Diving Adventures

 • August Cozumel Dive Trip

New Items at MidCoast Scuba Center

• DC800 Camera

 • Light Weight Travel Luggage

• LED Light

• • SeaCure Mouthpieces

Promotion

• Get Some New Dive Buddies & Get a New Camera

Courses

 • Personal Dive Computer Specialist Workshop

 • Enriched Air Nitrox Computer Diver  Course

 • Digital U/W Photography Course

 • Equipment Specialist Course

August Dive Vacation to Cozumel- Bring a Friend at Half Price!

Higher airline fees got you thinking about skipping a Caribbean dive vacation? Check out our special pricing for the August trip. 2nd diver goes half price! That should more than make up for increased ticket prices and checked luggage fees! For more information click here.

New Toys for Scuba Girls and Boys

New Digital Under Water Camera

By the time you read this we should have the new SeaLife DC800 camera in stock. The release date has been pushed back several times but SeaLife assures me they should be shipping about now. Read more. . .

New Light Weight Dive Travel Luggage

Save on overweight charges a couple of times and these bags pay for themselves. Read more. . .

The Airline Wars of 2008 Read more. . .

New LED Light

LED lights are here for divers. Longer battery life, whiter light, longer bulb life, no hotspots. Read more. . .

New Custom Mouthpiece

Improve the comfort of your dives. Read more. . .

Turn Your Friends Onto Diving, Get a Free Digital Under Water Camera Read more. . .

For course information click on the course title on the left

2nd Diver Goes Half Price Special!

August 30th ~ September 6th 2008

Looking for a tropical get away for your summer vacation? Join us in Cozumel August 30th - September 6th for 7 days of warm sunshine,  6 cool summer breeze nights and 5 days of beautiful 2-tank boat diving. With special pricing 2 divers, 6 nights, 10 boat dives, 3 full meals daily and more, each diver pays only $735.00 plus tax.

Choose your vacation dates.

Can't get the full week away? Read on and see about joining us for a shorter time, say 5 days or maybe only 3.

Plan on your evaluation dives for the specialty courses you'll be taking soon!

For detailed information and pricing on this dive adventure click here.

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE BEHIND?

I've been getting a lot of calls about lighter dive travel luggage. Lets face it the airlines are getting oppressive on the amount of toys you can take with you, allowing less weight and charging us more. We have some customers using travel cases weighing 22 pounds, leaving only 28 lbs. for equipment and clothes. It only makes sense to save from 5 to 12 pounds on the weight of your bag, allowing you to take more toys, (or bring back more souvenirs, like gifts for your favorite scuba instructor).

The Akona 188 (pictured on the left) has been advertised extensively. It weighs less than 10 lbs. and holds a full set of scuba equipment. After receiving a few phone calls asking about this bag I brought it in for review. It's dimensions are 29.5"x18"x9", total capacity 4,624 cu.in. Price is $165.95

The Stahlsac Jamaican Smuggler (right) is the newest entry in the light weight dive travel luggage field. At MidCoast we've been selling Stahlsac bags for over twenty years. Made in America with an excellent guarantee. This bag offers 6,480 cu. in. capacity with dimensions of 27'x18"x15", and weighs a mere 9.4 lbs. A great feature of this bag is that it will stand vertically by itself, the Akona does not. Price is $190.00

I've sold a few Akona bags by specific request but after reviewing both the Stahlsac and the Akona, the Jamaican Smuggler has become a stock item in the store as I believe it is a hands down winner. The additional room, features, and warranty are a bargain for the small difference in price. Come in and see one for yourself. Maybe it will save you some problems at the ticket counter.

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Are You Carrying On?

Current TSA Rules for Liquids
 

Fliers traveling from the U.S. are now allowed to bring limited quantities of liquids, gels and aerosols, including shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel and hair spray on board in their carry-on luggage, with the following caveats:

• Liquids must be in containers no larger than 3.4 ounces or 100 ml.
   
• All liquid containers must be carried together in a single, quart-sized, zip-seal bag which can be completely closed.
   
• At the security checkpoint, the plastic bag must be removed from the carry-on bag and submitted for inspection or passed through the scanner.

For more information visit www.tsa.gov/311/index.shtm.

Just when the airlines declared war on the American flying public is uncertain. What is certain is their main weapon is the added fee. One of the added fees is, as you may be aware, on checked bags. They want you to hire them to take you far away, they just don't want you to have any fun with your toys, or clothes to wear when you get there.

Currently, as near as I can find out, some are charging $10.00 for the first checked bag, all are charging $25.00 for the second checked bag and the fee for overweight checked bags now starts at $50.00

You can strike back with a strategy to take advantage of what is allowed under their rules, until they change them again that is.

• Maximize your carry on, most allow carry-on bags up to 45 to 51 linear inches and 30 to 40 lbs.
• Use light weight dive travel bags (see above).
• Take less clothes, use the hotel laundry service or even plan a trip to a Laundromat during your stay.
• Batteries weigh a lot, consider buying them on the island if possible, then donate them to the local divemaster before going home.
• Get light weight dive equipment. The diving at some destinations allows for full foot pocket fins, get a good pair of split fins for this type of diving eliminates boots and extra weight.
• Take lighter exposure suits with multiple light skins for layering instead of one thicker, bulkier, heavier suit.

Remember, even if you get stuck for extra fees, you are on vacation. Don't let the airlines ruin it for you, keep smiling.

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DC800 Front and Back

DC800 Digital Maxx Camera System

The SeaLife DC800

8 megapixel rated, a larger 2.7 in. LCD screen and wider spaced controls for easier use are just a few of the new features.

The new DC800 offers auto focus to 2" A longer battery life (over 2 hours or over 200 pictures) assures the diver of 2 full dives on one charge.

Depth tested to 200 feet and very rugged external rubber coating outside to make it shockproof.

The DC800 still offers the pocket size removable inner camera configuration (pictured left), for convenient topside use, contained in the housing for use under water or adverse conditions topside.

The DC800 is available with the new Digital Strobe released last winter as the PRO System or with double Digital Strobes, known as the Digital Maxx System. For more information on this camera click here.

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Many divers prefer the more natural looking light of white LED's over the yellowish cast of standard incandescent bulbs.

 Rated at 45-48 lumens. This is over 25% brighter than comparably priced LED dive lights from other manufacturers.

RATED TO 300 FEET

LED lights are the wave of the future, here for divers today.

The extremely popular series of PC lights from Ikelite is now available in a LED model. It uses the highest quality LED's for maximum brightness and durability, with a specially designed lens to disperse the cool, bright light for an exceptional beam pattern completely free of hot spots.

These LED's maintain their maximum brightness level much longer and without the low-battery "dimming" effects of traditional lights. When the batteries are nearly drained, the LED lights continue to emit a lower intensity output for hours or even days--long after incandescent lights have quit. This extended illumination period can make all the difference in an emergency

Highly efficient drivers yield an LED lifespan of 50-100 times the life of standard incandescent lamps, making replacement bulbs virtually obsolete.

LED's run cool and can be used for extended periods of time above water--making them the perfect choice for any adventure.

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The Digital ReefMaster Camera

Frogfish photo taken with a ReefMaster Camera

TURN YOUR FRIENDS ON TO DIVING AND GET A FREE DIGITAL U/W CAMERA

Do you need dive buddies? Remember friends don't let friends not dive!

At MidCoast Scuba Center we are offering you the opportunity (knock, knock) to earn a free underwater digital camera, (full value of $329.95)! All you have to do is bring in 5 of your friends over the next 6 months and have them sign up for open water scuba lessons. Lessons must be either the Deluxe or Advanced Course Open Water Diver packages.

Then take your newly certified friends diving and take their pictures. You'll be a hero. A hero with a new camera!

Don't have any friends? Console yourself by coming in and getting one at the special sale price today! For more information on this camera and accessories click here. Offer ends Dec. 31, 2008. Priced @ $329.95 on sale @ MidCoast Scuba Center for only $249.95

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The yellow plug aids in the molding process and works to seal the reg during storage, keeping out foreign debris and creepy crawlies.

SEACURE MOUTHPIECES

For a long time now many customers bringing in their regs for service had a new mouthpiece installed that we did not sell at that time. They loved it. Moldable, it fit extremely comfortably and offered no jaw fatigue.

Not wanting to miss out on a good thing, we investigated and found the inner circumference of the mouthpiece was smaller than the regulator second stage. This reduced the volume of air flowing through the mouthpiece and the performance of the regulator suffered. For this reason we chose not to sell it to our customers, but we still continued to see more and more of them.

Recently the manufacturer, SeaCure, offered a new high flow model, in a more attractive blue color, a little softer material and the opening problem solved so regulator performance was unaffected. I've  been diving with it exclusively for nearly 8 months and would never give it up.

If you are in the market for a small change that will improve your diving comfort I highly recommend this mouthpiece. Oh yes, I forgot to mention you may now get it at your favorite dive store, we have them in stock.

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SMART TEC PDC

Air-Integrated / Hoseless

SMART COM PDC

The Computer Diver Specialist workshop, will teach you how to bring your dive planning, execution and safety into the 21st century! Although many instructors offer no more than cursory information on diving computers, the fact is their use has become mainstream for diving today. Yet many divers lack the information on how PDC's may be used to increase their dive safety while allowing additional dive time.

You may desire an additional workshop on Personal Dive Computers (PDC's).

What you will learn during your Personal Dive Computer workshop

• The 3 Different PDC Configurations
• Features to look for when purchasing a PDC
• The importance of checking a PDC for proper mix settings
• The Advantages of Air Integrated PDC's
• Using PDC's to Read your NDL's for Single and Repetitive Dives
• Back-up and contingency dive planning using PDC's
• Ten Rules for Using PDC's Safely
• The Six Most Important Reasons for Using a PDC
• An Overview of Using PDC'S with Enriched Air Nitrox
• The Good and the Bad of Forward, Reverse, Saw-tooth and Square Profile PDC Dives
• Reading Safe to Fly Times and Slow Ascent Warnings of PDC's

No Open Water dives are required for this workshop, however should certification as a specialty be desired, two dives would be necessary for this workshop to count toward Advanced, or Master Diver certifications.

Prerequisite Certification: Open Water Diver Student in Training, or Open Water Diver

Minimum age: 10

Certification counts toward your Specialty Diver, Advanced Diver and Master Diver Ratings

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Photos taken with SeaLife Cameras

  SSI's new underwater Digital Photography course is hot off the presses. Perhaps you have been using an underwater digital camera and are not satisfied with your results, or if you have never used a camera before, topside or underwater, this course will have you taking photos you will be proud to show to your friends and family.

  The Digital Under Water Photography Specialty course offers you the ability to take only pictures...and leave only bubbles. Digital has take the underwater photography world by storm. Get in on the action with the MidCoast Scuba Center Digital Underwater Photography course. You can quickly and easily capture the underwater world with your camera and on your computer.

  During the MidCoast Scuba Center Underwater Digital Photography course you learn to use the SEA (Shoot, Examine and Adjust) method, which takes full advantage of digital technology. The result is good underwater photos faster than you may imagine.

  You not only learn how to take good photos, but how to share them with your friends via email or printing, optimize your work with your computer, photo storage and more.

For a larger view of this camera click on the image.

In the MidCoast Scuba Center Digital Underwater Photography Course you will learn:

• Choosing and using modern digital cameras and underwater housings.

• Using the SEA method for getting great shots quickly.

• Editing and sharing your pictures.

• The three primary principles for getting good photos underwater.

• The MidCoast Scuba Center Digital Underwater Photography course credits toward your Advanced and Master Scuba Diver Ratings.

• This is one of our most popular specialty courses and can even be started during the last pool skills / dive of your Open Water Diver Course. Ask us how.

Prerequisite Certification: Snorkeler / Jr. Diver / Open Water Diver

Minimum age: 10

Certification counts toward your Advanced and Master Diver Ratings

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Dry Suit skills are a foundation of all Technical Diving

 Want to stay warm and comfortable on your dives? In our dry suit course you will learn how to use a dry suit to improve your diving comfort and extend your diving season and options.

 Do you wish to become a Technical Diver?                      Dry Suit certification is a foundation of Technical Diving.

 In this course you will experience what it's like to dive and not get wet and cold. Since the dry suit is used for primary buoyancy control, this is a core skill ability that will improve your overall diving capability! It takes additional training.        

Here are the course highlights:

• Don and Doff techniques specific to your dry suit
• Dry Suit Buoyancy control skills
• Dry Suit Emergency Procedures
• Dry suit maintenance and storage
• Staying warm / Undergarment Options

Prerequisite Certification: Open Water Diver

Minimum age: 15

Certification counts toward your Specialty Diver, Advanced Diver and Master Diver Ratings

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  Learn the Basics of:

• Selecting and adjusting the components of your Total Diving System
• Performing basic maintenance on the components of your Total Diving System
• Traveling with your Total Diving System
• Performing basic field adjustments
• Caring for & storing your equipment between dive trips

 Discover in-depth selection, adjustment and care information on the systems that make up the Total Diving System:

• The Snorkeling System
• The Exposure System
• The Weight System
• The Air Delivery System
• The Buoyancy Control System
• The Diver Status Information System
• Certification counts toward your Master Diver Rating

Prerequisite Certification: Open Water Diver

Minimum age: 15

Certification counts toward your Advanced and Master Diver Ratings

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