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Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: A Advanced Open Water: Follow up certification after Open-Water Diver; allows for deeper Air: A gas mixture containing 21percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and 1 percent other gasses (mainly argon); compressed air is held in a tank for scuba diving. Apnea: Breath-holding; apnea diving is a type of freediving, but in scuba diving you should never hold your breath. Ascent: Rising to the surface when diving; typically at the end of a dive. Ascent Rate: How quickly a diver returns to the surface. You should never ascend faster than your bubbles as a safety precaution. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: B Backroll: Entering the water from the side of the boat, back first. BC/BCD: Buoyancy Compensator. This is the harness divers wear that hold the air tank and connects to the regulator. Bends/Bent: The pain a diver feels when suffering from Decompression Sickness (DCS). See DCS definition below. The bends often occur from ascending too quickly. Boat Dive: Scuba diving that requires a boat ride to the dive site. Bootie: Scuba gear divers wear with open-heel fins. Booties can range from thin (1 mm or less) to thick (7 mm) neoprene and protect your feet from the cold as well as sharp rocks and other hazardous things you could step on when shore diving. Bottom Time: The length of your dive. Buddy: The person you dive with; this is the person you discuss a dive plan with and you are both responsible for keeping each other safe. Buoyancy: (Positive, Negative, Neutral) Buoyancy refers to your position in the water. Things that sink are negatively buoyant; things that float are positively buoyant; scuba divers should be neutrally buoyant (floating in the middle). Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: C C-Card: Proof of scuba certification that you receive after completing your training course. This is necessary to go diving without an instructor for open water divers and is proof of any secondary/specialty scuba training and certifications you have. Call: To “call a dive” means that you are choosing or being told to end the dive and return to the surface. Cave: A hollow place in the ground, typically of natural formation. Cave Diving: Entering a water-filled cave system either on scuba or freediving. Cave diving can extend thousands of feet into a cave system for people who are properly trained. Cavern: A semi-enclosed area (often a rock formation) where you can still see the entrance and Certified Diver: Someone who has completed scuba diving lessons through a training organization and is able to dive without an instructor. Certification Agency: An organization like PADI, NAUI or SSI that trains people to scuba dive. There are over 100 agencies that do this, but not all certifications are valid worldwide. Check-Out Dive: These are the dives completed outside of a pool (can be in a lake, ocean, spring, quarry, etc.) to prove that you’ve mastered a set of scuba skills and are necessary to complete scuba certification. Confined Water Dive: Dives conducted in a pool or other shallow, current-free underwater environment so that students can master training and skills in a safe, controlled environment before completing open-water check-out dives. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: D DAN: Divers Alert Network DCS/Decompression Sickness: When bubbles of gas (often nitrogen) get trapped inside of the body. There are varying levels of severity, and can be caused by swimming to the surface too quickly. Depth Gauge: A piece of scuba equipment that monitors how deep you are during your dive. Most dive computers serve as a replacement for depth gauges. Dedicated Dive Resort: Accommodations that focus on scuba diving experiences. They often have a dive shop onsite, and include diving in the booking fees. Dive Computer: A piece of scuba gear that monitors depth, bottom time and a ton of other information about each dive you complete. All dive computers are different, but they are an alternative to planning dives with dive tables. Dive Instructor: This person has gone through many trainings and certifications (open-water, advanced-open water, rescue diver, divemaster and more) so that they can teach others how to scuba dive. Dive Light: A flashlight designed for use underwater. Dive Operator: A store, boat or lcoation that will take you to go diving and often can certify you as well. Dive Table: Tool that helps determine how long you can safely stay underwater at different depths. Developed by the military to keep divers safe from decompression sickness Divemaster: A professional-level scuba diver who has logged at least 60 dives and who is trained to assist instructors on dive boats and during certification courses. DPV: Diver Propulsion Vehicle. A handheld and operated scooter or motor device that allows divers to move faster underwater. Drift Dive: Diving in a current, often from a boat. Once the dive is complete, the boat picks you up at the surface. Dry Bag: A bag to keep any items dry that aren’t waterproof. Drysuit: A type of exposure suit that keeps you dry while diving; used in cold-water dive conditions. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: E EAN: Enriched Air Nitrox. This is a form of mixed-gas scuba diving. Entry: Getting into the water either from shore, boat, etc. Equalize/Equalization: Putting air into an open area to compensate for the change in pressure. (Most commonly ear equalization for scuba divers.) Exposure Suit: A garment worn to keep divers warm and help protect them from cuts, scrapes and other elements. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: F Fins: The scuba gear that you wear on your feet to help you swim faster/with less effort. First Stage: Part of a scuba regulator; this attaches to the air tank. Freediving: Diving deep or staying underwater for extended periods of time without an air tank. Frog Kick: A technique for kicking your fins underwater. The bottoms of your feet move at each other like you’re sitting Indian style to propel you forward. This is a helpful technique to avoid kicking up sand. FSW: Feet of Sea Water Full-Foot Fin: A fin that covers your entire foot and most often doesn’t require you to wear a bootie. Scuba Diving Terms and Phrases: G, H, I, J, K, L Giant Stride: A method of getting in the water where you take a large step off…
We recently had the privilege of taking a trip down to Sodwana Bay (South Africa). Our journey started in Pretoria, and took us (roughly/about) 8 hours to reach our destination – Emoyeni Dive Lodge, although the trip was long and most of the way kinda boring we were still holding out with excitement to see the ocean once again and to have an exciting adventure in Sodwana Bay! Our first day, we settled in our “new Chalet” which we would be calling home for the next 10 days. Packed all our clothes away, got comfortable with our new layout of things and went for a quick drive down to the beach (+- 15 min from our location). It was really awesome to take in the ocean after such a long drive – worth every penny spent. Quick tip if you are planing on going to the beach in Sodwana Bay, get yourself a Rhino Card which will set you back R250 per person. Its a once a year subscription fee that gives you access to any of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park gates for a measly R5 p/p per day – Community fee. You will be paying a hell of a lot more per day without this card. Trust me we did that once! Heres the link to the website – sodwanabayinformation.co.za/rhino-card Sodwana Bay is a great place for snorkelling in the rock pools, and Scuba diving on the many reefs in the protected marine area, some dive charters cater for those who cannot dive and offer offshore snorkelling expeditions as well. Although this time round we stuck to the rock pools we still had massive amounts of awesome fun. There is plenty more Activities to do in Sodwana Bay but that is a topic for another time… We had an amazing experience with Snorkelling in the rock pools on the days that were not so windy and the seas were a bit calmer. We got amazing video footage of the mesmerizing underwater world, and even caught a small Manta Ray on video swimming around in the rock pools near the ”preek stoel”. Luckily we never stepped on it as we only noticed it on our video when we got back home. Here is another tip: Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see any fish on the surface above the water ‘cause most of the time they are keeping a safe distance from you, but are really close by, the moment you stick your head under the water you will get to realize how many fish truly are all around you. Also make sure to get yourself a pair of booties from your local dive shop. You will seriously need them walking in those rock pools. They are relentlessly sharp. Scuba diving is the most popular thing to do in Sodwana Bay. Although I do not have my Scuba Diving certificate yet, from what I have heard it is an amazing experience. Almost every Camp/Lodge I have heard of and seen all cater for scuba divers. Whilst we were in Sodwana Bay we took a day trip out to Mkuze Game Reserve, which is also part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. (You can also use youre Rhino Card to gain access there). It is situated about 30 min drive from Sodwana Bay driving to Hluhluwe. Although we never saw the Big Five, we were able to see a few hippos in the hideout area and lots of bucks. We will at least try again next time we go. Remember there is picnic areas around the Pan, so take a “tjoppie” with to Braai. The park also caters for board and Lodge where you can stay over night in a Chalet or in a tent. There is a gift shop + take away area as well. So come join the Community of Sodwana Bay, Zulu land and experience all the great stuff this great land has to offer! A special Thanks to Emoyeni Dive Lodge for accommodating us during our amazing Holiday!
Divers Alert Network South Africa DAN Southern Africa is a Public Benefit Organisation that provides emergency medical advice and assistance for underwater diving injuries, and provides a wide range of research, education and training programmes that promote safe diving. DAN-SA is supported by more than 7 000 fellow divers with a further 400 000 international divers supporting DAN America, DAN Europe, DAN Japan, DAN Asia Pacific and DAN Southern America. Join Now >>>
Sodwana Bay INFORMATION LINK Find – search – book! www.sodwanabayinformation.co.za Can’t find what you looking for in Sodwana Bay… Use our INFORMATION listing website to find all and everything!
Sodwana Bay Diving Scene & More… Sodwana Bay is located on the east coast of South Africa, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. Coordinates: 27°32′S 32°41′ESodwana Bay National Park is a narrow strip of forested sand dunes located along the KwaZulu Natal coast. Proclaimed a national park in the 1950s, it is frequented by anglers and divers.[1] Sodwana is situated in the Maputaland Marine Reserve and the only scuba diving area along the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park (now renamed to Isimangaliso) coastline. Classified as one of the top dive sites in the world this 50 km reef complex boasts around 95 species of hard and soft coral, sponges, other invertebrates and around 1200 fish species. It attracts 35 000 scuba divers every year. Vast 700m deep valleys, submarine canyons, are strewn over a distance of 2 km. It was in one of these that on 27 November 2000 that the coelacanth was rediscovered. Although it is believed that in recent years fish species have declined significantly in this area of the South African coast, nothing could be further from the truth. Sailfish, King Mackereland all other pelagic species of game fish especially the Kingfish migrate south down the East coast of Africa and since the activities of Sea Pirates off the coast of North East Africa healthy populations of pelagic game fish again reach all the way South off the coast of South Africa which has again properly re-established Sodwana as a favored and popular sport fishing destination. Sailfish are again in abundance and present in large numbers since it seems that the sea pirates off Somalia have driven away the foreign illegal Far Eastern fishing commercial fishing trawlers. The bay is famous for visits by endangered marine megafaunas including Whale sharks, Great White Sharks, Hammerhead sharks, Blacktip sharks, Manta rays, Orange-spotted groupers, Potato cods, critically endangered Leatherback turtles,[2] Loggerhead sea turtles, and even Coelacanths, the ‘living fossil’ appear.[3] The discovery of presences of Coelacanths made the region world-famous. Whale watching targeting migratory or resident cetaceans is growing.[4] Bottlenose dolphins live here and have been observed to swim with whale sharks rather regularly.Humpback whales migrate here during winter to spring seasons while southern right whales and other species are less common due to respective recovery statuses that were severely damaged by illegal hunts by Soviet Union and Japan in 1960s to 70s. Orcas are also present in the bay waters. In the March 2011 issue of National Geographic, a short article titled Ancient Swimmers appeared, discussing the groundbreaking discovery of elusive coelacanths in the depths of Sodwana Bay and the surrounding area. A small section of the written article explains that: “Since this chance sighting, Latimeria chalumnae have been found in several pockets in and around the Indian Ocean. No one knows how many there are – maybe as few as 1,000 or as many as 10, 000. Because of the depth of their habitat, they have mainly been photographed by submersibles and remotely operated vehicles. Divers first documented the fish [in Sodwana Bay] in 2000; in January and February 2010, a specially trained team dived to take pictures of [another] small colony in Sodwana Bay, South Africa.” As a part of the continent of Africa, the land areas along the coasts are rich in terrestrial animals, too. the iSimangaliso Wetland Park was declared and various species such aslions,giraffes, elephants, hippos, rhinos are known to live here.
