August 2012

Crater Lake, Oregon, closed to divers until next year

With its surface at 6,700 feet, Oregon's Crater Lake lies higher than Lake Tahoe (6,230 feet), and at 1,943 feet, it's deeper too (Tahoe is some 1,644 feet deep), and it's supposed to be the clearest lake in the US. But now the roundish Crate Lake, which has a diameter of just five miles, has temporarily become closed to divers while park ecologists develop a plan to keep out invasive species. Not that diving Crater Lake is easy. It's a one mile hike down 700 feet, and then another hike to the best dive site. Watch the terrific 10-minute movie to get an idea of what Crater Lake is all about. -- Posted Thursday, August 30, 2012 by chb

Liquid Image HD324 video mask: diving Cancun
Cancun may not be known as a primary dive location, but there's plenty to see underwater! ScubaDiverInfo.com used the latest Liquid Image video mask, the HD324, to dive the world-famous underwater museum, swim and dive with whale sharks, and explore the shallow reefs teeming with fish. [See Liquid Image video mask HD324 video on YouTube] -- Posted Sunday, August 26, 2012 by chb

Bad air
You've read about bad air, but may have never experienced it yourself. What does bad air mean? Simply that the air in your tank is somehow contaminated. At worst, it contains carbon monoxide from the exhaust of a compressor. That can be deadly and you can't even taste carbon monoxide. Jacques Cousteau described one such incident at a dive at the Fontaine des Vaucluses that nearly turned fatal. Most of the time, bad air isn't as serious, but it can still affect your dive majorly. [... read more] -- Posted Saturday, August 25, 2012 by chb

DEMA works with Garmin to expand reach of DiveCaching
DEMA has begun working with Garmin's geocaching website, Opencaching.com to promote the real-life environmentally-friendly, in-water game of DiveCaching which is geocaching with the added twist of caches and landmarks hidden underwater. DEMA now encourages those owning a DiveCache on other sites to also log their cache with a free account on Opencaching.com. [See DEMA press release] -- Posted Friday, August 10, 2012 by chb

Ultimate Diver Challenge: Palm Beach Count
Think "Survivor," but with underwater mazes, blackout masks and imaginary sea critters in need of rescue -- all against the watery backdrop of Palm Beach County's celebrated scuba dive sites. And the show is even expected to air in January of 2013, once producers shop it to various networks. [See 'Survivor'-like reality show in PBC puts divers to the test] -- Posted Friday, August 10, 2012 by chb

Full review: 16MP/1080p Pentax WG-2 can handle 40+ feet
The Pentax Optio WG-2 represents Pentax's 13th generation of tough, waterproof cameras, and the maturity shows. Sporting a unique design, the 16-megapixel Optio WG-2 has a 40-foot depth rating, can handle 5-foot drops, is freeze and crushproof, can do 1080p HD video at full 30fps speed, has a wide-format 3-inch display, and is chuck-full of features and tricks. ScubaDiverInfo.com tested the US$349 Optio WG-2 on a week of diving and exploring in the Sea of Cortez. [See full review of the Pentax Optio WG-2] -- Posted Thursday, August 2, 2012 by chb