Scuba Shack Radio

Dive computers are powerful, reliable and an essential part of your scuba kit. There are many affordable dive computers on the market today that allow divers to fit this into their budget. Is it okay to tell divers that they don't need to use a dive computer because the dives are going to be shallow? This is not how we dive and not how we counsel our divers. In my opinion, a dive computer is as essential as any other part of your rig. Listen to hear about who is telling divers they don't need a computer.

Also listen for some Wet Notes updates on:

The Immerse Yourself Empress of Ireland presentation

A humpback whale and calf encounter

Humpback numbers are dropping

SSI's new dive computer specialty

Dive travel statistics

Women Divers Hall of Fame Scholarship and Grant update

In this episode, I discuss why you might find it a challenge to rent scuba gear from your local dive shop. The local dive shop is a small business and as such must make investments in equipment and time to those areas of the business that keep them profitable. Renting scuba gear may not be one of those areas that generate the revenue versus the investment. Not all local dive shops are the same.

Wet Notes updates include

DEMA 2024 hotel block

100% PADI or not al all?

Oceanic+ housing update

Q4 2023 open water certification update

Deep Water Horizon impacts

Lake Hydra information

In this episode, I discuss the results of the a survey conducted by the Business of Diving Institute on training agency net promoter score. The results are a bit surprising on how various stakeholders view the numerous agencies in the scuba industry.

Wet Notes news and information updates include:

Challenges for aging divers

A new regulator bag from Akona

An update on the Oceanic + housing and app

Halcyons updated carbon-fiber BC system

Clearly Cayman Resorts great customer service

REEF's new logo

Dr. Deep Sea de-aging

The tipping culture is deeply embedded in the dive industry. It is critical for dive professionals around the world to make a living. But the tipping culture is a challenge for divers. There is no standard method for determining how much to tip and who to tip. Also, it seems that every place does it a little differently.

Is there a better way?  Listen to hear my thoughts on the challenges of the tipping culture for dive customers.

Wet Note covers

Fourth Element Seeker Mask

Oceanic + Dive Housing

DAN's post on a challenging event

The Shearwater Peregrine, Tern, Tern TX, and Teric

Latest magazine releases

Wet Notes Updates

Changes at Aqualung

DEMA Town Hall meetings regarding 2024 show

New industry trade magazine from William Cline

Latest edition of Scuba Diving Magazine

New Fourth Element Arctic undergarment

History of Diving Museum 2024 Immerse Yourself series

The first seven books on my 2024 reading list -

The Underworld by Susan Casey

Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler

Rocket Men by Robert Kurson

Black Wind coauthored by Clive and Dirk Cussler

Ocean Outbreak by Drew Harvell 

Treasure of Khan also by Clive and Dirk and

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Fredrick Stonhouse

Season six will feature a few changes to the format.

Sea Hunt It's Still Alive will be on hiatus for a while. After five years it is time to give Mike Nelson a bit of a break.

Every show will also feature an update from the dive shop. In this episode I talk about some of the "fun" year-end activities.

Wet Notes will continue on with news, information and product updates - in this episode learn more about

The Oceanic Plus dive housing

Two scuba shows here in the Northeast - Boston Sea Rovers and Beneath the Sea

An accident in Kaneohe Bay

A record sale for a vintage dive helmet

News from the Clearly Cayman Resorts

DEMA Town Halls regarding 2024 Las Vegas Show

My commentary will be broken out as an individual segment - this time I talk about the need to use a dive computer (there are still folks who don't see the need).

On this last episode of season five of Scuba Shack Radio I will take a look back at the very successful and very busy 2023 year at Scuba Shack. Hear about all of the training and travel that made for an incredible year.

The Sea of Tomorrow Society of Beneath the Sea is offering a number of scholarships and grants for 2024. You can apply online at www.beneaththesea.us/scholarships. The scholarships and grants will be awarded at the Beneath the Sea Show in March 2024.

The Q4 2023 edition of Alert Diver from Divers Alert Network is out. Once again it is packed with information including an article of diving in Connecticut plus travel options to St. Eustatius.

The DAN Annual Reports for 2021 and 2022 are due to be released in 2 - 4 months.

Sea turtle nests in the US are breaking records but climate change is still a major threat. Florida, North Caroline, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia all reported increases but high tides, floods, sea level rise, hurricanes and hotter sand and water are taking a toll.

PBS Nature recently premiered a new series "Spy in the Ocean". The four episodes incorporate underwater video shot by marine-life shaped animatronics puppets.

Dr. Alex Brylske has a new online course - The Sustainable Dive Leader in cooperation with the Ocean First Institute.

Commentary

Do Black Friday and Small Business Saturday matter to small local dive shops. While many people like to go out shopping on these two days, many are content to stay home and make their purchase online. Small dive shops also face direct competition from their suppliers who offer deals at deep discounts. These deep discounts make it very challenging for your local dive shop to compete. The latest research by the Cline Group shows that there are only 851 true brick and mortar dive shops in the US. What will that number be like a year from now or maybe three years from now. I suspect it will continue to shrink.

The DIVE BOAT act stands for Don’t Imperil Vessel Employees, Business Owners and Tourism. This act is in response to the Small Passenger Vessel Act (SPVA) that was passed last year as part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. The SPVA specifically targeted dive boats both day boats and liveaboards as a result of the Conception disaster. The cruise ship industry is excluded as is the entire fishing industry. This new law removes the limits of liability from dive boats as well as allows claims to be made for up to two years. The result are astronomical increases in insurance rates. The DIVE BOAT act is a bill that tries to change the SPVA. It looks to lower the exposure limits on liveaboards to one year and for day dive boats revert back to prior limits. 

Support the DIVE BOAT act by reaching out to your federal representatives.

The Dive Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) Show took place in New Orleans November 14 - 17, 2023.

The show continues to recover from the pandemic with a significant increase from the 2022 event.

In this recap, I will give you some insights into the energy within our scuba industry. The show offers dive professionals the opportunity to attend training classes, various seminars and presentations, and meet with a variety of dive equipment and dive travel exhibitors.

Additionally, there are numerous networking events.

DEMA Show is a critical event for the scuba industry.

PADI AWARE Foundation has updated the Project AWARE Specialty course to be the PADI AWARE Specialty and includes electronic learning along with a take action workshop that you complete with your PADI Instructor of dive shop.

How much trash is in the ocean? Ocean Conservancy recently published a blog post - let's just say it is way too much.

Fourth Element has released another new product - the Seeker mask. This mask has two objectives - provide a near natural field of vision and fit almost everyone. It comes in three colors Deep Blue, Gray, or Black. The single window mask comes with either a clarity or contrast option.

The November issue of Scuba Diving Magazine is out and features the readers choices for diving destinations and operations. Over 13K people responded to the survey.

The Emperor Echo - a liveaboard dive boat in the Red Sea recently was blown onto the reef at Fury Shoals where it suffered irreparable damage to the hull. Fortunately everyone was evacuated safely.

Commentary

On our recent trip to the Philippines, I witnessed just how bad and big of a problem trash entering the ocean can be. Overnight, the water right in front of the resort was inundated with an incredible amount of trash. This happened because of heavy rains in the mountains that washed the trash into the river that dumped all this disgusting debris right in front of our hotel. The next day it was gone. It wasn't cleaned up - it just moved. Unfortunately, this is not isolated to this area - it is something that happens world-wide. While it seems to be an insurmountable problem, we can take small steps by ensuring that we manage our own waste responsibly.

Man Overboard was the final episode of season 3 of Sea Hunt. In this episode, Mike is called to search for a man overboard from a pleasure craft - the Sea Dragon. Gwen Hardy's husband has gone missing and her sister Lola and Gwen's friend Lee Bottom tell us he went over the side. Mike cannot find him even though the area is easy to search. Mike is then hired by an insurance investigator - George Emerson, to investigate the missing person. This episode has it all - a big spear gun, underwater chase, an underwater fight, man-eating vines and an improvised snorkel made from Mike's double hose regulator. Mike saves the insurance company a cool quarter million dollars - a lot of money in 1960.