This past weekend some friends and I went out on the water for a spot of fishing and skin diving. I took the Kalahari and Tugela with to see how they would perform. I’ve edited this little video to share the experience:
The Kalahari is rated to 100m WR with screw down crowns and case back, while the Tugela has the same features, but is depth rated at 300m and thus more suited for the water. Both watches are completely fine for snorkelling and skin diving. Both watches were fitted with nylon Zulu straps from the Draken store. These are super easy to put on and have the added benefit that if a springbar fails, the watch head will still remain attached to the strap, and your wrist.
It’s been a while since I have been diving, so it took a little getting used to. I probably overcompensated with the 7mm wetsuit, which made me float like a balloon. The 6kg of weight on my belt proved to be too light to hold me down under. After removing the wetsuit it became a lot easier to sink, but then much harder to float as the weight was now too much! I’ll have to take some time to fine tune my weights in the public pool before I go again.
I highly recommend to anyone to have a go at skin diving. You don’t have to be able to hold your breath for minutes at a time to be good at it. It’s more about the freedom to go under and explore for a while, and then come up for air. As you do it more you will become more comfortable and be able to stay under longer.
Always go with a buddy, especially when it’s in bodies of water that you are not familiar with. Have a good one!