Tips for Buying a Dive Computer

Do you dive with Nitrox?

If there's even the slightest chance of you using nitrox, or wanting to in the future, then it makes sense to buy a dive computer that supports nitrox diving. Generally, these dive computers only cost a little more, and buying one that can match your pace as you advance through your training and diving experiences will prove cheaper in the long run.

Do you want to show your cylinder contents?

Air-integrated dive computers monitor how much gas you have remaining during a dive, and your breathing rate. They will tell you how much time you have left at a given depth (whether that's limited by your remaining air, or your dive time). The dive computer can also work out, if you're breathing slow, that you've absorbed less nitrogen and therefore can permit you to stay down longer. Longer dives - what's not to love?

Wrist or Console?

Generally this is a matter of preference. Bear in mind that if you choose a console computer and don't plan on taking your regs on your next dive trip, you'll either need to hire and use a dive computer you might be unfamiliar with, or take the dive computer console off of your regs and put it on the hire regs. Some people go for the 'big watch' style dive computers and wear them every day. Our preference, especially for technical and cave diving, is for a large, easy to read wrist mounted dive computer.

Safety Tip

Time-to-fly is the time you must wait between your last dive and ascending to altitude. Most dive computers display the amount of time remaining until residual nitrogen levels drop to the point where the computer considers a subsequent dive to be the same as a non-repetitive dive. This time may be described as a time-to-fly. However, even after considerable study, flying after diving recommendations remain controversial and continue to evolve. Decompression sickness statistics from Divers Alert Network (DAN) make it very clear that no current decompression theory and computer algorithm is able to account for all the complexities of decompression introduced by flying after diving. Instead, we encourage you to follow the May 2002 Flying After Diving Workshop recommendations published by DAN:

For a single no-stop-required dive, a minimum preflight surface interval of at least 12 hours is suggested.

For multiple dives in a single day, or multiple days of diving, a minimum preflight surface interval of at least 18 hours is suggested.

Wait substantially longer (i.e., 24 to 36 hours) if you have done any decompression-stop-required diving.

The Hole, 13th Beach

Reef Dive | Shore access

Thirteenth Beach Ledge | © Phil Watson

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 12 m (39 ft)

Level: Open Water and beyond.

The Hole, 13th Beach (aka Bull Plateau) lies towards the eastern end of Thirteenth Beach, west of Barwon Heads on Victoria's Surf Coast facing south into Bass Strait. Charelemont Reef lies about 900 metres offshore.

This site makes for exhilarating snorkelling and diving when conditions permit. There is a plateau of reef covered in bull kelp and crayweed. Further out there is a drop off and an area of wonderful marine life.

Thirteenth Beach: The name is taken from the close proximity of the beach to the thirteenth hole of the Barwon Heads Golf Course. Thirteenth Beach is part of the 7 kilometres long section of coast between Barwon Heads (to the east) and Black Rock (to the west) and faces essentially due south. The beach receives waves averaging 1.5 metres, is moderately sloping and is in places fronted by bars. Strong permanent rips lie east of the Barwon Heads 13th Beach Surf Life Savings Club. Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary lies at the eastern end of 13th Beach. The western end is adjacent to the Black Rock sewer outlet and should be avoided. The beach is backed by a vegetated foredune for most of its length, including Barwon Heads to Torquay Road.

The Hole Parking
© Google Street View

Location: Barwon Heads, Victoria 3227
MELWAY Ref: Page 497 A6
Beach Marker: 30W

Parking: When heading south from Barwon Heads on Ewing Blyth Drive it curves right and becomes Thirteenth Beach Road. The first car park on Thirteenth Beach Road, past Barwon Bluff, is where you need to be. If you see lots of white water, head on home. If conditions are right, gear up and walk down the steps at the western end of the parking area onto Thirteenth Beach.

Entry/Exit: From Thirteenth Beach.

Ideal Conditions: Thirteenth Beach is a popular surf beach with plenty of strong permanent rips. Conditions need to be very calm with little wind, flat seas, and no swell to safely snorkel or dive here. The beach faces faces south, so light offshore northerly winds can be acceptable. See WillyWeather (Thirteenth Beach) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

The Hole, 13th Beach Location Map

Latitude: 38° 17.324′ S (38.288726° S / 38° 17′ 19.41″ S)
Longitude: 144° 29.216′ E (144.486934° E / 144° 29′ 12.96″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2022-04-02 13:37:42 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-03 12:43:22 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Barwon Bluff South, 964 m, bearing 102°, ESE
Barwon Heads, Surf Coast.
Depth: 1 to 12 m.

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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.