Welcome to the December 2025 edition of TheScubaDirectory newsletter, where we explore the incredible world beneath the surface of the ocean. In this month's edition: - Why Cyprus Should Be on Your Radar for Winter Diving
- DEMA Show 2025: What Got Our Attention This Year
- How Cozumel Locals Fought to Save Villa Blanca Reef
- 200-Year-Old Mystery Shipwreck Found Near Toronto
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New on TheScubaDirectory Blog | Why Cyprus Should Be on Your Radar for Winter Diving |  | Image Credit: Datingjungle on Unsplash | 🌞Most divers hang up their fins just as Cyprus is getting good. In winter, the island swaps summer crowds for clear water, quiet dive sites, and mellow Mediterranean sunshine that makes wrecks and reefs feel completely different.
🍷Think two relaxed dives, a hot coffee on a sun-warmed rock, then tavernas and mountain villages instead of packed beach bars, with enough daylight left to explore ruins, vineyards, or coastal walks before dinner.
🌊If you’re craving off-season diving that still feels like a holiday, Cyprus might be your next winter escape.
👉 Read more about Cyprus winter diving here | Been Diving or Snorkeling Lately? |  | Image Credit: user MariaB | Your insights make a real difference! 🙏 Please take a moment to review a dive site, snorkel spot, or dive shop. Your input helps everyone! | | |  | Industry News | DEMA Show 2025: What Got Our Attention This Year |  | Image Credit: facebook.com/DEMAShow | The dive industry just wrapped up the DEMA Show 2025 in Orlando (Nov 11–14) the big annual gathering for dive pros, travel operators, and gear brands.
Here are a few things that stood out to us this year:
1. Real-Time Underwater Communication DIVEVOLK officially launched its SeaLink Underwater Smartphone Data Transmitter, a system that lets you send mobile data from underwater to the surface via a floating processor. This means live communication and real-time data, up to 30 m (100 ft) depth. 🔗 Product launch article 2. Travel-Ready BCDs: SCUBAPRO Hydros Pro 2 SCUBAPRO used DEMA to debut the Hydros Pro 2 BCD, a next-gen version of their popular modular BCD, designed to pack down small, travel well, and offer more comfort and fine-tuning than the original. 🔗 Check it out 3. Reef-Safe Gear Care Goes Mainstream Eco-friendly cleaning and care products are moving from “nice idea” to “standard kit.” Stream2Sea highlighted a reef-safer, biodegradable water sport gear wash in the New Product Showcase. It's designed to clean wetsuits, BCDs, and gear without dumping harsh chemicals into the ocean. 🔗 Learn more | How Cozumel Locals Fought to Save Villa Blanca Reef |  | Image credit: sanddollarsports.com | In late 2020, a quiet government authorization for a fourth cruise ship pier in Cozumel set off one of the island’s most powerful grassroots conservation movements. The planned pier would have been built right by Villa Blanca Reef, a daily favourite for local divers and a vital stretch of shallow coral, sponges, and marine life. Dive operators, guides, residents, and visiting divers rallied together: petitions, social media campaigns, legal challenges, and constant pressure on local authorities. What started as a small group of concerned locals grew into an island-wide movement arguing that Cozumel’s reefs are worth far more alive than any cruise pier profits. After years of back-and-forth, the project was ultimately canceled. A rare win for the reef and for community-driven ocean advocacy. Villa Blanca remains diveable today because people who love the reef refused to stay quiet. Read More | 200-Year-Old Mystery Shipwreck Found Near Toronto |  | | | A team of Canadian divers hunting for one shipwreck in Lake Ontario accidentally found something far older and almost perfectly preserved. While searching for the Rapid City near Toronto, they instead came across an unidentified wooden sailing vessel sitting about 100 meters (328 feet) deep, possibly from the early 1800s. What makes this wreck so rare is its condition: both masts are still standing, the hull is intact, and details like rope rigging are still visible. At that depth, it’s believed these divers are the first humans to see the ship since it sank, offering an untouched snapshot of Great Lakes maritime history.
For cold-water and Great Lakes enthusiasts, it’s a reminder of how much is still unexplored beneath familiar shorelines. Read More | |  | Thanks for reading! If you have any comments or suggestions for this newsletter please contact us at admin@thescubadirectory.com. Happy Diving, Logan Brown | | |  |  |
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