There’s an underwater webcam in Bonaire. It’s about 15 meters below the surface at a dive site called “Something Special”. The local dive instructors keep it clean, so that must be fun to tune in as people are down there diving.

I always like watching webcams while I’m at work. I used to try to watch the Bra Boys surfing at Maroubra Beach in Australia, but with the time zone difference, it was normally dark. Tuning in at sunrise or sunset is pretty awesome though.

But, for those of us who’d prefer to be diving instead of sitting at our desk, maybe the Bonaire Underwater Webcam can help keep us amused. It’s gotta be better than a goldfish. Maybe I’ll have to use my second monitor to just show this….You can set the screen to refresh anywhere from 2 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on your connection. On 2 seconds, you can actually see the fish moving around.

If you’ve found any neat underwater webcams you’d like to share, let me know. We could all use an escape from the office.

So far over 600 divers have already registered to attend. There’s a bunch of interesting people exhibiting this year. Everything from my friends and fellow expats at About Australia who will be showcasing all the great Scuba Diving  in Australia to Cochran Computers and Single Divers. There should be everything from Individual Dive Shops, Scuba Gear and Scuba Resorts represented.

I can’t wait to go up to the Texas Dive Show. It’s on Valentine’s weekend, so it’s a good excuse to get out of town. If you’re anywhere within a few hours drive, come on over. We’ll be driving up from San Antonio.  Maybe I’ll see you there!

The Texas Dive Show is being held at the

Embassy Suites Dallas – Frisco
February Friday the 12th & Saturday the 13th
Show Hours Friday 5 PM til 8 PM
Saturday from 9 AM til 5 PM

Signal Flag Alpha

Diver Down Flag

Turns out in countries like Australia, the Signal Flag Alpha is the more recognized flag. At least out in the open water. It’s a Universal Maritime flag that means that a vessel has limited maneuverability due to a diver in the water.  Of course, this probably doesn’t help a couple of British backpackers who have rented a jetski for the day. They probably wouldn’t have recognized either flag, since all one needs to rent a jetski is a land drivers license. Maybe when operators rent Jetskis, they  should be required to inform renters of Dive flags, to avoid potential accidents. Next time you go diving, check out which flags are being used locally. Even in Australia, it seems Dive Operators that cater to International Tourists use the Diver Down flag. It’s on their shop window, on their T-shirts, painted on their boats. But they may still fly the Signal Flag Alpha while out diving. In the US, most people only use the Diver Down flag.

There’s nothing that says you can’t use both. So next time you’re out diving, feel free to use both flags. Then, whether you’re dealing with locals or tourists, hopefully they’ll recognize one of them, and steer clear of you.