A diver out of water
ArticleThe best ways to spend your surface intervals during a dive trip.
Sometimes I'm surprised when someone complaining about the lack of the TV in the room or cabin. Scary but true: we can live without the loud, flashing box. (OK, I'd miss the really entertaining Arabic music channels in an Egyptian hotel, but that's only an exception.) If there is a DVD, you can watch movies. Or probably only one single movie for several times? I've been to trips where I became crazy after the replays. One of the memorable movies was The Guardian with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher: they always had to stop because of the next dive and started from the beginning again 2 hours later. On my last liveaboard trip the hit was the Kill Bill. When I heard "What should we watch? Kill Bill again?" for the third time I went to the upper deck. But in the upper deck we had to be careful because in July in Egypt was extremely hot for sunbathing...
So I spent many hours in my cabin with reading. I confess e-books changed my life. I used to read a lot in the past but since I have my small netbook I read even more. Later I bought a real e-book reader and I'm happy with it: it's lightweight, on its memory there is space for dozens of books and it works for weeks without charging. I love it! Some guys prefer tablets which is nice for browsing the internet and reading as well, and I have one of those smart small gadgets as well. But for reading is my choice the e-ink technology reader and millions of people think the same, you'll encounter Kindles and their competitors during every trips.
Before you remind me I write a few words about the other people on the boat. Yes, you don't need any books, DVD-s, gadgets if you travel with friends. You hang in the bars in the evening or drink in the saloon of the boat. You discuss the dives and you hear nice, frightening or unbelievable stories from past trips. You make new friends, some of them you'll meet on future trips where you can share the same old stories. And there are the local dive masters who can tell you about the local conditions, myths and one in a lifetime encounters. Maybe you simply enjoy the sunset over the sea with your buddies. The dives AND the people who you travel with can make your trip unforgettable so be open-minded and don't worry if there isn't a TV around- the real life is way more interesting than the reality shows.
(average: 3) mild conditions 
