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Travel Warning for the Yucatan
Perhaps the Best Dive Thriller Ever?
Stop Using Plastic to Package Dive Gear
Aqualung and Suunto Still Under Threat
Subscribe at Our Special Rate and Get this Free Dive Classic
Woman Divers – Have You Had a “Me Too” Moment?
Coming Soon in Undercurrent
Braided Hose Alarm!
What you Missed Last Month in Undercurrent

Travel Warning for the Yucatan  March 16, 2018

After the February 21 bomb injuring 19 Mexicans and five Americans on the Barcos Caribe ferry linking Playa del Carmen with Cozumel, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico has prohibited government employees from traveling to the resort town. On March 2 an undetonated pipe bomb was found on another Barcos Caribe ferry. The government has said that “the incidents are exclusively related to situations that are internal and inherent to the ferry line in question,” and for now, those ferries have stopped running. While ferries run by other companies continue to travel between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, the U.S. government has warned travelers to stay away.

Perhaps the Best Dive Thriller Ever?  March 16, 2018

Set in Belize at the rundown dive resorts, Capt. Jack’s Rum Point Inn, Tropical Ice is a fast-moving scuba thriller written by the founder of Undercurrent. The opening chapter will knock your socks off, followed by a dangerous night dive, shark fins secretly stowed on a remote caye, rich men poaching jaguars, and a beautiful owner of a rain forest lodge with her own deep secrets. Click here to order an autographed copy (we will email you to see how you want it inscribed). Or get the paperback, E-book or Kindle version from Amazon by clicking here. It’s a helluva a story, believe me.

Stop Using Plastic to Package Dive Gear  March 16, 2018

While it may be difficult -- but surely not impossible -- for the diving equipment manufacturers to accept Undercurrent’s challenge to eliminate or at least reduce plastic packaging, one Danish company has stepped up. Jacob Dalhoff Steensen of Paralenz, the revolutionary Danish-made diving POV camera that automatically light balances for changing depth, tells us that they have changed its single-use packaging to cardboard only and is reducing the size of its boxes. Good work, folks. Now, where are the American firms in this challenge?

Aqualung and Suunto Still Under Threat  March 16, 2018

These two companies were sued in December 2015 by Ralph A. Huntzinger and Eric Bush, who alleged that the defendants were aware that the Cobra computers they sold were defective and prone to malfunction due to defective software or hardware. The companies wanted the case thrown out. The judge said no. More about this in the April issue of Undercurrent.

Subscribe at Our Special Rate and Get this Free Dive Classic  March 16, 2018

Subscriber to our 20-page monthly issues of Undercurrent, and if you have a U.S. address, I’ll mail you the reissued classic 208-page paperback book, An American Underwater Odyssey, 50 Dives in 50 States, by Charles Ballinger, detailing a unique dive in every American state. And no matter where you live, if you subscribe today, you can download for free Eight Great Liveaboards (and One Disaster) and Eight Great Dive Resorts (and One Dog), two 40-page books written by our undercover reviewers and available only to new subscribers.

Click here to subscribe now.

Woman Divers – Have You Had a “Me Too” Moment?  March 16, 2018

In February’s issue of Undercurrent, we mentioned the complaint from a female subscriber about her treatment by a dive guide on an Indonesian live- aboard. Could this be the result of a patriarchal or sexist attitude to women and, subsequently to female divers? Are you a female diver who’s experienced unfortunate attitudes while abroad or even when diving at home? Do some dive guides patronize you and assume you are an inexperienced diver? Worse than that, have you experienced outright sexual harassment when diving? If so, we’re working on a story, and we’d like to hear your story.

Write BenDEditor@undercurrent.org. Please include your name and hometown so we may get back to you, but we will keep you anonymous if you wish.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent  March 16, 2018

A budget trip to dive the Lembeh Strait . . . A liveaboard fleet owner speaks of avoiding lost divers, emergency evacuation, and insurance rescues . . . When things don’t work out and diving disappoints . . . The ups and downs of Safety Sausages. . . Who owns PADI? . . . Does white light hurt night critters? . . . More on those AOW certs . . . Are full-face snorkeling masks off the hook? . . . and much, much more.

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Braided Hose Alarm!  March 16, 2018

The interior of lightweight braided hoses can deteriorate, especially those subject to high ambient air temperatures or intense sunshine. Small interior crystals loosen and jam the hoses and even regulator second-stages. If you have older braided hoses, disconnect them at both ends to check for any loose material. Old traditional hoses can deteriorate, too, so check them as well. Braided hoses should be replaced every five years -- or more often if there is abrasion, or they have spent extended time in the sun. Any braided hose you buy should use polyether-TPU rather than polyester-TPU.

What you Missed Last Month in Undercurrent  March 16, 2018

Liveaboard at Cuba’s best dive sites . . . Shark attacks and statistics . . . Bohol in the Philippines . . . 75 hours adrift . . . Did your insurance step up when needed? . . . Liability waivers and the dive pro . . . Divers disappointed in Sipadan . . . Do you really need AOW cert? . . . and much, much more . . .

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Ben Davison, editor/publisher
Contact Ben

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Note: Undercurrent is a registered 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization donating funds to help preserve coral reefs. Our travel writers never announce their purpose, are unknown to the destination, and receive no complimentary services or compensation from the dive operators or resort.

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