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Dear
Fellow Diver,
If you hope to make a scuba-diving trip in the next 18 months, there
are some things you ought to know. Like ...
- which Caribbean dive operators treat certified
divers like kids, controlling your depth and time so strictly that you'll end up surfacing with 1000 psi you didn't
use.
- which highly-advertised live-aboard has so little
insulation around its engine room that you'll hardly be able to sleep. And which of its barely-advertised competitors
is a better, cheaper boat.
- which popular regulator failed miserably on
U.S. Navy tests. You'll want to know, because if you ever get into trouble at depth, in a tough current, or with
less than 500 psi, this regulator may not deliver air.
- the dumb things dead divers did -- so you don't
make the same tragic mistakes.
For serious divers, there's only one way to find out about these and other issues that are important to both your
bank account and your safety: by accepting my no-risk offer to subscribe to the only publication that tackles these
tough subjects -- Undercurrent.
Join 15,000+ other subscribing divers who trust us to bring them the
truth each and every month.
You see, Undercurrent accepts no advertising. Nor do we accept free trips. Our writers travel anonymously,
and they pay their own way.
Every month you'll get accurate and honest reports about the true quality of reefs ... the skills of guides and
instructors who are identified by name ... whether those guides and instructors will let you dive with a computer
... whether they'll take you to the best spots or short-change you ... and what water temperature and visibility
you can expect. We know you want specifics about whether the food is edible, the bugs are bad, and the showers
are hot, and that's just what you'll get.
And, with your Subscription to my newsletter, you will receive a FREE
copy of our 519+ page Travelin' Diver's Chapbook, published
at the end of every year. It's chock-full of reviews and candid
commentary by our readers and our staff about virtually every diving
operation in the world.
Most importantly, I'll give you my personal guarantee: if at any time during the first year you are dissatisfied,
I'll refund the FULL amount of your subscription -- no questions asked.
You need Undercurrent. You need to know the truth behind the deaths of those four divers in Palau ... and
what they could have done to save their bacon.
You need Undercurrent to ensure that you get a fair shake with travel agencies, resorts, or manufacturers.
It was Undercurrent that broke the story on the big dive-travel agency that bilked divers out of more than
$1,000,000. The agency required payment in advance from divers booking trips, but they didn't pay the resorts.
So when divers arrived, whether in Bonaire or Borneo, they had to pay a second time. Long before the agency went
out of business, we alerted our subscribers so they could avoid the rip-off.
Our "Ombudsman" column puts the industry on guard, because if one of our subscribers has a problem, we
seek a solution -- and we publish it. When an injured diver's insurance wouldn't pay for his canceled trip, for
example, we got him airline reimbursement.
Month-in and month-out, you'll get accurate, inside information, available nowhere else, from the people who have
been writing and reporting for diving consumers for more than 20 years.
You may never have seen a copy of Undercurrent, because we're only available by mail. But ever since 1975,
when I started Undercurrent, the first and only consumer newsletter for divers, I've been exposing the truth
and discovering the unknown for traveling divers like you. My editor, John Q., was the editor of the dive letter
In Depth until 1996, when we combined our two publications. He keeps his full name out of print so he can
travel unidentified and unannounced to resorts, paying his own way and calling it as he sees it. He's been at it
now for 13 years. Together, we bring you the best possible consumer diving publication.
We invite you to become a Charter Subscriber -- at absolutely no risk.
We discover new resorts and live-aboards before they begin to advertise. And before the crowds come. We visit the
old standbys without announcing ourselves. We tell you whether they are up to snuff or if their dive guides are
burned out and their premises in disrepair.
For example, we were the first to report the rapid decline of a major chain of Caribbean dive resorts -- over their
loud denials -- and the first to report their bankruptcy. My readers were happy they took my advice and avoided
these resorts.
If diving at a major resort stinks, we'll tell you. If the equipment is unsafe, we'll tell you. If the water is
bad, the mosquitoes miserable, or the food inedible, we'll tell you that, too.
We can get away with being honest because we take no advertising. We pay our own way. We never announce who we
are or that we've come to review the operation, so we get the same treatment you would get if you were visiting.
We dive wherever the boat goes, and we dive with divers like you. You'd never even know we're aboard -- until you
read about it in our newsletter.
We can do this because Undercurrent is supported entirely by subscriptions from individual divers, divers
like you who demand accurate, inside information so they don't waste their hard-earned money on bad dive travel.
Don't expect pages of ads, fancy pictures, lots of color, or a prominent place in your dive store's display rack.
Instead, expect jam-packed, hard-hitting, informative reporting available only by mail. Expect the kind of accurate
inside information you need to ensure safe and pleasurable diving.
In addition to our monthly reviews and scores of comments about resorts and live-aboard boats, these are a few
of the stories our readers have been treated to:
- why divers die: a look at actual dive accidents
and the reasons they occurred.
- those new talking computers and whether they're
worth the money.
- where unlimited diving means just two tanks
a day.
- Grand Cayman for $100/day, airfare included.
- two new, unadvertised live-aboards that are
exploring virgin waters.
- the full story of two Americans whose dive boat
left them behind to die.
- whether dive travel insurance is worth buying.
- how PADI's new dive insurance compares to DAN's.
- the hype about fins, and why most manufacturers'
claims are just so much malarkey.
- Fiji -- how to dive it at a price no more than
some Caribbean destinations.
- See and Sea Travel: why did Carl Roessler declare
bankruptcy?
Undercurrent was the first to report on
little-known islands in the Caribbean 120 miles east of Bonaire that have schools of fish like the South Pacific.
And our readers enjoyed the first report on Loma Loma, that remarkable little island in Fiji where, unlike other
Fiji sites, you'll see the big fish every dive. We were the first to report when they changed dive operators. And,
we were the only ones to report which major Fiji resort has a 50-50 chance of rain year round.
Your subscription to Undercurrent will let you know where to spend your hard-earned money on dive travel,
whether you're an old pro or just getting started. We rate sites for all levels of divers.
For example, here's what one reader said about my review of Honduras:
"Your report on the Bayman Bay Club -- in
fact of all of Guanaja -- was so accurate and complete that when I arrived the first time I felt as if it was a
return visit. Déjà vu, almost. I felt like I already knew the people, knew where to store my gear,
could tell them where I wanted to dive, and even could pick the best room -- the one away from the generator with
the best view. While I had researched this trip well, next time I'll just read your review." (A. Hardman,
San Francisco)
As you well know, a dive vacation to the Caribbean
will cost you a thousand or two, and those dream destinations in the South Pacific might run two or three times
that amount. Your subscription to Undercurrent is your insurance that you'll end up getting the kind of
trip you paid for. Because your subscription is your guarantee of a good trip, it's an investment you can't do
without.
As a member of the Undercurrent team, you're invited to report on dive trips you take. And you'll get to
read your comments, along with those of hundreds of other divers, in our annual 519+-page Travelin' Diver's
Chapbook jammed with frank comments from divers like you who relate their dive-travel experiences, both good
and bad. We'll ask about your experiences with your regulator, your computer, and your other equipment. And we'll
report them regularly, in 10 monthly issues.
I guarantee you that if my publication isn't a major help in planning your next dive trip or if during the first
year you are dissatisfied for any reason, I'll refund the full price of your annual subscription, no questions
asked. I guarantee it.
You have nothing to lose -- and you have so much safe and pleasurable diving to gain.
Sincerely,
Ben Davison
Publisher
October 1, 1998
P.S. You can subscribe right here on our Web site.
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