Scuba divers live for the opportunity to see large sea animals, and among the most desired encounters is the manta ray. These gigantic and graceful creatures have been known to grow as large as 25 feet from wing tip to wing tip, but encounters by scuba divers are typically with specimen much smaller than this.

While searching around on YouTube this morning, I spotted a video of one pretty lucky scuba diver.  I don’t know the details of this video, but it is purported to have been made in the waters off of Maui.  Take a moment to view this very short video and see the reaction of this diver after spotting an 18 foot manta ray.  I have to say that the underwater trim and form of this diver is pretty poor, but form errors must be forgiven when a diver encounters a surprise like this one.  It is pretty cool to see the reaction of this diver when he realizes what he has just seen, and is REALLY hoping it was caught on video.  Enjoy.

Phil Ellis

Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com

I caught a very interesting video on YouTube that clearly demonstrates the danger of deep recreational diving by divers who are not prepared and who are unaccustomed to this type of diving.  I know nothing about the dive that is documented in the video, but I think I can put together a pretty good factual story of how it happened.

A group of divers were making a wall dive in the Bahamas.  A dive master warned all divers that they should not go below 60 feet, unless that had an Advanced Open Water rating.  The two divers in “trouble” in the video may or may not have been experienced in deeper diving.  They were both counting on the dive master to “keep them out of trouble”.  They were distracted by the beauty of the wall and were busy taking pictures.  With their depth constantly increasing, and all of their attention focused on the photography, they never bothered to check their air.  They also were likely slightly impaired by narcosis from the depth.  Obviously, the dive master was not watching and left a portion of the group to their own devices.  Lucky for these two divers, another diver spotted them and was alert enough to know that they were getting themselves in trouble.  Take a look at this video and then read my suggestions (warnings) below.

Lots of lessons can be learned from this video.  I would suggest that ANYONE planning to go deeper than traditional recreational limits remember these points.

• Deep diving should be WELL planned in advance and all divers should be well skilled in calculating expected air consumption rates and the amount of gas available should be adequately planned to GUARANTEE a successful outcome.
• At depths deeper than traditional recreational depths, gas consumption is much larger than anything you have ever experienced.  At 140-150 feet, you gas goes away MUCH faster than you expect.
• Distractions, such as a camera, will allow time to pass much faster than you realize.  This has the potential to be extremely dangerous for any dives deeper than 100 feet, where available gas time with traditional recreational cylinders is very short.
• Narcosis at depth will give you the sense that all is well, even in situations where you are facing pending disaster.
• NEVER trust a dive master or anyone else to take care of you.  If all of the “experience” leave with the care taker, you are on your own.  Simply put, DON’T DO TRUST ME DIVES!  If you don’t have the skill to do the dive, you CAN’T use the skill of someone else to keep you safe.
• When someone, like the guy doing the video of the near-accident, “saves your bacon” in a situation like this, thank them profusely and LEARN A LESSON from the event.

I would like to thank the individual that posted this video.  All should be able to learn a great lesson from this.  Glad to hear that these two divers came away from this with only a scare.

Phil Ellis

Save on Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com

I am an unabashed free trader.  I have always been and always will be.  This is a rant most of my business associates have heard before, but I never tire of making it.  So, I will make it again here.

The distribution of scuba diving equipment, at the wholesale level, is very tightly controlled by the manufacturers.  Every local scuba store signs dealership agreements that tightly control how the store may resale the merchandise to consumers.  Restrictions on internet advertising and price issues are the most restrictive of all dealership provisions.

During the holiday shopping season, savvy shoppers are always looking for deals and discounts.  Newspapers are thick with sale pages and ads for the big box stores, ski equipment retailers, and speciality stores of all types, all offering the best prices of the year. Radio stations are saturated with 30 second spots highlighting the best prices from all sorts of retailers.  Your mailbox is cluttered with direct mail advertising, mostly trumpeting the great prices available to you.   In fact, if discounts aren’t offered, consumers will simply shop somewhere else.  Why would they spend their limited holiday funds to buy items that are no cheaper during this sale season than any other day of the year?  Consumers have a limited amount of money to spend during the holiday season; they just can’t afford to spend it where no bargains are offered.

You local scuba diving store is often boxed out of the gigantic spending season by their dealership agreements with the wholesale manufacturers.  Price advertising is typically limited to a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) for each individual item.  This MAP price is typically nothing more than 5% or 10% off of the published Suggested Retail Price, not nearly enough of a bargain to motivate consumers.  Some manufactures even specify Minimum Acceptable Resale Prices.  These rules actually restrict the ACTUAL price the dealer can charge the customer at the cash register.  Such rules make it almost impossible for the local scuba store to create any buzz or traffic during this season.  Why would the consumer buy a regulator (that they can’t use for several more months) during the holiday shopping season when the price is no different from the price in July?

Most will immediately say “Isn’t this illegal?”  Unfortunately, it is not.  Various Supreme Court rulings  over the past 100 years have made it perfectly acceptable for a manufacturer to insist upon price and advertising restrictions….all under the guise of “protecting the value of the product” and “providing margin protection for the dealer base”.  This level of manufacturer control was just reaffirmed last year in a landmark case called Leegin vs PSKS.  Your local scuba store simply has no latitude in light of these rulings and the restrictive policies of the scuba manufacturers.  The real impact of these restrictions simply forbids the local scuba store from enjoying the benefits of the largest spending season in the United States.

Those of us who operate scuba internet retail websites have found ways around these restrictive policies.  Stores with the capability and resources to operate a successful internet store are often more savvy at advertising, have larger budgets to get our message out, and are far more experienced at working with (actually around) the manufacturers restrictions.  Unfortunately, the average local scuba store is not in that position.

So, as the holiday shopping season moves into full swing and the money begins to flow, your local scuba store owner simply must put his head in the sand and hope for warmer weather.  No matter what he wants to do with HIS business, the supply restrictions prevent him from acting.

If any scuba manufacturers are reading this, I have a simple question….Just who are you protecting?  Who benefits from these restrictions?  Why can’t an American business man do what he pleases with product he has purchased and paid for?

Oh well, just my routine rant against those that block us free traders.  Maybe one day, someone will listen.

Phil Ellis

Discount Scuba Equipment with Full Factory Warranty