PADI GoPro Challenge 2010

We have a PADI GoPro night scheduled for Friday, July 23 at 6pm at the Holladay shop.

Have you every thought about taking your diving to the next level? Maybe even get paid to dive? Sounds crazy, getting paid to go diving!! This is the night to find out if that path is for you.

Never say never, come down and hear my story about how some of our instructors got into diving and where it lead them.

We are pleased to be joined by two good friends, first our PADI Course Director, Jon Rusho. Jon takes care of the Instructor Level Courses here at Dive Utah. We are also lucky enough to have the PADI Regional Manager for the Northwest United States, Barry Dunford, joining us for the evening.

Come down and hear some great dive stories, learn more about becoming a PADI Pro and maybe take advantage of some great class packages we will be offering that night.

Sand Hollow Dive Alongs 2010

It's that time of year again!! Time for Dive Utah's some dive-alongs at San Hollow.

August 14 and September 25*

The diving
We'll meet at the Sand Hollow State Park at the no boat area near the boat ramp at 10am. The entry fee is $10 per car and THEY ONLY TAKE CASH!! Sand Hollow Reservoir is located near Hurricane, Utah and north of St. George. It is an altitude dive so plan your dives conservatively. Water temps are in the upper 70's so a thin wetsuit is all that is required.

What Can You See?
Sand Hollow has a large no-boating area. Under the water in this area are a car, a plane and a buoyancy course. Fish are plentiful and friendly and there are rock canyons to swim around and explore.

Need Gear?
If you need equipment, let us know and we can give you a special package price for the whole weekend.

Got Classes?
Sand Hollow is the perfect place to take a class. Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Underwater Navigation, Search and Recovery, Peak Performance Buoyancy and Night Diver are just a few of the options at this dive site.

For more information or to sign up, please see a staff member or call 277-3483.

*This will be out annual Treasure Hunt/BBQ.

Ambergris Caye in Belize

Dave took a group of 12 down to Ambergris Caye in Belize last month. They stayed at the very beautiful Ramon's Village Resort. The rooms were thatched covered cabanas and the beach was perfect.

The diving was fun and all agreed that the 3 tank dive to the Blue Hole were the best dives of the trip. The divers enjoyed seeing nurse sharks and sting rays on several dives as well as the biggest puffer/porcupine fish anyone had ever seen.

A fun mid week side trip was taken to the ruins of Xunantunich. These great ruins are right on the border with Guatemala, in fact you can see into Guatemala from the top of the temple. They also did some un-Belize-able cave tubing as well.

Click on a picture to enlarge it.

Congrats to McCall!

Next time you are at the shop and see McCall's smiling face, tell him congratulations! Not only did McCall get married to the lovely Kimberly last month, he added to his string of conquests by passing his PADI Instructor Examination as well!!

Well done on both fronts!!

Dive In for Haiti

Dive Utah had a great turnout for the Dive In for Haiti Fundraiser!

Over 50 people attended and over $1100 was raised for the American Red Cross. We had 17 people take part in Discover Scubas, 6 people in an underwater Texas Hold'em tournament and numerous people bid on various prizes in the silent auction. We had Jazz and Bee's tickets, an ipod, gift baskets and gift certificates to various businesses.

A special thanks goes out to the Adams Family, Little Caesars Pizza, Leonhardt Pepsi Distribution, Scubapro, Seadive, PADI, H&R Block and Mount Olympus Crossfit for their donations.

Sand Hollow Dive Along

On August 29, we had our Annual Treasure Hunt/Clean up/BBQ at Sand Hollow.

Sand Hollow is a new dive site for most of us in northern Utah, but folks in St George have been diving there for a few years.

The visibility is great (30'+), the water is warm (high 70's) and they have sunk a few items to make it interesting.

We had about 45 divers and non-divers come out for the fun and brave the heat (106*!!) Luckily the water was perfect to cool off in.

New Equipment

SCUBAPRO's polished-chrome A700 second stage harkens back to diving's glory days. Air-balanced valve technology, precision user controls and an oversize exhaust valve all help create a first-rate breather.

The Mk 25 first stage is a balanced piston design with five low-pressure ports mounted on a swivel turret. This reg delivered stellar performance on the breathing machine. In fact, the more you stress the Mk25, the better it behaves. In the water it's smooth and very dry in all positions, and exhalation is effortless.

The VIVA dive/predive switch is well marked and does a good job of preventing free-flows.

Equipment Special

Buy Scubapro mask, snorkel and fins and receive a 100% credit toward the purchase of a Scubapro regulator, BCD and computer! For example, if you spend $300 on Scubapro snorkeling gear and you will receive a $300 credit toward Scubapro scuba gear!!

The fine print: You must all Scubapro mask, snorkel and fins and then all Scubapro/UWATEC BCD, regulator set and computer.

This deal is good until October 15, 2009.

Go Pro Challenge with Dive Utah and PADI

Do you dream of living the dive life but haven't taken the plunge? Want to spend your days diving instead of sweating it out in an office? If so, now's the time to jumpstart your career as a PADI Professional by entering the 2009 Go PRO Challenge Contest.

To enter the 2009 Go Pro Challenge Testimonial Contest, simply complete a Professional-level PADI certification (Divemaster or above) before 30 September 2009. Then, submit a home video (or captioned photo) describing “Why I Became a PADI Pro.” Submit the winning home video or photo and you’ll win the $10,000 US prize.

The PADI Pro who submits the most passionate testament to living the dive life as a PADI Pro will win the contest and the $10,000 US. A First Runner-up Prize of $1,500 will also be awarded.

Interested in becoming a Divemaster?
An Assistant Instructor?
How about a PADI Instructor?

See the 2008 Winner!

Underwater Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny visited Blue Lake last weekend and Dive Utah was there to reap the rewards. Apparently, the misplaced bunny, long a childhood favorite, mistook Blue Lake as a city park and started scattering eggs. A long night in Wendover could be the cause for the confusion. The divers on hand took advantage of the situation and found as many eggs as they could. Good visibility and spring like weather made for a great time. After the divers had retrived the eggs, an embarrassed bunny gave out prizes for all the good little divers!

A big congratulations goes out to Cortney Curran.

One of the Holladay shop's Divemasters, Cortney took the jump and became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN MAKE THE JUMP AS WELL.

Dive Utah-Holladay is proud to now be recognized as a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center.

This honor is bestowed on dive shops that can show a commitment to quality dive education, a responsible nature for the environment and exceptional customer service.  

We can know offer ALL levels of PADI training including Instructor Level Courses and continuing education for PADI professionals. 

We are pleased that PADI has chosen to award us this distinction.  With that in mind, if you are looking for a scuba "bailout" program, call us about becoming an instructor and making money doing what you love!!

Robert Jensen took the Carbon County Search and Rescue Team out for training last weekend at Scofield Reservoir.  Both the air and the water were a balmy 30 degrees. 

Yes, it was time for our annual ice dive.  While it might not appeal to every diver, diving under the ice is one of the most unique dives you will ever do.  You need to have some prior dry suit experience and have your Advanced Open Water. 

Join us next year and we guarantee you will win every "been there, done that" conversation that comes up!

Dive Utah and PADI are teaming up to offer more local diving opportunities.

Using PADI’s Specialty of the Month program, Dive Utah will offer
local dives that feature the various PADI specialties.  Come out for
a fun dive with the Instructors and Divemasters of Dive Utah or take
the specialty class at a discounted price.  PADI Diving Society
members who register for the class and buy the materials can
earn prizes from PADI.  For more information on the PADI Diving
Society follow this linl - http://www.padidivingsociety.com.

We will also offer a photo contest at each of the dives.  Prizes for
1st - 3rd place.  1st place will be put into a drawing for a California
dive trip. 

Click here for the next Local Dive

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dive Utah instructor - Rich Judson.
Rich had his business card pulled during a raffle at the annual DEMA Scuba Trade Show and won a week on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands.  He (and we assume his wife) will be staying 5 nights at the Palm Hotel and diving with Cane Bay Dive Shop and Dive Experience. 

Have a great time!!

On the Horizon

We just returned from a trip last weekend on the Horizon. This live-aboard boat is based in San Diego and visits the Channel Islands.  The weather was great, sunny and calm seas with air temps in the high 70’s and water temps in the mid 60’s.  It is lobster season and many bugs were caught.  A highlight of the trip was diving Santa Barbara Island and having sea lion pups diving with us during the day and at night!! 

Check out our blog for day by day and dive by dive details.

Congrats Bruce!

Congratulations to Bruce Boyd. Bruce is a regular customer of ours and an avid spear fisherman.  It was recently confirmed that Bruce now holds the WORLD RECORD for a Lake Trout taken by spear fishing.  He took this 36 lb lake trout at Fish Lake on October 25, 2008 with an AB Biller 54” Padauk spear gun he bought at Dive Utah. 

Well done Bruce!! 

DEMA

Jim and Dave and several of the Dive Utah staff had a fun filled trip to Las Vegas for our annual scubadiving trade show - DEMA.

DEMA isalways fun as our vendors, training agencies and dive destinations gather under one roof.  It give us a chance to see what is the latest and greatest in toys and travel. 

We made a few small purchases there and you will be able to see some new product in the shop just in time for Christmas.  We will have new travel items from McNett like micro-fiber towels - perfect for traveling since they don’t take up much space or weight.  We will also have the latest sandals from Shaka Shoes.  These are super comfortable and perfect for dive travel.  We will soon have some new watches from Freestyle and a new digital camera/housing line from Intova. Watch for Christmas specials soon!!

Bear Lake Dive Along

On August 16, Dive Utah held their annual Treasure Hunt/BBQ/Clean-Up.  This year we visited Bear Lake. 

About 30 divers enjoyed a beautiful day and some chilly water off Cisco Beach State Park.  After a briefing at 11 am, divers dove fornumbered golf balls and scoured the shore picking up trash.  Diversenjoyed exploring a small motor boat that was sunk by the Bear Lake Dive Team earlier this summer. 

The trash picker-uppers were rewarded with raffle tickets and after lunch the drawing began.  We had over 100 prizes with the grand prizes being 2 regulators and a dive computer.  A good time was had by all. 

A special thanks goes out to the Bear Lake Dive Team for their help with the BBQ’s.

Are You Becoming a Diver?

Ask any instructor out there and they can tell you that there is a difference between a person taking a certification class and a person becoming a diver. Taking a certification class is good, it's like taking your first ski lesson and learning the wedge or your first karate lesson and getting your yellow belt, it's good but it's only a start.

After that first ski lesson are you ready for the double black diamond trails? Of course not, you've only just started. So what do you need to do to progress and really start enjoying skiing? First you need some practice, you need to get out there and go. Second, you need to start looking at some proper fitting equipment. Everyone who has used rental ski equipment will agree that while it serves its purpose, it is usually not in the best of shape or the most comfortable. Third, you want to think about another lesson after you have had a chance to practice what you've learned, to build on what you've accomplished and maybe fix some bad habits.

The same is true with diving. We want you to get your black belt; we want you to go down those double black diamonds. We want you to experience all there is to see with diving. And to truly be able to do that, you need to be a Rescue Diver.

Why Rescue Diver? It means you will have logged at least 20 dives. That's the minimum for Rescue certification. It means you've gotten out and dove. It means you most likely will have gotten your own mask, snorkel and fins. Anyone calling themselves a diver needs at least the basics. It's fun to have your own stuff, it's more sanitary and it will make you more comfortable having familiar gear. It means you have your Advanced certification, a prerequisite for Rescue. Advanced means you can dive deeper and in different environments, like perhaps Night or Wreck dives. It opens up new areas that beginning divers aren't ready for. Lastly, having a Rescue certification makes you a better diver and better buddy. It means you can recognize little problems before they become big problems and that makes your diving safer.

At Dive Utah, we call this part of our BAD program (Becoming A Diver). We want you to get the most from your diving. With that in mind we are pleased to offer you the following:

Getting certified is good but using your certification is better.

Not certified yet?       Already certified?

Pictures by Duane Karren

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Click for larger image	Click for larger image

NEW FROM AERIS!!

In-Mask Air Integrated Dive Computer Technology.
The CompuMask HUD Mask contains a miniature liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, proprietary in-mask Digital Optic System, microprocessor, depth transducer, wireless cylinder pressure receiver, diver replaceable battery, and controlling software. The Digital Optic System allows you to keep your eyes focused on the dive while presenting critical dive data including: current depth, elapsed dive time, cylinder pressure, and dive time remaining. The optical lens provides a clear, highly magnified image of the LCD, which is viewable regardless of environmental conditions and may be seen clearly by the vast majority of people, regardless of vision.

• Hoseless air integrated technology
  
• In-Mask Digital Optic System
• Hoseless Air Integrated Technology
• Patented Air Time Remaining Algorithm
• Air, Nitrox, Gauge and Free Dive Modes
• Audible and Visual Alarms with
  User Alarm Acknowledgment
• Backlighting may be adjusted underwater for brightness as well as full-time or on demand use
• Includes ACI PC Download and Settings Upload Software and USB cable
• Diver-Replaceable Batteries
• Safety stop count-down timer

Galileo SOL
“What kind of dive computer would you design if you had no limits?”

This was the challenge undertaken by the engineering team at Scubapro-UWATEC. The result is Galileo, a completely innovative and new platform created by UWATEC, the dive industry leader since their first Aladin computer was introduced close to 20 years ago. Galileo by UWATEC is as revolutionary for diving as Galileo Galilei’s discoveries were for XVIIth century science. And science is the essence of Galileo. Galileo is a new state-of-the-art computer offering the ultimate in features and technological innovation for an extraordinary underwater experience.

• Exclusive Heart Rate Monitoring System
• Full-Tilt Digital Compass with Bearing Memory
• Extra large Dot-Matrix Display
• Hoseless Gas Intergration with True Remaining Bottom Time Calculation
• Predictive Multi Gas algroithm
• Updatable Processor that can be Reprogrammed via Infared by the User
• EN Certifi cation to 330m
• User-replaceable battery with tissue loading memory.
• Plus all the UWATEC Core Technological Features for which we are renowned

Galileo breaks with the past and the present to deliver the future of diving – today and features an extra large dot-matrix display with multiple screen configurations.  You can even pre-program your own messages.  Check out the latest in dive computers at either shop.

AERIS Dive Computers

Important information about the Elite T3 Dive Computers:
AERIS Customer Service has received several Elite T3 Dive Computers that were returned by product owners who experience similar problems with the Buddy Pressure Check feature.  Upon activating the Buddy Pressure Check routine after having previously checked their buddy’s pressure, the previous pressure value was still displayed instead of the message NOT AVAIL which is what should appear on the screen when the buddy is out of signal range when a check is performed. 

After extensive analysis and testing, AERIS programmers and engineers have determined that the portion of operating software used for the Buddy Pressure Check routine contains code associated with the Loss of Link routine that retains the last Pressure reading for a given period when the signal Link is removed. 

AERIS is offering a free operating software Upgrade to all ELITE T3 product owners to eliminate any inconvenience during activities involving Buddy Pressure Checks.  The Elite T3 unit’s software will be upgraded to revision r1c.  This only affects the Buddy Pressure Check routine.  No other features or functions of the T3 are affected.  Only computers with serial numbers below #1197 are affected. 

Bring your computer down to Dive Utah to have the software updated. 

Hoseless Air Integrated Dive Computer Technology. The Epic is so small and stylish you can wear it on your wrist to dinner as well as your next dive trip. Enjoy the freedom of eliminating a hose from your system, while enjoying the freedom of movement underwater with complete dive data at a glance.

• Hoseless air integrated technology
• The Epic may be programmed to read from three independent transmitters, allowing the user to monitor tank pressure from mulitple cylinders - even other divers!
• Nitrox programmable with up to 3 Nitrox mixes up to 100% O2
• Buddy Pressure Check™ - button press underwater scans for pre-programmed transmitters
• PC Download / Settings Upload Cable and Strap Extender included
• Safety stop count-down timer
• Audible and visual alarms
• Advanced watch functions including alternate time zone, stopwatch, lap timer, daily alarm, and countdown timer
• User-replaceable batteries

Halcyon BCDs

Regardless of whether you are diving at 30 feet on a coral reef, 130 feet in a wreck or at 300 feet in a cave, the key elements to diving are the same. Having an enjoyable dive remains the goal while good buoyancy, proper trim, suitable weighting, efficient propulsion and integrated life support are the fundamental skills that support safe and enjoyable diving. Halcyon's Multifunction Compensator, the heart of this unique diving system, is specifically designed to give divers a distinct advantage in these critical areas.

Buoyancy:
The Halcyon MC System adjusts to every type of diving with the selection of the proper buoyancy and weighting system. Buoyancy compensation is available in both Eclipse and Pioneer systems specifically designed to maximize single tank efficiency while the Evolve and Explorer wings offer a range of lift choices and trim characteristics for double tank streamlining.

Weighting:
The MC System incorporates the use of detachable and non-detachable weight, adjusted specifically for each diver. The stainless backplate provides six pounds of non-detachable weight evenly disbursed across the diver's back. Alternatively, divers may choose the aluminum backplate when additional weight is not necessary.

The Halcyon ACB Weighting System now comes in sizes ranging from 12 pounds (six per side) to 30 pounds of detachable weight while V-Weights and Keel Weights are available for additional weight customization.

Trim:
The Halcyon MC System controls trim through the combination of weight distribution and stability offered by the 5-point Secure Harness. Removing weight from the waist not only prevents a sore lower back, but also shifts the center of gravity up to the central torso and facilitates a streamlined horizontal profile in the water. Proper trim is essential to reducing swimming effort and gas consumption, making dives easier and more enjoyable.

Propulsion:
The Halcyon MC System is designed to significantly reduce the effort required to move through the water not only by establishing proper trim, but also by reducing drag on the diver.

Merely doubling the surface area of one's BC results in a resistance that is four times as great and requires nearly sixteen times more energy to move through the water. The Halcyon MC System reduces drag by minimizing the diver's frontal area, resulting in greater efficiency and ease of diving.

Life Support:
The MC System provides divers with an integrated life support solution that accommodates a variety of emergency and utility lift devices. Signaling, lifting, and surface flotation can be stored "transparently" within the MC System Storage Pak.

The Halcyon Secure Harness allows for infinite adjustability, providing a perfect fit for all divers and diving systems. Men or women diving wet or dry will find the Secure Harness is without question the most stable and well-fitted design in the industry.

• Five point system insures snug fit and eliminates tank roll and drift
• MC Storage Pak provides "transparent" storage for alternate lift and signaling devices
• Bent D-rings facilitate one-handed storage of accessories like Scout lights or stage bottles
• Complete adjustability of D-rings eliminates inappropriate attachment points