Scuba Shack

06/19/2026

06/18/2026

🚨 Another major announcement from Scuba Shack CT this week. 🚨

⚗️ TECHNICAL GAS FILLS NOW AVAILABLE

Scuba Shack CT is proud to announce that we now offer technical scuba gas fills — including oxygen up to 100% and trimix blending.

This has been a long time coming, and we are genuinely excited to bring this capability to the Connecticut diving community.

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🟦 WHAT WE NOW OFFER

💨 High-percentage nitrox and pure oxygen (O2 to 100%)
Pure oxygen and high-mix nitrox fills for recreational and technical divers. Whether you need EAN50, EAN80, or 100% O2 for decompression gas or rebreather use — we have you covered.

⚗️ Trimix
Helium-blended gas mixes for extended range and deep technical diving. Trimix reduces narcosis at depth and allows divers to push safely into deeper, more demanding environments that are simply inaccessible on air or standard nitrox. We can blend to your specification.

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🎯 WHO THIS IS FOR

Technical divers — trimix and high-O2 fills are the foundation of extended range diving. If you're pushing past recreational limits into deep wrecks, cave systems, or extended decompression dives, access to proper gas blending is non-negotiable. Until now, Connecticut technical divers had limited local options for these fills. That changes today.

Rebreather divers — pure oxygen and diluent gas are essential for CCR operation. Combined with our new Hollis Prism 2 rebreather dealership announced earlier this week, Scuba Shack CT is now a full-service rebreather support facility — sales, training, and gas supply under one roof.

Advanced recreational divers — high-percentage nitrox extends your bottom time and reduces post-dive fatigue. If you've been thinking about pushing your nitrox use beyond standard EAN32 or EAN36, we can now support those blends too.

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🌊 WHAT THIS UNLOCKS

Access to proper technical gas fills locally means less driving, less logistics, and more diving. It means Connecticut technical divers can plan deeper, longer, more ambitious dives knowing their gas supply is handled right here in Newington.

It also means that as Scuba Shack CT continues to grow its technical training capabilities — including our Hollis Prism 2 rebreather program — our students and customers have everything they need in one place.

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For fill specifications, pricing, and scheduling — contact us at the shop. Our team will work with you to ensure you get exactly the gas blend you need for your dive plan.

📞 Call or stop in — we're happy to answer any questions
📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT
🌐 scubashackct.com

06/17/2026

A dive knife isn't just a cool piece of gear. It's a safety tool — and every diver should have one. 🔪🤿

Most divers never need to use a cutting tool in an emergency. But the ones who do are extremely glad they had one. Monofilament fishing line, kelp, nets, rope, and ghost gear are real hazards underwater — and they can entangle a diver faster than you'd expect. A cutting tool is how you get free.

Beyond emergencies, cutting tools have practical uses on almost every dive — tapping on your tank to signal your buddy, cutting away debris, and as a general utility tool when you need one.

Here's what to know before you buy:

🔪 Blade style — serrated, straight, or tanto?
Serrated blades cut through monofilament and rope most efficiently and are the most commonly recommended for diving. Straight blades are more versatile for general cutting tasks. A tanto tip is useful for prying. Many dive knives combine serrated and straight edges on the same blade.

✂️ Shears vs knife — which is right for you?
Blunt-tipped shears (sometimes called EMT shears) are increasingly popular among recreational and technical divers. They cut line and net effectively without the risk of accidental puncture — useful if you're diving in a drysuit or near inflatable equipment. Compact enough to clip anywhere on your rig.

📐 Size and placement matter
A cutting tool does you no good if you can't reach it with either hand in an emergency. Compact knives and shears mounted on the BCD shoulder strap, forearm, or BC waistband are preferable to large knives strapped to your calf — which are difficult to reach and add drag.

🦀 Material — titanium vs stainless steel
Titanium is lighter, corrosion-resistant, and doesn't require as much post-dive maintenance. Stainless steel is heavier but typically holds an edge longer. Both work well for diving with proper rinse and care after saltwater use.

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We carry a full range of cutting tools at Scuba Shack CT:

🔧 Spyderco — premium cutting tools trusted by technical and recreational divers worldwide. Exceptional build quality and blade performance.

🔧 Halcyon — the compact, streamlined cutting tool of choice for serious technical divers. Designed to integrate cleanly into a technical rig without bulk or snag points.

🔧 Akona — solid, reliable, and accessible. A great entry-level option for recreational divers who want quality without breaking the budget.

🔧 XS Scuba — a wide range of knives, shears, and combo cutting tools at practical price points. Good options for every type of diver.

Come in and see the range — we'll help you find the right tool for how you dive and where you mount it.

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT
📞 Stop in during store hours to see the full selection

06/16/2026

🌊 NEW TRIP ALERT: Cozumel, Mexico 🌊
Mark your calendars, divers — we're heading to one of the most diver-friendly destinations in the Caribbean.

Join Scuba Shack for 7 nights all-inclusive at the Iberostar Waves Cozumel, March 13–20, 2027. This trip is all about ease: gentle drift diving along world-famous reef walls, warm clear water, and a resort set right on a quiet stretch of beach with the dive center steps from your room.

Cozumel's reefs — Palancar, Columbia, and Santa Rosa — are part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, the second-largest reef system on Earth. Expect dramatic coral walls, swim-throughs, and the kind of visibility that makes every dive feel like a postcard. Keep an eye out for hawksbill turtles, eagle rays, nurse sharks, and the splendid toadfish — a fish found nowhere else on the planet except these waters.
What's included:
🏨 7 nights at Iberostar Waves Cozumel
🍽️ All-inclusive meals, snacks & beverages
🚤 5 days of 2-tank boat diving
💨 Nitrox for certified nitrox divers
🏖️ Full resort amenities

💰 $2,250 per diver (double occupancy) | $1,550 non-diver | $3,150 single diver
📝 Just $500 holds your spot
Space is limited and this one will move fast. Drop a comment or message us to reserve your place!
👉 Full trip details: https://scubashackct.com/cozumel-scuba-diving-trip-march-2027

06/16/2026

It's Friday. And this weekend we're actually going diving together. 🤿🌊

Big week at Scuba Shack CT — Hollis Prism 2 rebreather dealership, technical gas fills, two major announcements. We're proud of all of it. But all the gear and training in the world means nothing if you're not getting in the water.

So this Saturday — we are at.

📍 DIVE AND DIVE — FORT WETHERILL, JAMESTOWN RI
📅 Saturday June 20 · Meet 8:00 AM · Main parking area

Join us for a guided shore dive at one of the Northeast's premier dive sites. Fort Wetherill is everything New England diving is known for — dramatic rocky walls, dense kelp forests, starfish tucked under every ledge, tautog patrolling the structure, and the occasional horseshoe crab if you're lucky.

Multiple entry points accommodate all experience levels. Whether you're building confidence on local dives or you're a seasoned New England diver who knows this site well — there's a dive here for you.

Here's what to expect:
🕗 Meet at the main parking area by 8:00 AM
📋 Pre-dive briefing before we enter the water
🤿 Guided shore dive with the Scuba Shack CT crew
🦞 Rocky walls, kelp forests, lobster, tautog — classic Northeast diving
🦭 Keep your eyes open — seals have been known to visit

Sign-up or call to let us know you are coming— show up geared up and ready to dive. Questions? Call the shop or drop them in the comments below.

Beyond the dive — if you're heading out anywhere else this weekend, need an air fill, or want a quick gear check before you go, stop into the shop today or first thing Saturday morning. We'll get you sorted.

Happy Friday. See you at Fort Wetherill. 🌊

💬 Who's in? Drop a 🤿 below if you're joining us Saturday.

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT
📞 Call with any questions before Saturday

06/16/2026

🚨 Big news from Scuba Shack CT. 🚨

📅 HOLLIS PRISM 2 REBREATHER DEMO DAY — AUGUST 23RD

Have you ever wanted to try a rebreather? Here's your chance.

On August 23rd we're hosting a Hollis Prism 2 demo day right here in Newington — in the pool, hands on, with an expert instructor guiding you through the experience. No prior rebreather experience required. Just curiosity and a willingness to try something that will change the way you think about diving.

Spots are limited. Contact us at the shop or sign up online at scubashackct.com to reserve your place. Cost: $100 which can be applied to the purchase of a Prism 2.

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🏪 SCUBA SHACK CT IS NOW AN AUTHORIZED HOLLIS PRISM 2 DEALER

We are proud to announce that Scuba Shack CT is now an authorized dealer for the Hollis Prism 2 rebreather — one of the most advanced and accessible closed circuit rebreathers available to recreational and technical divers today.

The Hollis Prism 2 is a fully closed circuit rebreather designed for both recreational and technical diving. It delivers the full benefits of rebreather technology — extended bottom time, optimal gas efficiency, silent operation, and extraordinary marine life encounters — in a system that is specifically engineered to be approachable for divers ready to take the next step.

As an authorized dealer we carry the Hollis Prism 2 in store and can support you from your first questions through purchase, setup, and beyond.

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🎓 OUR JOURNEY — POOL TRAINING COMPLETE

This announcement means even more to us because of what it took to get here.

Four members of the Scuba Shack CT team have just completed pool training as part of our Hollis Prism 2 certification process. This is not a certification we pursued lightly — rebreather training is demanding, technical, and deeply rewarding. We are on our way to being fully certified Hollis Prism 2 divers, and we are committed to bringing that expertise to every diver in our community who wants to explore this technology.

We don't just sell the gear. We train on it, dive it, and know it.

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If you've been curious about rebreathers — whether you read yesterday's post about how they work, or you've been wondering about them for years — now is the time to come talk to us.

📅 Demo Day: August 23rd · Class and Pool session · Newington, CT
📞 Call the shop or stop in to find out more
🌐 Sign up online at scubashackct.com

This is a genuinely exciting chapter for Scuba Shack CT. We can't wait to share it with you. 🤿

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT

06/15/2026

You've probably seen them on a dive boat or in underwater footage and wondered — what is that thing on their back? It doesn't look like a regular tank setup. And it's almost completely silent. 🤿

That's a rebreather. And it's one of the most significant pieces of diving technology ever developed.

Here's how it works — and why it matters.

🔵 How open circuit scuba works (what most divers use)
In a standard scuba setup, you breathe in from your tank and exhale directly into the water. Those bubbles you see? That's your breathing gas — gone forever with every breath. A typical recreational diver uses only about 25% of the oxygen in each breath. The rest — including unused oxygen — is exhaled and lost.

🔴 How a rebreather works
A rebreather recycles your exhaled gas. Instead of releasing it into the water, your breath passes through a scrubber canister containing a chemical compound called sofnolime that removes carbon dioxide. The cleaned gas — now stripped of CO2 but still containing oxygen — is recirculated back to you to breathe again. Fresh oxygen is added from a small onboard cylinder to replace only what your body actually consumed.

The result: you're rebreathing the same gas in a continuous loop, with CO2 removed and oxygen replenished in real time.

🟢 Why divers use rebreathers

🐟 Marine life doesn't run from you
Open circuit bubbles are loud and disruptive. Rebreathers are nearly silent — fish, sharks, and marine mammals behave completely differently around a rebreather diver. You become part of the environment rather than an intrusion into it. The encounters are unlike anything in open circuit diving.

⏱️ Dramatically extended bottom time
Because you're recycling gas rather than exhaling it, a rebreather diver can stay underwater for hours on the same gas supply that would last an open circuit diver 45 minutes. The efficiency is extraordinary.

🎯 Optimal gas at every depth
The most advanced rebreathers — called Closed Circuit Rebreathers (CCR) — continuously monitor and maintain the optimal oxygen partial pressure for the diver's current depth. You're always breathing the most efficient gas mix possible, automatically.

📸 Better photography and videography
No bubbles means no visual interference and no noise. Underwater photographers and videographers consistently report that rebreather diving transforms their work — subjects stay still, behavior is natural, and the footage is clean.

🌊 Access to extended range diving
Rebreathers are the primary tool for divers pushing into deeper, longer, or more technically demanding diving — cave systems, deep wrecks, extended decompression dives. They unlock a category of diving that's simply not accessible on open circuit.

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Rebreathers require dedicated training and a significant commitment — they are more complex than open circuit systems and demand a higher level of diver responsibility. But for the diver ready to take that step, they represent one of the most profound upgrades in the sport.

Tomorrow we have some big news for the Scuba Shack CT community about rebreathers. Stay tuned. 👀

💬 Have you ever dived a rebreather or been curious about them? Drop it in the comments.

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT

06/13/2026

Saturday at Scuba Shack CT — come see what we've got. 🤿

Whether you're just getting started or you've been diving for twenty years, everything you need is right here in Newington.

We carry a full range of scuba equipment from some of the best brands in the industry:

🥽 Masks — a wide selection across styles and fits, including prescription lens options
🤿 Regulators — Apeks, Zeagle, Sherwood and more
🦺 BCDs — Back inflate and backplate/wing systems including Halcyon , Zeagle and Hollis
🧊 Wetsuits — Henderson and Sharkskin, sized and fitted for New England conditions
💡 Dive lights — Big Blue, from recreational to technical torches to video lighting
🧭 Dive computers, compasses, and instruments
🔧 Accessories — SMBs, reels, slates, defog, gloves, hoods, boots and more

Not sure what you need? That's exactly what we're here for. Our staff dives — we know the gear, we use the gear, and we'll help you find the right setup for how and where you dive.

No appointment needed. Stop in any time today.

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT
🕐 Open today — stop in during store hours

06/12/2026

Friday — Photo of the Week, Week Two

Featuring Lauren Wang · "Shaun the Sheep" nudibranch · Lembeh, Indonesia · Sony A7RV

This week's featured shot stopped us in our tracks.

Meet "Shaun the Sheep" — a nudibranch photographed by Lauren Wang in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, on a Sony A7RV.

If you know Lembeh, you know why this photo exists. The Lembeh Strait is widely considered the muck diving capital of the world — a narrow channel of dark volcanic sand and debris that harbors more weird, rare, and extraordinary macro life per square meter than almost anywhere on Earth. It's the kind of place where experienced divers go specifically to find things nobody else has seen. Nudibranchs like this one are exactly why.

Lauren — the composition, the color, the detail on this shot are extraordinary. The fact that someone looked at this nudibranch and named it "Shaun the Sheep" makes it even better. Thank you for sharing it with our community. 🐑🤿

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📸 Submissions for week three are now open.

Drop your best underwater shot in the comments below. Tell us where it was taken, what you were shooting, and what gear you used. We'll feature our favorite next Friday.

No entry requirements — it all counts. What matters is the shot.

Tag a diver whose photos deserve to be seen. 👇

Happy Friday from Scuba Shack CT. 🌊

📍 Scuba Shack CT · Newington, CT

06/11/2026

🌊 Ready to Upgrade Your Dive Game?

The Shearwater Perdix 2 is built for divers who demand reliability, clarity, and performance on every dive. Whether you're exploring local reefs, wrecks, or planning your next big adventure, the Perdix 2 delivers the confidence you need underwater.

✅ Bright, easy-to-read full-color display
✅ Rugged construction for demanding conditions
✅ User-replaceable AA battery
✅ Advanced features trusted by recreational and technical divers

🔥 Special Sale Price: $895
⚠️ Limited Stock Available – Once they're gone, they're gone!

Stop by Scuba Shack or contact us today to reserve yours before this deal disappears.