SCUBA GEAR II - REGULATOR

A scuba diving regulator is the piece of equipment that enables a diver to breathe from a scuba tank.The compressed air inside a scuba tank is at an extremely high pressure, which could injure a diver who tries to breathe directly from the tank. A regulator reduces the pressure of the compressed air a diver breathes. 
In its most basic form, a scuba regulator consists of two parts, a mechanism that accomplishes the first stage of pressure reduction from the pressure in the tank to an intermediate pressure (called a first stage) and a mechanism that accomplishes the second stage of pressure reduction from the intermediate level to a pressure the diver can breath(called a second stage).


All modern scuba diving regulators have the following features

• First stage – Attaches to the scuba tank valve. The first stage reduces cylinder air pressure to an intermediate pressure and routes it to several hoses.

• Second stage – At the end of a hose is the mouthpiece you breathe through. The second stage reduces the intermediate pressure air to the exact pressure you need for breathing comfortably.

• Alternate second stage – This is just like the one you breathe from, but provides an easy way to share air in case you need to help your buddy. Sometimes the alternate second stage is built into the inflator on your BCD  

• Low pressure hose(s) – These hoses supply air to your BCD (and dry suit if you’re using one) so you can inflate it to increase your buoyancy.

• SPG (Submersible Pressure Gauge) hose – Sends air to your SPG so you always know how much air you have left in your tank.  

Optional Features of a regulator:

• Adjustable second stage – Breathing characteristics change during a regulator’s maintenance cycle. This allows you to fine-tune breathing so it’s always at its best.

• Dive-predive switch – Some regulators are so sensitive that they can free-flow when they’re not in your mouth. This just means they have runaway air flow, which is easy to stop but annoying. This switch makes your regulator temporarily less sensitive so it doesn’t free-flow when you’re not using it.

• DIN or Yoke – Regulators and tank valves are either DIN (regulator screws into valve) or yoke (regulator bracket slides down over valve). You’ll choose this based on which is most common where you dive.

YOKE Regulator

DIN Regulator

• Super Flexible Hoses—a nice option to easily pack and fit your regulator into your scuba gear bag. 

The Scuba Regulator is a vast subject that we can talk and talk for several pages, we did tackle in this post a basic information regarding scuba diving recreational Regulators.

BARACUDA POINT

Located in the Malaisan waters , currently the island of Sipadan is not inhabited and it is used as a military base.

people willing to dive on this island will have to be on a ferry boat or stay at one of the surrounding islands (Kapalai, Mabul, Mataking).

Is it worth it???  

Absolutely yes... having several diving spots where Barracuda points is one of them , Diving the BARRACUDA POINT will give you the unique opportunity to encounter tons and tons of fish and Yes the Majestic Barracuda is one of them, where you will have the opportunity to watch the barracuda tornado which is endemic to this area; other than barracuda you will encounter sea turtles, black tip reef shark, white tip reef shark, trigger fish, tube sponges and tons of other sea creature.

With a depth Ranging from 10 to 53 meters (33 to 175 feet) and a visibility that ranges from 20 to 30 meters (66 to 100 feet)  and the currents that may sometimes be strong , this Dive is for advanced open water divers.

Great Barrier Reef

 
The Great Barrier Reef,located at the shore of Queensland, Australia is the world largest reef system in the globe. It is said to be the largest structure on earth ever created by living creatures.

The Area of the Great Barrier Reef is 347 800 (squared kilometers) an area bigger than UK, Switzerland and Holland Combined.

The reef contains over 2,900 reefs which includes 760 fringing reefs and 300 coral cays. As the biggest coral reef in the world the great barrier reef is home to over 1500 species of fish ,4000 species of mollusc , 6 species of sea turtles and a host of sponges, anemones, worms, shells , sea starts , urchins.
Having stated the all the facts before , we it is known why the Great Barrier reef is one of the best diving destination of the world.

There are several diving spot that can be found all over the reef , we may be talking about some of them specifically during our next posts, but to its great value we have seen appropriate to specify a post simply to talk in general about the reef.

Dive Instructor

Dive instructor is on of the highest level  you can reach as a certification...
This certification is indeed taking Scuba as a career for you....
As a dive instructor your responsibility will be high... as you will be responsible and always diving with student (first timers) therefore your skills should be at their ultimatum and you should have good leadership skills.

i made it brief about the Scuba instructor because it is a very wide subject and i only wanted to give a small idea of this certification.
in our next posts we will talk about Speciality dive and tackle the technical diving experience.

Dive Master

A Dive-Master is a diving qualification used throughout most of the world in scuba diving for a diver who has overall responsibility for a group of divers. it also refers to the lowest level of professional Rating.

This is a prerequisite for the Dive Instructor Certification;
and the prerequisite for a Dive Master (Although they may differ from 1 organization to another) are:

• Open Water Diver Certification
• Advanced Open Water Diver Certification
• Rescue Diver Certification
• First Aid & CPR Training (preferably with [Automated External Defibrillator] training)
• 40 Logged dives

and the role of a Dive-Master  can be varied but it mainly consist of :

• Organizing, conducting and supervising recreational diving activities, both land and boat based.
• Assisting instructors in conducting diver programs.
• Acting as certified instructional assistants to instructors.
• Supervising participants in experience programs for uncertified divers.
• Generally supervising both training and non-training related diving activities by planning, organizing and directing dives.
• Teaching and certifying skin divers and snorkellers.
• Conducting scuba review programs for certified divers.  

                                                    

This Certification may be lot of work for some.. but for scuba diving enthusiastic... it is the first step into building your Scuba Career.