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If the whole plane reaches to perform the Valsalva maneuver during their ascent, or baggage claim is inundated with fin-filled duffles, you just might be fl ying to one of these nine dive capitals—destinations where scuba divers feel right at home.

Strap on your tank and tag along for the ultimate DIY dive adventure as two divers make a 26-day journey around southern Australia to see seadragons, cuttlefi sh and giant spider crabs by the legion.

Exploratory cave diving requires intensive training, loads and loads of gear, extensive research and the ability to bounce back after multiple failures. Yet, Patrick Widmann is hooked on the thrill of diving where no others have before.

6 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

BRANDON COLE

36

SHOP THE COLLECTION AT SEIKOUSA.COM © 2019 Seiko Watch of America. SRPD21

D E PA R T M E N T S

15 ASCEND Calling all divers to carry the torch and stand up for ocean conservation; invasive lionfish are a major issue in parts of the Caribbean and Atlantic—here’s how divers can do their part; and the Open Water Diver certification course teaches this newbie more than just basic scuba skills.

25 GEAR ScubaLab’s team of test divers reviewed 21 dual-lens, singlelens and low-volume masks; see which models earned Testers Choice and Best Buy distinctions.

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A giant Australian cuttlefish hovers in the shallows of South Australia’s Spencer Gulf. Photo by Brandon Cole

87 TRAVEL Our readers rank their favorite places for bucket-list big-animal encounters; uncovering the one-of-a-kind diving around the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Banks, a protected marine sanctuary off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana; and surveying 10 reasons why divers can’t get enough of Bonaire.

FROM TOP: RODNEY BURSIEL; JON WHITTLE

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75 TRAINING How divers can be the eyes and ears of experts on the front lines through citizen science; common pitfalls for Lightroom Classic users; a diver makes an important health discovery following a scary incident in this edition of Lessons for Life; and the experts at Divers Alert Network lay out the best practices for cylinder maintenance.

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MARY FRANCES EMMONS joined Sport Diver in 2009 and Scuba Diving in 2012, serving as features, senior and deputy editor. A diver since 2006, she was named editor-in-chief in 2018.

scubadiving.com ∂ edit@scubadiving.com

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Mary Frances Emmons

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

Senior Editor Andy Zunz

Diving gives you so many ways to explore our watery world

ScubaLab Director Roger Roy

Thanks for reading, and happy diving.

MARY FRANCES EMMONS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

3

FOLLOWING

Digital editor Becca Hurley stops for a selfie while diving at the Cabbage Patch on Fiji’s Rainbow Reef. Read more about the magic of diving Fiji on page 44. Follow us at scubadiving.com, and on Facebook and Instagram at @scubadivingmag.

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GEARHEADS, REJOICE! Scuba Diving's March issue will be of special interest to any diver who loves to drool over cool new gear. This special gear issue will feature an expanded catalog for 2020 gear, tips from our ScubaLab test divers on what to look for before choosing your own gear, a recap of the best gear we tested in 2019, and much more. Keep an eye out next month for this expanded special issue.

Scuba Diving (ISSN 1060-9563) is published 10 times per year (J/F, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, S/O, Nov and Dec) by PADI Worldwide, 30151 Tomas, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688. Vol. 29, No. 1, Jan/Feb 2020. Periodicals postage paid in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, and additional offices. Annual subscription rate: U.S. $21.97; Canada $30.97; all other foreign countries $39.97. U.S. funds only. Contents copyright 2020 by PADI Worldwide. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Scuba Diving, P.O. Box 3286, Harlan, IA 51593-0466. CANADA POST: Publications Mail Agreement Number: 40612608. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: IMEX, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. For subscription questions, email: SCDcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com.

10 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

Digital Editor Becca Hurley Associate Gear Editor Robby Myers Associate Editor Dave Carriere CONTRIBUTORS Brandon Cole, Melissa Cole, Eric Douglas, Jennifer Idol, Eric Michael, Brooke Morton, Erin Quigley, Sascha Zuger

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY Art Director Monica Rodriguez Art Director Victoria Cocchiaro Staff Photographer Jon Whittle BONNIER MEDIA CONTRACT PUBLISHING Executive Vice President Gregory D. Gatto Vice President, Managing Director Glenn Sandridge Financial Director Tara Bisciello Editorial Director Shawn Bean Creative Director Dave Weaver Editorial Operations Director Stephanie Pancratz Copy Chief Cindy Martin Advertising Sales Manager Lauren Brown Group Marketing Director Haley Bischof Senior Marketing Manager Kelly Sheldon Marketing Manager Franki Giordano Production Director Rina Viray Murray Associate Production Director Kelly Weekley Senior Production Manager Stephanie Northcutt Digital Strategy Director Mike Staley Digital Content Director Mark MacKenzie Custom Audience Manager Jackie Fry Digital Content Production and Presentation Director Michellina Jones Digital Producer Daniel McSwain

BECCA HURLEY

There are as many reasons to dive as there are divers, but certainly a big one for many is the chance to explore the 70 percent of our planet most humans never see.

For cave diver extraordinaire Patrick Widmann (“To Parts Unknown,” page 68), it’s all about the new. “Where we explore,” he says, “there are no roads. No water. No electricity.” He never knows what he will find. “It could be absolutely nothing. But every once in a while, you put your head in the water and get spit out in one of the most glorious places on planet Earth.”

For marine biologist Brandon Cole—whose underwater photography has been a highlight of these pages for decades—and his artist wife, Melissa, exploration lay not in forging new paths but in committing to a long and deep examination of a part of the world many divers yearn to visit, the island continent of Australia (“Odyssey in Oz,” page 54). So off they went on “the mother of all road trips,” Cole says—26 days crisscrossing the outback, immersing themselves literally and figuratively in local seas and cultures.

If you’re new to diving and ready to take your own exploratory steps, spend some time with “Dive Capitals of the World,” page 36, a playful look at nine destinations that are all about dive, dive, dive. In each of them, we guarantee you’ll find divers ready to speed you on your underwater journey, in spots where everything from the dive shops and resorts to the overall vibe makes divers welcome. (And don’t knock Key Largo’s chocolate-covered Key lime pie pops until you’ve tried ’em.)

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DREW RICHARDSON, ED.D., president and CEO of PADI, has logged more than 6,000 dives worldwide and received many industry awards, including 1992 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year.

PADI WORLDWIDE President & CEO Dr. Drew Richardson

TORCHBEARERS ALL

Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Valette-Wirth M.B.A.

Divers must be the change we want to see

Managing Director, PADI Club Dave Freygang Education & Content Development Executive Karl Shreeves

If you follow my blog or any of my other messages, you know that in my view, divers in general and PADI Divers in particular have a mission bigger than just enjoying the underwater world. That’s an important reason why we love diving, but as the oceans face threats from plastics, pollution and climate change, for years we’ve been saying that divers need to take an active part in restoring the balance between humanity and the seas. For years, I’ve been encouraging all of us in diving to use our hands, hearts, voices and votes to this end, not just for the sake of diving, but for the sake of the global environment.

The PADI logo shows a diver carrying a torch against a blue—ocean—world. As a PADI Club member and PADI Diver, you are a leader—a torchbearer—who can invite those who don’t yet know diving into our world, to experience and know the underwater world and to become part of the changes we need to save our seas. It’s part of making diving more than a sport—a movement that will change the world for the better, as a force united for humanity’s mutual benefit in ways that cross borders, language barriers and cultural differences.

Five words that say it all: Seek adventure. Save the ocean.

You’ll see this in PADI promotions, social media, etc., because in drawing people to our cause, they go hand in hand. People come to diving to discover adventure (and diving has many forms of it) and beauty, and to visit a unique part of our planet. And, through this, they discover that the oceans are endangered, that they are worth saving and that, together, we can be a big part of making that happen.

Next time you pull on a PADI Gear shirt or jacket, remember that PADI emblem is much more than a certification stamp. It’s a symbol of who we are and what we have to do.

DR. DREW RICHARDSON PADI PRESIDENT & CEO

PS: If you’re not yet enrolled in PADI Club, please join us in helping shape a future with a healthy planet. Visit, call or

Managing Director, PADI Travel Joel Perrenoud Marketing Director Courtney Taylor Brand Director Katie Thompson PADI MEDIA GROUP Director Jeff Mondle 760-419-5898 jeff.mondle@padi.com Director David Benz 850-261-1355 david.benz@padi.com Territory Manager Linda Sue Dingel 407-913-4945 lindasue@divemarketingmedia.com PADI Club Coordinator Li Lin Marketing Specialist Annie Darby Marketing Specialist Nushaw Ghofranian All contents copyright 2020 PADI. Reproduction and distribution of the materials contained herein without express written permission is prohibited. For inquiries, please contact us at PADI Worldwide, 30151 Tomas, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2125

text your PADI Resort or Dive Center to get signed up to-

Printed in the USA

day, or go to padiclub

Retail single copy sales: ProCirc Retail Solutions Group, Tony DiBisceglie

.com/save. Follow Drew Richardson’s blog at blog.padi.com/author/ drewrichardson

COURTESY PADI

For customer service and subscription questions, such as renewals, address changes, email, billing and account status, go to: scubadiving.com/cs. You can also call 800-666-0016, or write to Scuba Diving, P.O. Box 3286, Harlan, IA 51593-0466.

12 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

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ANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

OUT OF THE BLUE: DISCOVER THE WORLD BELOW a 16 MEMBERS ONLY 18 OCEAN INVADERS 20 INTO THE DEEP END

ALEX MUSTARD

“ IT TAKES A VILLAGE Corals are living creatures, and there are many kinds. Hard corals produce a calcium carbonate exoskeleton—which fuses together the thousands of individual polyps that make up colonial corals—and are responsible for building reefs. Soft corals—such as the pink sea fan in Fiji shown above—do not form hard exoskeletons.

There are many reasons people strive to become better divers. But sometimes selfimprovement is its own reward.

Sometimes you simply need to prove to yourself that you can.”

LEARNER’S PERMIT PAGE 20

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ASC EN D: PAD I C LU B

“Why is it that scuba divers and surfers are some of the strongest advocates of ocean conservation? Because they’ve spent time in and around the ocean, and they’ve personally seen the beauty, the fragility, and even the degradation of our planet’s blue heart.” — SY LV I A E A RL E

A UNITED FRONT PADI Club divers can lead the charge for worldwide ocean protection

PADI CLUB BENEFITS TESTS 11 NEW COMPUTERS — PLUS 3 WITH HEAD-UP DISPLAY

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16 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

is community.

As a member of PADI Club, you’re connected with like-minded divers and ocean advocates around the world. The perks of PADI Club membership all reinforce a global community of divers, with discounted travel to the world’s top dive destinations, savings on PADI Gear, a subscription to Scuba Diving, discounted eLearning courses that will open new opportunities and a free ReActivate™ course that will help you get back in the water.

And that’s just the beginning. Be sure to continue the conversation and link up with other divers on Scuba Diving’s (facebook.com/scuba divingmagazine) and PADI’s (facebook.com/ PADI) Facebook groups.

To sign up for PADI Club and join the community, visit padiclub.com/save.

» A year of Scuba Diving magazine (10 issues)

» PADI eLearning 10 percent discount

» Free PADI ReActivate™ digital refresher course

» PADI Gear 10 percent savings » Travel savings with PADI full-service planning

COURTESY PADI

D

ivers have the special privilege of exploring places most people can only dream about— but this carries a weighty responsibility. We can see the vulnerability of ocean environments firsthand and know the importance of protecting them.

That’s why PADI, led by president and CEO Dr. Drew Richardson, is making a bold commitment: to create a billion torchbearers to explore and protect the ocean over the next 50 years. Divers are naturally torchbearers, so this mission includes expanding the dive tribe across the globe; but torchbearers can also include ocean advocates in any discipline.

Expanding a network of ocean protectors at this rate will not be easy, and it will take advocacy from the most passionate divers to come to fruition. That’s why a major aspect of PADI Club

ASC EN D: WH AT I T ’S L I KE

What It’s Like

TO HUNT INVASIVE LIONFISH

I

position the rubber sling between my thumb and forefinger, locked, loaded and ready for action. My dive buddy points to the target hovering slowly at the base of the concrete artificial reef and I move in, trying not to startle the unsuspecting lionfish. Thwap. I release my sling and then…nothing. There’s no noise—just silence, and the anxious feeling of wondering whether my shot was a success.

The next thing I hear is an excited shriek through my dive buddy’s regulator as he raises a hand for a congratulatory fist bump to celebrate spearing my first lionfish. We’re 110 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico off Destin, Florida, and my buddy continues to point out each lionfish until we’ve wiped the site.

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I don’t consider myself a heartless killer, and I’ve never been particularly interested in spearfishing, but this is a special circumstance. In the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Atlantic, lionfish are an invasive species with no natural predators. Research shows they’re capable of reducing native fish populations by as much as 90 percent in some areas. Lionfish can reproduce at an alarming rate (females can spawn 2 million eggs per year), and one lionfish alone can consume up to 20 fish in just a half-hour.

Unlike traditional spearfishing, hunting lionfish involves relatively little gear and doesn’t require a license in Florida.

The pole spear used to hunt lionfish is simple to operate: It has a rubber sling

that acts like a bungee when positioned between your fingers, and several metal prongs at one end that function as the spear. Lionfish have venomous spines, so it’s a good idea to carry a lionfish containment device such as a Zookeeper.

The hunt was surprisingly easy and left me with a sense of accomplishment for helping protect native fish species. With lionfish derbies popping up all over, it’s never been easier to pitch in. Divers removed 19,167 invasive lionfish from the Gulf of Mexico during the 2019 Emerald Coast Open in Okaloosa County, Florida.

Divers are on the front line of this fight—participating in lionfish-removal events and raising awareness now is more crucial than ever.

ILLUSTRATION: STEVEN P. HUGHES

BY BECCA HURLEY

How earning my Open Water certification gave me the confidence I needed to set aside self-doubt

BY DAVE CARRIERE

Sometimes having just a little knowledge on a subject can be worse than none at all.

So I thought last summer as I stood beside a concrete pool, gearing up for my Open Water Diver training. I’d already been working as a copy editor at Scuba Diving, but accepting a new position at the magazine meant a chance to finally get certified and in the water. I was excited—and maybe just a

little bit nervous.

For all the glamorous tales I’d heard from colleagues about far-flung dive trips in exotic locales and encounters with otherworldly underwater flora and fauna, I knew the sport was not without some risk. I’d spent the last few years editing Lessons for Life articles about emergency ascents and one-way trips into caves, and the idea of nitrogen bubbles forming inside my body sounded to me

MOMENT OF TRUTH If you’re a seasoned diver, maybe you can’t remember getting the jitters before that first breath underwater, or maybe you never got them at all. As for me, when I first meet Roger Barakat, my PADI instructor from the Dive Station in Orlando, Florida, I’m harboring the kind of low-level but unshakable anxiety I usually reserve for speaking in public or showing my face at a party. We get to know each other a little bit as we prepare our

gear and do a predive checklist. He explains what we’ll be going over in the pool—hand signals, sharing air, buoyancy control, recovering a lost reg—the basics. We start practicing skills underwater; I’m comfortable but still a little on edge. Doubts begin to seep into my thoughts: When it comes time to dive in open water, will I panic at depth?

What if I don’t even make it that far? As I rush to the surface, coughing up freshly chlorinated water after a failed attempt to flood and clear my mask, I think: How in the world am I going to do this at 30 feet?

Spend any time with Barakat and it’s clear to see he’s passionate about what he does. A former law student, he got hooked about five years ago when a friend invited him

BECCA HURLEY (2)

AS C E ND : G ET T IN G STA RT ED

LEARNER’S PERMIT

like something straight out of David Cronenberg’s nightmares. Adding to my unease, a sense of personal failure wasn’t the only thing riding on whether I could pull this off.

Would I still be able to do my job well if it turned out diving just wasn’t for me?

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The author practices some basic dive skills with instructor Steven Lawrence in the pool at the Dive Station in Orlando, Florida.

to go freediving. He jumped head-first into training and made scuba diving a career as quickly as he could through PADI’s Instructor Development Course. In the pool, he explains to me that an Open Water certification doesn’t make you an expert diver who’s mastered every skill.

Sure, you need to prove you have the required knowledge to dive safely without an instructor, but after this course it’s important to refine and develop your skills. “When I sign off on your certification,” he says sagely, “I’m giving you a license to learn.”

When it finally comes time to dive in open water, we head to Devil’s Den, a “prehistoric” spring mobbed with snorkelers despite the looming Florida summer thunderstorms. We descend the stairway into an immense cave and stand on a platform in waisthigh water.

“Is your BC inflated?” asks Barakat.

“Yeah, but I don’t know where the edge of this platform—” Before I can finish my sentence, he gives me a nudge and I’m in the water, floating easily on my back, rain falling on my face through the karst window in the cave’s ceiling.

We make our way to the guide line and, before I can think too much about it, begin our descent.

I’m struck by how different my first open-water dive looks and feels compared to the pool. It’s colder and darker—

in the underwater scenery as fish flit among eerie rock formations.

Another day and three more open-water dives later, and my license to learn was in hand.

and much deeper. At about 20 feet, we make it to another platform. The plan is to stop here and check off some skills. This is another notion that probably doesn’t occur to most experienced divers, but suddenly the absurdity of my situation dawns on me: The only thing between me and a watery demise is this mask and regulator on my face. I’m feeling vulnerable, and for a split second, some reptilian instinct tells me to ditch everything strapped to my back and bolt to the surface as fast as I can.

But my instructor’s calm demeanor is contagious. I remember I’m breathing just fine, and I rest lightly on the platform to practice flooding my mask and retrieving my reg. The skill that left me choking down pool water earlier in the day proves to be no

problem at all, which gives me all the confidence I need to keep going. Before I know it, we’re done with the skills

“Like any other skill, it doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or someone who’s been diving for 40 years—there’s always room to improve yourself.” portion of the dive.

We do a couple of laps around the spring—me blinding Barakat with my dive light as I subtly yo-yo up and down trying to maintain neutral buoyancy—and ascend.

By now I’ve loosened up a bit more and I’m able to take

SO, WHAT NOW? Continuing your training can mean a lot of things. There are dozens of courses, from Advanced Open Water Diver to specialties such as cave or rescue diving. But becoming a better diver doesn’t have to mean taking a specialty course. Learning those fundamental dive skills in my Open Water course gave me a base to work from.

Now, any dive is an opportunity to practice controlling my breathing or perfecting my buoyancy (good news for my buddy when I’m holding a dive light), and even more, prove to myself that I don’t need to be held back by doubts and intrusive thoughts.

It didn’t occur to me when Barakat said it, but having a license to learn is a powerful thing. Like any other skill, it doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie or someone who’s been diving for 40 years—there’s always room to improve yourself. There are many good reasons people strive to become better divers, whether they want to do more challenging dives, explore new environments or take better photos.

But sometimes self-improvement is its own reward.

Sometimes you simply need to prove to yourself that you can.

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 21

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HEADTO-HEAD TESTING

THE VIEW FROM HERE We tested 21 dual-lens, single-lens and low-volume masks

BY ROGER ROY AND ROBBY MYERS

s

Ease and Security of Adjustments How simple and effective were the buckles and strap adjustments?

Were they easy to adjust? Did they stay in place once adjusted? Did the strap stay where it was placed?

APEKS VX1 PRICE $169 CONTACT apeksdiving.com

There were a lot of things test divers liked about the VX1, but comfort topped the list. “Feels so soft and light on my face,” one tester commented, and others agreed; no mask scored higher for comfort. The frameless design and velvety skirt made an effective seal with little pressure, earning a very good score for dryness. “Totally dry in all positions,” one tester noted. The mask’s small volume narrows the field of view slightly, but also lends itself to easy clearing and equalizing. The mask was rated very good in every category except ease of adjustment, where its secure, easy-to-use quick-releases and smooth stainlesssteel rollers bumped it up to excellent. Some testers found the nose pocket a slightly close fi t. But it was picked as a favorite by more testers than any other mask in its category. The VX1 is our Testers Choice for single-lens masks.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

ROGER ROY has been a diver for more than 35 years and ScubaLab director since 2013.

He first learned to dive while working as a firefighter, training to join the department’s search-and-rescue team.

HOW WE SCORE The bar graphs with each review show the mask’s combined testdiver scores for overall comfort and for field of view.

The scoring is: 1=poor 2=fair 3=good 4=very good 5=excellent

Overall Comfort Was the skirt comfortable and soft on the face?

Did the frame or other components rub on the face?

Was the nose pocket comfortable when pinching your nose to clear?

Field of View Both to the sides and up and down, to what degree did the mask frame or skirt block your view? Relative to other masks, what was your Cont'd on pg. 26 >>

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 25

SINGLE LENS

HOW WE TEST ScubaLab test divers evaluated and scored masks for the following factors:

SCU BAL A B

ATOMIC AQUATICS VENOM FRAMELESS PRICE $169.95 CONTACT atomicaquatics.com

This frameless mask boasts a “Gummi Bear UltraSoft” face seal. Call it silly, but test divers were seriously impressed with its comfort and effectiveness. “Incredibly soft, like butter,” and “Good seal all around with no hard spots,” were among tester comments. Despite the mask’s seemingly large volume, it practically clears itself; testers scored it very well for clearing and equalization. A bit too wide for some testers (especially those with smaller faces), it took very good comfort scores among those it fi t and was ranked among the favorites of several.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

AERO PRICE $58 CONTACT genesisscuba.com

SINGLE LENS

The frameless construction, with the skirt molded directly onto the lens, gives the Aero a low profile that lets it sit very near the face. That close fi t, and a wide, slightly squaredoff lens, helped it earn a very good score for its airy field of view. “Nice bright view,” one tester noted. It was rated good overall for comfort, though a few test divers found their nose rubbed by the pocket. Testers liked the Aero’s simple quick-release buckles and the way their attachment to the skirt allows them to rotate, though some found the strap adjustment stiff and a bit abrupt.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW EXCELLENT

POOR

perception of the mask’s overall field of view?

Dryness How effectively did the mask’s seal and strap system keep out water?

Mask Volume How easy was it to completely clear the mask

after intentionally flooding it? Did the nose pocket size and shape allow you to easily pinch your nose to equalize?

Divers also rated each mask’s resistance to fogging, provided written comments about their experience using each mask and selected their

26 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

favorite masks in each category.

Each mask’s construction details, including frame, strap and buckles, were also evaluat-

ed for ruggedness and design details, and where applicable, disassembled to gauge ease of swapping straps or lenses.

TEST TEAM JOHN CONLEY, MARY FRANCES EMMONS, BECCA HURLEY, MATT LALLATHIN, ERIC MICHAEL, ROBBY MYERS, JOSE NELUNA, ROGER ROY, DAVID WOODS, TOM WUEST AND ANDY ZUNZ TEST DIVES WERE CONDUCTED IN 72-DEGREE WATER WITH AIR TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S AT ALEXANDER SPRINGS RECREATION AREA IN ALTOONA, FLORIDA.

LEFT: ROBBY MYERS

>> Cont'd from pg. 25

IST SPORTS BURANO PRICE $44 CONTACT istdivingsystem.com

The least expensive mask in its category, the Burano performed very well across the board. The frame sat a little low on the nose for some testers, but those with small, narrower faces found the mask very comfortable. “Fits on face really nicely overall, no hotspots or pressure,” one diver commented. Testers of all shapes and sizes liked the mask’s ergonomic pinch buckles and scored them very good for ease of adjustment. The low-volume mask is easy to equalize, but can take a few tries to fully clear. Despite its size, this mask also offers a nice, wide field of view.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW EXCELLENT

POOR

TAT TO O PRICE $89 CONTACT divedui.com

Test divers rated the Tattoo very good for dryness, thanks largely to its soft, supple skirt. The mask scored similarly well for comfort, and test divers rated its field of view very good, though some found the sides noticeably visible.

“Couldn’t be simpler,” was how one diver described the adbut as one diver noted, it “takes some doing to fully clear.” modate smaller faces, and optional UV protective lenses.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

OMS TRIBE PRICE $109 CONTACT divedui.com

The Tribe was the only single-lens mask to take an excellent score for volume. It also garnered test-diver comments such as “clears like a charm.” This large-lens frameless mask is best suited to divers with wider faces, and it scored good for comfort among those it fi t. The mask has a big vertical field of view, though testers felt the horizontal was more narrow. The contoured strap and simple-to-operate buckles earned an excellent score for ease of adjustment. With an overall strong performance, the Tattoo was among the favorites of several test divers.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

EXCELLENT

SCU BAL A B

SEAC I TA L I CA PRICE $62, $69 (with tinted lenses) CONTACT seacsub.com

The Italica’s rigid frame is locked together by six stainless screws, with a protective shield over the bridge of the nose and beefy hinges at the buckle attachments. All that hardware gives it a stout, durable feel, as well as a bit of a RoboCop look. The skirt, including the nose pocket, is soft and generously sized, earning the Italica a very good score overall for comfort, though some divers found the frame hardware rubbed their noses uncomfortably. The strap and adjustments won very good marks, letting divers get exactly the strap placement and tension they wanted.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW EXCELLENT

POOR

SEAC TOUCH PRICE $65 CONTACT seacsub.com

SINGLE SINGLE LENS

The Touch and Seac’s Italica may be siblings, but they don’t share much DNA. Where the Italica has a beefy frame, the Touch has no frame at all, along with lightweight hardware and a very flexible, stretchy skirt. “I like the barely there, lightweight feel,” noted one test diver. It was rated very good for comfort and for field of view, with the frameless design offering little to block that view. While the strap is a bit stiff, the two-button buckles swivel through a wide arc to let you find the right strap position, and the fine graduations on the strap allow for precise adjustment.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

SHERWOOD CETO PRICE $104 CONTACT sherwoodscuba.com

The frameless Ceto was among the smaller of the singlelens masks in our test. That made for very easy clearing without taking much away from the field of view, which testers rated good overall if not quite as generous as some of the larger masks. The Ceto is available with three lens coatings; ours was Tangine, which looks orange from the front, but through the lens has a slight blue-green that’s billed as blocking UV rays. In our clear-water and bright-sun dive conditions testers found the coating cut glare off the white sand while enhancing contrast.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

28 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

EXCELLENT

AKONA VIEUX PRICE $60 CONTACT akona.com

The Vieux is designed for smaller faces, with the sides of the skirt slightly narrower than most masks in our test. It still fit most test divers, who rated it very good overall for comfort. But the narrower construction also seemed to make the sides of the frame more pronounced in the view, (it didn’t help that the frame on our sample of the Vieux, which is available in a range of colors, was a bright pink-purple).

Test divers liked the quick-release on the strap but found the buckle adjustment a bit all-or-nothing, with some back and forth required to get the snugness just right.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

ATOMIC AQUATICS SUBFRAME The Subframe’s internal frame is molded into the skirt, with the stainless-steel nose piece holding the lenses in. The design lends a sleek appearance—“Ferrari good looks,” one test diver put it. The Subframe had performance to match, earning very good scores for comfort and field of view, and an excellent score for dryness. Test divers liked the easy operation of the buckles, which attach to the skirt with flexible tabs. Chosen as a favorite by more test divers than any other mask in its category, the Subframe is our Testers Choice for dual-lens masks.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

RIGHT: COURTESY PADI

FIT TO DIVE Any piece of dive gear that doesn’t fit you properly is not the right gear for you—and that’s especially true of your mask. No matter how epic it is, you can’t enjoy a dive if your mask leaks nonstop, rubs your nose raw or presses painfully on your brow.

The good news/bad news is there's a tremendous number of masks on the market, but the only way to determine the right one is to try them on until you find it.

For new divers, it’s a big help to deal with a dive shop staffed by experienced divers who can work with you to find the right mask.

But whether you’re a new diver or buying your fourth mask, it helps if you go about your search in a methodical way.

First, pull the strap out of the way and press the mask lightly onto your face.

A mask that fits perfectly should attach almost like a suction cup, without having

to press hard or forcefully inhale through your nose to keep it on.

The skirt should make smooth, comfortable contact all the way around the seal.

EXCELLENT

When you close your mouth and inhale, the mask should squeeze down onto your face, with no air leaking in.

When you pull the strap into place and adjust it lightly, the mask and strap should sit comfortably, without hard parts pressing on your nose bridge or brow.

Finally—and most importantly—if a mask doesn’t fit perfectly, put it back on the shelf and keep looking. Your patience will pay off.

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 29

DUAL LENS

PRICE $119.95 CONTACT atomicaquatics.com

SCU BAL A B

BEUCHAT TIGER PRICE $64.78 CONTACT beuchat-diving.com

The Tiger has a small frame, with a somewhat oversize skirt with wide edges. The skirt, along with a strap that has head-fi tting curved cross sections on the back, helped the Tiger earn very good scores for comfort and dryness.

“Baby soft,” commented one test diver. “Nice and supple,” noted another. Test divers also liked the buckles, which mount to tabs on the skirt just behind the frame and have a two-button release that’s easy to operate even with gloves. The relatively small internal volume of the Tiger made for easy clearing and equalizing.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW EXCELLENT

POOR

CRESSI ZEUS PRICE $99.95 CONTACT cressi.com

DUAL LENS

The Fog Stop system of the Zeus has a soft membrane of silicone along the sides of the nose pocket to divert exhaled moisture away from the lenses. That helped it to tie the top score in its category for fog-free operation. The matte-finish Zeus has a spearo feel to it, with a short skirt edge and a very small internal volume. It was rated good overall for comfort and dryness, though some testers found the skirt a bit stiff and leaky, particularly at the brow.

But the close fi t earned the Zeus the only excellent score in its category for ease of clearing and equalizing.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

DIVE RITE ES170 PRICE $59 CONTACT diverite.com

Like the mask itself, the deep, wide lenses of the ES170 are some of the biggest in the category. But despite the mask’s size, its internal volume is surprisingly small, making it easy to equalize and clear, even when flooded. Testers rated it very good for comfort, praising both the strap system (which pivots on silicone tabs on the skirt) and the wideedged skirt itself, which sealed well with a light fi t. It was also rated good for adjustability, with low-profile, easy-tooperate push-button buckles, though some found the adjustment points a bit wide.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

30 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

EXCELLENT

SHERWOOD WAI PRICE $104 CONTACT sherwoodscuba.com

Test-diver responses to elastic mask straps have pretty much tended to be love it or hate it. But this time the “loved it” vote won by a wide margin, mostly because the Wai’s strap is simple and quick to adjust, even one-handed, and it stays put, earning very good scores for adjustability and comfort. “Love this strap—easy and comfy,” wrote one test diver. The Wai took an excellent score for dryness, with the double-edged skirt, stiffened with small ribs on the side, sealing things up on a range of face shapes. The Wai ranked among the favorites of multiple testers.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW EXCELLENT

POOR

TILOS REVO PRICE $65.95 CONTACT tilos.com

Testers had a tough time coming up with complaints for the Revo, giving it very good scores almost across the board. In fact, the only exception was for ease of adjustment—where it was rated excellent. And that was despite having twice the chances to miss the mark, since we tested the Revo with both the standard silicone strap and the optional elastic one. Testers also praised the dry comfort of the silky skirt and wide-open field of view offered by its big windows. Chosen among the favorites of multiple test divers, the Tilos Revo is our Best Buy. COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

TUSA PARAGON PRICE $200 CONTACT tusa.com

Shiny metalwork gives the Paragon a distinct look, though its purpose isn’t fashion; the lightweight metal is the inner reinforcement of a three-layer frame that bolts together.

The sturdy construction gives the Paragon a made-to-last feel that’s echoed by design elements like the fi ve-position tilting buckles, the curved split strap and the ubersoft skirt. The lens tint (which has a purple cast from outside but not when viewed through the lens) cuts glare and harmful rays while boosting contrast underwater. The Paragon was a top contender in its category.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 31

SCU BAL A B

GENESIS BOLD PRICE $69 CONTACT genesisscuba.com

The Bold was the only mask in our test with a single-edge skirt, with just a slight tapering of the skirt itself to do the job of sealing. It also has one of the stiffer skirts here, and that led us to expect some discomfort and maybe leaking once we got it in the water. Those fears proved to be unfounded, because in fact the Bold ended up taking very good scores both for overall comfort and for dryness.

“Very comfortable,” noted one tester. “Perfectly dry,” commented another. Testers also found it easy to clear, and rated it good for its field of view.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

IST SPORTS AT U M PRICE $65 CONTACT istdivingsystem.com

LOW VOLUME

Taking frameless and low-volume to their extremes, the freediving Atum is about as minimal as it gets. “Seems more the size of swim goggles,” one tester noted. But while the Atum has no frame in the traditional sense, there is a stiffened section molded into the skirt between the lenses that allows the mask to bend as the strap is tightened, letting the skirt conform to the face. The result was a fi t that worked well with a variety of face shapes and provided a softer seal than we might have expected. “Could be softer, but surprisingly comfortable,” one test diver noted.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

CUTTING THE FOG never-dived masks on hand for our test, we took the opportunity to try some of the commonly used firstcleaning tricks and compare the results. We cleaned each mask using one of four methods described below and asked test divers (who didn’t know which method was used on a mask) to score each mask’s relative anti-fog performance.

The methods we used were:

32 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

used has an RDA of 34, rated as low abrasion, which some divers say is less likely to scratch lenses.

Low-abrasion toothpaste Toothpastes are different— not just in flavor, but in how gritty they are. They’re rated by what’s known as a “relative dentin abrasivity,” or RDA. The first toothpaste we

High-abrasion toothpaste Our second toothpaste has an RDA of 100—rated as the threshold of high abrasion— and a noticeably grittier feel to it. We applied both toothpastes the same way—using our fingers to rub it into the lens and the surrounding area of the mask skirt, rinsing and repeating until the lens was squeaky clean.

LEFT: COURTESY PADI

If you want to start an argument on a dive boat, just ask about the best way to clean a new mask to keep it from fogging—a subject for which there seem to be as many opinions as there are divers.

Still, no matter what method they advocate, they’re likely to agree that step one is thoroughly removing the layer of new-mask silicone from the lens before you get it in the water.

With dozens of shiny,

EXCELLENT

SEAC M70 PRICE $65 CONTACT seacsub.com

The internal volume’s not the only thing small about the M70; the whole mask has an itty-bitty feel to it, from the dainty buckles and narrow strap to the barely-there skirt.

But it manages to have just enough of everything for the parts to work well together. Test divers found that it sealed well and was surprisingly comfortable and dry on a range of different faces. Testers rated the M70 very good for comfort, field of view and adjustment, and gave it the top score in the test for ease of clearing and equalizing. The M70 was our Testers Choice for low-volume masks.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

EXCELLENT

XS SCUBA STA L K E R PRICE $70 CONTACT xsscuba.com

Spearfishing masks aren’t always known for their comfort, but behind the camo exterior the Stalker turned out to have a silky smooth fi t that won the praise of testers. “Finally, the soft skirt I’ve been waiting for!” commented one. Testers also liked the camo print on our samples in green and blue color schemes, applied with a water transfer printing process that gives it a cool underwater tie-dye feel. “Skirt design=awesome!” enthused one tester. The split strap has a bit more stretch than most spearfishing models, allowing a comfortable fi t without being overly snug.

COMFORT EXCELLENT

POOR

FIELD OF VIEW POOR

IST AF-4 Lens cleaner antifog designed for use on new masks, this is a thick liquid that we scrubbed on and rinsed, repeating until the glass was clean.

Butane lighter We’ll point out two things here: First, always follow manufacturers’ instructions—some mask manufacturers specifically say not to do this—and second, we know many divers who do it and swear by the method.

We used a long wand lighter, holding it a few inches away

from the lens and moving it steadily back and forth until a light fog appeared on the lens and then turned to a dark soot, which we wiped away.

(We didn’t use this method on masks with tints or special lens coatings.)

Results Test divers rated each mask from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) for anti-fog performance in the water. The winner was, well, foggy. The high score was for masks cleaned with high-RDA toothpaste, at 3.6; the lowest score was for

the lighter: 3.0. The low-RDA toothpaste scored 3.2; the lens cleaner scored 3.4. However, there was a greater difference between the scores of dual-lens (3.6) and single-lens masks (2.9), no matter the cleaning method, than there was between the cleaning methods themselves.

Also, the scores for all cleaning methods and mask types tended to improve the more a new mask was dived.

Mixed results make for an even livelier debate on the next dive boat.

EXCELLENT

ASK ROGER

Q: Why include freedive and spearfishing masks in a scuba test?

A: Mostly to see if they had something to offer scuba divers, and our answer was a definite yes. Though clearly not for everyone, they’re super easy to equalize.

And even testers who say they’d never buy such a mask found them surprisingly comfortable.

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FIRST LOOK AT NEW GEAR BY ROBBY MYERS

g

SEA&SEA DX-6G PRICE $699.95 (camera and housing) CONTACT seaandsea.com

This rugged compact camera uses a 16-megapixel sensor and can shoot HD video at 30 frames a second. It’s waterproof to 46 feet on its own and goes to 180 feet with the included housing.

The camera’s underwater mode uses an optimized white balance to capture natural-looking color at depth, and the housing features two fiber-optic sockets for external strobes. The camera comes standard with a macro diffuser ring to help take full advantage of the built-in macro mode, which can capture images within 1 centimeter (0.4 inches).

CRESSI SEA LION PRICE $649.50 CONTACT cressi.com

This automatic dive watch is depth-rated to 984 feet and uses luminous hands and markers for visibility in dark environments. The stainless-steel case is 13.6 millimeters across, and the dial is protected by scratchresistant sapphire glass. The Sea Lion features a one-way rotating elapsed timing bezel and date window.

GENESIS OCULUS PRICE $75

For far-sighted divers, closeup work like checking pressure gauges or a dive computer can be difficult. This dual-lens mask alleviates the problem by combining forward-facing tempered glass with downward-facing +1.75 optical lenses. The comfy, medium-size silicone skirt fi ts a variety of faces, ensuring most divers can use these underwater bifocals.

ROBBY MYERS is the associate gear editor and a ScubaLab testteam diver. He has been diving since 2014.

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COURTESY SEA&SEA; COURTESY CRESSI; JON WHITTLE

CONTACT genesisscuba.com

DIVE CAPITALS OF THE WORLD W

hen you land and half the plane pulls fin-shaped duffels from the overhead bin. Or the seafood shack’s chalkboard boasts the day’s viz and days since the last whale shark spotting. Where locals chat about sea critters by name…

not by species name, but “Victor the Viper Eel.” Or strangers crowd around a proudly shared tablet, aww-ing at a shot of a baby (octopus). Where the local watering hole barkeep responds to a “more beer” hand signal with a round-armed “OK” tap to the top of his head. If all of these things are true, you might be in a dive capital. And after reading about these nine alluring dive-centric destinations, you just might be heading to one soon.

BY SASCHA ZUGER

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MAUI, HAWAII

JENNIFER PENNER; OPPOSITE: DAVID FLEETHAM

Maui nō ka ‘oi translates to “Maui is the best,” and when it comes to Hawaiian diving, the saying fi ts like a second skin—or a wetsuit. Maui not only has a wealth of turtle-heavy shore dives but offers a gateway to diving the nearby islands of Lanai and, on a flat day, Molokai—try Dive Maui’s inflatable. The partially submerged volcanic crater Molokini is a must for firsttimers. Visibility for days, endless opportunities to discover new critters—since more than 25 percent of Hawaii’s 7,000 known species of sea life is endemic—and being serenaded by

humpback whale song during winter dives top the list of perks in this dive capital.

“Molokini boasts 100 to 150-plus feet of visibility, with warm water and a variety of marine life—frogfish, day octopus, harlequin shrimp— and pelagic species,” says Lisa Smith of Maui Dive Shop. “Lanai’s Cathedrals dive sites offer lava tubes, swim-throughs and chandeliers of black coral, with spinner dolphins frolicking en route. We have been seeing more whale sharks in recent years—Hawaiian monk seals are another rare treat, and there is a spot off the Maui coast where we spotted dozens of manta rays on a single dive last winter.”

When to Go: Yearround; January through March is peak humpback season.

Dive Conditions Visibility can be 40 to 50 feet at shore sites, ranging up to 100-plus at Molokini. Water temps vary from 75 to 82 degrees F. Unique Local Treat Try Hawaiian shave ice—like

a snow cone, but the ice is shaved, not crushed—with a “snow cap” of drizzled sweet condensed cream.

Mascot: Humpback whales—easy to spot above water in winter, and maybe below if you’re very lucky.

Lost in Translation: The humuhumunukunukuapua’a, or reef trigger, is Hawaii’s state fish.

A green sea turtle mugs for the camera at Maui’s Makena Landing. Opposite: An aerial composite of kayaks over the reefs off Olowalu, West Maui.

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Easy-access shore diving and a wide variety of life, including Caribbean reef squid, make Bonaire one of a kind.

Bonaire’s national marine park dates to 1979, offers a total of 86 dive sites and is home to over 57 species of soft and stony coral and more than 350 recorded fish species. Besides fabulous visibility and balmy 80-degree weather, this is the land of the shore dive. Some 60-plus sites are marked with names on yellow stones adjacent to their entry points. A fleet of pickup trucks ideal for hauling tanks and gear is available for rent—or comes with your room—and easy reef-wall navigation makes this a comfortable first-guideless experience.

If it’s been a while since you got your fins wet, a few dives with Augusto Montbrun and his Buddy Dive Resort crew will refresh your skills during a boat dive. Klein Bonaire, a tiny, picturesque islet off the main island, offers an additional two dozen sites, great snorkeling and sandy No Name Beach—perfect for a picnic or relaxing surface interval. Abundant tropical reef fish mingle with spongemunching sea turtles; sharp-eyed divers can spot seahorses or frogfish. If you are toting a camera, this is largely a mecca for macro.

When to Go Diving is great yearround; May through October has fewer crowds.

Dive Conditions Viz averages from 100 to 150 feet; water temps are 78 to 84 degrees F. Mascot: Wild flamingos Local Signature Treat Cadushy Distillery’s night-blooming cactus liqueur, tart and tasty Lost in Translation: If someone calls you dushi, say “Danki!”— it’s a Papiamentu form of endearment, not a slam.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: BETH WATSON; NATALIA BARSUKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; KADU PINHEIRO; OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LUREEN FERRETTI; JENNIFER PENNER; KADU PINHEIRO; GABI C. MOREIRA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; ANTONIO BUSIELLO

BONAIRE

Wrecks such as Mr. Bud, shark-filled reefs and local island culture help Roatan stand out.

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ROATAN, BAY ISLANDS OF HONDURAS Twenty years ago, Roatan was a sleepy island whose only tourists made an arduous journey toting fins and BCs to explore the secondlargest reef system in the world. A booming cruise ship biz made the island more accessible, offering world-class diving just minutes from the port—dive for a day and you’ll come back for a week. The Mesoamerican Barrier

Reef’s 200 dive sites offer an escape from the crowd, along with the occasional hammerhead, manta ray, whale shark or sperm whale.

Non-cruise divers can spice up their stay with day trips to nearby Cayos Cochinos or Utila and enjoy the come-as-salty-as-you-like casual nightlife vibe.

“Why Roatan? Crystal-clear waters with

an abundance of marine life set in a tropical paradise with a huge diversity of diving, from deep drop-offs, fantastic wrecks and over 100 miles of a vibrant fringe reef surrounding the island,” says Tati Pereira-Hughes, PADI course director at Anthony’s Key Resort. “The site called Texas is my favorite—the north current meets west at that point, producing awesome current with schools of fish, enormous diversize barrel sponges and very healthy coral.”

When to Go Year-round; October and November can be rainy, with storms affecting viz; July and August are steamy.

Dive Conditions Visibility ranges from 70 to 110 feet; water temps from 78 degrees to 82 degrees F. Dry Day You’ll have West Bay Beach all to yourself for an afternoon swim after the cruise ships leave. Signature Local Treat Monkey LaLa, a decadent mudslide-meets-piña colada, is the island’s signature cocktail. Locals Only Only accessible during the best weather, the Cayos Cochino seamounts rise thousands of feet to just short of the surface.

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CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA “Cairns is often referred to as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef for a reason. Visitors are spoilt for choice between day boats, snorkeling, islands and myriad other watersports, as well as adventure diving, which is what we are all about,” says Bridgette Gower of Mike Ball Dive Expeditions.

Home to more than 1,500 fish species, 400 types of hard coral, one-third of the world’s soft corals, over 130 species of sharks and rays, six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles and 30 species of whale and

marine mammals, including the vulnerable manatee-like dugong—you can’t go wrong diving the world’s most famous reef.

While day boats are popular, a multiday trip on a liveaboard offers access to the outer reef and Coral Sea, with excellent sites like Steve’s Bommie showcasing a staggering array of biodiversity.

Cuttlefish, hammerhead sharks, lacy scorpionfish, ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp and pygmy seahorses are a few unexpected critters to try and spot. North Horn at Osprey Reef is legendary as a shark dive and for walls awash in soft coral.

When to Go Year-round; October through December is peak season; June and July are dwarf minke whale season. Dive Conditions Visibility is 60 to 90 feet; water temps range from 75 to 84 degrees F. Locals Only Moore Reef’s annual coral spawn night dive: Soft corals and stony corals simultaneously spawn one to six days after the full moon in October. Mascot The sea snake; Cairns is home to 14 to 17 species of these fascinating creatures with a 30 million-year heritage. Spot them on the reef, free swimming or sunning themselves at the surface. Prove It Diver-size potato grouper will happily snuggle in and pose for pics at Cod Hole.

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The Goldilocks of dive destinations, Indonesia’s Gili Islands offer an experience for every speed of bubble blower. Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air each lie ensconced in palm-dotted, golden shores that give way to vibrant offshore coral reefs, yet each boasts its own unique energy. “Gili T” is an Insta-worthy backpacker hotspot with a bustling social scene; tiny Gili Meno exudes escape and romance; and Gili Air offers a happy medium.

“What makes Gili T ideal is the combination of easy diving and beachy island life,” says Estela Fernandez Pastor of Villa Almarik Resort and Spa. “Chat about the day’s ghost pipefish or whitetip reef shark spotting at happy hour—none of the islands allows motor vehicles, so no Uber needed—or try your hand at sepak takraw, a cross between volleyball and soccer.”

When to Go Year-round; visibility drops December through March due to plankton.

Dive Conditions Viz ranges from 35 to 120 feet, water temps from 81 to 90 degrees F. Mascot Hawksbill sea turtles are endangered but easy to spot on the sponge-rich reef fronting Villa Almarik.

Prove It Datu Swing, an overocean swing on Gili T, is so photographed it has become a symbol of the island itself.

Unique Cert Fish ID—with over twice the species of the Great Barrier Reef, the Coral Triangle takes this cert to the next level.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: GARY BELL/OCEANWIDEIMAGES.COM; IUNEWIND/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; FISHMONGER/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SANDARINA/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; JASON SINTEK; MADY MACDONALD/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; LUREEN FERRETTI

GILI ISLANDS, INDONESIA

From left: fairy basslets cover a swath of the Great Barrier Reef; Gili Trawangan’s Datu Swing.

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LITTLE CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS Considering that the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary in the Cayman Islands, it’s no surprise that one of Cayman’s most charming communities made our list of dive capitals. Intimate, diver-welcoming resorts greet visitors right from the runway in this Caribbean paradise. Unpretentious and quaint, Little Cayman

is home to 200 residents—and several times that number in iguanas.

It’s ringed by pristine white-sand beaches, embraced on the northwest by the Bloody Bay Marine Park, with occasionally kayakable sand spit Owen Island on the south.

“Although Little Cayman is charmingly small and not very developed, the most

beautiful parts of the island are underwater,” says Madison Lortie, a research diver working with Little Cayman’s Central Caribbean Marine Institute. “The reefs are in a good state compared to much of the Caribbean and the rest of the world—Cumber’s Caves, Mixing Bowl and Eagle Ray Roundup are faves. Night diving is especially memorable—the island has barely any light pollution, so coming up, the stars are spectacular.”

Divers enjoy the quiet beaches, huge barrel sponges and resident stingrays of Little Cayman.

When to Go November to August; the island clears out for much of September and October, which is storm season. Dive Conditions Visibility can reach 100-plus feet; water temps are 78 to 86 degrees. Dry Day Bike the entire 10-square-mile island, starting at Point of Sand dock for sunrise, with a stop to go geocaching.

Wrap up at Little Cayman Beach Resort for karaoke. Signature Local Treat “Heavy cake,” aka a dense cassava and coconut spice cake; try it at island hotspot the Hungry Iguana on holidays and special occasions.

Lost in Translation Bobo (pronounced boh-boh) is another word for a close personal friend.

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KOH TAO, THAILAND A staple on the backpacker trail for Open Water certs, Thailand’s affordability draws new blood in droves.

The hottest Thai destination seems to change on a yearly basis, but one of the most established—and slightly less chaotic partyisle options—is Koh Tao. “Turtle Island” is so

named for its jungle-foliage-covered granite mound shape bordered by deeper water, allowing silt and sediment to sink for improved visibility.

Uninhabited until the 1980s, the island welcomes rather than tolerates scuba divers. Instructors at PADI Five Star IDC Coral Grand Divers, on the beach on the northern part of Sairee Beach, are quick to boast of

their island’s charms.

“Koh Tao is one of the world’s leading dive destinations for good reason; the diving is beautiful and convenient, with sites as close as fi ve minutes away. We get to dive with turtles, whale sharks and a multitude of beautiful fish that make diving on Koh Tao a pleasure for all levels,” says Coral Grand’s Pollakorn Srisung.

Beautiful views, beaches and dive sites make Koh Tao a tropical paradise for travelers.

When to Go March to May is the best time to spot whale sharks; the island monsoon season (November through January) is opposite the rest of Thailand. Dive Conditions Viz can range from 35 to 70 feet; water temps from 80 to 85 degrees F. Unique Cert Whale Shark Awareness; the fish are spotted throughout the year at deeper dive sites like Chumphon Pinnacle, and occasionally in more moderate depths. Dry Day For a traditional Thai massage, try Watergate Spa; its ocean view alone is an antidote to toting tanks. Lost in Translation If a local asks, “Sanuk mai?” (Are you having fun?) respond with a reassuring “Sanuk” or you might be subject to great efforts to help you regain your happy vibe.

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From left: The ocean is at the center of Cozumel’s culture; the Spiegel Grove is a magnet for wreck lovers in Key Largo.

COZUMEL, MEXICO

BRANDON COLE; LUREEN FERRETTI (2); OPPOSITE: ALEX TYRRELL (4)

Long famous for its drift diving, Cozumel’s whipping current, which creates a relaxing, go-with-the-flow experience for divers, also keeps the reef clean and healthy. Sites range from shallow reefs teeming with marine life to sheer vertical walls and finger channels, a fave hang for reef sharks and green morays; deep reefs with swim-throughs and drop-offs entice advanced divers.

“Excellent marine life, vibrant corals and exceptional visibility all combine to make Cozumel one of the top dive destinations in the world,” says Al Bay of Bay Adventures. “It’s a friendly, welcoming and safe place to visit. It’s hard to find another destination that compares.”

Affordability is a big factor in what makes Coz a dive capital—spending half the pesos means double the dive trips! Easy access through Cancun and low fares on high-speed ferries to the island give a great budget alternative to spendy direct flights.

When to Go November to May; the island can be crowded during school holiday periods.

Dive Conditions V isibili t y o f 100-plus feet, with water temperatures at 82 to 90 degrees.

Dry Day Volunteer with the local sea turtle rescue, either relocating nests or helping clear hatchlings’ paths to the water.

Local Treat Traditional Mayan hot chocolate, a rich cayenne and cinnamon-spiked beverage; tastetest and grind your own at Kaokao Factory workshop.

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KEY LARGO, FLORIDA This key just an hour or so south of Miami or Fort Lauderdale airports offers big bang for the diving buck and a convenient no-passport-needed way to dip fins in fish-heavy seas.

Amazing shallow reefs and wrecks filled with tropical fish are matched by marquee wrecks that reach depths from 180 to 320 feet, attracting a fair number of technical divers and metal heads.

Nearly all sites are boat dives, most 3 to 5 miles offshore, with 15 shops servicing divers of all experience levels. The Gulf Stream keeps the reef clean, offering great ops to see black

grouper, eels, queen angels, lobsters, nurse sharks, eagle rays and turtles heading toward their nesting sites in the summer.

“Our reefs are 15 to 50 feet—great for snorkelers, beginner divers, inexperienced divers or just people who want the bottom time. You can do four hours of diving on the reef without much of a surface interval,” says Dan Dawson of Horizon Divers.

“Our reef system is ideal for families and mixed-experience groups. We’ll have rec divers doing their two-tank off the same boat as a tec diver doing one long or deep dive; meanwhile a couple of snorkelers can check out the shallow end of a reef or wreck,” says Dawson.

When to Go Year-round, although the water can be positively toasty in summer. Dive Conditions Viz averages 40 to 60 feet on local inner reefs, 60 to 100 feet on the outer reef ledge. Temps vary from 72 to 87 degrees F. Mascot The barracuda. You can see 100 barracuda offshore as you giant stride into the water. Unique Certs Key Largo is a great place to get rebreather certified—tec is an established niche here. Signature Local Treat Keep your eye out for chocolate-dipped Key lime pie on a stick, available at outlets from gas stations to local restaurants.

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A typically Fijian scene: reefs lined with fans, gorgonians and soft corals.

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FROM WELCOMING PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOU FEEL RIGHT AT HOME TO GLORIOUS UNDERWATER TREASURES THAT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO STAY, NOW YOU’RE ON

BRANDON COLE

FIJI TIME / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 45

S

trains of soft melodies waft over emerald landscapes tinged with mellow evening light, blending with the music of the spheres in skies so star-studded they will take your breath away. Music is everywhere in Fiji, from the sounds of busy washer women humming a tune to a local island choir come to entertain outside your resort’s dining bure to your divemasters themselves, one of whom is almost always ready to pick up a guitar and lead the rest in song as the traditional bowl of kava is passed around and around. From the warm welcome of its loving people that gladdens your heart and bids you stay awhile to its wonderland of soft coral and startlingly beautiful reef denizens—marching right up the food chain to the most apex of predators, including visiting tiger sharks and many resident bulls— this is Fiji, a dive paradise that will soothe your soul like no other.

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GERALD NOWAK (2)

LAND AND SEA The legendary fire walkers of Fiji’s lush southern coast prepare for the ritual at the Pacific Harbour Arts Village, where visitors can get a taste of Fiji’s unique culture, including reenactments of ancient tales. Just as unique to this island group is Taveuni’s Great White Wall (opposite), which offers divers the chance to witness a rare phenomenon not seen by all who dive Fiji’s famed Rainbow Reef. Due to tidal conditions that cause coral blooming, the vibrant colors and snow-white soft corals are only visible a few days a month. Once you drop down to 100 feet, look in any direction and you’ll see almost nothing but white.

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FELIPE BARRIO

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TAKING THE BAIT Beqa Island, off the main island of Viti Levu’s southern coast, has become legendary in the past decade for its high-adrenaline shark dives. From the bull sharks resident in massive 150-square-mile Beqa Lagoon to dives designed to attract tiger sharks to the Cathedral site, in the passage between Beqa and the main island, Fiji’s shark dives—executed by highly trained professionals (don’t try this on your own)—offer a chance to observe much more than sharks. Nearly every kind of fish these waters offer—from 4-inch dascyllus to 18-foot tigers—arrives at the feed, all interacting together in one place and time, producing all the thrills a vacationing diver could ask for; it’s no wonder many divers opt to repeat these dives as many times as they can during their stay.

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With its proximity to Rainbow Reef, Taveuni might be Fiji’s ultimate dive island. All of its resorts are geared toward divers, and there are myriad adventure and sightseeing options as well (don’t miss the silly fun of hopping over the international date line).

With some of the friendliest people in a nation legendary for its hospitality, Taveuni’s varied accommodations also make it easy to experience, whether you’re on a budget or having a luxury fling.

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BECKY KAGAN SCHOTT; OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BRANDON COLE; FELIPE BARRIO (2); CHARO GERTRUDIX; GERALD NOWAK; FELIPE BARRIO

THE PERFECT DIVE ISLE

COLORS OF LIFE Clockwise from top left: Two-spot banded snapper (Lutjanus biguttatus) in a tight school; a common lionďŹ sh (Pterois volitans) at Wakaya Wall; the eye of a bicolor parrotďŹ sh (Cetoscarus bicolor), Namena Marine Reserve; a soft coral porcelain crab (Lissoporcellana nakasonei) at Coral Garden off Taveuni; a blue ribbon eel; an elegant phyllidia nudibranch (Phyllidia elegans), Wakaya Wall.

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CHARO GERTRUDIX

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THE GANG’S ALL HERE Fiji is home to several types of barracuda—a local delicacy— including smaller species in shallow waters and bigger fish up to 6 feet long in deeper water. Schools like these pickhandle barracuda (Sphyraena jello) at Grand Central Station in the Namena Marine Reserve, south of Vanua Levu, are abundant December through March. There’s even a dive site named for them: Barracuda Hole, in the Somosomo Strait, which separates Taveuni and Vanua Levu islands.

NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO GO Fiji is a year-round destination. Warm season is November to April; cooler temps last from May to October.

DIVE CONDITIONS Water temperatures range from 71 to 84 degrees F, with cooler temperatures occurring in July; a 3 mm or 5 mm suit is good. Visibility averages 75 feet and greater; rain and wind can shorten that. Air temps stay in the low 80s most of the year and dip to about 75 degrees F from May to October.

TRAVEL TIPS Fiji Airways offers direct flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu. Take baggage rules seriously: They are enforced. International flights come into Nadi, code NAN, on the main island of Viti Levu. English, Fijian and Hindi are spoken; currency is the Fijian dollar. Bring extra cash for tips; ATMs can be difficult to find. Get more Fiji tips from Tourism Fiji (fiji.travel).

OPERATORS Beqa Lagoon Resort (beqalagoonresort.com); Garden Island Resort (gardenislandresort .com); Paradise Taveuni (para diseinfiji.com); Taveuni Dive Resort (taveunidiveresort.com); Voli Voli Beach Resort (volivoli.com)

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odyssey in oz TEXT, PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRANDON AND MELISSA COLE

TWO INT RE P I D DIV ER S — ONE A PHOTOGRAPHER AND MARINE BIOLOGIST, THE OTHER AN ARTIST — GO A-QUESTING FOR SPIDERS, DRAGONS AND RIP-ROARING ADVENTURE OV E R 26 DAYS A N D S OME VERY C O LD N I GHTS , CR I SSCROSSI N G 5,0 00 MIL ES OF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA ALONG THE WAY. OH, AND THEY WENT DI VIN G, LI KE , 3 7 T IM ES .

w odysse y i n oz

WE ARE NOT THE FIRST TO SEARCH FOR MONSTERS. Once upon a time, questing for dragons was standard hero fare, a path trod by Perseus and St. George and their ilk. Following in their footsteps, how can we not take heart as we prepare to write our own undying saga of diving headlong into an invasion of giant spider crabs? Yet this bold endeavor is but a millionlegged, courage-proving prelude.

But we forget ourselves. In true bardic tradition, let us relate the story that gave birth to our undertaking at the bottom of the world in southern Australia, in the teeth of winter.

“Our anniversary is coming up,” said she.

“Exactly,” said he.

“Girls want to see blue devils and deadly krakens.

Girls want to fly with dragons.”

He answered: “There is but one place where such fantasies become real: the Land of Oz. Expect great hardship, drysuits, shore entries and endless driving. Envision the mother of all road trips, with sensational diving, unimaginable marine life and fickle weather, with toil and trouble lurking around each corner. Like our college days, but in middle age.”

“Bring it on,” said she.

DAY 1

June 6

And oh. My. God. Words cannot capture the majesty of the giant spider crab army entrenched under Blairgowrie Pier. On our very first dive, my anniversary present is delivered in spectacular—some might say creepy—fashion. A seething, chittering mass of thousands upon thousands of crabs is stacked 10 to 15 bodies high on the sand, clambering over one another and oblivious to our presence.

Each winter, unfathomable numbers of these basketball-size crustaceans march up from the deep to congregate in the shallows of Port Phillip Bay to upgrade their armor, molting en masse. Blairgowrie and nearby Rye Jetty are two easy, shallow shore entries where the spectacle often unfolds around the full moons in May and June. We don’t see molting on Day 1, but with a bit of lunar luck we’ll witness the main event in the weeks ahead. For now, we have more than enough to enchant us during multiple twohour dives to 16 feet in 54-degree water. In addition to the spideys, the pier structure shelters abundant fascinating fish and invertebrates, many of which we’ve never seen before: bigbelly seahorses, shorttailed nudibranchs, cowfish, globefish and banjo rays.

High point: Crabageddon! Low point: Melissa’s drysuit is leaking.

DAY 3

June 8 World Oceans Day

We’re the proud new owners of a deluxe garden cart, purchased from a big-box hardware store only a few klicks—kilometers, for the metrically challenged— from the Melbourne airport. Henceforth, this essential piece of kit shall be known as our battle wagon, and I relish the thought of repeatedly overburdening it with mountains of spine-deforming equipment.

Google helps us navigate the rental van—never again will it be this clean—southward for 90 minutes to the Mornington Peninsula and the town of Rye. The Scuba Doctor dive shop has just what the doctor ordered: six steel tanks and 80 pounds of lead.

The damage for our four-week rental is a cool 1,000 bucks. Ouch. The beasties better be worth it.

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With strong northerly winds mucking it up at Blair, we decide to hit the road. I’ll miss the crabs, but not our more-than-a-bit-odd Airbnb host—not Jack Nicholson-in-The Shining odd, but definitely a strange kettle of fish. We pile everything into the van and drive 45 minutes to the southern side of the peninsula to find flat seas at Flinders Pier, haunt of the common (aka weedy) seadragon.

Phyllopteryx taeniolatus is anything but commonplace. The official marine emblem of the state of Victoria is an unbelievable creature worth traveling from the other side of the planet to see. Start with a seahorse; stretch it out to 15 inches long, then paint with

Clockwise from top: Plenty of ground was covered during the 26-day journey; a bigbelly seahorse wrapped around a kelp stock; Melissa Cole packs into the van with loads of dive gear; hundreds of giant spider crabs amass at Blairgowrie Pier; Melissa’s sketch of “Crabageddon” at Blairgowrie Pier.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

DAY 5

Whyalla

DAY 11

Port Lincoln

DAY 10 DAY 17

Adelaide DAY 12 DAY 18

VICTORIA

Mount Gambier

DAY 15

DAY 22

Melbourne

DAY 4 DAY 24

DAY 3 DAY 1

50 mi

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sienna and canary yellow, accenting with rakish purple bands and a constellation of white-and-yellow polka dots. Finish by attaching teardrop-shaped fin fronds to its head and body, sprouting at jaunty angles to give this fish an air of elegant weirdness. Utterly spellbound, we fly alongside a handful of dragons as they glide over the seaweed, pausing every so often to slurp up tiny mysid shrimps with their trumpetlike snouts. Ferocious to its prey, certainly, but to us a magnificent monster we’ll always hold close.

Instead of mysids, we dine on fresh, locally harvested mussels with spicy sweet laksa sauce served piping hot from a food truck in a parking lot. Scrumptious. Warm again, my wife, Melissa, and I swap tanks, waddle back down the hill, out onto the jetty, down the steps, and hop back into the drink, where we observe more dragons bounding over the seascape like aquatic dreamtime kangaroos come to life.

Poring over photos in a new and improved Airbnb, we realize we encountered somewhere between eight and 12 different seadragons today. We email images to Kade Mills, a marine biologist with the Victorian National Parks Association. He runs the Dragon Quest program, which utilizes the same app used to ID whale sharks to map the spots on a seadragon’s flanks, then compares the unique fingerprintlike pattern to images in a database. Thanks to citizen science, Mills has identified more than 150 individual dragons at Flinders so far. A better understanding of local seadragon populations is vital to implementing appropriate, effective conservation measures to ensure the survival of this marine icon, an endemic species living only in southern Australian waters.

Divers are handsomely incentivized to contribute to Dragon Quest: New weedy seadragons are named after whoever discovers them. How cool is that? I fall asleep dreaming of my future fame.

DAY 4

June 9 The day dawns with heavy, steel-gray skies and fresh winds lashing the Mornington Peninsula. Melissa is less than enthused about our scheduled offshore outing with RedBoats.

With groaning battle wagon in tow, we lean into the blow, squint against sheeting rain, and trundle our way a few hundred yards to meet a cadre of 58 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

A weedy seadragon swims over sea grass.

This relative of the seahorse (sketched by Melissa Cole, above) can grow up to 18 inches in length and is found only in Australia.

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local tec divers at Portsea Pier. We’re the only ones not sporting rebreathers or sidemount rigs. No matter. Warm Aussie smiles shine through the gloom, and they heartily reassure us this little squall is nothing: “Not at all uncommon during winter. The dive will be brilliant.”

Indeed it is. Though seas are snotty and the current spirited, the wreck of the Coogee is lovely. This 225-foot-long steamship was built in 1887 and given back to the sea in 1928, scuttled outside Port Phillip Bay in 115 feet of water, in an area crowded with dozens of shipwrecks known as Victoria’s Ships’ Graveyard. Nitrox 34 allows us to thoroughly explore the broken and battered vessel’s stern section, where Coogee’s imposing steering quadrant towers above ribbing and rudder, completely overgrown with golden zoanthids. Visibility is 30 feet, our max depth is 106 feet, and our bottom time is 35 minutes.

High point: Not hurling on the boat, and not missing the down line to the wreck. Low point: Now both drysuits are leaking. We don Depend absorbent pads inside our suits.

DAY 5

June 10

Clockwise from top left: A koala bear at Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne; a sketch of cuttlefish; the stern of the HMAS Coogee; giant Australian cuttlefish, which can grow up to 3 feet in length, aggregate off South Australia to mate; tent camping along the rocky shore near Whyalla for the cuttlefish aggregation.

Melissa penning this one: Finally made it to Whyalla.

Stony Point, actually, about 20 minutes out of town.

We’re right at water’s edge. Completely exhausted, especially Brandon. Sixteen hours behind the wheel, and all on the wrong side of the road—except a few minutes now and then by mistake!—785 miles, including a few unintentional detours. And now we’re supposed to sleep in this van. I’m too old for this. (Almost.) Cuttlefish magic tomorrow, the most cuddly of my must-see monsters. I can’t sleep, so may as well write. If only this miserable seat reclined more, but we have too much junk in back. Are there scorpions in the outback?

Where to begin—the 50-foot-tall concrete roadside koala, or the yummy lamington sponge cake, a chocolate-and-coconut-covered confection from the gas station? Kangaroos and wallabies jumping across the road after dark? Or the expansive scenery, rolling green hills one hour and desert scrub the next?

Working on seadragon sketches with my watercolor kit while Brandon waxed about what we’ll name our baby weedies? The most memorable thing today may actually be the hourlong chat on the side of the highway with a complete stranger. By the end of our rambling, our new friend Stefan was offering up his

house in Adelaide if we needed a place to stay, or even just for a meal or shower. Tempting, that… We had stopped at a fruit quarantine bin at the border into South Australia to pig out on $20 of fruits and veggies we had just bought, rather than throw it all away or risk a ticket for smuggling foodstuffs. We talked with Stefan about white pointer sharks, the fact that his wife can trace her lineage back to Mehmed the Conqueror, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and—here’s a handy outback tidbit—how to stay alive in freezing temperatures by putting steam-heated rocks in your clothes. Quite funny when he asked, “Why would you Yanks go to Whyalla?” His laughter boomed when we answered, “Calamari.”

DAYS 6-8

June 11-13 Whyalla is nirvana for underwater natural history photographers, sheer tentacled bliss for a cephalopod geek. The last three days at Stony Point have been even better than my visit 11 years ago—more animals, better conditions, and Melissa is with me to share in the cuttle magic. We’ve seen giant Australian cuttlefish courting, mating, inking, females depositing eggs, males fighting, and more. The electric light show of pulsating, rainbow colors when the big males—the largest are nearly 3 feet long—try to intimidate each other and impress the ladies is totally unreal, better than Hollywood CGI. So much behavior unfolding inches in front of us makes for unparalleled photo and video opportunities. Even the snorkelers floating above can see all the action, since everything is happening in only 3 to 12 feet. “I live for cuttlefish,” one local diver tells us. “When the season is over, I start counting the 45 weeks until they are back again.”

Only in wintertime, and only here. Scientists aren’t certain precisely where the tens of thousands of cuttlefish come from, or why they congregate only along this shallow, stony shoreline in the far northern reaches of Spencer Gulf. Breeding obviously has something to do with it. Stony Point and environs is critical spawning habitat, the only known cuttlefish mass aggregation site in the world. Its proximity to industry—there are oil and gas plants and mining operations in the gulf—makes it vulnerable to shipping traffic, potential toxic spills and other pollution, and then, of course, there is climate change and commercial fishing. It’s sobering to learn that just 20 years ago, overfishing decimated numbers from roughly 180,000 cuttlefish to only a few thousand. / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 61

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Since then, a ban on harvesting has helped the population rebound. Scientists with the South Australian Research and Development Institute estimated 2018’s population at nearly 150,000. Tentacles crossed that these charismatic animals remain protected and allowed to procreate in peace.

I love camping out next to the water, waking up to apricot sunrises and flat seas—we’ve been first in and last out, 14-plus hours underwater in three days.

So enrapt was I in capturing the life and times of Sepia apama I hardly noticed my leaky suit. Meli’s is worse. We need to buy more diapers when we go into town for air fills. The battle wagon continues to prove its mettle, a godsend in schlepping the gear up and down the ramp. I really want another day here, but the wind is forecast to clock around and blow southerly. Should be better over at Edithburgh.

DAY 10

June 15 The jetties in southern Australia are extraordinary. Not only do they have stairs descending to the water, saving divers the hassle of slogging through surf, they are magnets for marine life. Edithburgh Jetty on the Yorke Peninsula is one of the marquee, mustdive jetty/pier sites. Our critter list positively overfloweth after just one dive in the jungle of pilings and crossbeams festooned with DayGlo sponges and tunicates. Superstars include an ugly-cute bearded yellow frogfish with a psycho stare, cute-cute clingfish peeking out of razor clam shells, and an intricately patterned leatherjacket hiding in plain sight against an invertebrate mosaic on a pylon. We also can’t forget the grumpy sponge crab rocking an orange beret and, to the eternal delight of my better half, not one but two blue-ringed octopuses (Hapalochlaena maculosa) cradling clutches of pearly eggs.

Your deadly beauties, mon chéri. Happy anniversary!

We splurge with a powered campsite at the nearby Edithburgh Caravan Park and reminisce in the communal camp kitchen over a dinner of ramen and curry meat pies. It doesn’t get any better than this.

“Not true!” Melissa shouts later, taking the pen: “Brandon told me night dives here are remarkable, but wow! Finger-size shorthead seahorses on corkweed, their shiny tummies reflecting my light’s beam. Blue swimmer crabs brandishing wicked claws—a big, scary, mean-tempered one attacked 62 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

Clockwise from above: A sketch of Edithburgh Jetty; old wives and rough bullseye sweepers school among the pilings of Rapid Bay Jetty; a view of Fleurieu Peninsula’s rolling hills; two southern bobtail squid mate on the sandy bottom; a whitespotted anglerfish camouflages with its surroundings.

Brandon’s camera! Sleeping baby filefish bumbling around. Six different species of squid and octos, including my first-ever striped pyjama dumpling squid, like a marshmallow in a prison suit! The corpulent little darling melted my heart.”

DAY 11

June 16 Woke up to a rainstorm and leaking tent at 4 a.m.

But even the deluge cannot dampen our spirits after last night’s amazing dives. Filled cylinders at Edithburgh Motors gas station—the only air fill station for 200 miles. Soggy today, then sun, then rain again.

I charge cameras via the cigarette lighter. Lots of driving, about eight hours, back west again. We arrive at Port Lincoln at 8:30 p.m. and sleep in the van in the marina parking lot next to a port-a-potty.

High point: Thinking about those terrific night dives. Low point: Smelling the saltwater-soaked drysuit underwear warming up on the van’s dash.

DAY 12

June 17 Meli here. This chapter of MonsterQuest finds us in Port Lincoln, on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula, gateway to the Neptune Islands, domain of great whites. We join Adventure Bay Charters and depart before sunrise. Two and a half hours later, we slip into the cage, breathe from hookah regs and stare into blue-green space. Other passengers, still in their street clothes with beverages in hand, choose a view from the boat’s “surface submarine.” Even though Jaws is standoffish today—the few passes are at the edge of visibility—just being a same-ocean buddy with a white pointer is exhilarating. The weather forecast is sketchy for the next few days, so we cram ourselves back into the van and resume our nomadic dive life, letting the currents carry us where they will.

DAY 14

June 19 Just as life on the road is beginning to wear, we receive a social media news flash that immediately / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 63

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re-energizes: Spider crabs are molting at Blair! (Yes, the spideys have their own Facebook page.)

No more whinging about driving hither and yon, trying to outsmart wind and weather, or sore eyes from long hours on kangaroo-avoidance duty, or flagging spirits due to never knowing when the next real bed and hot shower are to be had. Banished even is the odoriferous, unshakable specter of sodden drysuit underwear never far from our persons. Our resolve has been steeled. We have new purpose. We just have to backtrack 720 miles.

DAY 15

June 20 Done. Ace underwater photographer and dive guide Sam Glenn-Smith meets us at Blairgowrie Pier. He reassures us, “You’re not too late. Heaps are gone, but it’s still going off. And Crystal is here!”

It’s a war zone underwater. Molts are strewn everywhere, the discarded, empty husks of the crabs we met two weeks ago. Thankfully, there are still a few thousand live bodies as well, but the remaining Leptomithrax gaimardii are besieged on all fronts by huge, hungry stingrays. There must be 20. Some are easily 6 feet wide, gray-black with thick, rubbery wings, like giant, sinister portobello mushrooms delivering death from above. If they weren’t hellbent on devouring the newly molted crabs, temporarily vulnerable until their shells harden, I could almost root for the rays. I do cheer when Crystal swoops onto the scene—it’s not every day you see an albino stingray.

Clever crabs climb up pylons to hide under the jetty itself. Those out on open sand are likely doomed.

But not this one! My eyes bulge when Sam directs us to the ultimate prize, a crab in the process of molting. The three of us form a protective cordon, vowing to fend off all predators. Stunned to be witness to this trial of life, we wait with bated breath for the next 20 minutes. Finally, freakishly, a new crab is born before us. Large and wobbly legged, it emerges backward from its old self. It’s truly an out-of-body experience, for both crustacean and the three privileged divers in attendance.

DAY 17

June 22 Heady with achievement, we’re on the move again,

back to the west once more. In the spirit of adventure, we plot a longer, even more scenic route from Melbourne to Adelaide, eschewing the faster, straighter A8 interstate in favor of a spiderweb of twisting motorways, to immerse ourselves in Australia’s outback. The views along the Great Ocean Road are drop-dead gorgeous, especially in the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park, where sandstone sea stacks thrusting from the surf are the picturesque backdrop for many an Instagram selfie. We crisscross idyllic countryside where cows and sheep hold sway. Our GPS freaks out and sends us on a series of random reroutings—the area is a Bermuda Triangle for Google Maps. Frustrating, funny and fortuitous in the end, for on one of these byways we see a real live wild koala gamboling across the road.

DAY 18

June 23 Meli here. Another day, another dive site—Second Valley, on the Fleurieu Peninsula—and a new and important mission. Late arrival last evening meant another sleepover in Chateau Minivan; I shivered for hours. It was zero degrees Celsius on the Down Under scale—that’s 32 degrees back home. A lovely, fiery sunrise, but still freezing.

While we’re gearing up, an Aussie bloke casually strolls into the parking lot and down to the water.

He’s wearing a cowboy hat, shorts and gumboots. He shucks it all off and jumps into the ocean. At 7:30 a.m.

With no thermal protection. I stare in amazement.

After he emerges, I commend him on his fortitude.

He downplays, answering, “I surf around here so I’m used to the cold water. It gets the day started right.”

And here I am, all rigged up in drysuit and fancy Thinsulate 400-gram woolly bears (almost dry), whinging about the freshness of the morning.

Chelsea Haebich knows the state of South Australia beneath the waterline like few others. Professional guide, instructor and photographer, she has come down from Adelaide for the day to help us hunt dragons. She knows where they live, how to spot them and how best to interact with them.

I’m feeling woozy, staring at kelp swaying back and forth, when Chelsea coolly points to one of the

A sketch of Twelve Apostles Marine National Park from a topside view. Opposite: Giant spider crabs cling to a pylon covered in sponges under Blairgowrie Pier.

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tangles. What? Where? And then, voilà! Although I’ve been anticipating this watershed moment for 20plus years, it still hits me like a ton of bricks when I realize there are googly eyes attached to that piece of algae. My holy grail—a leafy seadragon!—is levitating before me. So cunning is its camouflage, so impossible its design, man must submerge in the magical Oz to fully appreciate the magnificence of this fantastical fish. I can now die happy.

Eagle-eyed Chelsea conjures three more Phycodurus eques out near the point, and a tasseled anglerfish to boot. Like the dragons of my dreams, this cryptic critter—a dour-faced, fist-size frogfish that causes B.’s heart to flutter—is endemic to Australia, living nowhere else on Planet Ocean.

Only in Oz. Hours later, after cleaning up to temporarily join the human race at Forktree Brewing Co., we meet Chelsea to feast on gourmet burgers, swap scuba stories, and share life histories. It’s only fitting that our toast to future adventures is made with a tasty sauvignon blanc from a local vineyard whose label just happens to feature—you guessed it—the inimitable leafy seadragon.

NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO GO One can dive southern Australia year-round. Those hoping to see both giant cuttlefish and spider crab aggregations will want to aim for the winter months of May and June; May through August is the window for the cuttlefish spectacle. Seadragons and the majority of critters mentioned in this article can be seen yearround. Dragon daddies carry eggs in summer, which generally delivers better weather; January average air temperature is 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter can be cool (average July air temperature is 50 to 55), rainy and blustery.

TRAVEL TIPS Shallow coastal dive sites are very weather-dependent. Winds can wreak havoc with a predetermined, fixed dive

DAY 21

June 26 Slaves to wind and weather, we’ve been bouncing around Adelaide. Victor Harbor Bluffs is usually good when stiff northerlies prevail. There’s a healthy surface swim—300 yards?—but who cares. Melissa is on fire, finding (all by herself) four leafies along the granite boulders sloping down to 25 feet. The first is a reddish juvenile she spots in just four minutes.

The last dragon, at the 90-minute mark, is a brightyellow adult, super tolerant and a true rock star for the camera. A sea lion makes a brief appearance, but moves too fast for my reflexes.

When the winds are southerly or easterly, Rapid Bay Jetty is the place to be. A long walk (thanks, battle wagon) and a looonnnng swim are required to reach the old jetty’s T-junction, under which fish are packed thick in a shadowy forest of towering pylons.

Hundreds of brassy sweepers and strikingly marked old wives—Aussies have a rare gift for naming fish— school in this sublime space, suspended in midwater.

itinerary. Be flexible; go with the flow. Rent a vehicle and tanks and move around as the weather dictates, booking Airbnb accommodations as needed. Get a local SIM card with data plan for your phone at the airport upon arrival so you can book accommodations, check weather forecasts, scroll through social media feeds to monitor dive-site reports and connect with the local dive community.

wreck, wall and pinnacle dives via boat are possible inside and outside Port Phillip Bay. Visibility at shore sites varies widely, from 15 feet to over 50 feet, depending on wind direction and strength. Offshore visibility often exceeds this.

Viz is usually more consistent in winter, except during storms. Current is rarely an issue at inshore sites near jetties but can be strong offshore.

DIVE CONDITIONS Sea temperatures range from about 52 degrees Fahrenheit in winter to about 70 in summer. Bring a 5 mm to 7 mm full wetsuit, semi-dry or a drysuit depending on seasonality and your thermal tolerance. Many of the jetty dives require long walks and/ or swims, so good personal fitness is important. Depths are generally very shallow at the jetties. Deeper

SUGGESTED TRAINING Underwater Naturalist (padi.com) OPERATORS The Scuba Doctor, Rye: full-service shop and air fills (scubadoctor.com.au); RedBoats, Portsea: dive charters (redboats .com.au); Diving Adelaide: full-service shop and air fills (diving adelaide.com.au); Adelaide Scuba: full-service shop and air fills

(adelaidescuba.com.au); Edithburgh Motors: air fills only (+61 8 8852 6067); Whyalla Diving Services: full-service shop and air fills (whyalladivingservices.com.au); Adventure Bay Charters: shark diving and sea lion charters (adventurebaycharters.com.au) DIVE GUIDES Sam Glenn-Smith (facebook.com/SammyGlenn Dives); Chelsea Haebich (facebook.com/chelsea.haebich) RESOURCES Marine life ID help: portphillipmarinelife .net.au; Spider Crabs Melbourne Facebook page: facebook.com/ groups/SpiderCrabs; Weedy Seadragons Melbourne Facebook page: facebook.com/groups/ WeedySeadragonsMelbourne; Dragon Quest program: vnpa.org .au/programs/dragon-quest

So at peace am I that I never even get around to looking for the dragons that lair hereabouts.

DAY 24

June 29 DAY 22

June 27 Our dives at Ewens Ponds Conservation Park outside Mount Gambier are aqua therapy. Three shallow, spring-fed pools wow us with 150-foot visibility and eye-popping aquatic vegetation. Fifty-nine degree fresh water leaking into our suits feels warmish and rejuvenating after three weeks of torture. These limestone sinkholes, only 20 to 40 feet deep, are connected by reed-lined channels through which a gentle current flows, allowing us to coast downstream from pond to pond. Though by no means fishy, there are perch and galaxiid minnows shimmering about, and in the third pool we see the critically endangered Glenelg spiny freshwater crayfish.

Scientists call them Euastacus bispinosus. The rest of us manage “pricklybacks.” One reclusive lobstersize lunker is wedged under a ledge, while a shrimpy 4-incher zigzags from algal tuft to tuft. Who would have thought our Oz dive odyssey would include freshwater fun in the middle of farm country?

We’ve come full circle, back to where we started.

Weather’s crappy on the Mornington Peninsula, but at this point we’re oblivious to it, basking in the eternal sunshine of our memories of the last few weeks.

Our ebullient mood continues as we drop down Lonsdale Wall from 35 to 90 feet. RedBoats has timed the slack expertly and positioned us on a stellar section of vertical glowing brightly with billions of citrus-hued zoanthid anemones. It’s a perfect backdrop for my portraits of weird and wonderful fish: magpie perch, horseshoe leatherjackets, senator wrasse and longsnout boarfish.

Our favorites are the blue devils, sexy damsel-like fish speckled with electric blue.

While gearing up for the last dive—a final farewell to the crabs at Blairgowrie seems fitting—my phone chimes with an email that forever changes our lives. Kade Mills, after careful consultation with his database, confirms that six of the weedy seadragons we photographed at Flinders are new to the Dragon Quest program and will be named in our honor. We have become legend.

Clockwise from top left: A diver ventures into a spring-fed site in South Australia’s Ewens Ponds Conservation Park; a scenic view of Twelve Apostles Marine National Park near Port Campbell; leafy seadragons blend in among Australia’s aquatic plant life with frilled appendages.

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PATRICK WIDMANN embraces suffer-fest cave expeditions in the name of exploration— and keeps coming back for more

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COURTESY PHILLIP LEHMAN/MADAGASCAR CAVE DIVING ASSOCIATION

BY BROOKE MORTON

A fascination with Google Earth led Patrick Widmann and Phillip Lehman to explore the caves of Madagascar.

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“ ”

WHERE WE EXPLORE, THERE ARE NO ROADS. NO WATER. NO ELECTRICITY.

Editor's Note: This article relates to leading-edge exploratory cave diving requiring training, experience and special techniques. See your PADI Dive Center to start learning if you want to do this.

I

n cave exploration, there are no podium ceremonies. There’s no spraying of champagne bottles, no trophies, no chugging of milk. Just the pure satisfaction of knowing you were the first to have navigated a lone corridor through the middle of Earth.

It’s a drive—a compulsion—most divers will never know. But it’s what guides every minute of Patrick Widmann’s life. In cave diving circles, the 37-year-old Austrian is on track to become legend. He is known for being part of teams that have set a handful of records—including discovering and mapping Nascimento del Rio Sonador, the deepest cave in the Dominican Republic at 328 feet, and more recently, Anjanamba Cave, the longest flooded cave in Africa—teaching cave diving in Mexico and co-designing the xDeep Stealth 2.0 sidemount system, one of the best-selling sidemount systems in the industry.

When it’s go time for expeditions, Widmann and his cave diving partner, Phillip Lehman, trek to the most remote corners of the globe. In the past few years, Widmann and Lehman have focused on Tsimanampetsotsa National Park in the southwestern stretch of the African island of Madagascar.

“From my bed in Mexico to my bed in Madagascar takes five days,” says Widmann. After a series of flights, travel continues by SUV. “Where we explore, there are no roads. No water. No electricity.”

The camp is 42 miles from the nearest town, and demands a drive between seven and 11 hours thanks to a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour.

“Our drivers often get lost and don’t know where to go anymore,” he says.

“What makes it so tense is being shaken violently for hours—every 30 seconds you’re catapulted to the roof of the car,” tossed about on the rocky terrain.

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COURTESY PHILLIP LEHMAN/MADAGASCAR CAVE DIVING ASSOCIATION

Hometown Fusch, Austria Age 37 Year scuba certified 1998 How he got into scuba Widmann launched a professional diving career following a rock climbing incident. Left with a broken back—and an inability to satisfy the country’s required military service following high school graduation—he traveled to Egypt to get trained as a scuba instructor.

Moment that changed his life A client gave him the book Beyond the Deep by William Stone, which is about really gnarly cave exploration in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. His fixation on caves—a sport that can merge rock climbing with scuba diving—has been guiding him ever since.

Years as a cave diving instructor 12 Number of cave diving projects 65 Expedition destinations Dominican Republic, Haiti, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Belize Number of checked bags on last Madagascar trip 17

The arid climate is hot by day and freezing by night. Widmann’s mattress is old and thin. There is no comfort. Limited refrigeration. Just a lot of raw fish, thanks to the ocean nearby.

“I really hate fish—man, you have no idea,” says Widmann.

Despite these hardships, the mere thought of finding an unexplored passageway keeps the excitement alive, even after days or weeks of failure.

One morning, after exploring for days without luck finding passageways, Widmann receives signal just long enough to read a scathing Facebook review from an unsatisfied student, one whose skills Widmann didn’t think were up to the safety standards required for cave diving. Widmann is disheartened, but tucks the thought away. He and his team are reaching the end of the expedition, and haven’t had success finding new routes.

But they’re there to dive. They suit up.

Inside the cave, Lehman lays line. Widmann is behind him, surveying; together, they map every cave they dive.

“We are now in a really massive, collapsed room with car-size boulders. In between the boulders is just enough space for us to squeeze through. We do, but again we reach a dead end.

“We go back and find another hole— and another dead end. Every time, we keep coming back to the main line more and more demoralized.”

Their goal for the day was to continue moving south in the cave, but they run out of options. Lehman decides to turn back.

Widmann is just about to follow...

“Then I spot a super narrow hole. It’s a tunnel that for sure had collapsed. It looks like a crescent moon with the pointy ends aiming down…and it heads perfectly north—the direction we came from. Any other day, I would never have swam down that tunnel.” But on this day, Widmann isn’t ready to face the real world again.

In he goes. Within seconds, the scenery changes completely.

“I’m inside the most picturesque room with incredible decoration. The floor is ultra brown, and the walls are gleaming white. The water is steel blue.

“It’s as if you just walked into a Walmart.

It’s completely empty and the lights are out. The room is so massive that there is no logical reason that the roof wouldn’t 72 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

come down. In that moment, so much emotion rushes through your body. I have been doing extreme sports since I was 10, but nothing comes remotely close to thinking you will walk home with your tail between your legs—and then suddenly in front of your eyes is the most badass room the world has ever known.”

It’s too much to contain.

Says Widmann, “I’m screaming into my mouthpiece, and I am giving the horns sign to myself.”

Widmann pauses to take it all in, but his next movement is to exit the room. This is a moment he wants to share with his cave diving partner.

“I realize I can’t do this alone.”

Lehman enters, takes it all in, then takes Widmann’s head in his hand and shakes him in excitement.

It’s a triumph for the pair—to be the first humans ever in this pocket of the planet.

Together, they keep meeting success

“

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, YOU PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE WATER AND GET SPIT OUT IN ONE OF THE MOST GLORIOUS PLACES ON PLANET EARTH.

”

after success. Their relationship began back in 2009, when Lehman came to Mexico to learn proper cave diving technique from the pro.

“Patrick notices the slightest detail of what you are doing wrong or right,” says Lehman. “Even little things that I think that he didn’t see, he will point out and say, ‘That’s really good,’ or he’ll mention what needs work. There is nothing that he will let go.”

That thoroughness has served him well on expeditions, unable to give up on a project until he’s attempted every possible route.

“I’m a bit of a stubborn bastard,” admits Widmann.

But, that dogged spirit can’t triumph without the right setting—and finding the locations is where Lehman’s relentless-

ness shows up.

The Madagascar project started thanks to Lehman, who, according to Widmann, “is completely addicted to Google Earth.” Lehman spends hours online, scouring maps for potential limestone areas—with Madagascar being one of his jackpots.

In 2013, he started scouting the outpost island because it’s home to an epic surf wave, Flame Balls.

Says Lehman, “I told Patrick that the worst-case scenario is that it will be the best surf trip we have ever done.”

Their first trip was the most physically taxing, with the team scouting on foot.

“We had to go to villages and ask where they get their water,” says Widmann.

Then they’d hike in and see what they could see.

“For three weeks, we drove all over the place and found nothing.”

Until they finally find a sinkhole. Widmann gears up and dives in. He sees something on the roof and pauses.

“What I found was so covered in fungi that at first I thought it was a tree. Then I saw the Nike shorts.”

He exits and confers with Lehman, not sure if they should alert their guides to the body, fearful that the guides possibly had something to do with the death.

But when the guides hear their heated discussion, they reveal that the cave is haunted, after swallowing up a local goat herder five months earlier.

Traumatic, yes.

But exploring means not knowing what you will find, dead bodies and all.

Says Widmann, “If you want to do mountain expeditions in the Himalayas, you have weather forecasts, satellite imagery, maps. You know where you are going and what to expect. As cave explorers, we never know what we will find.

“It could be absolutely nothing. But every once in a while, you put your head in the water and get spit out in one of the most glorious places on planet Earth.” / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 73

COURTESY PHILLIP LEHMAN/MADAGASCAR CAVE DIVING ASSOCIATION (3)

Patrick Widmann (left) has explored underwater caves in Belize, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and more. Below: Widmann and team member Ryan Dart gear up in Madagascar.

GE AR UP FOR ADVENTURE.

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*Valid on purchases of PADI gear over $49. Offer available for new customers and subscribers only.

Requires provision of email. Promo code will be emailed to you after sign uo.

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ANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SAFETY, SKILLS AND BOTTOM TIME t 78 BOOBY TRAPS 80 A HOLE IN HER HEART 84 TANK TALK

MARTIN STRMISKA

“ Underwater photographers play an especially key role in citizen science endeavors.

Organizations such as the Manta Trust and Wildbook for Whale Sharks allow divers to upload photos of individual animals so they can better track and learn about populations around the globe. Learn more about citizen science on page 76.

Just by doing what we love, divers can extend the reach and amplify the effectiveness of highly trained marine scientists by becoming their eyes and ears.”

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS PAGE 76

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 75

TRA I N : DI VE HAC KS

Fish-ID and citizen science trailblazer Ned DeLoach completes a survey during a Marine Life Education event in Bonaire.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Divers have access that can help save the world—become a citizen scientist and join the fight on the front lines

BY ERIC MICHAEL

O

ur oceans are under attack. Around the world, aquatic environments and their precious inhabitants are facing significant challenges. From climate change to pollution, overfishing, invasive species and beyond, the fight has come to us.

Science-based conservation is our best weapon to defend against these assaults, but you don’t need a Ph.D. to participate. Divers can play an important role—as citizen scientists—because we have access to one of the most dramatic battle lines. Our appreciation for underwater ecosystems runs deep, and we can contribute data to critically important research. Just ask Samantha Whitcraft, director of conservation and out-

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reach for the Sea of Change Foundation. “‘Citizen science’ generally refers to field work, collecting data from observations in or around marine environments that is scientifically valid and applied to a research question or resource management program,” says Whitcraft, a marine conservation biologist whose scientific career includes stops at Harvard University, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and the University of Hawaii’s Coral Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program. “Experienced divers are ideal candidates because they have already mastered the basic skills of diving and can more easily add the extra skills of keen observation and

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION The path to becoming a citizen scientist begins by finding the right opportunity. Focus on your interests. Are you committed to your local reefs? Are you enamored by a specific species of marine life? Is there a particular organization that captures your attention? Letting your passion guide your mission will increase your enjoyment—and the value of your contribution.

“Generally, divers who are already interested in the intricacies of marine ecosystems—fascinated by fish species, sea grass growth and live-coral cover, for example—and are passionate about conservation enjoy citizen science the most,” Whitcraft says.

“Participating consistently is one of the keys to citizen science being valuable in the long term, leveraging more people collecting more data over longer periods of time.”

By connecting effort to enthusiasm, you’ll be more likely to engage in scientific projects, more attentive during

TIM PETERS

detailed data collection. And, in many cases, divers spend more time underwater than scientists, so their observations of an ecosystem can be invaluable for understanding how to most effectively monitor it.”

Just by doing what we love, divers can extend the reach and amplify the effectiveness of marine scientists by becoming their eyes and ears underwater. And there are many examples of citizen science making breakthroughs possible.

“Several years ago, when scientists were having trouble locating the remnants of the lemon shark aggregation off Florida’s Atlantic coast, citizen science data from divers helped them relocate the aggregation to allow critical tagging and tracking to continue for another season,” Whitcraft says. “And the successful tracking of the rapid range expansion of invasive lionfish in the Atlantic using divers’ data has been incredible, thanks to Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).”

By donating their bottom time, divers can help write similar success stories in their local waters, or at exotic destinations when traveling. Here’s how.

your dives and more dedicated to making the greatest possible contribution.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT MISSION Chances are good that no matter where you dive, you can find a scientific research project to join. Inquiring at your local dive shop is a great place to start.

“Many dive shops and clubs promote training and regular dives to collect data for reputable citizen science programs like Reef Check and REEF,” says Whitcraft. “Divers can also check with their local university to learn more about the marine science research happening in their area and whether it incorporates

“Participating consistently is one of the keys to citizen science being valuable in the long term, leveraging more people collecting more data over longer periods of time.” citizen science opportunities.”

One step you can take no matter where you dive is to report marine debris, or lack thereof, on Project Aware’s Dive Against Debris app and help create a global dataset of underwater debris.

For more exotic options, adding marine science research to your trip planning will help identify projects you can join when on the road.

“Reef Check and REEF provide citizen science opportunities via travel and in some international dive locations,” Whitcraft says. “Another example, when planning a dive trip to Fiji, every April and November divers can participate in the Great Fiji Shark Count.”

Be sure to vet the organization as much as you can to ensure effective scientific methods are being used. “A good citizen science project or organization will list on their website the scientific studies that have been peer-reviewed and published

using the data,” says Whitcraft. “It’s also appropriate to ask how the resulting data is applied to meaningful conservation.”

FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION Collecting scientific data requires solid dive skills for your safety and the protection of the environment.

“Because most citizen science projects involve adding additional tasks to your dives—usually close observation and data collection—it is important to be a proficient and comfortable diver overall,” Whitcraft says. “This means being experienced in currents and surge and in less than ideal dive conditions, as well as having excellent neutral buoyancy to avoid damaging any substrate while focusing on data collection. I would recommend a certification level beyond entry level and a minimum of 30 dives.”

Certification and scientific agencies, including PADI, SSI, GUE, SDI, AAUS and others, offer science diver courses covering a variety of skills and strategies, from search and survey to sampling, lift bags, planning, mapping and much more.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE No matter what project you choose or what destination you decide to serve, becoming a citizen scientist will deliver rewards beyond your own experience.

“Especially for experienced divers, the more deliberate focus of citizen science provides a new way of looking at the underwater environment, because you’ll become more aware of finer details and interesting animal behaviors,” says Whitcraft. “It also gives your diving more meaning because good citizen science contributes to conservation, so as a diver gains experience, they become a true naturalist with a deeper understanding of the rhythms of life underwater.”

ERIC MICHAEL is a former editorin-chief of both Scuba Diving and Sport Diver magazines, a veteran ScubaLab test-team diver, and the author of Dive Hacks since 2015.

The Hack: Shooting for Science Underwater photographers can support important marine science research by contributing to organizations such as Manta Trust, Wildbook for Whale Sharks and Shark Trust, which actively solicit close-up, sharply focused images of whale sharks and manta rays to include in their databases.

But don’t lose your head trying to score the perfect shot. “Please keep in mind that when observing and photographing marine animals, responsible wildlife interaction guidelines include not touching the animal, keeping a respectful distance, and never chasing the animal,” Whitcraft says.

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 77

TRAI N: I MAGI N G

THE DEADLY TRAPS OF LIGHTROOM CLASSIC Common mistakes that trouble new and old users alike

BY ERIN QUIGLEY

I

love Lightroom, but it’s not without a few pitfalls. After years of real-world studio and classroom experience, I’ve identified a bunch of booby traps that consistently derail beginner and experienced users alike.

Default Catalog at Start-up When you first launch Lightroom, a new default catalog (.lrcat file) is created in your Users>Username>Pictures>Lightroom folder. Many people choose instead to keep this catalog on an external drive. If that’s the case, and the drive containing the catalog is offline

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(disconnected) when you launch Lightroom, Lightroom displays a clear-asmud error message: “Lightroom Catalog was not found—would you like to open an existing catalog or use the default?”

If you choose to open the default catalog, a new, empty Lightroom catalog is created in your Users>Username> Pictures>Lightroom folder, and opens up without showing any of your pictures.

The workaround for this booby trap is to get in the habit of opening Lightroom by double-clicking on the correct .lrcat catalog file instead of using the Lightroom application icon. If you launch

Lightroom this way, you’ll never create extraneous catalogs again.

Copy versus Add during Import The Import Module is one big booby trap, especially for newbies. It’s the most important and least intuitive component of Lightroom. The language Adobe uses to describe the import process is, in itself, a booby trap. It implies that Lightroom somehow saves your photos into something, though in fact Lightroom simply links to images wherever they live on your drive. A better way to think about the process is referencing or linking instead of importing. During import, tell Lightroom exactly where you want your images to reside. Don’t let Lightroom decide for you.

To set a destination folder for new images, set the action step (top center of the Import Module) to Copy or Copy as DNG. When the action step is set to Add, Lightroom simply links to photos at their current location and adds them to the catalog. Use Add if the images you’re

importing already exist in the correct destination folder. When importing from a camera media card, flash drive or other removable device, new originals should always be copied from the card to another destination.

Fig. 1

Module. To use the TO: menu: 1. Click the word “To:” and select Other Destination.

2. In the ensuing browser, navigate to the desired destination for your photos. You can select an existing folder or create a new one.

3. Click the Choose button. The tiny line of text under the word “To:” reflects the path for the destination folder.

Delete versus Remove When you attempt to delete an image from Lightroom, the ensuing dialog box asks whether to “Delete from Disk” or “Remove.” By default, Lightroom highlights the Remove button, though it’s most often the wrong choice. Remove takes the file and all accompanying metadata out of the Lightroom catalog, but leaves it in place on the disk. Delete from Disk puts the offending file in the Trash, ready to be permanently deleted.

Fig. 3

Most Selected Image Illusion When using Grid view in the Library Module, it’s possible to select a single image, multiple images or even all images. When every on-screen image is selected, it can sometimes seem like the “most selected” image is the only one chosen (it will be slightly lighter), but anything done to the most selected image will also be applied to all other selected images. This is a potential disaster since any flag, rating, keyword, rotation, export, synchronization or deletion will be universally applied. Oops!

When you’ve set a destination folder using the TO: menu at the top right of the Import Module, pay attention! Don’t accidentally reset it in the Destination panel browser at the bottom right. It’s easy to inadvertently change the intended folder location by randomly clicking around the browser.

Double Destination Panels in the Import Module When importing via Copy or Copy as DNG, Lightroom offers two ways to set the destination for your new photos.

1. Select an existing folder or create a new subfolder from the browser in the Destination panel at the bottom right of the Import Module.

ERIN QUIGLEY

Fig. 2

2. Set a destination folder from the TO: menu at the top right of the Import

Fig. 4

Dated Folders at Import No matter how you set the destination folder, be sure to specify a folder organization style via the Organize drop-down menu in the Destination panel.

The default folder organization when importing to Lightroom is a series of dated folders and subfolders that’s nothing but confusing for many users.

To avoid having Lightroom create an intricate structure of dated folders, select Into One Folder from the Organize dropdown menu.

Smart Previews at Import Lightroom uses Smart Previews for many beneficial reasons, but if you don’t know what they are, don’t build them at import. Smart Previews are lossy (compressed) files that look and act like your originals, which can be dangerous if you’re not aware that you’re using them.

If you’re not syncing to the cloud, editing images offline or otherwise using Smart Previews in your workflow, leave the Smart Preview check box off to avoid confusion and headaches.

ERIN QUIGLEY is an Adobe ACE-certified consultant and award-winning shooter.

Goaskerin.com provides tutorials and instruction for underwater photographers.

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 79

TRA I N: LESSONS FOR LIFE

ERIC DOUGLAS co-authored the book Scuba Diving Safety and has written a series of adventure novels, children’s books and short stories—all with an ocean and scuba diving theme. Check out his website at www.booksbyeric.com

An undiagnosed PFO adds to the perfect conditions for a post-dive incident

BY ERIC DOUGLAS

C

arol sensed something was wrong as she reached the boat. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew she had to get back on board. As she pulled herself up the ladder her right arm jerked. Everything went dark.

THE DIVES The trip started out great. Carol—

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a 50-year-old with 87 lifetime dives and good overall health—planned two days of diving and was having fun. On day one, she completed two dives with a max depth of 130 feet. She started deep on both dives and worked her way into shallower waters on the coral reef for about 30 minutes each. That night she felt fine, although she did have a

THE ACCIDENT On the surface, Carol noticed spasms in her right arm, and she felt lightheaded as she climbed out of the water. At the top of the steps everything went dark. Carol lost consciousness and fell backward into the water in full gear. Fortunately, there was no one too close behind her in the water.

ILLUSTRATION: CARLO GIAMBARRESI

THE HEART OF THE ISSUE

mild headache. She attributed it to trouble with her sinuses and clearing her ears. She took some sinus medication with a pain reliever and went to bed. Carol’s dives for the second day were shallower, with a max depth of 45 feet on both dives for about 30 minutes each. Her surface interval between the two dives lasted about 45 minutes.

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/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 81

PHOTOS COURTESY: BONNIE PELNAR; TRUK ODYSSEY

The Odyssey is a 132-foot liveaboard yacht specializing in exploring Chuuk Lagoon’s renowned World War II wrecks. The wrecks are only the beginning of your adventure, however. You’ll see an abundance of colorful tropical fish, anemones, gorgonians, eagle rays, and other marine life. The vessel features seven newly remodeled staterooms (at 14 feet by 8 feet, the staterooms are some of the largest available on a liveaboard) and two single staterooms, all with ensuite bathrooms, a/c control and a TV with access to the onboard entertainment system. With a maximum of only 16 passengers, you’ll never fight for a place on the dive deck and you’ll enjoy better photo and video opportunities underwater. The ship has a large entertainment saloon with a TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, library and bar, as well as a separate dining room. The spacious dive deck includes a large camera table, charging station, multiple rinse tanks and a large dive platform. Trips include 7 nights onboard, 5.5 days diving, meals, beverages and nitrox. A variety of diving is available, including night dives, shallow dives and technical dives, as well as a variety of classes. The crew knows Chuuk intimately, ensuring that any excursion aboard this incredible liveaboard will be unforgettable.

TRA I N: LESSONS FOR LIFE

The boat crew jumped in and grabbed Carol before she could float away. They pulled her out of her gear and lifted her into the boat. She was still breathing and slowly regained consciousness after the crew placed her on 100 percent oxygen.

The boat captain notified the U.S. Coast Guard. Once the other divers were on board, the captain arranged to meet up with a Coast Guard fast boat, which took Carol directly to a waiting ambulance on the shore.

Upon examination at the hospital, Carol was alert and oriented. That means she could identify who she was, where she was, what day it was and what happened to her.

In medical parlance, that is alert and oriented times four. When a person can’t answer those questions, there is a concern with mental status; this is the first series of questions asked in a

The combination of Carol’s increased nitrogen gas load, patent foramen ovale, exertion of climbing out of the boat, dehydration and hyperglycemia created the perfect set of circumstances. field neurological exam.

On further examination, the doctor discovered that Carol’s involuntary right arm spasms were still present.

She was also unsteady on her feet. The doctor determined Carol had shortterm memory loss and slurred speech.

She was also hyperglycemic.

The doctor ordered Carol to be transferred to a local hyperbaric chamber, where she was treated with three U.S. Navy Treatment Table 6s over consecutive days. All of her neurological symptoms—the unsteady gait, memory loss and speech problems—disappeared after the third treatment.

It took several months for the muscle spasms in her right arm to clear up.

ANALYSIS Carol discovered two medical issues during the process. She had Type 2 diabetes, which accounted for the hyper-

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glycemia. She began a regimen of diet, exercise and medical treatment that brought her blood sugar under control.

The hyperglycemia likely was unrelated to Carol’s diving incident, although it might have been related to the headaches and possible dehydration from excessive urination.

In general, divers with well-controlled diabetes can continue to dive, but they have to take special precautions, including carrying oral glucose paste on dives. For more specifics and recommendations, contact a doctor familiar with diving.

Most importantly for this situation, however, Carol had an undiagnosed patent foramen ovale in her heart.

In utero, oxygenated blood comes from the placenta and not from the lungs. So our hearts have an opening that allows blood to flow between the two top chambers (the atria), thus bypassing the lungs. This opening, which is actually a flap, is a called the foramen ovale. At birth, when the lungs expand, this flap closes permanently and venous blood is then routed to the lungs to receive oxygen in about 75 percent of people. However, in approximately 25 percent of people this flap remains open and can allow venous blood from the right side of the heart to cross over to the left side of the heart.

PFOs can present a problem in scuba divers. When a diver performs a Valsalva maneuver, there is an increase in pressure in the right side of the heart.

This also happens during an exertion like climbing up a ladder to get out of the water or straining to lift a weight.

That increase in right heart pressure can cause the PFO to open and allow blood from the venous side of the heart to pass over into the arterial side.

This still isn’t normally a big problem, unless the diver also has a significant nitrogen gas load. In that case, the transfer of blood allows nitrogen gas bubbles to pass from the venous side, which would have been filtered out in the lungs, over into the arterial side. The nitrogen bubbles are then distributed to the body. That can cause those bubbles to lodge in joints, in the nervous system or in the brain, causing strokelike neurological symptoms— just like Carol exhibited.

In Carol’s case, the dives from her first day exceeded the U.S. Navy Dive

Table limits for no-deco diving based on a square profile. Her dives on the second day were well within diving limits but may have compounded the problem by not allowing her body to completely off-gas the high nitrogen load.

The combination of the increased nitrogen gas load, PFO, exertion of climbing out of the boat, dehydration and hyperglycemia created the perfect set of circumstances.

Options for divers with recurrent decompression sickness and a diagnosed PFO include: stopping scuba diving, diving conservatively or having the PFO closed.

Closing a PFO is an outpatient nonsurgical procedure that can be performed in about an hour. Patients usually go home the same day and are usually treated with a combination of aspirin and a blood thinner for a period of three to six months. It is recommended that the patient then undergoes a repeat echocardiogram with injection of agitated saline (bubble study). If no shunt is present, the patient may be able to return to diving without restrictions.

In this situation, Carol tested positive for a PFO and went through a procedure to close it. Just under two years after her incident she returned to diving. At a follow-up, she had completed 30 more dives without any problem.

Many thanks to interventional cardiologist, technical diver and dive instructor Dr. Douglas Ebersole at the Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Florida, for his input on this column.

LESSONS FOR LIFE Q Pay close attention to your health and dis-

cuss potential problems with your doctor.

Q Don’t push the dive tables. Diving a table to the limits, even on multilevel dives or using a computer, raises your risk of decompression illness.

Q Give the diver ahead of you room to climb up the ladder.

Q Understand the signs and symptoms of decompression illness and how to identify them. Take training in field neurological assessment and oxygen first aid.

Q If you have multiple, unexplained cases of decompression illness, talk to a doctor familiar with diving medicine about the possibility of a PFO.

Reservations: 1-800-899-2582 info@southerncrossclub.com www.SouthernCrossClub.com

Use Code: BON20

Dive Fish Relax

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 83

TRAI N : ASK DAN

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL ADVERTISING

ASK DAN What do I need to know about tank maintenance?

BY DIVERS ALERT NETWORK

W

ith everything that goes into planning and executing dives it’s easy to lose track of the less common hazards involved. High on the list of potential hazards that are easy to forget are tanks, which frequently function without issue for longer than many divers’ careers and rarely give their owners an ounce of trouble. Yet the reality is that despite their reputation for steadfast performance, scuba tanks have the potential to do great harm if misused or abused. Do you know how to maximize the life of your tanks and make sure they’re safe to use?

KNOW THE RULES The manufacture, transport and use of cylinders designed to contain com-

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pressed gas are regulated by federal law, although state and local regulations may involve additional requirements. The majority of these laws and regulations (primarily provided by federal or commercial organizations such as the Department of Transportation and Compressed Gas Association) authorize cylinders for use only following inspection by formally trained and certified individuals. These regulations are sometimes criticized as being overbearing or unnecessary in light of the infrequency of incidents in the dive industry, but they exist for good reason: A single aluminum 80-cubic-foot cylinder contains more than 1.3 million footpounds of potential energy. If a cylinder is allowed to fail because of abuse or lack of

maintenance or inspection, the potential for damage or injury is immense, particularly when these cylinders are filled near a shop full of divers.

It’s a testament to the cylinder manufacturers and engineers that they last as long as they do and fail so rarely, given the regular exposure to salt water and high temperatures as well as the rough treatment they’re given.

Excellent design and quality control can only get us so far, however, and it’s our responsibility as the end user of these cylinders to ensure that each one has had appropriate inspection and testing before filling and use. Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines dictate a hydrostatic test every five years and a visual inspection every year for all high-pressure cylinders (note that high pressure is defined by OSHA as greater than 40 psi, so all scuba cylinders would be included).

Federal law does not dictate an annual cylinder inspection, but CGA guidelines require them and set a reasonable

standard for enforcement in case of an incident.

Aside from the management of legal risk, annual inspections can extend the life of your tanks and reduce your risk by identifying water or oil from inadequately filtered—but not acutely dangerous—fills that could result in cylinder corrosion or long-term health concerns.

TANK TESTING Maintaining a tank is a simple process.

Keeping track of which cylinders need service and when can be cumbersome if you have a large collection of tanks, but otherwise the rules are simple: Have your tanks inspected (or inspect them yourself if you’re properly trained) every year, and have a hydrostatic test performed every five years.

If you notice any dings, dents, deep scratches or signs of rust or pitting, you should take a closer look at your tank before having it filled. Listen for noises when your tanks are lifted or transported; a metallic rattle is often indicative of a valve stem that has backed out, and sloshing can indicate the presence of water and the potential for corrosion or contamination.

Corrosion is often overlooked as a safety concern, but it happens to be one of the most common reasons to take a steel cylinder out of service. The days of water-cooled fill stations are over, and it’s important to fill cylinders dry to avoid introducing water to the tanks through the valves. A single DIN valve face filled with water can introduce a full teaspoon of water into a tank, which is enough to cause a steel cylinder left on its side to fail hydrostatic testing after just a year.

Even if a cylinder has no obvious external damage, give it a good whack with a wooden mallet approximately halfway down the cylinder sidewall once or twice a year. This is an old fill-station trick called a hammer test that can indicate if anything is seriously wrong with the cylinder walls that might warrant a closer look. A solid bell-like tone indicates that the cylinder wall is uniform and likely healthy, while a change in pitch can indicate interior corrosion. It’s a technique that takes a few tries to get the hang of, but one that’s worth having in your bag of tricks.

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE You are far from home and have nowhere else to turn. That’s when DAN dive accident insurance steps up.

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The scenario summarized above is offered only as an example. Coverage depends on the facts of each case and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy. Coverage may not be available in all states or outside of the U.S. Visit DAN.org for complete details.

For more information on cylinder safety, visit dan.org.

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 85

“Being a PADI Pro isn’t just an amazing job, it’s an unbelievable life.”

Seth Tufvesson IDC Staff Instructor

Contact your local PADI® Dive Center or Resort or visit PADI.com.

© PADI 2020

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

GREAT SPOTS FOR SAVVY DIVERS

t 88 GO BIG OR GO HOME 94 A STROLL THROUGH THE GARDEN

JENNIFER IDOL

98 A SHORE THING

The bearded fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) is one of the creatures you might find around Flower Garden Banks, seamounts rising from the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. These banks are also known to host the occasional passing manta ray or whale shark. Find out more about Flower Garden Banks on page 94.

The visibility is typically 125 feet or greater— and we know this because we see the great white sharks coming up from beyond the anchor.”

B E S T D E S T I N AT I O N S FOR BIG ANIMALS PAGE 88

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 87

T RAVE L : R EA DE R S CH OI CE BRANDON COLE

A great hammerhead shark patrols the sandy bottom off Bimini Island.

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READERS CHOICE:

BEST DESTINATIONS FOR BIG ANIMALS Where to go for giant mantas, oceanic sunfish, crocodiles and all the sharks you can fit on your bucket list

BY BROOKE MORTON

AUSTRALIA

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

“Everything is bigger and better as you head north—the continental shelf is deeper, and there’s a bigger mix of big animals,” says Craig Stephen of Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, an operator specializing in Great Barrier Reef trips departing Cairns.

That bigger mix of big animals includes silvertip and gray reef sharks, sea turtles and giant Pacific manta rays. To ensure even more encounters, the team aboard Spoilsport conducts weekly sharkfeed dives.

Says Stephen, “It’s common that 60 gray reef sharks show up each time.”

Beyond sharks, the Great Barrier Reef is also famous for the minke whales that migrate through every June and July. This whale is only 23 to 26 feet in size, but much more curious than other baleen species; pods of 10 have been known to swarm the boat for hours on end.

1

2

READERS PICKS LIVEABOARDS

3

Spirit of Freedom, Great Barrier Reef, Australia Spoilsport, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Our advice for those traveling to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador: Get your priorities straight before you go.

In other words, decide if your diving focus is whale sharks, mantas, schooling sharks, rays or even more unusual pelagic finds. Otherwise, you will find yourself underwater, conflicted about whether to enjoy the lazy gliding of a 2,200-pound oceanic sunfish or the school of dozens upon dozens of scalloped hammerheads. The good news: There is no wrong answer.

READERS PICKS LIVEABOARDS Galapagos Aggressor III Galapagos Sky

2

1st 0 P lac e W1 inn er 8 Caribbean and Atlantic

BAHAMAS “The Bahamas are one of the most shark-populated destinations in the world,” says Kevin Purdy of All Star Liveaboards,

/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 89

T RAVE L : R EA DE R S CH OI CE

Often the sharks simply show up; other times it’s the result of a feeding dive.

All Star’s boats conduct passive feeds near the 90foot Austin Smith wreck, where up to a dozen reef sharks appear.

“Plus, giant grouper come in as well, and they can be just as feisty and aggressive as the sharks, and that is always fun.”

Feeding can bring a certain thrill, but it’s not at all a must to witness every species that

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calls the Bahamas home.

Adds Purdy, “Really though, every dive in the Bahamas—no matter where you go—will have sharks.”

READERS PICKS OPERATORS Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, New Providence, Bahamas UNEXSO, Grand Bahama, Bahamas

RESORTS Sandals Royal Bahamian, New Providence, Bahamas

LIVEABOARDS Aqua Cat, Bahamas Blackbeard’s Cruises, Bahamas

Bahamas Aggressor Cat Ppalu, Bahamas

BELIZE

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Every year, starting in late spring, whale sharks gather 22 miles off the coast of Placencia, Belize, at a marine protected area known as Gladden Spit. These 20- to 30-foot sharks are lured in near the full moons of April, May and June, when cubera, mutton and dog snapper spawn, releasing milky clouds of eggs that the

RODNEY BURSIEL; OPPOSITE: CHRISTIAN VIZL

operator of four Bahamasbased boats.

Not only do these islands have the numbers, but they also pack variety. The list of regulars at Bahamas dive sites includes Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks, yes, but also hammerheads, bulls, lemons and oceanic whitetips.

“It’s not uncommon to see hammerheads on wall dives in the Exumas—you just look down and see them cruising below,” says Purdy.

In other Belize hotspots such as Ambergris Caye, Turneffe Atoll and Lighthouse Reef, nurse sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, spotted eagle rays and turtles thrill divers as they cruise through the reef.

READERS PICKS OPERATORS Ramon’s Village Divers, Ambergris Caye, Belize Belize Diving Services, Caye Caulker, Belize

RESORTS Ramon’s Village Resort, Ambergris Caye, Belize Turneffe Island Resort, Belize

LIVEABOARDS Belize Aggressor IV Belize Aggressor III

staff are expert in identifying who’s who, and filling guests in on the stories of the animals they’ve seen before.

Says Lever, “What’s spectacular is the sheer number of animals. We’ve identified 205 different individuals in the bay we go to.”

And Guadalupe is just one of Mexico’s big-animal havens. The Revillagigedo Islands are an oasis for whale sharks, humpback whales, dolphins, mantas and more.

READERS PICKS OPERATORS Nautilus Dive Tech, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico Manta Scuba Diving, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

LIVEABOARDS Rocio Del Mar, Baja, Mexico

MALDIVES

rays—but that doesn’t mean they’re the only big ticket in town. Divers also regularly encounter whale sharks, eagle rays, reef sharks and dolphins in these parts.

“The last time we saw dolphins, they were showing off for my camera so much that it just took my breath away,” says Mohamed “Modex” Ali, dive leader on the Four Seasons Explorer liveaboard.

Dolphins, sharks and rays ply the waters yearround. Mantas, too, can be seen year-round, but June through November sees the biggest numbers. Then, from December through March, the currents flow from east to west, typically causing bigger currents, which attract sharks in much larger numbers.

1st P lac e W inn er

Pacific and Indian

MEXICO (PACIFIC)

5 Mexico's Guadalupe Island in the Pacific is famous for its visiting great white sharks; a manta glides through the waters of North Ari Atoll in the Maldives.

sharks feast on.

For divers, this means nearly guaranteed encounters—and a bonus. Other destinations worldwide also have like-clockwork whale shark sightings, but in Belize it is permitted to scuba dive with the animals.

Local operator Splash Dive Center runs day trips of no more than 12 guests to the site, where dives are conducted to 60 feet to allow for maximum bottom time with these magnificent fish.

Only three places in the world deliver regular encounters with great white sharks: Australia, South Africa and Mexico’s Guadalupe Island. Not only is Mexico the closest destination for North Americans, it also delivers clear water, making for better photo ops and enjoyable cage dives.

“The visibility is typically 125 feet or greater—and we know this because we see the sharks coming up from beyond the anchor,” says Mike Lever, owner of the Nautilus Explorer liveaboard, which offers trips to Guadalupe July through November. July and August see the action of young males jockeying for dominance in the group, whereas October and November bring the biggest females. On any dive, guests typically see two to three sharks, with the record standing at nine in one dive.

Plus, the Nautilus dive

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The marine megafauna claim to fame for this Indian Ocean island nation is undoubtedly manta

READERS PICKS LIVEABOARDS Maldives Aggressor II Four Seasons Explorer, Maldives

1. Bahamas 2. Belize 3. Turks and Caicos 4. U.S. Virgin Islands 5. Bay Islands 6. Mexico 7. Cayman Islands 8. Cuba UNITED STATES AND CANADA

1. North Carolina 2. Florida Keys 3. Florida 4. California 5. British Columbia 6. Texas PACIFIC AND INDIAN

1. Mexico 2. Galapagos 3. Palau 4. Maldives 5. Indonesia 6. Hawaii 7. Costa Rica 8. Fiji 9. Australia What Is Readers Choice?

Nearly 5,000 readers evaluated dive destinations, resorts, operators, liveaboards and more for our 2020 awards. Here we highlight some of the top vote-getters for each category, and point out the winning resorts, operators and liveaboards in that area, listed in order of votes received.

For more: scubadiving .com/readerschoice

BROOKE MORTON got hooked on diving at age 14, and went on to teach scuba on St. Croix after college. She’s dived and snorkeled on every continent.

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From top: Sand tiger sharks en masse off North Carolina; a goliath grouper off the coast of Florida.

CUBA

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Sharks, sharks, more sharks—and crocodiles.

Cuba’s big-animal offering surpasses many divers’ expectations thanks to the 850-square-mile archipelago that is the Gardens of the Queen, a protected marine reserve found about 60 miles off the southern coast of Cuba’s main island.

There, schools of silky sharks, several dozen at a time, crowd the waters alongside divers from M/V Oceans for Youth, operated

by Aggressor Adventures and one of the few vessels permitted to sail this stretch.

These healthy, virtually untouched reefs also support legions of Caribbean reef sharks and goliath grouper.

But the pièce de résistance is in-the-wild encounters with 5-foot crocodiles—

FROM TOP: MIKE GERKEN; TOM AND THERISA STACK; OPPOSITE: IMAGEBROKER/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

T RAVE L : R EA DE R S CH OI CE

CARIBBEAN AND ATLANTIC

happening only in a handful of places on the planet, including Cuba.

READERS PICKS LIVEABOARDS Oceans for Youth, Cuba

1st P lac e W inn er

North America

NORTH CAROLINA

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No chum is necessary for divers off North Carolina’s Outer Banks to come mask to snout with sometimes as many as 30 sand tiger sharks at wrecks such as the Aeolus, Caribsea, Papoose and the USCGC Spar.

The Papoose sees shark crowds in spring; in late summer months, they move to the Caribsea. Throughout the whole summer, odds are good that a drop-in at the Spar will bring shark success.

“The Aeolus and Spar are so close together that if there are sharks on one, there will be sharks on the other,” says Chris Mason, divemaster with Olympus Dive Center. “They are usually there all the time in the summer.”

For consistent encounters with large numbers of sharks, North Carolina netted the top Readers Choice honor in the U.S. and Canada.

Jupiter—which also explains why divers won’t see these 4- to 8-foot fish during the aggregation season August through September.

But otherwise, they’re as common to Florida’s Atlantic coast as gators are inland. So much so that most wrecks in the area have a resident goliath grouper.

Says Treavor Bellandi of Sea Experience dive shop, “On the Tracy and Hog Heaven wrecks, we almost always see goliath grouper.”

READERS PICKS OPERATORS Rainbow Reef, Key Largo,

Florida Keys Horizon Divers, Key Largo, Florida Keys Ocean Divers, Key Largo, Florida Keys Dive Key West, Key West, Florida Keys Sea Experience, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

COSTA RICA

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When you study navigation maps of Cocos Island, Costa Rica, you see that this isolated landmass falls away to waters 400 and 500 feet deep less than 2 nautical miles from shore. Deep-water counter-currents power past. These conditions once caused the locale to be the

stuff of pirate lore. Allegedly Cocos served as a booty hideaway several hundred years ago. But it's not just swashbucklers that favor this island. So, too, do sharks— seeing swirling schools of hammerheads by the hundreds is the dream encounter here.

Add in whitetip sharks, mantas and whale sharks, and it’s easy to see why advanced divers, like the pirates, treasure this legendary outpost.

READERS PICKS LIVEABOARDS Okeanos Aggressor II, Cocos

Whitetip reef sharks can be found all around Cocos Island.

FLORIDA

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Loggerhead turtles and goliath grouper dominate the big-animal sightings off Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Loggerheads stay local thanks to the area’s beaches, which serve as nesting sites.

Likewise, goliath grouper prefer the Florida coast as one of the species’ aggregation sites lies off the city of

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T RAV EL : DRI VE AN D DIVE

JENNIFER IDOL is the first woman to dive all 50 states in the U.S., author of An American Immersion, and a PADI AmbassaDiver. She’s also a member of the Ocean Artists Society.

NE ED TO KN OW When to Go Fling Charters runs during the summer and early fall.

Dive Conditions Temperatures are typically in the mid-70s F, and visibility ranges from 5 to 60 feet.

Operators Fling Charters (flingcharters.com) runs two- and three-day liveaboard trips to the banks.

A moray eel peeks its head out of the reef in the Gulf of Mexico’s Flower Garden Banks.

chlorhexidine to help prevent the spread of hard-coral disease. Throughout the night, the boat will travel 110 miles to the first dive site and arrive at the mooring ball by morning. This time is well spent briefing for dives and setting up gear.

Mountains rise from the deep to create a unique dive experience in the Gulf of Mexico

BY JENNIFER IDOL

L

ocated about 100 miles off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is a remote reef system that protects 21 species of coral and hundreds of invertebrate and fish species. It comprises three underwater banks: East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank and Stetson Bank. But it might be under threat. Researchers are studying the sanctuary for signs of stony coral tissue loss disease, which has already

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spread across a large swath of the Florida Reef Tract. Flower Garden Banks is a fragile yet monumental dive experience.

DAY ONE To dive the banks aboard M/V Fling, take the hour-and-a-half drive from Houston to Freeport, Texas, where charters depart. Because the hard-coral reef is well off the coast, arrive at the dock by evening for the liveaboard departure.

Once at the dock, all divers rinse gear in

DAY THREE Food is provided before the first dive and between every dive, so everyone is full of energy for a full dive slate before the sixhour return trip. An oil rig and West Flower Garden Bank may also be included on the itinerary, but Stetson Bank is often visited on the return trip. Though the reef is sporadic and dominated by sand and a wall, Stetson Bank is home to big animals such as sandbar and silky sharks, sea turtles and southern stingrays.

Texas

Louisiana

Houston 288

Freeport

Gulf of Mexico

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

JENNIFER IDOL

FLOWER GARDEN BANKS NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

DAY TWO The first dive day is packed with five dives, including a night opportunity. Currents and visibility determine reefs selected for dives, but East Flower Garden Banks 1 and 3 are stunning locations. Giant brain corals dominate the landscape on these deep reefs, creating a rolling landscape of coral heads. Eels and lobsters hide between corals while mantas and even whale sharks may pass by overhead on nutrient-rich days. Complete the adventure with a night dive to observe feeding corals and emerging wildlife.

Your Buddies

welcome you to a festive 2020!

Looking for a way to get over that ‘post-holidays’ blues?

Just book your next dive vacation to Bonaire and come celebrate our 40th anniversary with us!

Check our website for all 2020 specials; www.buddydive.com/specials Call Toll Free US/Canada: 1-866-GO-BUDDY

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/ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 / 97

T RAV E L : P ER F E C T 1 0

KRALENDIJK An influx of cruise passengers has breathed life into the capital. Worth a visit: Saltshop Bonaire, to pick up one of the island’s most enduring products (it really does taste different here), and Elements Bonaire for its stunning dichroic glass jewelry. Gio’s Gelateria and Caffe is worth braving the ever-present lines.

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HILMA HOOKER One of the Caribbean’s most-mentioned wrecks loses nothing by that, with its crazy backstory of drug smuggling and a sudden suspicious sinking. Add in its attendant tarpon and quick access from shore, and you’ve got a wreck dive that’s a must-do.

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LAC BAI This large bay is popular for wind surfing, a mangrove snorkel or just pushing your toes in the sand with a cold brew at funky, friendly Hangout Beachbar at Jibe City. (Try the bitterballen, a Dutch bar-treat take on croquettes.)

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This sunny Caribbean isle is tailor-made for divers

BY MARY FRANCES EMMONS

HOUSE REEFS All up and down the island’s western seaboard, virtually every resort has its stretch of reef, one reason Bonaire has taken our Readers Choice Award for best shore diving for 27 years straight. Some stretches—from Bari Reef in the south to La Machaca off Captain Don’s Habitat— can almost be combined into a single dive.

RINCÓN This village in the center of the island will give you a better picture of local life than tourist-driven Kralendijk. Make time to visit its Cadushy Distillery; the rum is a revelation—delicate, floral—and the whiskey might be the island’s bestkept secret.

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BAITBALLS With a little luck and planning you could be treated to a sight more common in Indo or the Solomon Islands, a baitball so vast it can take 10 minutes to pass.

Don’t know where to look? Eavesdrop on your divemasters and fellow divers— when they’re running, folks will be talking.

WASHINGTON SLAGBAAI NATIONAL PARK Occupying the northern tip of the island, this national treasure offers rugged, otherworldly landscapes, stunning beaches, starry nights and, sometimes, flamingos.

Driving here is not for the faint of heart; get there by boat with Buddy Dive Resort’s five-hour dive safari expedition.

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DIVERS GUIDE AVERAGE WATER TEMP 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit WHAT TO WEAR A 3 mm suit typically will suffice, or even just a swimsuit and rash guard AVERAGE VIZ 60 feet or greater WHEN TO GO Year-round MORE INFO scubadiv.in/bonaire

98 / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 S C U B A D I V I N G . C O M

OPEN 24/7 Diving is a way of life on Bonaire, where you can dive any time, or all the time. Plot your own course south to sites like Red Slave or north to Karpata; for an in-town site that’s an out-of-this-world dive, don’t miss Something Special.

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TRUCKIN’ At some resorts a truck comes with your room, the better to visit Bonaire’s more than 60 marked shore dives. The island’s rugged east side offers a scenic seaside drive—with wild donkeys!— and the Willemstoren Lighthouse at the southern end is made for photo ops.

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REEF RENEWAL BONAIRE Choose from one of Reef Renewal Bonaire’s four partners on island— Buddy Dive, Harbour Village, Tropical Divers and Wannadive—for a coral restoration dive, and help make sure these beautiful reefs are still here and looking good when your grandkids learn to dive.

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MARY FRANCES EMMONS joined Sport Diver in 2009 and Scuba Diving in 2012. A diver since 2006, she was named editor-in-chief of Scuba Diving in 2018.

MAP ILLUSTRATION: STUART HILL

BONAIRE

Special Edition Marine Wildlife Cards by Brian Skerry

Learn more at padi.com/newcard

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