Culver City, CA – January 17, 2024 – The prestigious Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition, organized by the Underwater Photography Guide, has announced the results of the world’s largest underwater photo contest. Although the AI revolution has quickly changed the global photographic landscape, this year’s winners are a testament to humanity’s creative perseverance over machine. With new rules against the use of generative AI imagery in our primary categories, these photos are 100% real. This year’s best in show image features a rare and fascinating portrait of a Crab-Eating Macaque resolute ..read more

Dive computer manufacturer Shearwater Research has just announced the release of two new dive computers – the Tern and Tern TX. Designed with the sport diver in mind, the new Tern & Tern TX models are powerful, simple, reliable, and the most compact dive computers we have ever brought to market. The range includes the Shearwater Tern and the enhanced Tern TX, which boasts transmitter-enabled diving, capable of connecting with up to four Swift gas pressure transmitters and includes a digital compass for superior underwater navigation. With a watch-style form factor, the 1.3” diameter AMOL ..read more

In scuba diving, nearly every piece of gear is designed to go underwater with you and withstand the water, pressure, salt, and other elements encountered. Some equipment, like cameras, have underwater housings specifically designed to keep them dry. But what happens when you need to take things underwater that need to stay dry and protected, but don’t have with a water and pressure-proof solution available? That usually leads to either using an improvised solution, or leaving that item onshore. When diving offshore, I usually carry a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) that is waterproof down to 15 ..read more

The Mediterranean Sea begins at the pinch point where the Rock of Gibraltar strains to meet Morocco to the west and crashes on the shores of Syria, Israel and Lebanon to the east. Europe stretches to the north and Africa to the south. It is a body of water that is home to a rich history of civilizations past and present that have plied these waters for economic benefit, cultural exchanges and furious conflicts. And in the center of this legendary sea is the archipelago of Malta. The historical fortification wall around the city of Valletta The islands of Malta, Camino and Gozo lie just one ..read more

The Underwater Photography Guide is delighted to announce that it is accepting entries for the 2023 edition of the annual Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition – the 12th annual Ocean Art competition! This year’s competition features over $110,000 in prizes, making Ocean Art the world’s largest and most prestigious underwater photo competition. The competition attracts amateur to pro photographers across the globe. Fourteen categories, including new underwater fashion photography and underwater digital art categories, ensure all photo disciplines and cameras compete fairly, while the 50+ wi ..read more

Two Lake Tahoe scuba divers found more than crawdads and sunglasses while on a dive last weekend at Lake Tahoe’s Rubicon Wall. Christine Lewis and Sid Loomis were diving off Just So Scuba‘s charter boat Payah Kun on the Western shore of the lake when they spotted a mysteriously dark object that just didn’t fit into the surroundings. Like many man-made objects underwater, its shape and texture stood out from what is usually seen while exploring the rugged underwater cliffs near Rubicon Point. Divers enter the water near Lake Tahoe’s Rubicon Wall, with Captain Tom Loomis and Deckhand John aboa ..read more

The photogenic Alpha Tugboat The plane’s engines were in their familiar rumbling idle mode. Inside the cabin, the loud hiss of air flowing out of the vents masked the quiet of the passengers as they sat restlessly in their seats. Outside, the sun was shining, the wind was calm and the temperatures mild. By all accounts, a beautiful day for flying. Our first destination was Charlotte, North Carolina, through which we’d be making a connection to Palm Beach, Florida, and a quick check on our phones of the weather in Charlotte showed similar conditions. Words and Photos by Michael Salvarezza an ..read more

Home to 80 percent of all Pacific Ocean marine life and over 890 species of fish, famed oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s lasting reference to the Gulf of California’s unrivaled biodiversity holds true LORETO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR (April 26, 2023) – Nestled along the Baja California Sur peninsula, Bahía de Loreto National Park is a vast underwater paradise to explore, boasting dive sites for all expertise levels and terrain preferences, from shallow, luminescent dives to drift dives, deep dives, wreck dives, wall dives, sea mounts and more. An undisturbed natural area reminiscent of the tr ..read more

Somewhere, deep in the jungle… Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula (and nearby Cozumel) have been among of the world’s most famous dive destinations since the sport began in earnest in the late 1950s and 1960s. Before divers arrived, the area was a cluster of small fishing communities until 1961. That all changed when Jacques Cousteau told the world he had found one of the most beautiful snorkeling and scuba diving areas. Today, divers who visit Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, or Cozumel are treated not only to the world’s second-largest barrier reef with some of the clearest ocean water and abundant underw ..read more

In some cases, the best dive sites can be found off the beaten path – a place that’s difficult to find, harder to get to, or more challenging to dive. At one location on the island of Maui, there’s an interesting and rewarding dive site that’s in a very convenient location, easy to find and dive, and suitable for most levels of divers. Uniquely, this dive site is relatively new – it’s existed in it’s current state for just over 20 years. Great Idea, Bad Location The Mala Wharf is a steel-reinforced concrete structure that was completed in 1922 and originally intended to provide a means for st ..read more