GoPro has announced the launch of its own Dive Housing with a flat glass lens that allows for sharp stills and video underwater in all resolutions without vignetting. Waterproof to 197ft / 60m, the new Dive Housing is compatible with all of GoPro's HD HERO cameras, mounts and accessories. The package includes the waterproof Dive Housing, a protective lens cap, tether string and assorted mounting hardware. MSRP is US$49.99. Important: a flattens hosting is absolutely necessary to get sharp video underwater with a GoPro Hero camera!

DEMA and DAN release Lionfish PSA
DEMA and the Divers Alert Network (DAN) collaborated on a new public service announcement aimed at providing basic first aid instructions for Lionfish related injuries. The PSA is in response to the increasing number of reported injuries which have been attributed to the species' alarming population increase and invasion into nonnative waters. [See Lionfish PSA on YouTube] -- Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2012 by chb

Scuba Show 2012 in Long Beach, CA
This weekend (May 5th and 6th), the Scuba Show 2012 will be taking place at the Long Beach Convention Center. It will offer more than 310 exhibitor booths and about 50 different informational and education seminars on the deep blue world of scuba diving. The event has been a staple in Long Beach for about 25 years. [See Scuba Show] -- Posted Friday, May 4, 2012 by chb

Interview with a NAUI instructor and scuba shop owner
Businessreport.com ran an informative interview with Mark Smith, former commercial diver, NAUI instructor, and owner of Underwater Adventures in Baton Rouge, LA. [read] -- Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2012 by chb

Northwest Dive & Travel Expo
The Northwest Dive & Travel Expo will celebrate its 5th year in Tacoma, WA April 21-22, 2012. Founded by Dive News Network Media Group in 2008, the Dive & Travel Expo will showcase the snorkeling, scuba diving and travel to the passionate traveler and adventurer. [See Dive & Travel Expo website] -- Posted Friday, April 13, 2012 by chb

Book review: Setting the Hook, by Peter M. Hunt
This independent but immaculately executed 276-page book tells the tale of a diver's relationship with the Italian cruise liner Andrea Doria that sank in 1956 and subsequently became the ultimate scuba adventure, the "Mount Everest of diving." The book fully deliveres on the diving, adventure and technical fronts, but it is the human angle of the author's very personal journey that elevates this book above a mere description of events. [See review of Setting the Hook] -- Posted Monday, April 2, 2012 by chb

Full review: SeaLife DC1400 Pro Duo
SeaLife's latest underwater camera, the DC1400, has 14-megapixel, tons of features, and, most importantly, can now do 720P HD video. ScubaDiverInfo.com did a detailed test of the DC1400 Pro Duo package (list price US$1,129) that includes camera, housing, a strobe, a video/photo lights, brackets and cables. [Read full review of the SeaLife DC1400] -- Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by chb

DEMA comments on ADA requirements for pools
DEMA submitted comments in favor of delaying the deadline date for certain requirements of Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act on March 23, 2012. The extension of the date for compliance with the new requirements proposed by the Department of Justice relate to provision of accessible entry and exit for existing swimming pools and spas outlined in the 2012 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The comments were submitted by Tom Ingram, DEMA's Executive Director. [Read DEMA comments] -- Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2012 by chb

Edelman PR refuses review
Edelman PR refuses to let us review Adobe Lightroom. Talk about alienating the media. -- Posted Monday, March 12, 2012 by chb

DEMA's 2012 Board of Directors
DEMA, the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, announced that its 2012 board consists of Stephen Asmore of Tabata USA (President), Bonnie Borkin Filippi of Bonnier (VP), Jeff Nadler of PADI (VP), Tim Webb of Caradonna (Treasurer), and Werner Kurn of Ocean Enterprises (Secretary). -- Posted Tuesday, February 28, 2012 by chb

Scuba tank explosion in Houston
Alarming report from Houston where KVUE News reports that one or more scuba tanks exploded in a car fire [Read report] -- Posted Tuesday, February 28, 2012 by chb

World War II ship to be artificial reef off Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Fort Myers Beach will soon have another attraction in a World War II ship that's planned to be sunk as an artificial reef in about 100 feet below the Gulf. The ship is the 165-foot USS Mohawk, and the Lee County Commissioners, which moved forward with a plan, think the USS Mohawk artificial reef could be in place as early as next summer. -- Posted Thursday, February 23, 2012 by chb

New cave diving certification program debuts
The Our World Underwater scuba show is taking place February 17-19, 2012, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center in Chicago. Among the many new products and programs to be available to diving enthusiasts is a new Cave Diving certification program being introduced by the National Association of Scuba Educators (NASE). -- Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by chb

About those new fishing limits in the U.S. Caribbean
A very widely reprinted Associated Press article says "US government imposing limits on fish catches in its Caribbean territories for the first time" (see example). Those interested in seeing the source materials to form their own opinions, check NOAA's Southeast Fishery Bulletin, the NOAA FAQ about the annual catch limit, and for those who really like all the detail, the NOAA Compreshensive Annual Catch Limit Amendment for the U.S. Caribbean that was actually released in October 2011. Other good sources are the NOAA Fisheries Service and the Caribbean Fishery Management Council. -- Posted Friday, January 27, 2012 by chb

The GoPro phenomenon: how much better is the new GoPro Hero2?
No sooner did we publish a big feature on GoPro and its tiny Hero high definition camera that's taken the world by storm than GoPro released the Hero2. Is the new Hero really twice as fast and twice as sharp, as GoPro claims? And have some of the issues we had with the original Hero been fixed? We gave the tough little Hero2 a full workout, both above and under water. [Read The GoPro phenomenon: how much better is the new GoPro Hero2?] -- Posted Tuesday, January 3, 2012 by chb

The amazing Tank Bangers
Some divers sort of sing underwater, but no one does it like The Tank Bangers! See for yourself! -- Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2011 by chb

Divers find 1940s plane off Florida
A group of scuba divers did a 185-foot "random drop" off the coast of Palm Beach County and found a remarkably well preserved airplane that may be a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver that went down in the early 1940s. [See wptv.com report and video] -- Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2011 by chb

Night dives: exploring fluorescence
Did you know that a lot of coral and sea creatures are fluorescent? You normally can't see the fluorescence, even on night dives, unless you use special lights and filters. Scubadiverinfo.com procured some special fluorescence detection gear from a company called NIGHTSEA and used it on night dives at Coco View Resort on Roatan. Talk about experiencing and exploring an entirely new world! [See "Night dives like you've never experienced before"] -- Posted Thursday, December 22, 2011 by chb

Anderson Cooper: The Gardens of the Queen
In case you've missed Anderson Cooper's "The Gardens of the Queen" on CBS, you can see it now on the 60 Minutes website. It's rare footage from some completely protected reefs off Cuba. Lots of sharks, good interviews, too. [See The Gardens of the Queen] -- Posted Monday, December 19, 2011 by chb

ScubaDiverInfo.com product testing week on Roatan
ScubaDiverInfo.com editors are spending a week at the Coco View Resort on the Honduran island of Roatan to test and review a variety of dive and underwater photography and imaging gear, including cameras and lights from Canon, Olympus, Sealife, Bonica, JVC, Liquid Image and GoPro, and new Scubapro gear. Also on the agenda: fluorescence night diving with custom flashlights and filters from NightSea. -- Posted Friday, December 9, 2011 by chb

Sea Save underwater preservation charity auction
The non-profit Sea Save Foundation launched a scuba charity auction available for viewing now at the BiddigForGood auction site. There are over 40 items, such as terrific dive trips to Fiji, Indonesia, Galapagos, etc., cool underwater photography equipment and much more. Get great stuff, and money raised supports a variety of ocean conservation projects (like these). [Check out the Sea Save underwater preservation charity auction] -- Posted Wednesday, November 23, 2011 by chb

IUCN now lists Giant Manta as "vulnerable" species
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has designated the Giant Manta Ray (manta birostris) as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The primary thread to mantas is that their gill rakers are particularly sought after and are used in Asian medicinal products. [See the very detailed IUCN giant manta listing] -- Posted Tuesday, November 15, 2011 by chb

Review: Liquid Image Wide Angle Scuba Series HD322
It's been three years since we first came across the Liquid Image video masks that combine a camera with a scuba mask and can even accommodate dive lights. Since then, we've taken various models of the Liquid Image mask on dive trips all over the world. The unusual masks have become a standard part of our dive gear, and now we had a chance to dive wrecks and snorkel/dive with whale sharks with the Liquid Image Scuba Series Wide Angle HD322, where "HD" stands for High Definition. [See full review and videos of the Liquid Image HD322] -- Posted Monday, November 14, 2011 by chb

GoPro announces flat-lens underwater housing
At DEMA 2011, GoPro announced a new underwater housing with a flat lens to correct the blur/focus problems GoPro Hero and Hero2 cameras have underwater. The new housing will be sold as a separate item starting Q1, 2012. No price has been announced. Several third party fixes have been available to correct the GoPro underwater focus problem (see our detailed Hero review), but it's good to see that GoPro itself has acknowledged the issue. Also, expect a full review of the new Hero2 with lots of underwater footage (including 3D if we can procure a second Hero2) mid-December. -- Posted Sunday, November 6, 2011 by chb

Review: Bonica/JVC HM650 Dual Light Package
Many compact cameras and dSLRs can do very good video now, but it still takes a dedicated vidcam to offer 1080p video, 40X optical zoom, gigabytes of internal storage, and the ability to take stills while shooting video. Add to that a good underwater case and two strong 1,500 Lumen LED lights and brackets, and a travel bag, and you have the Bonica/JVC HM650 Dual Light Package. ScubaDiverInfo.com tested the setup extensively and it earned our recommendation. [See full review and video of the Bonica/JVC 1080p HD video package] -- Posted Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by chb

Colors at depth
Divers learn in class that colors disappear underwater because as we go deeper, water filters out more and more of the wave lengths that allow us to see color without artificial light (such as a flash). Except that sometimes we see color at depth anyway. The picture to the left was taken off the Caribbean island of Saba at 90 feet. See more examples of color at depth at Scubadiverinfo.com [see colors at depth] -- Posted Saturday, October 22, 2011 by chb

The GoPro phenomenon: what the world-beating little 1080p vidcam can (and cannot) do
For the past half year, the amazingly inexpensive little GoPro Hero 1080p video camera accompanied ScubaDiverInfo.com to wrecks, reefs, a sea lion nursery, and some of the most remote dive locations on earth. Read about our experiences with the GoPro, what it can do and where we ran into issues. [Read GoPro Hero review] -- Posted Monday, October 17, 2011 by chb

DAN workshop proceedings available
The Divers Alert Network (DAN) has made available for download the entire proceedings of its April 2010 workshop on Recreational Diving Fatalities. The 280 page PDF document contains almost 20 fully formatted documents on investigation, fatality data, training and operations, cardiovascular fitness, etc. [Download Recreational Diving Fatalities Workshop Proceedings] -- Posted Thursday, October 13, 2011 by chb

San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition Recap
From the venue, to the number of attendees, to the quality of the films screened, to the professional filmmakers in attendance, this year’s San Diego Undersea Film Exhibitoin blew my mind. Click here to read my full recap. -- Posted Friday, September 30, 2011 by jroualdes

Shark fin ban movement gains high profile support
WildAid, whose mission it is to end the illegal wildlife trade by reducing demand through public awareness campaigns and providing comprehensive marine protection, has announced additional high profile support for the movement to ban the trade and sale of shark fin products. NBA star Yao Ming and leading Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yue have joined forces with Sir Richard Branson in a global campaign to save sharks. In California, Assembly Bill 376, which will ban the import, trade, and possession of shark fin in California, has already passed both legislative bodies with bi-partisan support and currently awaits the Governor Jerry Brown's signature. [See WildAid press release] -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2011 by chb

Bonica/JVC HM650 high definition vidcam
Amazing what the new generation of super-compact high definition vidcams can do. Our friends at Bonica made available one of their JVC HM-650 packages for our recent underwater product review trips to Socorro (giant mantas) and Isla Mujeres (whale sharks). A full review of the setup will follow, but get a load of the video and image quality of the Bonica/JVC system: Swimming with whale sharks -- Scuba diving in Cancun -- JVC photo collection from Cancun --
JVC photo collection Socorro/Islas Revillagigedo.
-- Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2011 by chb

Snorkeling with whale sharks off Isla Mujeres, Mexico
-- Posted Monday, September 12, 2011 by chb

Full resort review: The Riu Palace Las Americas Resort, Cancun


Scubadiverinfo.com stayed at the Riu Palace Las Americas in Cancun for a week and loved it. The Riu is a wonderful, elegant, impressive all-inclusive, and a great homebase for diving (via Scuba Caribe) and snorkeling with whale sharks (via Scorpio Divers). [See full review of the Riu Palace resort in Cancun, Mexico]
-- Posted Thursday, September 1, 2011 by chb

Nikon joins the rugged/waterproof camera market with the Coolpix AW100
Nikon, the company that once dominated underwater photography with their legendary Nikonos film cameras, has finally joined the rugged/waterproof compact camera market with their new Coolpix AW100. Equipped with a 5X NIKKOR ED glass lens, a 16mp CMOS sensor, GPS, e-Compass, a 3-inch 480k screen, and the ability to record 1080p HD video, the AW100 is freeze proof, can handle 5-foot drops, and can handle depths to 33 feet, making it suitable for many of the shallower dives. The AW100 weighs 6.3 ounces, comes in orange, black or blue, and retails for US$379.95. [See Nikon Coolpix AW100 product page] -- Posted Monday, August 29, 2011 by chb

What About Bob?
Ten minutes into our boat ride from Lahaina to Molokai, our dive master shepherded me and 12 other divers into the boat’s cabin for our pre-dive brief. One person remained—a man appearing to be in his sixties, sporting white stubble, tattered tan shorts and a blue shirt. See Full Post -- Posted Friday, August 12, 2011 by jroualdes

PADI to celebrate 20 millionth scuba certification
PADI announced it will soon issue the 20 millionth scuba diver certification. In recognition of this milestone, PADI Regional Headquarters around the world are giving a dive trip for two to Australia's Great Barrier Reef aboard the Spirit of Freedom to the diver who earns the 20 millionth diver certification. [See PADI news release] -- Posted Monday, August 8, 2011 by chb

Scuba Hall of Famer Sally Wahrmann survives a close one
Scuba Hall of Famer and noted wreck diver (60 dives to the Andrea Doria) Sally Wahrmann survived a close call when she got swept off the line in a strong current at Texas Tower wreck, a collapsed radar platform 60 miles off the Monmouth County, N.J., coastline that went down in a January 1961 storm, killing 28 Air Force personnel. A combination of Wahrmann's cool and expertise, an experienced dive boat captain who did all the right things, and a fishing boat that was closeby combined to a happy ending. [See coverage] -- Posted Saturday, August 6, 2011 by chb

Mexican couple underwater wedding
A Mexican couple decided to have their wedding underwater in Cancun. The ceremony, performed at about 17 feet, was witnessed by over 200 guests in scuba gear. The couple decided on the underwater venue to draw attention to the preservation of sharks. [See report] -- Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by chb

Glass-bottom boat baiting results in shark accident
The Freeport News reports that a scuba diver from Florida was bitten by a 8-10 foot shark while diving Shark Junction off a private yacht. The accident apparently occurred when a nearby glass-bottom boat began throwing out bait to lure the sharks. [See Freeport News report] -- Posted Monday, July 18, 2011 by chb

DEMA files suit over Florida dive boat licence law
DEMA, the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, filed suit trying to stop the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from enforcing a charterboat license law that imposes license fees up to US$2,000 per year and dive boats used to take saltwater fish for noncommercial purposes, which includes lobsters. Dive boat operators argue that they should not be subject to the same fee schedule as recreational fishing boats. [See Miami Herald report] -- Posted Monday, July 18, 2011 by chb

Image Gallery: Islas Revillagigedo (Socorro) 2011
New image gallery with 320 pictures from the Islas Revillagigedo (San Benedicto, Socorro, Roca Partida) now up. Sharks, Mantas, Dolphins galore. [See image gallery] -- Posted Wednesday, July 13, 2011 by chb

Review: Socorro islands on the Solmar V


Scubadiverinfo.com spent eight days on board of the 112-foot Solmar V live-aboard vessel. The trip began at Cabo San Lucas at the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico, and took us to the Islas Revillagigedos, or Socorro islands, with diving at San Benedicto, Socorro, and Roca Partida. We saw giant mantas, sharks of all kinds, dolphins, other pelagics, and even whale sharks. [Read our full trip review of the Solmar V live-aboard experience] -- Posted Monday, June 20, 2011 by chb

The 200th dive
I finally had my 200th dive, and just like #100, it was at a memorable location. Much went through my head as I plunged into the ocean backwards off a panga at Roca Partida, as remote and wild a dive location as one can find. More remote even than the tiny island of French Key off the coast of Providenciales for my 100th. [...read more] -- Posted Friday, June 17, 2011 by chb

Inexpensive WD Rugged Case adds moisture and impact protection to external USB 3.0 drive
Anyone needing more on-the-go storage for their pictures and such should take a look at Western Digital's new WD Nomad Rugged Case. It's an inexpensive box that provides moisture, dust and impact protection to WD's line of My Passport external drives. We tested the new WD Nomad Rugged Case (US$29.95) with a 500GB USB 3.0 My Passport Essential drive (US$99) and came away impressed. Vast storage, no power supply needed, super-fast, and perfect for a dive trip! [See description and impressions of the WD Nomad Rugged Case] -- Posted Tuesday, June 14, 2011 by chb

Ricoh introduces water-resistant camera
Ricoh announced their new 16-megapixel PX compact digital camera with a 2.7-inch 230k display, a 5X optical zoom that stars wide at 28mm, and 720p HD video recording. The PX records on SDHC cards, has 28 scene modes, measures 3.95 x 2.2 x 0.8 inches, weighs 5.5 ounces, and is available in green, silver and black. Best of all, the US$249 Ricoh PX is waterproof to ten feet and shockproof to five feet. Ricoh has been concentrating in special purpose cameras for a while now, and the PX looks like an interesting addition for anyone enjoying the great outdoors. [See Ricoh PC product page] -- Posted Monday, June 13, 2011 by chb

Seeing underwater
Seeing well underwater is not a given for divers who need glasses or even just readers. The higher magnification of water helps some (especially those who need just readers), but there will come a day when a diver needs a real solution. We found ours at Prescription Dive Masks, a Southern California business that specializes on prescription dive masks and nothing but, and they are opticians, too. [Read About Prescription Dive Masks...] -- Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2011 by chb

Gentle Leviathans, Where Are You?
"Gentle Leviathans, Where Are You?" is the title of a thoughtful blog report by Kathryn Taubert at naplesnews.com. The author had just returned from Utila (Honduras) where she had hoped to swim with whale sharks. Utila is usually such a reliable sighting spot of whale sharks to warrant the presence of a Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center, and Taubert's concern is that the whale sharks behavior may have changed due to the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. [See Gentle Leviathans, Where Are You?] -- Posted Monday, May 23, 2011 by chb