SCUBALAB’S GEAR OF THE YEAR ScubaLab’s team of divers tested 100-plus pieces of gear from eight different categories. Here are the results, with all of our Testers Choice and Best Buy picks from the year in dive.

IN THE REALM OF DRAGONS With bountiful soft-coral reefs, current-swept pinnacles, black-sand macro havens and expansive fields of hard coral, Indonesia’s Komodo National Park packs a surprise at every turn.

PHOTO CONTEST
Our 16th annual Through Your Lens photo contest received 2,636 entries from talented photographers in all corners of the globe, and many with unique and diverse shooting styles. The winners from our four categories—Behavior, Compact Camera, Wide-Angle and Macro—are sublime fusions of art and the natural world that remind us of all the beauty that can be seen beneath the surface.

A goby peeks over a sea feather in Anilao, Philippines. Photo by Enrico Somogyi..

WORLD LIVEABOARD GUIDE 
Everything you need to know to book the liveaboard of your dreams: health, safety and travel tips; what to expect during longhaul travel; and an in-depth look at more than 15 of our partner liveaboards.

DREAM BOAT
For most divers, any liveaboard is a dream boat, by definition. But if we were building a fantasy dive yacht, we’d use these features from real liveaboards that stuck with us long after our trips.

A WORLD AWAY
Sometimes a liveaboard isn’t just the best way to get to a primo scuba destination—it’s the only way. Here are six iconic spots around the globe, reachable only by dive yacht..

FIELD OF DREAMS
Meet the determined group of divers in the British Virgin Islands who, along with Mother Nature, have helped shape the underwater landscape and create new homes for marine life in the wake of destruction.

THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS
You don’t have to venture far from your quarters for a rewarding dive at these resorts with pristine house reefs that teem with life and opportunities for exploration. Just walk outside your room, gear up and go!

Start reading about what’s at stake, and what’s being done to protect it.

ASCEND
Mike Goldberg, who retooled his dive shop, Key Dives in Islamorada, Florida, to put conservation fi rst, earns this month’s Sea Hero honors.

THE DIADEMA DILEMMA
The crew and guests aboard All Star Liveaboards’ Cat Ppalu have a mission: Restore the population of long-spine sea urchins and protect the Exumas’ reefs for future generations of divers. It won’t be easy, but they’re up to the challenge.

GALAPAGOS: THE ENCHANTED ISLES
A true bucket-list destination, this hub of biodiversity at the end of the world teems with all the animals of your wildest dreams: whale sharks, eagle rays, hammerheads— the possibilities are endless..

ULTIMATE DIVERS GUIDE: HAWAII
Whether you seek wrecks, big animals or reefs filled with endemic species, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for here. Choose an island—Oahu, Maui, Big Island, or Kauai and Niihau—and start diving!

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
It’s hard to find an adventure that packs more adrenalin-pumping excitement than the annual Sardine Run off the coast of South Africa. Witness the mayhem as dolphins, whales, birds and fish dine in this underwater free-for-all.

189 MASKS, FINS, REGULATORS, BCs, COMPUTERS AND MORE

SECRETS OF OZ
TWO DIVERS DISCOVER THE MAGIC DOWN UNDER OVER 26 DAYS, 5,000 MILES AND 37 MIND-BENDING DIVES.

GEAR OF THE YEAR
ScubaLab dishes on its Testers
Choice and Best Buy winners
over a year of testing dive gear
in nine different categories,
from computers to cameras.


COCO LOCO
Costa Rica’s Cocos Island is a
magnet for adventurous divers
and the animals that bring
them there: hammerheads,
whale sharks and more.


THE CASE OF THE
MISSING METRIDIUMS
Our favorite sites are changing
before our very eyes, as
evidenced by this tale from the
Yukon in San Diego.

THE BEST MEDICINE With current comes life, and there are few better examples of this than Komodo National Park, where the flow helps everything from tiny critters to massive mantas flourish.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME There’s a gem of a dive just a few steps away from a Florida parking lot. And the treasures found here are so beloved by the local dive community that it’s willing to fight for them.

ISLAND OF GIANTS Offering the rare chance to encounter mammoth Asian elephants and blue whales on the same trip, Sri Lanka truly is the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.”

ASCEND Building a pro-level underwater photo kit is akin to completing a jigsaw puzzle—we talk to an expert to sort it all out; Sea Hero James Honeyborne might not be a household name, but his documentaries have influenced millions around the globe; a look at the perks of joining PADI Club; and hot new photo gear hitting the market. 

SCUBALAB Our team of testers put nine action cameras to the test, taking footage on dives around the world to determine the Best Buy and Testers Choice winners.

THE DIVE OF YOUR LIFE Every diver has that one underwater moment they’ll never forget. We asked a handful of stars whose celebrity reaches beyond the dive world to recount the dive they’ll always remember, and what made it so special.

CASINO REVILLA The remote Revillagigedos Islands in Mexico invite divers to let go and live in the moment. The payoff? Close encounters with sharks, mantas and more in this Pacific oasis for pelagic travelers.

ASCEND This month’s Sea Hero makes diving more accessible to kids with disabilities; seeking the secret to a thriving sea urchin population in Tela, Honduras; how to give your wetsuit a second life as a wallet.

METAL OASES The end of these five seagoing vessels was also the beginning of their new life as artificial reefs, drawing in signature species for fantastic photo ops and exhilarating underwater experiences.

DEJA BLUE Lured by abundant blue sharks, sperm whales, dolphins and more, a photographer returns to the Azores archipelago for surefire animal encounters almost 1,000 miles west of mainland Europe’s coast.

An underwater explorer inspiring the next generation of young tec divers is this month’s Sea Hero; three divers who are leading the way and breaking down barriers for women in the sport.

FREEZING TIME An international team assembles to protect the sunken fleet of Truk Lagoon—and develop technology that could save ships worldwide.

THE SILENT FLEET OF SCAPA FLOW A century ago, Germany scuttled its own fleet in Scapa Flow, making history and a fascinating dive spot.

WOULD YOU BUDDY-BREATHE WITH DANNY DEVITO? It’s a living for Hollywood stunt extraordinaire James Mitchell-Clyde.

THE ISLANDS THAT TIME FORGOT Slow down and take in the abundant marine life and topside grandeur at these six under-the-radar locales that give travelers a  glimpse into what it was like to dive the Bahamas and Caribbean islands of yesteryear.

HUNTING FOR AN ANGEL A team of divers braves the bone-chilling winter temps of the White Sea in northern Russia, searching for and photographing the extraordinary critters that thrive in the icy waters.

INDONESIA: THE ULTIMATE DIVERS GUIDE - Indonesia holds a special place in the pantheon of dive locales, but it can’t be condensed into a single experience. With more than 17,000 islands and covering more than 700,000 square miles, Indo offers everything a diver can dream up. Take a tour of Indonesia’s best, from Bali to the Forgotten Islands.

AFTERGLOW IN THE UNDERWORLD In the mountains of Poland, divers plumb the depths of a flooded mine shaft to uncover its dark history, as well as the fate of the unsuspecting miners who worked there 70 years ago.

UNDER THE PIER A Florida fishing spot shut down by damage from Hurricane Irma becomes a haven for diverse sea life and a photographer looking to make the most of the new diving opportunity.

ASCEND Tracking a freewheeling mako shark; ocean activism through street art;  studying the songs of humpback whales; clownfish — beyond the big screen.

TALES FROM THE DEEP These wrecks are much more than metal once you get the full story. 

THE GHOST FLEET OF BIKINI LAGOON Infamous in history, Bikini Atoll gives up its secrets to divers. 

THE INSIDE SCOOP Venture deeper along these tried-and-true penetration routes for a greater appreciation.

ITALY, SARDINIA STYLE Take a tour of Italy’s second-largest island, where breathtaking views of the coastline can only momentarily distract you from the Old World Italian charm and unforgettable diving.

MAKING IT COUNT Who better to spend a week with than the rock stars of the fish-ID community, Ned and Anna DeLoach? And what better place to do it than Bonaire, one of the Caribbean’s fishiest islands?

14TH ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST
Hundreds of talented photographers submitted their fi nest work — resulting in nearly 2,100 submissions — for the 2018 Through Your Lens photo contest, and the results are in. Our judges selected a grand-prize winner, along with top shots in Compact Camera, Wide-Angle, Conceptual and Macro categories.

OUT OF AFRICA From favorites such as the Red Sea and False Bay to emerging destinations such as Djibouti and Cape Verde, Africa offers unforgettable experiences where divers can reconnect with the wild.

BEST IN CLASS Savvy travelers scouting the Caribbean know not to overlook a small island in the Lesser Antilles called Barbados. The payoff? Quite possibly the best arsenal of wreck dives this side of the globe.

ASCEND
Australians man
the front lines
in the fight for the
Great Barrier Reef;
our June Sea Hero
asks you to see
food in a different
light; the back story
behind scuba’s
recreational depth
limit; fun facts
about moray eels.

DREAMS FROM THE DEEP Inspiration awaits among the thousands of shipwrecks perfectly preserved by the cold waters of the Great Lakes. Photographer Becky Kagan Schott brings the wrecks to life with a fresh perspective.

AGAINST THE FLOW You’ll find the island of Tobago in the far reaches of the Caribbean Sea, but its color, biodiversity and all-around excellence resemble a dive destination typically found half a world away.

ASCEND An emerging artist offers tips for aspiring photographers; spreading the  gospel of coral conservation; stop sucking — discarded plastic straws are polluting our oceans around the globe. 

SCUBALAB Our team of test divers dishes out eye-opening  results on 24 new masks — find out which took home the Testers Choice and Best Buy honors.

ON THIN ICE Will Arctic sea ice — and the animals that depend on it — become extinct by midcentury? Explorer and  photographer Jill Heinerth documents the impact of human activity on this fragile ecosystem.

STRANGER THINGS Join the wild mating of hundreds of bumphead parrotfish in Palau, then make a night dive with the ocean’s “Twilight Zone” creatures. It’s the underwater version of the Upside Down in Netflix’s Stranger Things.  

SEA CHANGE When Hurricane Irma rolled over South Florida in 2017, it impacted some of the region’s most popular wrecks. Before-and-after maps from Reef Smart show some of the dramatic, deepwater changes.

TRAINING The most important aspects of being an underwater shooter; an instructor makes a fatal mistake while leading a student.

CURRENTS We'll trade a liveaboard trip for your best underwater photos; meet the women taking on one of the hardest dive challenges in the U.K.; Salt Life's best T-shirt yet. 

ENCOUNTERS It's all about the blubber; getting caught in the middle of a shark fi ght; a popular shipwreck with a shady past.

ENCOUNTERS
Baja boasts close encounters of the shark kind; trading in your boat for a snowmobile in icy Greenland.

SCUBA LAB
The best of the best: We've rounded up our favorite gear of 2017.

LESSONS FOR LIFE A dive goes south after a shooter loses track of her buddy.

WIDE-ANGLE OOT CAMP The diary of a new shooter's crash course. 

SHOOTING STARS You see their photos every month; now read their stories.

SCUBALAB We tested 11 computers for intuitiveness and ease of use.

What lies beneath Hungary’s 1,000-year-old capital? One of Europe's most exquisite cavediving experiences. 

What you need to know before making the jump to tec diving; communicating clearly and effectively underwater.

Sailing and diving in the British Virgin Islands aboard the world's largest trimaran; getting lucky on the purpose-sunk wrecks off southeast Florida; living on island time in Grand Cayman.  

We test 20 new regulators in a range of prices for setup, clearing, ease of breathing, and more.

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Scuba Diving is the magazine divers trust for gear reviews, cutting edge training information, underwater photo & video tips, travel information, and much more. Whether you are a sport diver, an old pro, or a new diver looking for lessons, Scuba Diving has something for you.

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Scuba Diving - December 2018

Scuba Diving - December 2018

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