8 Steps to Becoming a Sustainable Diver

What is Sustainable Diving?

And why is it SO important?

Sustainable diving: the practice of diving in a way that has little or no negative effect on the habitats we’re diving in.

Think about it… You are entering a world that is in no way, shape, or form yours.

It belongs to someone else, respect it as you would expect strangers to act in your home!

Hanging out with this turtle in his home =)

Every year more and more people are participating in scuba and snorkeling. If not properly educated, these individuals can contribute to already harsh conditions placed on the oceans eco systems. Luckily, with a little guidance divers can explore the underworld and not only leave it unharmed, but leave it better than you found it!

Being able to explore a world so different than our own is something we are incredibly lucky to get to do.. lets keep it that way!

So now the question is..

How do I become a sustainable diver?

Here are 8 steps YOU can take to do YOUR part in keeping our ocean safe..

1. Do not touch anything!

It may seem harmless to touch parts of the physical environment underwater, but even the slightest touch can upset the eco system and cause long term damages. Make sure you are always aware of your surroundings, your fins, and avoid coming into contact with any of the reef and marine life.

Remember, we are not from this world, our make up is different and touching our hands to anything can be very harmful.

2. Get your buoyancy down

A great way to make sure your body and fins do not disrupt your surroundings is to practice your buoyancy control. Being weighted correctly and maintaining proper buoyancy will help you to not crash into the coral or marine life. Take some time underwater to find out what positions work for you, and practice fining techniques for increased maneuverability. This is a big part of becoming a sustainable diver!

Pro tip: improve your buoyancy by completing your Advanced Open water. As part of this course, you are required to complete a dive that focuses solely on peak performance buoyancy. Also, taking a peak performance speciality course will really enhance your diving skills.

3. Be conscious of your equipment and belongings

Make sure your SPG (pressure gauge) and any loose pieces of your equipment are tucked in. Often times, divers will not notice hanging items dragging along the reef disrupting the coral and marine life. Make sure to keep an eye on those hanging GoPros too! Be aware of your belongings, do not leave anything behind. Make sure not to drop any weights, torches or personal items/equipment. Secure all items before jumping in! Speaking of leaving things behind…

4. Trash that should not be in the ocean: pick it up!

Here at Coconut Tree Divers we like to leave the ocean better than we found it! This means picking up any fishing wire, bottles, plastic, cans, bags, anything that is not native to the ocean floor unless it has been there for a long time then be careful it could have reef life starting to inhabit it. Check with your dive guide first before taking anything from the reef that you are not sure about. If you want to do your part for the environment we offer a dive against debris specialty course, it’s great for all ages and certification levels.

5. Do not feed the animals

It make seem super fun or even helpful to feed the fish.. but it is not. Fish can become reliant on this practice, throwing off the entire eco system and food web. It may be hard to watch an animal fend for themselves but we really do not want to upset mother nature now do we!?!

6. Be respectful of the marine life

AKA don’t go chasing them and shoving GoPros in their face. Chasing the marine life can cause them a great deal of stress. This stress can cause transmission of diseases or death. Be respectful and always keep a proper distance.

7. Wear reef safe sunscreen

It is important to protect your skin when you are exposed to the sun all day on a diving trip. Protect your skin, but protect it in a way that protects our coral reef as well. Certain chemicals found in common sunscreens take a major toll on the health of our coral reef. Always buy reef safe SPF, you can check out our guide to buying reef safe sunscreen here. If in doubt wear a rashguard / t-shirt and a hat to protect yourself.

8. Pick an eco-friendly dive shop.

An important aspect to being an environmentally conscious diver is choosing a dive shop that reflects that initiative. Check out their website, email the shop and ask questions so you can get a better feel for what they stand for.

Education and best taught practices start with the dive shops and example sustainable divers we learn from. We want to support the dive shops that support sustainable practices so that together we can support the over all goal : to keep our oceans healthy.

We hope you now have all the ammo you need to become a sustainable diver! It starts with us, we need to do our part so thank you for reading and being environmentally conscious !!

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!

Want to keep up with all things Coconuts?! Make sure to follow us!

Instagram : @coconuttreedivers

Facebook: Coconut Tree Divers

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!

Who is Molson?

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If you follow us on social media you may be a wee bit familiar with this little guy…

But we figure it time he had a proper introduction!

Meet Molson

Molson is the newest and most popular member of the Coconut Tree Dive shop.

He is a pug who loves his mother and father just as much as he loves livin’ the island life in Roatan, Honduras. Molson may be an island pup but his name is a tribute to his Canadian dad, who so brilliantly named him after a beer: Molson Canadian.

Molson is no ordinary pup.

Nothing in life is free, and just like the rest of us… Molson pays his way through life!

Molson is officially employed by Coconut’s as the official Shop Watch Dog. Each day he works diligently to keep extra watch over the days events. His main responsibility (when he is not sleeping of course) is to guard and protect us.

Which he executes flawlessly, as depicted in the captures below

However, our Molson is a dog of many talents.

His other role responsibilities include: Moral booster, emotional support dog, and occasionally filling in on front desk duties.

Getting to know Molson

Molson has a zest for life and an affinity for cuteness. He is a friendly dog who loves all the cuddles. But don’t let those puppy dog eyes fool you, he may be cute as a button but he’s got all the sass and attitude as well!!

Lets get to know our dear friend Molson the pug a little better shall we?

Best friend: The rubber chicken. (His mother earns an honorable mention, but the rubber chickens is it)

Likes: Sleeping, chillin’ at the bar with dad, chewing on flip-flops, swimming in the ocean, playing with his sister Hela and the cat Swishy at home and lots of cuddles.

Dislikes: Being too hot, not getting enough attention, when people try to take away his rubber chicken, not being able to scuba dive

Biggest Dream: To be the first dog to scuba dive. Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, Molson wants to be the first dog to walk the ocean floor. (A pup can dream)

Favorite things to do: People watching on the steps of the Coconut Tree Dive shop

AND making new friends at the dive shop!

Biggest pet peeve: Men in pants. Our French mechanic who wears long pants he does not like lol. When mom and dad don’t let him beg at the dinner table at the dive shop…huff!

Favorite food: Peanut Butter and MEAT! Not together but he might be in heaven if we did this.

We love having Molson as a part of our dive shop.

He puts a smile on everyone’s face and we love watching how happy he is to receive all the love from customers, staff and passer by’s everyday. Come visit us as at Coconut Tree Diver’s Roatan and give Molson a squeeze, he would love to meet you!

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!

Want to keep up with all things Coconuts?! Make sure to follow us!

Instagram : @coconuttreedivers

Facebook: Coconut Tree Divers

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!

So You Think You Can Dive Master?

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Dive Master Internship

The decision to pursue a Dive Master Internship can arise in different people for many different reasons. For some it’s a bucket list thing, a way to prove something to themselves. Others it’s merely educational, or a great way to spend summer between semesters. For many this is a professional path, for those hoping to make a career of their passion.

Weary of giving a Dive Master Internship a go?

Whatever the reason for choosing to pursue their Dive Master, few will say they regretted the decision. You rack up on dives, learn a tonne, and get to experience the world of diving from a whole new perspective.

So why are there still people out there waiting to give it a shot? Time, work, and feeling unqualified are just a few of the excuses we hear.

Instructor Rachael arrived back in 2016 with 17 dives and a huge case of imposter syndrome. “I remember receiving my PADI Dive Master Crew Pack the day before my orientation. I pulled out all the books and papers and spread them out on the bed in my dorm and thought to myself-How in the hell am I going to learn all of this in six weeks?”

Two years later she is a full-time instructor, with multiple specialties, and a whole lot of dives under her belt.

It’s not to say it isn’t hard work…

Because it definitely is. However, challenges bring rewards and that is what these internship programs are all about. We decided to interview a couple of our previous Trainees on what getting certified meant to them. To ask what their motivations were, what their experience meant to them, and where are they now. Our hope is that in reading the experiences of these bad ass individuals it will inspire you to look at these sorts of challenges, whether that be within the world of diving or just in the realm of adventure living as something you not only can do, but something you deserve to do.

Barra O’Briain

A physician from Canada, definitely sticks in our mind as one of our keener DMTs. Barra first learned of Coconut Tree through his sons friend Taylor, who was completing his own dive master at the time. Barra was impressed with the skills and experience that Taylor was receiving and it didn’t take much to sell him on the idea.

Barra said “I arrived feeling pretty confident in my skills, but quickly found how much I had to learn when it came to assisting other divers and the diving skills necessary for the task.”

His mentor was roughly the same age as his sons but Barra took it in absolute stride, humbly absorbing, listening, and learning from his Instructors and his peers. He added a wonderful dynamic to the group.

When we asked Barra what he thought he got out of the experience he said,

“Now I assist and work as a DM on weekends on a boat off the coast of British Columbia. I am more confident in reading divers, assisting them, anticipating problems and dealing with them when they arise. I’ve also become a much better diver and confident in new and varied settings.”

Barra has been back to Roatan since and hopes to complete his full Tec Course at Roatan Tec Centre the next time he is back.

Meilin Mansilla

An architect originally from Guatemala, found Coconut Tree through a friend and came for the first time only to fun dive. When we asked her to tell her story, she answered so well that we think we’ll let her tell it herself.

Meilin is also the wonderful woman who designed our new front deck. [email protected] to find out more about her architecty work.

“It has always been rewarding for me putting my heart and soul to make happen what I put my mind to. I’ve always had big dreams and have worked hard to make them come true which, is a strength but also a weakness. Setting my mind to achieve working for the best architect in my country was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done, but it also made me a workaholic.

I came diving one time to Roatan and that’s when it hit me, I wasn’t fully living my life. I was successful living my life by my vocation as an architect, but what about my passion? Diving fills my heart and makes it literally explode with happiness and decided I wanted that on a regular basis, not one or twice a year

So, I quit my perfect job, I moved to the island and started my Dive Master to fill that emptiness of passion in my heart, that thirst of feeling alive and free; weightless. I have two jobs now, I’m a dive instructor and an architect and I’ve never felt more alive. Don’t get me wrong, balancing it is hard but nothing that is worth it is easy, it takes self discipline but I’m telling you: it can be done. ‘Balance it out’ I say, don’t forget to fill your heart with what passions you on regular basis and don’t forget to put into practice what other things you’re good at.”

Phil also does this crazy shit.

Philip Zaki

Phil from Germany will always be remembered as the guy who always wore shoes. To put him in perspective he’s the kind of guy that says international finance is ‘fun’. His long-term goal behind doing his dive master is to become a technical diver and has said that before embarking on the journey he really wanted to increase his dive experience. He believes firmly that there is no better way to learn something than to teach and share it with others

Secondly, he said “a DM internship brings me in a completely new work environment. Working in a b2b (business to business) environment in an office job myself, a b2c (business to customer) environment is a totally new experience for me and widens my view on such jobs. Let it be sizing people for their suits, estimating weights, or mopping the floor, there’s nothing healthier than some down to earth experiences if you’re coming from a place like I do” (he works in a big fancy office)

Lastly, he said he really enjoyed the camaraderie and being part of team. As a repeat solo traveler he says it’s a much less lonely way to do it.

Jina Gaechter

Originally from Switzerland, currently from wherever she desires, came to us to do her Dive Master for possibly the coolest reason ever. Her and her family live aboard their sail boat traveling all over the Caribbean, literally letting the wind take them.

Jina said, “First of all diving has become my passion the moment I started almost 15 years ago but, I decided to do my DM as soon as I changed my life style, which means living on a boat. I am surrounded by water everyday so why not learn more about what’s in it, and be part of it.

It’s like fireworks every time I go back down. With my DM I feel so much safer and more knowledgeable, I see so many things and I am able to help people more. On boat life I have the opportunity to jump in everyday and it’s never the same because we move from one place to the other.”

Her facebook and instagram are quite literally #wanderlust. Not everyone has the energy or patience to live life on a sail boat, but we certainly enjoy keeping up with her adventures.

Our Dive Master Internship is for everyone!

As you can see that the reasons behind the decision to do a Dive Master Internship are varied. These stories are only a small sample of those that we have heard in our shop. We have people come and do it during the summer in college and people who do it as a semester for credit in university. People do it in small bursts so that they can balance it with time off for work schedules and some people quit their jobs and leave everything behind. We have had trainees aged 18 to nearly 70.

Whatever your reason is, don’t let your fears hold you back. It’s not really any one ‘type’ that choose to come down and have this experience. It’s the desire for adventure and for knowledge that brings these people together. When we asked Ivan Liaw, a DM from Singapore (Now working and living in the U.S.) we think he said it best.

“It’s our dedication to the underwater world and those we interact with that defines us”

So quit making excuses and take the plunge (see what we did there?). For more information on how to get started contact us at [email protected] or have a look on our website!

Here is just a couple of photo’s of our trainees up to shenanigans…

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!

“Went diving yesterday. Like an idiot, he surfaced too quickly. Like a bigger idiot, he boarded a flight which is pressurized to 8,000 feet above sea level. Low pressure is killing him. Tell the pilot to dive until we can club baby seals out of the window.” -House M.D.

If you aren’t familiar with the popular TV series House M.D. that ran from 2004-2012 you must not have owned a television. It was made famous by the incredible, loveable, and detestable character Dr. Gregory House, and brought to life by actor Hugh Laurie—Total Babe. The average viewer loved the drama and darkly sarcastic comments but, to the medical world, the show left something to be desired.

Dr. Scott Morrison, a physician in the U.S., has been quoted by F orbes as saying:

“An average House episode may rate a C,” he says, “but that is still miles above any other show out there.”

Morrison rates the validity of each episode and storyline on an A-F basis, and if anyone would know, it would be this guy. His blog, Polite Dissent, has a medical review for—no lie—every single episode. Its unclear to us how Dr. Morrison finds the time for that sort of thing, but we’re grateful when stumbling upon it when embarking on this post.

Several ‘airplane experts’ in the comment section of Dr. Morrison’s blog are angry because the seating is totally unrealistic. So that part gets a D for stupid chair arrangement.

The reason we are writing about a medical drama on a diving blog is because—you guessed it—there is an episode with a diving related injury.

We don’t know about you guys, but whenever we stumble upon any reference, scene, or anything SCUBA related in a movie or on TV we get obsessed. Partially judging it’s objective accuracy, and partially just being excited to see SCUBA represented.

However, when searching this particular episode we found Morrison’s quote wholly disappointing; “I felt the medicine was decent this time, particularly the airplane scenes.”, and that was it.

Come on man, we want to know more!

To get you all up to speed, I will try and summarize the diving storyline, for those of you interested in more, we are looking at ‘Airborne’ Season 3 Episode 18 – Currently on Netlfix –

House and his boss Cuddy are aboard a plane leaving Singapore when this guy Peng starts to look really rough. He appears dizzy, nauseous, and is in obvious distress. His skin is grey and sweaty.

He then begins to vomit all over his food tray.

At this point, there is some – according to the comment section of Dr. Morrisons blog – questionable Filipino from the air hostess who then determines the guy only speaks Korean.

Super Unlucky.

So, House and Cuddy start doing what they do and the diagnosis jumps from thing to thing. They also realize that inconveniently this plane is flying over the North Pole and has nowhere to land prior to their destination. We then see Peng being described as having a fever, severe abdominal pain, and, a rash on the lower back.

Cue Dramatic and incorrect diagnosis.

Sometime later House shouts at the man to stand up. Peng is shaking, staggering, and, proceeds to fall down. Dr. House adds ‘Extension Posturing’ to the list of signs and describes Peng as having focal limb paralysis.

This escalates to a scene where House and crew are holding Peng down in order to cut what they believe to be a cocaine filled condom from his abdomen. The kid applies pressure to Peng’s shoulder and he appears to experience relief. House notices and repeats the same action on Peng’s knee, again, exhibiting relief. House puts the scalpel down and asks to see Peng’s wallet. Inside he finds a PADI card (We are not able to see the certification level) and a receipt for dive rental equipment from the day before. They call for the pilot to descend below 1524m. (5 000ft). It ends with Peng leaving the plane alive but on a stretcher.

The first aspect of the episode I wanted to investigate was the airplane. How could a commercial flight that travels from South-East Asia/China to the United States not have emergency landing sites? It turns out that it does. Although, Nunavut might not be teeming with dive doctors and recompression chambers it would still have likely been a better option than maintaining the altitude. We also read that in order to keep fuel temperature from freezing these flights often descend around 3000m over the arctic presumably increasing cabin pressure. This could explain why Peng’s symptoms worsened as they approached the U.S.

Also, would these airlines really just leave you to the mercy of these two doctors? We asked our friend Laura who has worked in the industry and she said that if a medical emergency did occur (dive related or not), protocol required the crew to inquire if anyone with medical training was on board, if not, they had an emergency line to call that would determine the status of the patient and provide EFR as needed. If necessary, they would be instructed to land the plane. She also recalls being briefed on DCS and minimum no fly times, 12 hours for single dives, 18 hours for multiple which, corresponds with DAN (Divers Alert Network) rules. Cabin crew required a minimum 24 hour window.

This portion of our episode is pretty cheesy. However, if they were able to land the plane at anytime, it sure would have taken away from the drama. It’s pretty misleading but, we will give the writers this one.

According to a study done by DAN , they discovered the acceptable minimum no fly times were difficult to determine because the low acceptable risk to the test volunteers. Incidences of neurological DCS were too high to continue testing. Basically they were able to find that the current rules (at 1% risk rate) were acceptable, anything below was unsafe to determine.

Next up, Peng was described as having likely experienced symptoms before he got on a flight that was then ascending to an altitude that at it’s highest would maintain a pressure of .76 bar (the limit for any commercial flight). So why did Peng do it? As a certified diver he should have been able to recognize the symptoms.

The thing is, is that this is a lot more common than you think. One of the first indicators of a DCS hit can be denial.

According to DAN;

The most common manifestations of DCS are joint pain and numbness or tingling. Next most common are muscular weakness and inability to empty a full bladder. Severe DCS is easy to identify because the signs and symptoms are obvious. However, most DCS manifests subtly with a minor joint ache or a paresthesia (an abnormal sensation like burning, tingling or ticking) in an extremity.

Most of these symptoms then get blamed on something else. Tight suits, heavy lifting, or, other non-diving related activities. So it’s not actually that unbelievable that dear old Peng didn’t recognize his symptoms. He is also an entirely fictional character so we won’t let this aspect stress us too much.

This is extension posturing. Doctors are able to determine injury types depending on the type of posture- And I am a child so I found the face on this drawing hilarious

Drama aside, lets break this down to determine if DCS is a plausible explanation for these signs and symptoms.

1. Dizziness- A clear and common indicator.

2. Nausea- And delightfully, vomiting.

3. Pain/discomfort- The most common symptom of DCS.

4. Rash on lower back– DCS related skin rashes tend to stick to the fatty tissue so this seems pretty accurate.

5. Severe abdominal pain- This one is a hard call, it was determined through zero communication from the patient so it’s lack of correlation with DCS doesn’t really prove anything.

6. Fever- A fever is actually what commonly helps doctors to realize that DCS is not the cause and more likely one of many other commonly linked symptoms such as those of dengue fever.

7. Staggering- Definitely a common sign. It should also be noted that anyone with suspected DCS should not sit or stand.

8. Extension posturing- Although this is not a commonly listed sign of DCS, it could occur in neurological varieties.

9. Focal joint paralysis- Again, this term specifically isn’t what is commonly used to describe the paralysis associated with DCS but it is understandably similar

10. Confusion/Strange Behaviour- Peng made very little attempt to communicate with the team trying to assess him, so we’ll go ahead and assume that this was another of the common signs of DCS.

Other than the glaring mistake of the fever, these symptoms seemed to be pretty accurate. Now, we have never seen anyone exhibiting signs of DCS to this severity but we would imagine that the actor embellished a little in his portrayal. The most concerning aspect of these symptoms are those suggesting neurological type forms of DCS, these would have required some pretty immediate action. So the signs and symptoms for the most part pass the test, the emergency first response does not.

The kicker though for us was the final scene where House finally figures the whole thing out. Pressure applied to a joint causing immediate relief? Sorry, but we called bull-@#$%. We are not a doctors but as a divers we have spent a fair amount of time studying and understanding Decompression Sickness. Some of us have even seen it. It was difficult to believe that a human body could exert the amount of pressure on a joint to simulate a change in atmospheric pressure.

A quick message off to DAN’s Medical Service Centre and we immediately received confirmation on our assumption,

Hello Rachael,

Your suspicions are correct, this is indeed misinformation. There is no evidence to suggest that mechanical pressure applied to a joint would result in any change in their condition. Please reconnect with us should you have any other questions or concerns. Regards,

Jonathan Gilliam

DAN Medical Services

It’s clear that some of this was complete garbage. The plane would have been able to land. They may have ended up somewhere near Santa’s house but, it could have worked. The flight staff also, would likely have enacted procedures for landing the plane at the initial symptoms. Especially had any of House and Cuddy’s terrifying diagnosis been correct. As Dr. Morrison would do, I give this section a C. It’s unrealistic, but delightfully dramatic.

Peng getting on the plane is far more believable. A lot of divers make the mistake of misdiagnosing their DCS symptoms and very often continue diving or get aboard flights. So this aspect gets an A. Although, House was maybe unfair for how many times he called him an idiot.

The symptoms get a B-. We struggled with this one, the symptoms are all bang on, except for the fever. A fever would be the indicator that proved this probably wasn’t DCS and therefore took the grade way down.

The final seen? An F. A big F, less than an F. It’s absolutely unrealistic. If you don’t believe us lets go ask Jonathan, or any other dive doctor for that matter.

All in all, though we liked this episode. It was funny, it got us talking, and it gave us fodder for this blog. If you guys have any other movies, shows, books, or whatever that you would like us to take a look at on the subject of diving let us know!

We’ll see you all next week.

Acknowledgements to Instructor Shane for informing me about the existence of this episode. Thanks to Laura for being my airplane expert. Obvious thanks to Jonathan and Divers Alert Network. Thanks to Forbes, Dr. Morrison, and all the guys on reddit who showed me how to read Morrison’s expired blog. Thank You to Conde Nast Traveler for having all the information about North Pole flight routes in one handy article. All of the articles that I referenced can be linked to in the section in which they are referred. Thanks Alexandra HG Photography for being my resource for epic dive photos.

We would love to have you come dive with us!

For more info on Coconut Tree Divers, schedules, courses, and pricing head to our homepage HERE!

To make a reservation head to our online reservation page HERE!