Once again, The SCUBA Show has arrived at the Long Beach Convention Center – and this time, I’m actually planning on taking a dive vacation sometime within the next year.

I mean a REAL dive vacation, not just a day trip to Catalina, so I paid close attention to the travel packages.

I was disappointed that Cuba was not represented at the show – my friend Bruce went diving in Cuba a few years ago and said it was one of the best trips he has ever taken.

Professional Debriefer Paul came along to inquire about SCUBA Certification and sample the beer that we stashed in his backpack.

We annoyed this really hot chick from Guam.

At it’s narrowest, Guam is only four miles across, but apparently there is an abundance of spectacular dives there.

“Fantasy Island” in Honduras seemed interesting, and the chick at the booth said that there are no ugly women in the entire country.

The only thing that sounded weird about their resort is that it’s on a small island, which gives me a feeling that it might be a tourist prison, but I was assured that it isn’t.

When I go to Mexico, I drink with Mexicans, not American tourists, so one thing that I always scrutinize on a potential vacation is the interaction with the locals.

I will have to go over all the travel brochures that I collected and figure out where I want to go, and how broke I want to be when I return.

One of the attractions that I’ve overlooked in previous years has been the Wyland Art exhibit.

Robert Wyland is a world famous marine life artist whose work can be seen all over Southern California – he painted the whales on the whale tank at the old Marineland of the Pacific and painted the whales on the Redondo Beach Power Plant, just to name a couple.

A work in progress – A Wyland Turtle.

Wyland’s smiling shark painting.

Robert Wyland was there, working on his next masterpiece.

Me with the famous Robert Wyland.

We stopped by Pacific Wilderness and spotted my next major purchase – an auxiliary air supply for $380 – the price is good through June, so I have plenty of time to sell blood to finance the purchase.

We also annoyed the ECO Dive Center booth and inquired about Open Water Lessons for PDP.

There’s a rumor going around that ECO has the hottest female dive instructors on the West Coast, and so far, I can’t dispute that claim.

As soon as PDP mentioned “Divevets,” “Dan” and “discount,” the Open Water class price doubled.

When PDP actually gets certified remains the question, but hopefully it will be this year – with diving, he may one day be as macho as me.

We arrived later in the day, but still managed to meet a few of our friends from around the diving scene.

Profession Debriefer Paul captured the event:

To watch this video on YouTube.com, click here.

On April 26, 2011, the Human Planet DVD set was released for sale; I have been fortunate enough to review the entire series over last week.

Human Planet is an eight part documentary series that profiles how humans have adapted to live in various climates and regions throughout the Earth – Oceans, Deserts, Arctic, Jungles, Mountains, Grasslands, Rivers and Cities.

After three years of filming in 80 countries, the end result is one of the most breath taking and beautifully filmed documentaries that I’ve ever seen – quite a nice change from the warmed over sitcoms and fake “reality” shows that seem to inundate television today.

The DVD set also has over three hours of previously unseen footage, including a portion called “Human Planet Behind The Lens,” which shows how some of the scenes were shot and the crew’s interaction with the subjects.

The first series is “Oceans – Into the Blue” – how humans live and have adapted to living in, on top of, and around the oceans.

One of the sections in this episode profiles compressor divers in the Philippines – divers who dive to 130 feet, for sometimes hours at a time, herding fish into nets and breathing off of plastic hoses of compressed air, without a regulator, and all for $25 a week.

For the readers who may not know what a regulator is, it is a piece of diving equipment that adjusts the pressure of compressed air to match the surrounding water pressure and give air only on demand.

Without a regulator, these guys are breathing off a tube that constantly streams compressed air down their throats, sort of like breathing off a regulator that is free flowing.

These are the most insane divers that I’ve ever heard of!

The “Behind The Lens” portion of the first DVD documents the relationship that developed between the BBC photographers and the compressor divers, which I found to be equally as fascinating as the original story.

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

The end of the first episode profiles the nationless Bajau people in the Coral Sea, near Borneo.

They actually live in houses that are raised above the water.

One of the inhabitants is a free diver who, on one breath, can dive 65 feet under water and hunt for up to five minutes.

Taking water pressure into consideration, I bet this man can hold his breath for 15 minutes on the surface.

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

Have you ever seen someone walking along the ocean bottom, holding their breath at 65 feet below the surface?

The whole series is as fascinating as the first episode.

Many times I would look at a scene and think, “That guy is crazy” – but then I would think, “How the hell did they film that?”

Again, the “Behind The Lens” section at the end of each episode tells how some of it was done.

The below video will give you an idea of the astounding photography in this documentary series:

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

After viewing all eight of the episodes, there is one fact that I will retain for the rest of my life – “Tarantulas taste better when they’re cooked like marshmallows!”

That tidbit of information I got from Episode 4: Jungles – People of the Trees, when they profiled tarantula hunting in Venezuela.

It was said in such a matter of fact way that I found it very funny.

This being a BBC documentary, pretty much everything is referenced in metric measurements, and being an American, I don’t think right off hand in metric measurements.

When I heard of the Mali desert being sweltering hot at 45 degrees, I had to think – “Oh, yeah, metric! Double it and add 30.”

I actually had to stop the DVD and figure out how deep 40 meters is – 130 feet.

An American measurement subtitle option would have been a nice feature, but now I’m a lot better at the metric system.

As my British friend told me, “If you have at least two functioning brain cells, the metric system is actually easier than the Imperial System.”

The Human Planet DVD series is a welcomed addition to my DVD collection!

More clips from Human Planet are available here:

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

Human Planet arrived on DVD and Blu-ray April 26, just two days following the broadcast conclusion. You can also catch Human Planet on the Discovery Channel April 17 and 24 at 8pm. To learn more about Human Planet you can visit the official website at www.HumanPlanetBlog.com or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/HumanPlanetTVSeries.