Scuba Diving. Any scuba divers here ?

ronnie_gogs

Morphing from a Geek to a Nerd
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Any scuba divers here ? I started last year and absolutely love it.

I got my open water last year and have 10 logged dives till now. Going for advanced PADI open water next month and 18 dives booked in the next 2 months in Indonesia

Dived in Malaysia only till now.

Plan to dive in Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Maldives to name a few in next few years.

Pic of me on my first dive
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Looks amazing, did you find any hidden treasures? any necklaces? :p

Leisure diving is about experience and watching the marine world. You are not supposed to touch any marine life, damage and take anything.

@sudu846 Haven't dived in Thailand yet although I have been to Thailand 5-6 times. Just snorkeled and did kayaking in Krabi and Phuket. So yours was a discover scuba or open water course ?. Thailand can be a bit more challenging in certain areas due to strong currents. I was supposed to be diving on New years eve in Koh Lanta (Thailand) but I broke my leg 20 days before the dive. :( .. Took me out of diving for almost 6 months.

I got diving buddies here in Singapore who go diving almost every month. Planning to dive every month this year with them if all goes according to plan. Since I plan to dive a lot and do more courses I bought my own gear this month in Adex which is a diving exhibition in Singapore. Quite expensive but its your life on the line so its good to buy the best you can afford. In total I spent close to 5k SGD on gear inlcuding underwater cameras gear. I completed my open water last Oct which certifies me to dive to 18m. With advanced next month I would be certified to go to 30m as a recreational diver.
 
Yup. I am PADI Open water certified. I should say I was.It's been more than 5 years since I have done Diving. I would need to earn my certification back I think.

I dove in India only. Did my Open water from Barracuda Diving in Goa.My instructors were British who travelled to Asia to teach Diving during the winters in Europe. Excellent scuba company. My very first dive was at Suzi's wreck. An old spanish vessel off Goan beach. Visibility was 1-2 mtre

Then I went to Murudeshwar. Great visibility compared to Goa. Visibility was 3-4 meters. Spotted a whole school of Barracuda right below my feet. But the scuba company that I chose DreamzDiving,was not that good. Defective gear. Water kept coming into my mouth. The instructor was a gukta chewing guy..lol. But didn't find him professional enough. last year I read that he molested a woman during a dive. And she lodged an FIR.

i badly wanted to dive when i went to Krabi for my honeymoon. But that would mean my wife wasting a day on the boat doing nothing a she is scared of water. But snorkelled off Phi Phi island as a consolation.

I dream of diving in Andamans and lakshwadeep. And if I can afford and plan the trip well, may be Palau and Maldives.

@Ronnie, Where in Malaysia did you dive?
 
@raptor3624 I dived in Tioman island Malaysia. Tioman visbility is close to 30m I would say. I have seen few sea turtles, loads of clown fish, moray eel, colorful sponges, coral reefs to name a few. I am not good at recognizing marine life. Getting a book to help recognize more marine life. Thanks for sharing the dive sites will consider them if I am visiting these locations. I do wanna dive in Lakshadweep as water seem very clear there. Krabi and Phuket can be quite a challenging dive sites so the diving companies and your diving buddies should be carefully considered. Like you mentioned a bad dive guide and faulty equipment can ruin a dive and most important be very unsafe. It is an adventure sport which lots of accidents including fatalities almost every month. Good instructor and gear is very important and decides whether the people continue to dive after their first dive. I know quite a few open water divers who just don't dive cause they hated the first dive. I am not married yet :p but I am pretty sure I would prefer someone who is not afraid of water as I plan to spend so much time in it.

Plan for the next 2 months
Tioman for Advanced open water - 6 dives (including 1 night dive)
Perhentian Island Malaysia - 6 dives
Anambas Island (Indonesia) - 6 dives (including 1 night dive)
 
@raptor3624 I do wanna dive in Lakshadweep as water seem very clear there.
Andamans(Havelock) has equally good competing waters. Can find huge manta rays and turtles there[DOUBLEPOST=1461823365][/DOUBLEPOST]
@raptor3624Krabi and Phuket can be quite a challenging dive sites so the diving companies and your diving buddies should be carefully considered.

No wat Krabi and Phuket are excellent for Diving as far as diving instructors are considered. Lotsa PADi and SSI instrcutors there. Tourism is extremely important to Thailand and Scuba diving is one of the important activities supported there.
 
Who told you this? Scuba diving is one of the safest activities you can do. Obviously you need to make sure you have good equipment and be responsible to the wildlife when underwater.The fatalities are extremely minimal in Scuba Diving as it's a slow activity.All you do is swim slowly and watch the wildlife. There's not much daring to do unless is someone wants to be stupid.
Equipment needs to be checked and it's just like Bungee Jumping or Sky Diving or Parasailing etc. As long as you take your safety precautions and you are well aware of your surroundings, you can enjoy a whole different world underwater.
 
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Maybe this will scare of a few potential divers but people need to understand the risks involved in diving. Scuba diving has a lot of things which can go wrong and proper training experience helps a lot. Open water padi focused mainly on understanding the main risk and how to take care of issues like flooded masks, out of air scenario and using buddy breathing.

I am no expert but these are things which can cause an problems and lead to serious injuries
  • Rapid ascent : Pressure increases when you go deeper. 2 times atm at 10m 3 times at 20m and so forth.e.g. a Baloon at surface will have 3 times less volume at 20m. Your lungs are like balloons so if you are breathing air at 20m and suddenly do a rapid ascent holding air in they can explode and rupture the walls leading to internal bleeding and lung collapse. Divers use weights to go down as our body with tanks and all is very buoyant. So in order to go down we use weights. Weight belts are common. tied around the waist normally. Multiple cases of accident have been there when diver loses the belt and suddenly loses neutral buoyancy. This causes rapid ascent and serious injuries. Other ways this can happen are new diver who panics and swims up. Dive masters will pull u down to keep u below so that you dont injure yourself. A malfunctioning inflator valve on the bcd can also inflate ur bcd and send you up use the dump valves to deflate in case of this.
  • DCS : Decompression sickness. When you dive below certain depth we need to worry about the time spent and at what depth. Depending on the duration and depth we have to do safety stops at 5m. Safety stop is recommended but in certain cases is mandatory if you exceed the no decompression limit. Then its much longer and say 15-20 mins at 5m. If you run out of air you have use a buddies air or bring a tank back from the boat to finish it. Failure leads to a DCS or bends. Affects may range from simple joint pains to extreme like paralysis or unconsciousness. read more about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness
  • Strong underwater current : Strong currents can sweep divers away long distance away from dive boat and result in divers being lost at sea.
  • Panic : If a diver panics and loses control regulator can come off, rapidly ascent, get lost, lose consciousness, consume air much faster and lead to out of air scenario. Always have to remain calm no matter what. Even if a strong current is sweeping you away
  • Getting hit my boats on top : Although may seem like it should never happen but it is a common occurance where multiple dive boats are in one location and people come out in different spot. Surface markers avoid it a but but this feb 2 divers almost died in phuket being hit by a speedboat. One had his leg almost severed. I think in 2016 I read atleast 2-3 occasions of people dying or getting seriously injured near Phuket and phi phi by speed boats.
  • Entanglements : Getting entangled in fishing lines other thigs. Leads to panic, rapid air consumption
  • Hypothermia : Water temp drops a lot underwater can lead to hypothermia if exposed too long. Not a big issue in warm waters but I still dive with full wetsuit on.
  • Burst ear drums : You have to equalise all the time going down. If you dont its very painful and can lead to burst ear drums. As soon as that happens all orientation and balance is lost. People lose track of what is top or bottom.
  • Few more things Arterial Gas Embolism, Mediastinal/ Subcutaneous Emphysema/ pneumothorax both simple and tension. Hypercapnia, hypoxia, shallow water blackout.
Diving is a fun activity but you have to understand the risks involved. Every gear used is focused on safety of the diver. I also have a diving related insurance from DAN (diver alert network ) as treatment for diving injuries can be very expensive like dcs or collapsed lungs.

Last weekend a girl from Singapore died while diving near Komodo island in Indonesia. She was advanced certified but sometimes accidents happen http://news.asiaone.com/news/singap...-dead-after-going-missing-dive-trip-indonesia

I agree that Krabi and Phuket are great diving sites but always consider your safety by selecting the right diving operator, location and your buddy. Underwater current can be very strong in certain dive sites. I travel to Thailand almost every year mostly snorkelling. I plan to skip Phuket and Krabi now as I have been there almost 4 times.
Simple google search
https://www.google.com.sg/webhp?sou...e=UTF-8#safe=active&q=Diving+accidents+phuket
https://www.google.com.sg/webhp?sou...&ie=UTF-8#q=Krabi+and+Phuket+diving+accidents

@raptor3624 Sorry not trying to argue but just sharing. Even simple dives can go horribly wrong if something bad happens. :). Always stay safe
 
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