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Share your thoughts, experiences or questions and participate in discussions over our favorite topic : SCUBA diving!

Free Marine Science and Conservation course

by Ksso on January 23, 2014

Coursera has made a name of itself as a prime source for online courses - mostly in the technical field. But this time is the scuba diver's passion which is being taught by David Johnston from Duke university.The course's outline, name's Megafauna, seems amazing and would be an awesome crash course for anyone willing to get more involved in Diveboard's citizen science projects.

This course is about sea turtles, whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, sharks, giant squid and other large ocean creatures - collectively known as marine megafauna - and what they can tell us about how the ocean works and why it is so important for all life on earth. This course will help you learn about life in the...

Becoming a PADI Instructor: Update

by Phil on November 12, 2013

So, as a lot of you can tell my posts kind of died out and there is a reason for that. I found that logging the process wasn't helping me retain the information as well as I had hoped. So I decided to abandon it in search of a better way to study that would allow me to retain the information better.

I've had good success with going through the PADI workbook as well as using the idc-guide website to review the information. I've also been using the information when giving my speeches helping out at the dive shop for OW and AOW courses. Rainbow Reef also provides a great resource that is an online quiz/testing system that formats questions in the format that PADI will during the IDC covering...

PADI:OW - Final Exam Pass!

by Paul Smart on August 29, 2013

Last night was my final theory session and exam!

Theory session was just fine. Not problems at all very straight forward!

I took the 50 question exam and whistled through it. All my hard studying paid off and I passed with 100% - Very Pleased!

Now it's just the Open Water dives that are booked for the 7th and 8th of September!

How exciting! Cliff then wants to get me in the water as soon as possible and I can't wait for that either!

PADI:OW - Another day another theory session!

by Paul Smart on August 21, 2013

So tonight our topic covered Decompression Illness, Dive Planning using Dive Tables, Other kit. Stuff like that!

Was pretty straight forward once again and using the Dive Planner (eRDPml) is a doddle!

Passed the Module exam with 100% (that 100% across the board).

I forgot to ask about altitudes, but I will try and remember next time!

On other news, my friend Cliff who pushed me... or nagged me... into sorting my PADI:OW is looking to get me in the water as soon as I have qualified. Well, he'd be happy to get me in before I've qualified but I think he is going to have to wait. ...

PADI: Confined Dive 2 Complete - Skills 3 & 4

by Paul Smart on August 16, 2013

Great night last night with Instructor Chris and the rest of the group.

We completed a remaining skill in set 3, all of skill set 4 and we are now ready for Skill Set 5 and then the open water dives.

I wore my Two Bare Feet, Shorty last night. I also discovered there is an easy way to do the zip up without asking for someones help. Grab the suit at the bottom of the zip with one hand while you pull the zip up via the line, with the other. Sounds silly I know, but having never had a wet suit and already broken a cheap TWF suit because I was trying to do it up solo... Well you get the point! ...

PADI:OW - First Confined Water Dive = Done!

by Paul Smart on August 09, 2013

So last night I finally got in the pool again with SCUBA.

I was behind the rest of my OW team because I missed the first pool session.

Helen was great and we not only managed to complete Skill Set 1, but also 2 and part of 3 bringing me up to the same level as the rest of the guys in my group.

I've got my new kit now, which is great news!

I went for an O'Three Semi Dry wetsuit and deep skin. They had been recommended to me by a friend on facebook. and there customer service was rated as amazing.

I must say they have certainly looked after me already so a big thanks to the lads at O'Three for sorting me out with a great semi-dry. ...

Becoming a PADI Instructor: Gases (Part 1)

by Phil on July 17, 2013

Welcome back to my "Becoming a PADI Instructor" Blog Series yet again...are you getting sick of me yet? Let's talk about Gases!

Dalton's Law

Dalton's Law states: the total pressure exerted by the mixture of non-reactive gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of individual gases. What the heck does that even mean? For the sake of simplicity and examples throughout this series we'll consider air 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen (Ignoring traces of Neon, Krypton, Hydrogen, Xenon Radon, Carbon Monoxide, Argon, and Carbon Dioxide).

Think of 1 bar / atmosphere as 100% of a gas mixture. In air you have 21% Oxygen + 79% Nitrogen = 100% of Gas Mixture. In terms of partial pressures it is...

Becoming a PADI Instructor: Bouyancy

by Phil on July 11, 2013

Welcome back to my "Becoming a PADI Instructor" Blog Series! Let's talk about buoyancy!

Let's start with an interesting tidbit of information. I've said it myself and I've heard other say it when people ask "What is Scuba diving like?", we often respond "It's like being an astronaut floating around weightless in space!" and everyone gets really excited. The excitement is real but the weightless statement is not. Even underwater earth's gravity continues to pull down on you as if you were on the surface. This is why you can still feel whether you are upside down or right-side up underwater. An astronaut does not have these feelings. ...

Becoming a PADI Instructor: Physics

by Phil on July 08, 2013

The Physics of Diving (Heat / Light / Vision / Sound)In this section of my "Becoming a PADI Instructor" Blog Series, I am going to be focusing on the Physics of Diving. This section and the Physiology section is where I'll probably be spending the majority of my time as I was told by most of the instructors I've talked to that if I have those two sections down well the rest should be fairly easy. I'm mostly using the PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving and IDC-Guide for my research. Otherwise I'm using Google to find academic resources to get a greater understanding of things I want to learn more about.

Water & Heat ...

Becoming a PADI Instructor

by Phil on June 24, 2013

So I've decided to finally make the leap to becoming a PADI Instructor. It is my nature to over-prepare for everything I attempt in life so naturally I booked my IDC/IE for December of 2013. I will be diving with The Rainbow Reef Dive Center based in Key Largo, Florida.I've been diving for four years now and have logged a couple hundred dives since then. I've been a PADI divemaster for going on two years now. I have been holding off on getting my instructor because everything I've read has told me that there is no money in it and it is hard to find a job. Although those claims may or my not be true; it has stopped me previously from pushing myself to the next level and I've felt a deep...