You’re making me green with envy with all these great dives you guys are having All I’ve managed to get down in the Southern half of Australia is a few wary dives in Great White territory.
Bringing the wife, kids and scuba gear over in May/June, so I’ll be keen to get under.
Dive safe!!
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]
Everything looked pretty good except one of my dive computers has no power (empty battery perhaps) and my dive watch is also without power … than my dive gear backpack has jammed on corroded zipper pulls and I would like to know if that’s fixable (put new zippers in) as the bag is still in very good condition … all of my first stages look ok as they have been sealed all the time and my second stages look ok but maybe I should have them serviced … the BCD’s hold their air and the release valves work perfectly … my suits look still wearable … 
fins look fine although a little mangled from the time spent in the bags … straps look good … the gear has no or limited rubber-rot … the silicone masks have some color change, from clear white to yellowish …[/quote]
Hi again, sorry but for some reason Forumosa does not notify me of new posts on this board although I have double checked all the appropriate buttons are pushed and boxes checked :s I just scrolled up and noticed the post above. Hope you have all your dive gear fixed but if not… MJBs advice on the zipper certainly works, boiling water is the key if you want a quick solution the vinegar takes a while, just be patient keep pouring the boiling water and gently tapping and tugging the zips with a pair of plyers. I have fixed sevewral dive bags using this method. To prevent it happening again, lube the zip with spray on silicone grease or WD40 after every dive trip.
You should take all your regs in for a service, they will need to be broken down and all the O-rings will need re greasing and then connected to a tank and checked, get the guy to check and replace the high pressure seat in the 1st stage if it has not been done for a while. Same with your BCD lubricate the washers on the dump valves of your BCD then lubricate the O-ring on the low pressure inflator. Your fin straps and the silicone on the mask should also be lubricated.
Hope this helps. If you fancy getting back in the water again down in kenting or doing a scuba review course drop me a line. I will be happy to help.
Cheers.
While I am on here and thinking about it, here is another good link for scuba diving news and related oceanic subjects. you can subscribe to this as a weekly newsletter. underwatertimes.com/
Check out the subjects on the latest issue. They even have Taiwan on there.
Protestors: Japanese Whaling Ship Bugged With Transmitter; ‘They’re Not Going to Find It’
UN Report Says Fish Stocks Could Collapse Because Of Global Warming, Pollution
Wallet Missing For 36 Years Found Inside Shark; ‘I Was Wondering What Else Was In There’
Aussie Activists ‘To Arrest Japanese Whalers’; Interactions Could ‘Result in Criminal Prosecution’
Tahitian Fisherman Bitten In the Face By Shark; ‘Fish Surrounded Him and Attracted the Shark’
Russia’s Claim Under Polar Ice Irks American; ‘I Wrote the Procedures’
Bass fisherman snares scuba diver; ‘he never knew he was hooked in his wet suit’
Corals begin arriving at world’s largest reef tank; ‘corals can be very aggressive’
Jelly propulsion: Studies of medusan motion reveal secrets of the Earth’s first muscle-powered swimmers
Tons of dead fish wash up on Taiwan beaches
Sharkman demonstrates how to tickle a shark - and not lose your fingers
Florida deep-sea explorers now working Carolina shipwreck
Dead dolphin was near site of U.S. Navy sonar tests; ‘perplexing’
Putin gives medals to members of Russian expedition to stake underwater Arctic claim
Vivid colors: The secret language of fish; ‘mammals appear to have lost it’
Rubber worm inventor to be put into bass fishing hall of fame
Official: Sri Lanka’s coastal fisheries, reef destroyed by dynamite fishermen
At least 10 dead, 10 missing in Amazon River shipwreck
As South American rivers dry up, miners tap ocean
‘Lucky’, dog that survived gator attack, looking for a home
Jaw ripped off as 400 crocodiles fight over sexiest croco-doll
New York ice anglers caught taking 300 fish over their limit
Judge dismisses half of whale hunting case against Makah tribe
Hi divers,
Anyone up for a dive trip to Orchid Island over the long weekend in April 4th to 6th? (Tomb Sweeping ) For those of you who have been there before I don’t have to tell you how good the diving on Orchid is. Suffice to say it has an awesome wreck, 40M vis and outstanding marine life. Turtles galore, snakes, cuttlefish, morays, best night dive in Taiwan and last year we saw a Manta. Drop me a line or PM me if you are asap as the booking will have to be done pronto.
Cheers.
I can’t make the Orchid Island trip the weekend of Tomb Sweeping. Can you recommend any places to stay and dive shop/boats to use there. A few friends and I would like to go sometime later in April. I will make a post when the dates are set if anyone else wishes to come along.
Word of warning there. I took my mask to Koh Tao in November for a spot of snorkeling. It was a bit yellowish, too. Pinched the nose piece so I could equalize and the whole nose came away in my hand. Just as well I was at 4 meters and not 40!
Hi divers, just wondering if any of you will be going to the DEM diving show [demaasiapacific.com/] which is May 9th, 10th and 11th. I will be going up from Kaohsiung on the 10th, overnighting and heading back down on the 11th in the evening. Would be great to see any of you there, if you are going please PM me, leave your cell #, and we can hook up in the exhibition hall. It should be a great show. Lots of divers from the south will be there.
I will also be putting together my annual dive out to the fabled Seven Stars [May] soon so if any of you would like to come on board for that one drop me a PM too and I will keep you informed.
It’s not looking all that great for this this weekend. Once in the site, click Marine and then Wave prediction.
Note possible Tropical Depression off of SE coast.
Hey, I’m in Taiwan for a few months, and I would live to do some diving. I don’t have any gear with me, however. I was in Okinawa in April, and received my Padi Advanced open water cert. throught the Kadena Marina.
Would anyone like to buddy up. maybe give me some ideas on equip rental, and dive shops. I am in Taipei right now.
Thanks,
~A
Hi,
If you would like to come down south and dive kenting I will be very happy to point you in the right direction, hook you up with a buddy or dive with you myself if I am not busy with a course . I am planning a couple of fun boat dives in kenting on June 8th to celebrate World Ocean Day, you are very welcome to come along. Any other of you divers reading this are welcome too
Cheers.
[quote=“astonishedboy”]Hey, I’m in Taiwan for a few months, and I would live to do some diving. I don’t have any gear with me, however. I was in Okinawa in April, and received my Padi Advanced open water cert. throught the Kadena Marina.
Would anyone like to buddy up. maybe give me some ideas on equip rental, and dive shops. I am in Taipei right now.
Thanks,
~A[/quote]
Yesterday morning I was 20meters under on Green Island introducing some gin clear water to my cousin who dives La Jolla (San Diego shore dive) normally and needless to say has never seen any decent vis.
The sea gods delivered for us nicely, with vis in excess of 40meters, bathtub temperatures and sealife galore.
Summer is here 
I am greener than Cai Yingwen reading this. My scubadiving plans are on hold for another 2 months due to my recent accident. I must admit that i look forward to get down there.
This shit is eating up the coral around Green Island, and is most likely caused by human sewage that is dumped, untreated, into the water.
coral.noaa.gov/coral_disease … band.shtml
Swim with your mouth closed.
Thanks Surly and Truant for joining in on two back to back awesome NE coast dives…Perfect conditions, and not another diver in sight.
This was a very, very nice day to be at the ocean…Sweet.
THAT was Truant? I had no idea.
My brother is coming to Taiwan for my wedding in late September (08). He is keen on doing some diving while here.
He will not be bringing any equipment, so he’d need to rent everything. (Expected costs?)
Dive sites limited to Northern TW. Heard NE coast is good? Where exactly?
As he is unfamilar with Taiwan, he’d need a local dive partner. Recommendations (Expected costs?) (Been to these sites: taiwandivebuddy.com/, but not a lot on there…)
Apologies for the vagueness of my questions… :help:
[quote=“snowy”]My brother is coming to Taiwan for my wedding in late September (08). He is keen on doing some diving while here.
He will not be bringing any equipment, so he’d need to rent everything. (Expected costs?)
Dive sites limited to Northern TW. Heard NE coast is good? Where exactly?
As he is unfamilar with Taiwan, he’d need a local dive partner. Recommendations (Expected costs?) (Been to these sites: taiwandivebuddy.com/, but not a lot on there…)
Apologies for the vagueness of my questions… :help:[/quote]
Hi, If your brother can make it down to Kenting I would be happy to take him out diving, a full set of rental gear in Taiwan costs between NT$800 to $1,000 per day. Tanks are $200-250 each. If you look at my website [www.taiwandive.com] under ‘courses’ you will see a list of prices for Fun Dives/Discover Local Diving dives from a boat or the shore. Hope this helps.
Well some of us finally got around to doing the night dive at MJB’s wall on saturday. Got in the water about 930PM or so. Nice half moon out. Fishing boats reeling in squid in the background. The viz was a mucky 2-3meters. The entry was flooded and very easy to access. The tide was 1meter or so and easy to work through.
We dropped down to 12m with about 1 meter viz. But it cleared up around the backside of the first wall. Great big pipefish that looked like a banded krait on viagra, very aggressive porcupine fish, harlequin shrimp, hunting squid and bigass lobsters.
The best part though was the corals. They were out and about. Brilliant yellows and red under the lights. Fantastic things. Nice long dive for those who made it. 
Now, off to Sipadan for a week.
And I hear rumblings of an Orchid dive trip in the fall? Cooool.
“Now, off to Sipadan for a week.” hey Surly be sure to write that trip up. Try and do a night dive there too, if they will let you, it is awesome diving. Take some pics. I was a partner in a dive biz on Siapadan a few years back, our dive shop was just to the right of the pier about 100m I think the old long house building is now used by the park rangers.
Re trip to Orchid Island I will organise another one [last one this year] over the long weekend in October i.e. the 10th, 11th and 12th. It will be 2 boat dives per day with optional night dives on the 10th and 11th. Anyone with an Advanced Open Water certification or it’s equivalent is welcome to come. So if you or anyone else reading this is interested, please let me know asap as I will need to book the hotel and dive boat pretty soon.
Safe diving.