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Hey welcome back (i was medically retired from the Air Force and ended up here in San Diego)!

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For San Diego charters you are looking at Waterhorse Charters, Marissa Charters, and Nautilus (they are opening up a local dive boat center soon, one a free trip at the LA dive show from them). Waterhorse Charters is under new ownership and now offers an unlimited boat diving membership option ($x/month hop on any many boat dives as you want). Marissa is still a great operation and you get to have the best boat dog in the area, Captain! They also will go some tech diving places. For boat diving spots that your cert qualifies you for, you have Los Coronados (small islands off the coast of Tijuana) currently only waterhorse goes here, Point Loma Kelp fields Waterhorse and Marissa go here, Wreck Alley Ruby E & HMCS Yukon again both Marissa and Yukon, NOCS Tower (think underwater monkey bar set lol) both charters go here, USS Hogan (130 ft) rarely visited by either charter, Scripps Canyon I think only Waterhorse goes here. The Lois Ann just left service as a dive boat. There is a rumor that The Westerly dive boat is moving from LA to San Diego. Horizon is the main liveboard charter from San Diego but they mostly due shark diving and those trips are $$$, they do other smaller trips and I hear rave reviews but haven't personally gone yet.

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There are some more extreme sites like Cortez banks that are served by some of the San Diego liveaboards that are in your cert range but just costly.

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Shore diving....I really prefer Orange County/LA County for this. Happy to give you more details if you want but the general ones would be La Jolla Cove or La Jolla Shores in the county. For a bit more adventurous shore diving, it's really hard to beat Casino Point on Catalina Island. Both San Diego and LA offer 3R (Rocks, Rips, and Reefs) programs during the summer months that will give you orientations to the areas best shore diving spots. While they are great scuba diving spots the events are snorkel only events that focus on reading the site, safe entry/exit etc, very worthwhile for anyone looking to orient themselves to the area! This is an excellent book for the area btw https://www.amazon.com/Divers-Guide-Southern-Californias-Beach/dp/0962860042/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=diver%27s+guide+to+southern+california&qid=1562649226&s=gateway&sr=8-3

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PowerScuba is a meetup.com group that books a ton of charters and offers it to members (joining is free) basically at cost so very discounted rates. Also do group buys on equipment and travel.

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There is a dive club called Dive Animals that have their own boat, its pretty small and we found very hard to get spots on (we didn't renew membership this year due to that fact) but if you can befriend a boat driver you would have very cheap diving off a very small boat lol.

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If you have the time and want to learn a lot about Southern California diving I would highly encourage you to look at LA County's Advanced Diver Program, it's a county run program and is some of the best training you can get. It's only run once every summer and just started so keep an eye for next year's course if you are interested.

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There really aren't many dive boats out of Orange county so i'll skip that.

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The next place for dive boats is Long Beach harbor (SunDiver 1/2/Express, Magician, Explorer, Pacific Star aka Pac Star) they will do a lot of Catalina Island dives, oil rigs (highly recommended after you get back in the swing of diving but not until you're feeling comfortable with it again), and maybe some of the more remote southern channel islands. Next up you have Ventura which hosts Peace, Specter, and Explorer. They will hit up Anacappa Island and Santa Cruz pretty frequently. Then finally in the "region" you have Santa Barbara you have the Truth Aquatic fleet they'll do the more northern channel islands along with some longer liveaboard trips to other islands or destinations like Big Sur. Almost all of the LA and further north boats are proper liveaboards (so fully galleys and bunks below for sleeping). They are a bit more than the San Diego boats and the drive blows but its worth it!

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During the summer and fall you can probably get away with a 7mm semi-dry suit, but in the winter it gets damn cold. I clocked a 42 degree day on the Yukon this last winter. Luckily San Diego is host to DUI Drysuits (unfortunate name I know but not related to drinking I swear lol). Anyways.... they hold parking lot sales every so often and you get drysuits and a whole bunch of other stuff for super cheap (just clearing out inventory) so keep an eye on facebook. Some brave souls can deal with the cold year round in wetsuits, it's just so much more comfy in a warm drysuit.

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Ok now that i wrote a small novel hope it helps, welcome back, and feel free to ask anything else that comes to mind!

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edit: Forgot to mention dive shops. We mainly use San Diego Divers (best tank fills, tank VIPs, tank Hydros (all the other shops charge more and send the tanks here so skip the middle man), excellent NAUI/tech instructors), House of Scuba (front of the shop is small but they have a huge warehouse behind them and their return policy is unbeatable imho) ,and Ocean Enterprises (biggest in shop display, annual tent sales with unlimited air/nitrox fill cards, just pretty convenient for us). However there are a few others such as Beyond Land Adventures, North County Scuba Center, Oceanside Swim and Scuba Center. There are others I'm sure but those are the ones I have at least been into. Obviously in LA/Riverside/Orange County there are even way more (we have dealt with a few and if you want recommendations let me know).

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It's worth venturing up to LA during the dive show every year i think. Great lecture series, good deals on gear, phenomenal travel deals/raffles, and the party on Saturday is usually kind of fun too.

Wow, this is really revealing in terms of just how much dive training has been (ahem) "streamlined" over the decades.

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My first formal class met for a full evening once per week for ten weeks. Each session was 4 hours (sometimes a bit longer) and was split between classroom and pool; in retrospect, I'd call it easily 12-15 classroom hours and another 30 pool hours, not counting "arrive early" time.

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This 'arrive early" time meant that we were expected to not sit around waiting for the instructor at the start of each pool session - instead, we were to get in the pool whenever we arrived and just swim laps (freestyle; no gear) until the instructor & staff showed up & unloaded the dive gear. Guidance there was that we could stop after we'd swam a 1/4 mile.


Plus there was of course, our self-directed reading as well as homework on our own. My textbook was merely the 1977 NOAA Diving Manual.



The OW checkouts were done on weekends on top of that, which was five tanks over three weekend day trips. Bottom times weren't huge, but I'd still figure around 2 hours of bottom time.

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For the OP, my recommendation would probably be to do some "Book learning" so that you get comfortable with the physics and principles, and then find a good mentor to do some kinda "refresher-like" pool dives and then some OW dives. Ironically, it sounds like what's needed the most is some self-confidence in your own abilities, which is what the "old school" training used to apply with various pool confidence drills, such as the NAUI Bailout and "Ditch 'N Don". Granted, modern BCD-based dive gear isn't conducive to doing these sorts of "Gear off/on" sorts of exercises, but if you want to have some quasi-retro fun, you can buy an old style backpack and skip using any BCD and have some safe supervised fun in a pool.

Thank you! We used the Bonaire Reef Smart Guide and found it to be really helpful. I recommend checking it out. We took a lot of video on the trip where my wife and I talk about what we liked best. We will post it on my channel but I'll try to post it here as well.

We really liked "Something Special" and the dives we did at Lac Bay on the East Side of the island the best I think. The stuff on the east side we did with Bonaire EastCoast Diving and had a really good experience. Definitely check that out.

I prefer a pointy knife, I use it when spearfishing. I've had one of these for about a year and a half now. It's been great, the finish is still perfect, it's strong, and the sheath/straps work great.

I'd also recommend carrying some shears in addition to the knife if you don't already (the EMT type). They're great for cutting line, much safer and easier than a knife.

I have this, the sheath is great, I have it strapped to my BC. The shears have held up fine and are cheap to replace if they get messed up.

This is a really good question and something I have long pondered myself. Now that it has been mentioned, I think it is a good question to ask DAN - perhaps something they can address in Alert Diver.

My theory is that it probably can increase risk of DCS, particularly when you are loading your tissues with longer halftimes heavily and when you crack your joints on ascent. My reasoning behind this is as follows (and I will try to make this a short as possible).

There is the assumption now in many decompression models (of note, the VPM and its variants & the RGBM) that there are micro gas nuclei in our tissues at all times, even before we go diving. Bubble decompression models aim to limit the growth of these bubbles by letting them offgas at depth before they reach a critical volume, past which they will only grow causing symptomatic DCI and/or alternatively limiting the number of bubbles in our tissues that reach a certain volume. If you're interested in the exact parameters of these models, I would suggest a book by Mark Powell called Deco for Divers. Anyway, I digress.

My theory is that since something like synovial fluid is likely a very poorly perfused tissue receiving little blood flow to its adjacent tissues, so it is going to take a long time for any decent amount of N2 (or He) to accrue in it. That said, if synovial fluid was relatively saturated with diving gases and then you went and popped that joint, a bubble would mechanically form from the cavitation of the popping and with that bubble being surrounded by relatively saturated fluid, there may be little in the way of a gradient for it to transition back into the dissolved state. Effectively, it would be a bubble beyond the critical volume which would only continue to grow - particularly if it occurs during ascent.

Now keep in mind that this is entirely hypothesis and I have no empirical evidence to back it up. I have cracked knuckles and toes and elbows many times while diving. In fact, I have also observed that my joints tend to have a faster "recycle-rate" while diving than they do on the surface (i.e. the time between when I can crack them again is decreased when diving.) This makes sense - the pressure should help redissolve that CO2 bubble more quickly. Nonetheless, I have never been bent (knock on wood) with or without joint cracking.

I would imagine that cracking your joints, if it does in anyway increase your chances of DCS, probably only does so very slightly, and that chance is probably only increased in the unlikely circumstances that you are diving with mixes containing fast-diffusing gases like He and/or bringing your body to full or near-full saturation (saturation diving).

That said, I have no medical degree and this is purely conjecture. But that is my theory... definitely something I have thought about a few times before. Good question!

I rather like wearing a watch, and decided to add a dive watch when I started diving. The first thing to decide is movement - battery, solar, or mechanical. For diving... I honestly think Solar is a great choice. No battery to replace, but also doesn't need service like mechanical. Citizen uses the "Eco-Drive" name for their solar, while Seiko just calls them "Seiko Solar". Seiko Kinetic is a similar thing - quartz watch with a movement based charging system - but they have a reputation for crapping out. The solar ones are basically bulletproof.

As you may know, if you want to dive a watch, simply getting something that says '200m water resist' isn't really enough. Watches that meet ISO6425 standards (which are specs for dive watches) will show 'Diver's 200m'. The proofing and testing is different, and the '200m/20atm' watches aren't necessarily dive ready. Wikipedia has a reasonable explanation of the testing differences. At the very least, you need a screw-down crown. Anything that says "Diver's 200m" on it will have that and be sufficiently reliable for diving work. Anything that says '300m' should be sufficient for at least basic diving... anything lower you're just going to have to ask the watch community about that particular watch specifically.

So - all that aside. Recommendations based on the digging I did while I was shopping. I ended up with an Orange Seiko Solar Diver. The Citizen Promaster divers are nice as well.

The 'Entry Level' seems to be this Casio. It's battery powered, but should last a long long time. It doesn't say Divers 200, but they have a reputation for lasting.

Cheap end of mechanical, the Vostok Amphibia. It's a completely different concept than the more traditional dive watch - uses soft seals and pressure to seal itself, rather than a hardened case. 'Automatic' or 'Self-Winding' mechanical, but it has a bi-directional bezel, meaning you can't really use the bezel for timing like you can on a true 'Dive Watch'. You can get em with a little scuba man on them, though. There's a bunch of different style Vostoks, but they're all functionally the same. Good watches.

Moving up in price a bit, Seiko makes some very nice mechanical dive watches. There's the SKX007, the SKX009, the 'Monster' watches (Available in Black, White and Orange), and some of my favorite looks - the Blue Lagoon and Turtle.

If you want to throw stupid money at the problem, my buddy has one of these Marathon watches which he loves dearly. They're one of the few divers you can get with actual radioactive tubes, so you don't have to charge the lume hands up in the sun.

Wow, I guess it's not your fault. Education about dive computers needs to be much better. That said, the tables aren't to be fully trusted either.

The algorithms designed (from which the tables derive) are based on testing, mostly with young fit divers. That got the values by sedning people down and seeing when they reported symptoms. Oh - he got really sick, guess we shouldn't send them down that long. That's how they original (in a few methods) got the m-value - basically, top end of super-saturation various tissues in your body can take. Even then, in testing they found that 80% of DCS incidents occurred with a super-staturation less than 80% of the M-Value - meaning these were very conservative dives but still exhibited symptoms. Even without symptoms silent bubbles (i.e. compressed gas without symptoms) are always present. That line is said to be "a solid line through a fuzzy grey area"

By design the value you get from your computer is how long most people can dive without signs of DCS - that's not 100% and depending on the day it could be you. It's just probability.

Also, one thing to consider, with technical computers we can tune the algorithm conservativeness with limiting super-saturation of the tissues and requiring more off-gassing. When I take that computer diving in warm water I usually scale back the conservation a little since I'm not working that hard - even on this less conservative setting it's usually about 10-20% shorter NDL for me that what you'll find on a rec computer. I dive enough that I scale back my risk even when doing easier dives. I've seen several times, mostly minor, with by-the-book dives leading to symptoms.

Some sources:
http://dspace.rubicon-foundation.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/10152/VDC_2012_10.pdf?sequence=1
http://wrobell.it-zone.org/decotengu/_downloads/mvalues.pdf

Highly recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/Deco-Divers-Decompression-Theory-Physiology/dp/1905492073

General GoPro advice:

• In saltwater (blue water color) you need a red filter. Here's your cheapest option: http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Pro-Filter-GoPro-Version-Acrylic-Accessory/dp/B00B2PHSIY
  
• In freshwater/lakes (green water color) you need a magenta colored filter.
  
  And, some specific advice for your Hero3 Silver:
  
  
• 30FPS will look better than 60FPS because the camera will get more light exposure per frame, improving your image. If you are planning a dive deeper than ~50ft or so in all but crystal clear waters with bright sun, I would shoot in 30fps.
  
• For the same reason as the above, you may get a better exposure shooting in 720p than in 1080p. The Black Edition cameras and newer 3+/4 cameras are better at these higher resolutions in low light conditions, due to a better sensor and other improvements.

I recommend to always have a light on yourself while diving even during the brightest days as they are useful to looking inside nooks/holes, showing true colors, as well as being useful for signalling buddies where cool stuff is.



I keep one of these snapped and bungeed to my plate as they are affordable and despite years of trying I haven't managed to break one yet.



https://www.amazon.com/SecurityIng-Waterproof-Flashlight-UnderWater-Lighting/dp/B00CRAARMC

loosely based on this book: A Diver's Guide to Southern California's Best Beach Dives

one our favorites is paradise cove, but its OC, traffic back is pretty bad, but its pretty fantastic. i try to make a point to get my fills at a shop local to the dive and talk them about the planned dive.

some are pretty bad, but some are great, ill go through my log and post a small list, i wont be able to do this until monday.

I'd reccomend reading http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deco-Divers-Decompression-Theory-Physiology/dp/1905492073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345549204&sr=8-1 if you want the basis to make a well reasoned choice about this. As a doctor I'm used to rolling my eyes at "layman" explanations of medical problems, but this book does a very good job of it.

7 hours should be a good enough margin in most cases imo. It all depends on your nitrogen loading. Going by the multi-compartment way of approaching decompression problems the logical reasoning would be that the faster compartments are the ones where you will have the most effect of exercise. Increased bloodflow to muscles will help clear them more rapidly of N2 (thus increasing the nitrogen pressure in your blood) but shouldn't have much effect on the fatty tissues.
On the other hand headaches and itching skin are signs that you have light DCS symptoms..

(disclaimer, not a certified diving doctor)

I was in your situation a few weeks ago and would listen to what others have already posted.

I would strongly recommend picking up a retractable pole. It helps for a number of reasons, e.g. getting close to reefs/fishes without running into them, taking self/group shots, etc. I found this one from Amazon to be quite affordable and useful.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VA4CK8/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You'll also need a GoPro tripod mount.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RCLYXG/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also, depending on the depth, a red filter may improve the colors coming off the GoPro. Something like this one.

http://snakeriverprototyping.com/shopblurfix3so.html

When I was using a GoPro (prior to getting a camera+housing) I used a monopod called X-Shot 2. I liked that it wasn't too expensive and how short it is when folded. It is probably somewhat shorter than some other monopods and (therefore) less sturdy, but once you're underwater it's fine.

The only problem is that since it's not solely designed for GoPro, so you need the GoPro tripod mount and you need to take care when screwing that on to the monopod so it is secure. As an extra precaution I also a string from the camera to the monopod.

As for durability, I used it for some tens of dives and it's still as good as when I bought it, just made sure to rinse it afterwards and sometimes put a little WD-40 on it.

As far as diving goes, there is a type of mask that covers your ears as well. A few of the instructors I've worked with in the past have used them. Pretty sure your dreams of diving haven't been totally crushed.

Here's an example

I got one similar to this

Worked great for me, here's some screen grabs so you get an idea of what it's like, I chose to just leave it on at all times rather than risk taking it off for topside and loosing it

Above Water

Shallow Water (around 10 metres)

Deeper water (around 20 metres)

Deeperer water (around 32 metres)

All images are RAW so with a bit of colour correction they look quite nice, think my next investment will be a nice dive light to go with it.

Budget option:
I've used these and they are awesome! the lens and snap on holder are very secure. You don't really need the 50+; it's too red. Stick to the 5-20 or 20-50 for any warm water dive. Haven't used in cold water yet.

I HIGHLY recommend this book. Its the best underwater photo book ive found.

I don't have the instructor notes to hand so, from memory this is for two reasons:

1. The brain's initial reaction to the increased PPO2 (I can't remember the exact details of that but can look them up later)
   
   
2. The passage of O2 into the nitrogen bubbles causing a marginal increase in bubble size. This will be temporary and will be offset by the elimination of the nitrogen from the bubbles due to the change in pressure gradient.
   
   If you want a better explanation of the theory behind this, I highly recommend reading Deco for Divers by Mark Powell

There are people that dive without a BCD, just a backpack like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatec-Scuba-Diving-Single-Assembly/dp/B000KD7DJS/

It can be done quite effectible in warm waters where your exposure suit won't change your buoyancy much.

An instructor I know, this summer was diving to 30m with a 7mm semy-dry and no BCD. He had no troubles at that depth or maintaining neutral buoyancy during the safety stop at 5m. He has a very good buoyancy control, I can't even dream of doing that!! But if you are that good, the product is alright although is nothing new.

Yeah, we use these.

WoCase Professional Switchable Lens Filter Set for GoPro HERO4 HERO 3+ Cameras (Compatible with Standard Housing ONLY)(Full Dive Water Depth Coverage) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JL0U0E6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fa0IBbPTSAM79

I really liked this book, and it's counterparts. This one has all the related books in the "users also bought section"

Reef Fish Identification - Florida Caribbean Bahamas - 4th Edition (Reef Set) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1878348574/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_gkowxbSEPQ258

It's got full color pictures of fish, and a bit of information on them. It's also easy to search for what you saw, and if you want more info, it can give you a name to Wikipedia.

If looking to purchase a book, consider getting Six Skills by Steve Lewis: http://www.amazon.com/The-Six-Skills-Other-Discussions/dp/098122802X


Another good book is Deco for Divers by Mark Powell: http://www.amazon.com/Deco-Divers-Decompression-Theory-Physiology/dp/1905492294

Then, there is the ever adorable scuba tank water bottle: http://www.amazon.com/TankH2O-Scuba-Stainless-Steel-Bottle/dp/B00C2AAVRS

Backscatter looks awesome but expensive as fuck. I took these to the Great Barrier Reef last year. If you're using a Hero5 and up, I'm sure you can find an equivalent.

I use this one for all my adventuring:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005JVP0LE/ref=pd_aw_lpo_241_tr_img_2/144-3244649-6942935?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QHVJQH89CHDMZNCJ8ZNB

It did fine at 120', and it is inexpensive.

Do the Scuba Review:

http://www.padi.com/scuba-diving/padi-courses/course-catalog/scuba-review/

That should cover the basics with some self-education...a great reality check is this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diver-Down-Real-World-SCUBA-Accidents/dp/0071445722

https://www.amazon.com/Reef-Fish-Identification-Florida-Caribbean/dp/1878348574/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1550494892&sr=8-2&keywords=caribbean+reef+fish+book

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It's a lot more fun if you do it yourself, and you learn more.

Maybe a dive knife? More than you want to spend, but I use this with a blunt tip in blue. In hindsight, I would recommend a different color.

I got a 40.00 watch watch on Amazon and it's worked great. I've been on over 200 dives with it with no issues.

But if it's a dive computer your needing, that's different.

Personally, I don't think beginners should train with a computer. You need to know how to use tables and plan a dive without one. If you're only being taught to use a computer I would worry about what other essential aspects of diving aren't being taught in the class.

I was a dive master and scientific diver before I got a computer. A watch and wet notes/slate should be enough to get you started.

You should have a console with a depth gauge. There will be a red needle that moves with your depth gauge that stays at the maximum depth reached. Make sure to log your time in, time out, and maximum depth each dive. That's all you need to run your tables.

The Six Skills, by Steve Lewis.

Shadow Divers is absolutely worth reading as well.

nah, they're common and inexpensive:

https://www.amazon.com/AudioFlood-Waterproof-Apple-Shuffle-Headphones/dp/B0087RPKHG

I've listened to mine at around 160fsw. Makes deco a lot more pleasant.

If you're looking for a good read on this topic, check out Diver Down. Real life stories and how to prevent them.

http://www.amazon.com/Diver-Down-Real-World-SCUBA-Accidents/dp/0071445722/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1302677914&sr=8-3

The ISO designation for a dive watch is the ISO 6425 standard. You can tell when a dive watch meets this standard because it will say "Diver's 200m WR" or something to that effect on it. However just because it doesn't say Diver's on the dial doesn't mean it's not a dive watch.

The best bang for the buck with traditional dive watch styling is the Casio MDV-106: https://www.amazon.com/Casio-MDV106-1AV-Analog-Watch-Black/dp/B009KYJAJY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502980615&sr=8-1&keywords=casio+mdv106

A lot of the Casio digital watches are incredibly durable and will survive most of the dives any of us will do. Sheck Exley dove a digital Casio with a 100m water resistance on some crazy deep cave dives and you can still by the same one for $10: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AWZDA4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_afBKzbWBH6S5G

I use the Polar Pro Red Cube Filter. Snaps on and off easily, adds great color restoration to the videos I take. No complaints.

http://www.amazon.com/Acrylic-Filter-Tropical-Correction-Scuba-Diving-Hero3-Accessory/dp/B00B2PHSIY

Inb4 Deco for Divers is one of the most commonly suggested books to read. Mark breaks it down really well for us non-chemistry students whilst still being a very technical book. It will also leave you with lots of avenues for research.

Its US Amazon. Not sure the equivalent in Norway

http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Pro-Filter-GoPro-Version-Acrylic-Accessory/dp/B00B2PHSIY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1414955142&sr=8-3&keywords=polar+pro

For comparison, here is my gopro video from Hawaii when I didn't use a filter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcJBeXzZ8gE

That's my go-to dive watch. They're $15 and nearly indestructible. Mine's been going on the same battery for 11 years. Legit hardware.

Casio Men's W800H-1AV Classic Sport Watch with Black Band https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AWZDA4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_afBKzbWBH6S5G


The g-shock version is 200m rated. $45

G-shock DW5600E-1V Men's Black Resin Sport Watch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GAYQKY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UdBKzbWMNC10D

> https://www.amazon.com/AudioFlood-Waterproof-Apple-Shuffle-Headphones/dp/B0087RPKHG

Aren't those headphones stopping you from equalising?

I've been considering this one, it seems to be very positivity reviewed, though some complain about getting ones with dead batteries.

Mares Puck Wrist Dive Computer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00106GVLA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_EpTlxb0DMHJ7V

$150 free shipping or ($155 prime shipping)

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00308F9O6

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CRAARMC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Diving + earplugs = bad idea. There are some special masks with tubes that connect the ears and the nasal area - check here.

Freedivers can use the normal pinch-nose technique (called Valsalva equalization) for diving up to 30ish meters.

For deeper dives the volume of air in the lungs is too small for the lungs to be able to push it up all the way to the eardrums. Advanced techniques are needed (such as the Frenzel maneuver). You can find more info here for example. Most of them use the tongue or jaw in some way to push the air from the mouth area, through the eustachian tubes up against the eardrums.

These techniques will work up to a certain depth (not sure exactly which, but let's say 120m or so.

However, the current world record for freediving is 214m. How is that possible? Well, a select few world-class freedivers use a technique where they stop during the dive and inject their cavities (eustachian tubes, sinuses etc.) with fluid. Since fluids are incompressible, there's no need to equalize anymore and you can go to whatever depth.

It turns out that depth is around 250m though (that's what Herbert Nitsch reached in an attempt, but had an incident - you can find more online). Also I've heard theories of your larynx getting crushed when you reach a certain depth.

1. Be neutral as second nature before attempting. This takes everyone different amounts of time.
   
   
2. You don't really need to be taught this. In fact, I recommend not taking a photography class but there are a few great books on Amazon about it, I cannot recommend all three of these enough, but if you had to get one get Martin Edge's book, "The Underwater Photographer."
   
   The Underwater Photographer
   
   Underwater Photography
   
   Winning Images with Any Underwater Camera
   
   
3. Most cameras will also take video.
   
   
4. Yes, my housing for my a6000 takes a lot of maintenance to keep working correctly and protecting the camera/lens. The strobe takes maintenance too.
   
   
5. The tint is from a red filter. The red filter causes the camera's WB settings to compensate for the loss of red at depth. I hate filters and use lights.
   
   
6. I prefer photographs. Framing, lighting, exposure, timing... and you get details that I prefer over movement. If I had a decent stabilizing program I'd take more vids maybe.
   
   Red Sea Fish
   
   I shoot a Sony a6000 in an Ikelite case using a manually slaved Sea and Sea strobe. It gives me RAW photos and does just about anything a DSLR will give me in a much smaller package. I shoot single strobe for the hard shadows and contrasts. I started with a GoPro but it sucked at photos. Then I upped my game to a little Canon point-and-shoot in an Ikelite case that had a diffuser card for the flash. It would have served me just fine for a long, LONG time but RAW is really necessary for effective post.
   
   

When I was first learning, I had a sinus problem and the doctor gave me one of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00308F9O6


You blow up a balloon with your nose with it, one nostril at a time, and it really opens your eustachian tubes well and drains any fluid back there out. It's really handy for training or if you're out of practice so you can get used to the feeling of the tubes opening up, and you get an idea of how much pressure it takes to open them.

This book describes a fatality from that very thing.