Take Your Deco Stops In Style!

Forget downloading Tetris to your dive computer (because it's impossible)... Try unclipping those extra tanks, taking off your mask and enjoying a little open-air time on your deco stop!

At least that's the idea behind National Geographic scientist Michael Lombardi's latest invention, the portable underwater habitat. It was created in answer to a whole host of problems associated with studying coral reefs and other objects at greater depths. The amount of time you spend decompressing can range from twiddle-your-thumbs boring to downright uncomfortable, especially when you consider that you can't eat and you have to continue to wear all your equipment. This can be a problem for research divers, who cannot conduct deep water field studies for long periods of time because of the time-consuming decompression process that follows it.

Mr. Lombardi created a deployable underwater habitat in answer to this concern. In the habitat, divers can relax, warm up a little, take off their masks, and even eat lunch. This makes the decompression process a little easier on the scientists, enabling them to continue their studies. 

And who knows? If the technology becomes adaptable to  diving beyond research applications, you may even begin to see these little habitats appearing on deco lines all over the world, from Lake Michigan to Truk Lagoon. After all, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich could really only improve deco stops at this point. Check out National Geographic's video here!