Posted on Sep 22, 2008 under scuba wetsuits |
Scuba wetsuits are worn by scuba divers to keep themselves warm when they are in cold water. They also protect the diver from sun exposure, jellyfish attacks and coral. They can also be worn by snorkelers and windsurfers.
Wetsuits trap a thin layer of water between the skin and the rubber of the wetsuit. Your body heats this water which insulates you against the cold and helps your body retain its heat.
To work efficiently and provide good thermal protection a wetsuit must hug the body forming an all over seal, particularly on the torso. It should be a comfortable and snug fit and not sag when worn. Water will escape from between the suit and the body if the wetsuit is too loose a fit, taking the bodys heat with it. Water retention is aided by the flexible seals at the suit cuffs.
Modern wetsuits are mainly made from thin neoprene, a stretchy synthetic rubber that is extremely durable, or a combination of neoprene and lycra. These are measured for the conditions by their thickness, basically the colder the water the thicker the neoprene required. Scuba wetsuits made of dense neoprene offer great warmth and protection. Neoprene comes in different thicknesses, from 2 mm to 6 mm.
A thicker cold water wetsuit will be required if you are diving in particularly cold diving spots, or if you are descending to a depth of 30 feet at least. The trade-off in terms of restricted mobility and better insulation was in the past a major consideration to the wearing of thick wetsuits. However, thanks to modern technology, wetsuits designed with a higher torso thickness are now just as flexible as wetsuits designed with lower torso thicknesses.
The choice of wetsuit you make can affect not only your recreation, but also your life. A diver has to be very discriminating as to the quality and material that goes into the manufacture of a wetsuit. You just can’t afford to take any chances with poor quality ill fitting scuba wetsuits.
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Posted on Jun 24, 2009 under Scuba Diving |
Santo diving offers access to some of the world’s finest reefs and underwater caves, together with two of the world’s most accessible shipwrecks. Hundreds of colourful and interesting fish can be seen on the reefs, and in the underwater caves.
Great reef dives can be found in most areas of the coastline. The dive operators tend to stick to the south-east coast, the location of the wrecks of the USS President Coolidge and the USS Tucker and an area known as Million Dollar Point.
Wreck and reef diving is suitable for divers of any ability, provided they have completed basic training.
There are two quality wreck dives just meters from the Vanuatu coastline, both highly accessible to those diving on the island of Santo. The wrecks are both American ships that sunk during World War II.
The SS President Coolidge is a American luxury liner that was converted to a US troop ship during the second world war. It sank just meters from the shore and is now the premium dive in Santo, Vanuatu, and generally considered the largest accessible wreck dive in the world. Novices can dive the main bulk of the ship, whereas more experienced divers can go deeper into the wreck to look at life on the inside.
The second wreck is the SS Tucker, an American destroyer that was stationed in Vanuatu during the second world war. Sadly it was accidently sunk by one of the USA’s own mines, and now lies just offshore, close enough to be accessible to those diving in Santo.
Santo diving includes the relatively shallow Million Dollar Point, where divers can see huge areas of military war surplus that was simply dumped into the ocean when the Americans left Vanuatu at the end of the second world war. This Santo dive includes ammunition boxes, military vehicles and even the odd bulldozer - items which understandably make this one the most popular sites when diving in Santo.
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