Undercurrent Online Update for Non-Subscribers

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May 18, 2019  

Discarded plastic from a few new wetsuits

Who Are The Plastic Pirates?

We’re asking divers to report on the use of single-use plastic at their local dive store, dive resorts and on the liveaboards. These we use to contact those dive travel operators and compel them to change their ways (and keep those giant garbage patches in the oceans from getting larger). You’re free to tell it like it is, and it’s easy to do so when filling out the “Hot Tip” contact form, available at www.undercurrent.org.

Fly Free to Your Dive Destination

Did you know that by judicious use of credit cards you can travel for free? An Undercurrent subscriber describes this month how he didn’t pay for an airfare on vacation for more than a decade. It’s all about airline and credit card points. You can read how he does it for free here.

A Snorkeler Gets Swallowed by a Whale

The Bible tells how Jonah got swallowed by a whale. A modern-day snorkeler in South Africa has a similar experience. It must have been very frightening even though his capture lasts a lot less long. You can read-it-for-free here.

Planning a Trip to Komodo?

Be aware that there are threats from the Indonesian authorities to close down tourism to the island, starting next January. That’s because smugglers have been stealing dragons due to the demand for body parts for dubious medicinal purposes, in other Asian countries. The temporary shutdown will give an opportunity for the dragon population to recover. There’s no news as to whether liveaboards operating in the area will be affected.

Attention, Cruise Divers

Going on a cruise and hope to dive? Apparently, some cruise ships have restrictions such as age (you can be no older than 79) and credentials (you must have Advanced certification), so get the details before you go. But you can get around the requirements by booking your diving directly with a local dive shop instead of through the cruise staff.

Land-based or Liveaboard?

Our Truk Lagoon writer took 10 days to compare land-based (Blue Lagoon, featured in April issue) and liveaboard-based diving on the Truk Odyssey to see if there was a clear winner. It’s a unique location in that the same dives sites can be visited by either means. There are a few other locations in the world that offer the choice but which is better? Some like the dive, eat, dive, sleep routine of having accommodation directly over the dive site while other prefer to get dry land under their feet between dives. This month Undercurrent compares the merits of each.

Also In Undercurrent this Month

Diving Truk Lagoon by Odyssey Liveaboard . . . An easier way to dump air from your BC . . . Cozumel, Cuba, Raja Ampat and other destinations - our readers’ take . . . Tales of the unexpected dive travel bill . . . Sport divers can get PTSD too . . . Even Royalty can be a dive fatality . . . A snorkeler gets swallowed by a whale . . . Dragon smugglers force the shut-down of Komodo island . . . Real-time data every dive computer should have . . . A diver’s coastal clean-up makes him a hero . . . A lucky Trinidad diver survives a 44-mile swim . . . Don’t deny that dive injury . . . and much, much more.

Use That Late Deployment Surface Marker Buoy

A surfacing diver was struck and killed by a speeding speedboat in Port Phillip Bay in Australia during a Sunday afternoon dive at the beginning of May. Melbourne police are currently hunting for the driver who has yet to be identified. Again we remind readers of the merits of a DSMB to mark where you might be surfacing although it’s unclear if the casualty was using one or not.

Subscribe Now, and Get My New 36-page Seven Super Dive Resorts (and one meh)

Subscribe now, and get my new 36-page Seven Super Dive Resorts (and one meh) mailed directly to you. For a very short time, you can receive eight months of Undercurrent for only $29, as well as gain immediate access to 15 years of back issues and more than 10,000 honest resort and liveaboard reviews submitted by our experienced readers. And, I’ll send you full reviews by our anonymous writers of a great Fiji escape, a Cozumel dive operator catering for serious divers, a two-resort budget combo of Indonesia, undiscovered diving off Grenada, and much, much more. If during your trial subscription you are dissatisfied for any reason, I’ll return your $29, no questions asked. To subscribe at this special rate of $29 for eight months, simply click here.

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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