Unified Team Diving has figured out a really cool way to combine scuba diving with stand-up paddle boarding (SUP).
UTD developed an inflatable stand-up paddle board that has places to lash scuba tanks and other equipment onto it, making it easy to drive to a beach, paddle out to a dive site and return. Once the dive is done, users can explore the surface.
“I was trying to get out to the reefs off of San Diego more,” Unified Team Diving CEO Andrew Georgitsis tells DeeperBlue.com. “The problem with fiberglass boards is that they can’t carry your weight along with your dive gear. So then I saw those inflatable river rafting boats. I contacted the company that builds them and they said, ‘Yeah, we build inflatable SUPs,’ and sent me a 4-inch/11-cm thick sample but it still didn’t have enough lift.”
After some tinkering, Georgitsis settled on a 6-inch-thick SUP of three different lengths, from a child’s size to a large man’s size, each capable of carrying both the diver as well as gear.
Whether it be snorkel diving, zuba diving or scuba diving one can now paddle out to a favorite spot on one of UTD’s uniquely designed boards and easily and safely enjoy the dive. And once deflated, the paddle board rolls up into a backpack.
UTD Paddle Dive offers a full lineup of paddling and dive education, certification classes, tours, rentals and sales. The standalone classes for Paddling include: essentials of stand-up paddle boarding, advanced, surf and whitewater river. The company also offers unique combinations of classes: SUP Yoga, SUP/KPB Snorkeling, SUP/KPB “Try” Diving, SUP/KPB ZUBA diving and SUP/KPB scuba diving.
For more info, check out utdpaddledive.com.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gkCm3SpKwI]
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