Farang Magazine

by Erik Olsen on

We’ll probably post some specific stories from this magazine as
time goes by, but I thought it was a good idea to draw attention to it.

Farang is the Thai word for foreigner (someone correct me if I’m wrong), and this magazine is dedicated to all things
Thai and, well, farang. From writing on Koh Samui to Bangkok to Koh Tao, there some great stuff here on traveling in
Thailand, including useful anecdotes if you’re thinking about doing some diving there. Of course, with the horrible
tsunami tragedy that hit Phuket and other parts of the country, you may not be making plans there anytime soon, but the
site is still worth a look.

What Big, Sharp Teeth You Have Mr. Great White

by Nino Marchetti on

Jaws. The mere name strikes fear of being fish food for some. Not if you are in Isla
Guadalupe though. If you’ve ventured to that part of Mexico, you’re most likely there to partake in an
Absolute Adventures Great White Shark Dive expedition. With
five day trips built for both the luxury and
budget travelers, the main focus here is getting you
as close as possible to one of man’s most love/hate relationship related creatues. Divers are put inside state of the
art cages which are 50 square feet and feature, among other things, external observation hatches to get a more up close
and personal feel.

One suggestion for those going on a trip like this: remember not to stick your hand out of the cage while holding a
bloody piece of meat. Great whites, unlike your pet poodle which will gently eat from your hand, tend to get a little
more crazy when it comes to feeding time.

A Honduran Caribbean Experience

by Nino Marchetti on

There’s a place in the Caribbean you might not think to go which is definitely worth checking out,
according to this AP article from USA Today. The island of
Roatan offers a variety of things to do for both economy and luxury
travelers, with scuba diving and fishing being two of the more popular items. This 40 mile island draws direct flights
from American cities like Miami and modern upgrades like Internet cafes allow visitors to stay connected to the outside
world. Carnival Cruises even makes a stop in Roatan now and again.

Swimming With the Fishes

by Erik Olsen on

The New York Times runs a nice piece today about quick scuba getaways. You know, scoot out on Thursday night, dive all weekend and then back in the office Monday or Tuesday. Turns out the phenomenon is on the rise, the old scuba in-out-in-out, as it were, my droogies. Among the groups offering trips are the PADI Travel Network, who organizes dive weekends to Cozumel (from whence a friend of mine just returned and said it was superb, so long as you stay away from the tourist hell of Cancun), the Caymans, to Key Largo and Key West. It seems the Bahamas are also big, with Nassau and Freeport on the list.

Generally, this means three solid days of diving, and so long as you give yourself time to decompress (literally) before you fly, you’re back for the Monday morning staff meeting. Beats trudging over ice-covered sidewalks along 5th Avenue.

The Perfect Gas

by Erik Olsen on

Almost every diver knows that the air we breathe is made up
mostly of nitrogen. That is the reason why scuba diving can be so dangerous. Under water, the pressures are so great
they compress nitrogen and you breathe a lot more of it into your system. At depth, your blood can contain more
dissolved nitrogen than at lower pressures. So as you rise from the depths, the higher density of nitrogen bubbles
expands quickly and can cause serious damage to your body. This is called the bends.

Divers know this, but many amateurs don’t know what alternatives there are to regular air. So, in the interest of
learning a bit more about diving gases, I am posting
this primer.
Regular Air or Nitrox? What about trimix? You want to know what you’re doing when you experiment with these different
gases. Each serves a different purpose and you’d never want to just go nitrox willy-nilly without doing so for a
reason. So take a look, and consider maybe even getting that next cert level when
you have the time.