Right now Princess is offering on-board credits from $75 to $150 per person, which can be applied towards your dive excursions. Our experience has been that if the prices drop (they usually do as the date of the cruise approaches), and you have a deposit down prior to final payment being made, Princess can give you the new rates if you contact them. So to make sure you get the cabin you want, I urge you to make your deposit now rather than later. Final payment is due August 30, 2016, and I recommend that you wait until then to make the final payment. Oh, and by the way, prices are lower if you want to book more than two to a room (four maximum). I did one dive cruise with two other divers in an interior cabin with no problems.

An additional benefit of booking with the ADA Group trip is that each cabin will receive an onboard credit, amount to be determined later, depending on how many cabins are booked within the group. So, how simple is it to book this trip? All you have to do is call our Cruise Planner, Karen Bradder at 1-800-901-1172 extension 41643, and tell her that you want to book the Active Divers Group cruise and make a deposit. That’s it, no muss, no fuss, and you will be ready for an outstanding trip with ADA!! I will coordinate with our cruise planner to get the dive excursions arranged for all ADA divers but be sure and go online and verify that the dives you want are booked on your reservation.

This is a fantastic way to cap off the dive season in three World Class dive sites, so don’t miss out!

Basic Facts About Coral Reefs

Corals are ancient animals related to jellyfish and anemones. An individual coral is known as a polyp, a very small and simple organism consisting mostly of a stomach topped by a tentacle-bearing mouth. The polyps extend their tentacles at night to sting and ingest tiny organisms called plankton and other small creatures.

Thousands of identical polyps live together and form a coral colony. Each polyp excretes a calcium carbonate exoskeleton beneath it and, over long periods of time, the skeletons of many coral colonies add up to build the structure of a coral reef. Many other species – fish, invertebrates, algae and microorganisms – make their homes on and around this reef. Reefs only occur in shallow areas that are reachable by sunlight because of the relationship between coral and algae. Various types of microscopic algae, known as Symbiodinium, live inside of the coral, providing them with food and helping them to grow faster. In many ways, reef-building corals are animals that act like plants – they stay in one place and get some of their energy from the sun.

Coral reefs are found all around the world in tropical and subtropical oceans. They are usually found in shallow areas at a depth of less than 150 feet. However, some coral reefs extend even deeper, up to about 450 feet deep. Despite how important coral reefs are to life in the ocean, all of them in the world add up to less than one percent of the sea floor – an area about the size of France. Some coral live in the very deepest parts of the ocean. They are extremely unusual and weird looking.

PADI’s website promotes its Ice Diving certification this way: “If extreme, unusual and challenging scuba diving scenarios appeal to you, try diving under the ice. Ice diving is one of the most adventurous scuba specialties because you confront conditions and see beauty few others ever experience. Plus, you might get a chance to play with your exhaled bubbles on the bottom of the ice. Flash your PADI Ice Diver certification card to get instant respect, and usually a lot of questions from other divers about what it’s like under the ice. “

Because diving under ice places the diver in an overhead environment typically with only a single entry/exit point, it is considered an advanced type of diving requiring special training (although whether it constitutes technical diving is part of a wider debate within the diving community). Ice divers are generally tethered for safety. This means that the diver wears a special harness. A line is secured to this harness, and the other end of the line is secured above the surface by one of a number of methods.

The diver also can use a weight harness, integrated weight buoyancy control device, or a weight belt with two buckles on it so the weights cannot be accidentally released which would cause a run-away ascent into the ice sheet. Ice diving is a team diving activity because the diver’s line requires a line tender. This person is responsible for paying out and taking in line so that the diver does not get tangled. Communication to the diver, or to the surface, is accomplished by pulling on the line. Each series of tugs means a different thing. There is a diver suited up and ready to enter the water at a moment's notice. This diver is a safety diver, and has his own tender. His purpose is to assist the primary diver in the event of a problem.

To enroll in most Ice Diver courses, students must have Advanced Open Water Diver certification and be at least 18 years old. The key component of Ice Divers’ equipment is a dry suit. Unlike wetsuits that soak up water and use the water in the suit to create a thermal barrier, dry suits are waterproof and keep you dry by creating a seal at your wrists and neck. All dry suits need a special watertight zipper and have inflators and exhaust valves to allow air pressure to be regulated to create a thermal layer to protect from the cold.

Typical areas of study for Ice Diving Certification include tendering the tether line, use of ice diving equipment, such as how to secure ice screws and anchors, safety procedures and ice diving protocols. Those who enjoy the sport say that the visibility is unparalleled under a sheet of Arctic ice.

As reported at http://www.scubadiving.com/training/basic-skills/dangerous-diving-jobs, Rob Robbins, supervisor of dive services with Raytheon Polar Services, started ice diving in 1979. Now, after 1,458 ice dives, he's the venerated father of Antarctic ice diving. Roughly 20 scientists, whose dive projects have been approved by the National Science Foundation, show up on the last continent every year. "We've had scientists trying to figure out why fish don't freeze when the water is below freezing, studying penguin physiology, and even working with sea urchins," he says. His job is to keep them alive through training and in-water support, something that's not an easy task given that scientific divers often only meet the barest minimum requirements-certified for one year, have 50 logged dives, 15 in a dry suit, and 10 of those within the past year.

The cold, of course, is the first challenge. With water temps at 28.5F, regulators can freeze and free flow, so divers use two. "We train them how to take one regulator out of their mouth and put another one in," he says. "It's amazing how hard it is to find your mouth when your face is frozen." They dive under ice eight to 20 feet thick, an overhead environment where the key to surviving is always knowing where the entry/exit hole is. "The visibility is so incredible under the ice when the sun is out, sometimes as much as 800 feet, that we don't dive tethered. Instead, we have a drop line with flags and strobes." The same visibility that makes it easy to find the hole is also distracting. "You see whole landscapes under there, ranges of hills, valleys." The visual wonderland is seductive. "I've briefly lost sight of the hole three times," he says. "And let me tell you, it's a very, very bad feeling."

If any member of the Active Divers Association has been ice diving, I am sure I will hear about things not mentioned here about what PADI calls its “coolest certification area.” The coldest water I was ever in while wearing scuba gear was 55 degrees, and that was cold enough for me. Cool or kooky? I think ice diving is both.