Shore Diving and Photo Equipment

I have never been to a place where shore diving is the main course. I have done a few shore dives at other locations but mostly warmup dives and very few with camera. I have been thinking about this for an upcoming trip to Bonaire where I plan to do many shore dives. It seems that carrying a housed DSLR and strobes along with fins etc. for shore entries might be a little cumbersome. Does anybody have tips that might help in this regard?

Also, any other tips concerning security would be appreciated. I have been told not to carry anything in the vehicle that can not be taken on the dive. I assume this means a lot of stops back at the room.

I dive almost exclusively Shore dives here in Sydney ('cos I've spent too much on gear to afford boat dives ) The main thing I do is use a good shoulder strap to carry the camera around, underwater it doesn't weigh much but when you have to carry it a long way on land it can really be a pain, If your strobes don't want to behave themselves and flop all over the place you can use a bungee or Occy strap (what do you guys call them?) while walking to keep them in place. As for gearing up when you get to the site with fins etc. I suppose the only advice I can give is be sure that you can do the dive your looking at with the gear you have, I've done a few dives at alternative locations to the one planned simply because the entry or exit point looked too risky to attempt while carrying my gear .... lucky we are spoilt for choice as far as Shore dives in Sydney go.

I’ll put my two cents in here since I live in Lauderdale by the Sea...Shore Dive Capital of Florida, and I live across the street from the ocean and I do most of my diving as shore dives.

I to have a S2 Pro and my own built housing. I’m using a single Nikonos SB 104 and it’s not all that light or compact.

It hasn’t been all that much of a problem with all that dive gear and camera equipment as long as you plan a little.

I make sure my strobe is a close to the body of the housing as possible. I use a extra large o-ring that goes around the flash head and it’s secured to one of my handles. This is important because the wave action when entering the ocean will take the strobe. It’s also important to have a lanyard attached to one of your handles if you don’t have a buddy to hold on to your camera. It’s very difficult to put your fins on with one hand. It’s a lot easier to attach the camera to your BC and free your hands so you can clean your mask and make other adjustment.

I always wear a wrist compass. It’s very important to know were you are at all times. I always go against the current at the beginning of the dive, and start my return back when I have used halve of my tanks pressure. It’s always faster and easer to go back with the current, but be for warned. Currents can change direction and can be going in the opposite direction in the middle of your dive. Local knoll age can be most helpful when your diving in unfamiliar waters. Play it safe and return back after you’ve used one third of your tanks pressure. You can always use up that extra air closer to you entry point. Always tell some one what your plans are before you beach dive.

That way some one will know where you are if some thing happens and you don’t return on time.

Remember their no dive master on the boat taking a head count.

I have been to Bonaire many times and have rented a jeep and have done many beach dives in the northern part of the Island. It was wonderful and adventurous, it comes highly recommended.

If you are concerned about your valuables, rent a car that you can lock and hide the key.

I believe the people on the island are very nice and respectful of tourist, but their is always the exception.

Marc

Most of the little shore diving I've done has been at Tulamben, in Bali. Entries and exits are usually not a big problem there, but on a couple of occasions the waves have been big enough to make things difficult. The fact that the "beach" is made up of large rocks has been a concern.

One approach is to have a buddy carry your fins into the surf so that you can concentrate on keeping the camera safe. (If you're both carrying cameras, one diver can still carry both sets of fins and wait beyond the surf line, and the other can bring the cameras out one at a time.)

As mentioned by Marc and the redoubtable "Scuba_Kiwi", if you're shooting wide-angle with long strobe arms, having a reliable arrangement to keep the arms under control for the walk to the dive site and the entry is very important. I use a system of three fastex clips that makes the entire housing and arms into a rigid triangle.

I also have two "suicide clips" attached near the middle joint on each strobe arm. Either (or preferably both) can be clipped on to D-rings on the chest straps of my harness, allowing me to have both hands free to put on or take off fins etc.,

Having both hands free is also vitally important if you want to release a delayed SMB (submersible marker buoy) - or need to render assistance to another diver either on the surface or underwater.

Incidentally, I personally consider handling an SMB to be a fundamental skill, which unfortunately is not part of the standard PADI course curricula. If this is something you're interested in knowing more about, here is the link to an article I wrote a couple of years ago for Asian Diver:

Surface Survival Techniques (from Asian Diver Annual Edition 2002)

One final matter worth thinking is arranging to keep your housing damp until you can get it to rinse tank. A small towel folded up inside a pocket (or hidden on the beach near entry/exit point), soaked in sea water, can help keep the housing and its seals from drying out while you're walking back to your car or whatever. Keeping a large bottle or two of fresh water in the car (in addition to what you need to drink after a dive) to rinse off the housing might also be worthwhile.

Robert,

Excellent article!!!! I am really impressed with Asian Geographic and Asian diver and I intend to get a subscription ASAP.

I talked with Larry and Denise Tackett at a recent conference - and showed him some of my RAW files from the S2 and how to convert them. He seemed pretty interested, and I think they are going to give a try. I will have to ask him about his water survival incident - that sounds pretty scary.

Sincerely,

James