Dear Fellow Diver, The latest “best diving in the world” seems to be Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The greatest marine biodiversity is in the Coral Triangle (Indonesia, Philippines and PNG). No less than the Nature Conservancy has crowned Raja Ampat (RA) the heart of this area and is actively involved in helping form numerous Marine Protected … Read more
We recently hosted a dive trip where most of the guests departed the boat extremely unhappy. This is very unusual, and very regrettable to us. It did make me think, however, about why this happened and if any of our customers’ dissatisfaction could have been prevented. No doubt the boat’s mechanical problems were the major … Read more
I am glad to see that I am in the good company of Bret Gilliam in wishing to respond to the anonymous JD (are you scared to say who you are, JD?) with a few home truths about divemasters, gleaned from my nearly 50 years of scuba diving. I have experienced all of the following … Read more
Diving used to be a fairly laid-back and non-confrontational leisure activity. In fact, in the early days most divers were generally considered to have a few screws loose but that was part of the appeal. The idea that diving was inherently a flirtation with a real or perceived danger was pretty much a “given” by … Read more
The response to my recent Undercurrent blog posting (about stupid rules) from so many readers left me chuckling at their own experiences with nit-picking nonsensical rules enforced by the “village idiots” that somehow end up as divemasters or instructors. I’ve enjoyed reading your input and am cheered to know so many of you share my … Read more
