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Win a Free Spectacular Liveaboard Trip Aboard the French Polynesia Master
Another Cocos Tiger Shark Attack
Undercurrent Travel and Weather Planner
Don’t Flame Your Mask
“Me Too” in Diving, a Free-to-Read article in Undercurrent
What You Missed in May’s Undercurrent
Subscribe at Our Special Rate and Get These Free Publications
And, if you have a U.S. Address, there’s even more
Surface Marker Buoys in Cold Water
Coming Soon in Undercurrent

Win a Free Spectacular Liveaboard Trip Aboard the French Polynesia Master  May 17, 2018

Here is a great deal offered only to Undercurrent subscribers and a few friends: Just visit the website of Bluewater Photo & Travel and enter their free raffle for an opportunity to win a seven-night diving trip aboard the French Polynesia Master. It’s a $4,525 prize! Furthermore, if you join any of their four special trips, you get a $500 cash rebate. Or you can save $500 on photo/video gear from Bluewater Photo. But, you must act fast. To enter the raffle go to www.bluewaterdivetravel.com/undercurrent

Another Cocos Tiger Shark Attack  May 17, 2018

A lucky 30-year-old German male diver escaped intact after being attacked by a tiger shark near Manuelita Island, Isla del Cocos, Costa Rica on April 28. The animal bit into his tank and BC but he managed to free himself from his rig and swim to the surface while the shark ripped his gear to pieces as other divers look on. He was shaken but unhurt. Last November, an American, Rohina Bhandari, died after a tiger shark attacked her at the same location (Undercurrent January 2018). This is the sixth confirmed unprovoked shark attack in Costa Rican waters since records began.

Undercurrent Travel and Weather Planner  May 17, 2018

We have updated the Seasonal Planner and Overview sections of the Undercurrent website to reflect the change in popularity of many resorts and changing climate conditions. Go to our diving destinations page and choose the section devoted to the area you are interested in or click on the destination on the map. We’ve also updates our Seasonal Planner with this information.

Don’t Flame Your Mask  May 17, 2018

Last month, we reported to our subscribers that a few Hollis masks had shattered when a diver hit the water, and now we have found the culprit: not the mask, but the diver. As you know, you must polish the inside surface of a new mask to remove the coating and prevent it from fogging. However, some divers try to burn off that coating with a cigarette lighter, but this can weaken the tempered glass and may result in a frameless single face-plate mask shattering on impact with the water, especially if the strap is pulled so tight it stresses the weakened glass. The proper way to remove the film is to polish the glass with a gentle abrasive such as old-fashioned white toothpaste.

“Me Too” in Diving, a Free-to-Read article in Undercurrent  May 17, 2018

This month we examined serious problems women have experienced diving as relayed by a number female subscribers. Could there be a patriarchal or sexist attitude to female divers? Have you or do you know a female who’s experienced unfortunate attitudes while abroad or even when diving at home? Do some dive guides patronize women and assume they are inexperienced divers? Worse than that, have you experienced or witnessed outright sexual harassment when diving? Read Vanessa Richardson’s article here.

A labyrinth in the Solomon Islands

What You Missed in May’s Undercurrent  May 17, 2018

On board the MV Taka in the Solomon Islands . . . Dive Stores are Dwindling . . . Deadman Diving? Whatever Next? . . . Your Battery Charger: A Real Risk of Fire . . . Unusual Dives, Cheap Flights, a New Resort . . . Will East Timor Become a Popular diving Destination? . . . An Incredible Voyage . . . Plastic? Some Dive operators Step Up . . . Undercurrent Subscribers Set a New Guinness World Record . . . Are Underwater Photography Courses Good Value? . . . Ghost Net Massacres Cayman Marine Life . . . Still Trouble with Full-Face Snorkeling Masks? . . . A Real Advanced Open Water Course . . . No Safety Sausage? Toss Water! . . . Things Are Not Always as They Seem . . . The End of American Abalone Diving?

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Subscribe at Our Special Rate and Get These Free Publications  May 17, 2018

Subscribe now to receive our 20-page monthly issue of Undercurrent, and 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.

And, if you have a U.S. Address, there’s even more:  May 17, 2018

With your new subscription 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. Click here to subscribe now.

Surface Marker Buoys in Cold Water  May 17, 2018

Don’t use your regulator or octopus to inflate it if the temperature is less than 46°F/8°C, says Martin Woodward, who operates Stoney Cove, a popular inland dive site in the UK. In such cold water, he notes, modern high performance regulators may free-flow, so many manufacturers now caution against it.

Coming Soon in Undercurrent  May 17, 2018

How Fit Are You? . . . When Maldives Diving Disappoints . . . Possible Solutions to Coral Reef Bleaching . . . A Costa Rican liveaboard that doesn’t go to Cocos Island . . . .Why Sea Water Can Be Hazardous to Health . . . Out of Air Scenarios and Solutions . . . In Praise of Liveaboards . . . That Regulation Threat . . . A trip on Belize Aggressor III . . . How Do You Feel About Spearfishing? . . . Philippines and Indonesia land-based operations . . . and much, much more.

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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Online Updates* Archive, 2000-2016

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