month wrapped up with a Memorial Day party including a park BBQ and dives. I should have blogged these events separately but instead I'm doing it as one big update so this may be a long blog with a few videos! This post has a little something for everyone including a quick chat about the new gear out in the market.

Tips n Tricks: Comparing ships to ships

There are numerous charters and dive boats out there ranging anywhere from a two tank carry on to multiday live aboard trips. People have asked me before about my criteria for rating a dive trip and honestly there really is no simples or clean cut system because there are numerous things to consider.  The dive destination and sites the trip is headed for, as well as the distance and time need for travel. The various amenities the boat offer and the crew including the captain who is running the ship all play a role in how enjoyable the trip is.