Scuba diving – getting up close and personal with marine life – is fantastic, but it’s also time-consuming to gain the qualifications needed to do it, and it (literally) requires a boatload of expensive equipment.
Which is why most of us paddle around on the surface with a snorkel, wishing we could venture a little deeper. Well, now you can. The Blu3 Nemo is a Surface-Supplied Air (SSA) dive system that supports one diver to depths of 10ft.
Inside the Nemo’s buoyant surface float is a custom made miniature air compressor, which pumps air down to the diver through the hose and out through Nemo’s patent-pending Smart Reg, all powered by a single lithium-ion battery.
The Smart Reg looks like a very clever piece of kit indeed – the key part is a silicone diaphragm inside the unit that moves when the diver breathes.
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A waterproof sensor then measures the diaphragm movement and sends an electronic signal that triggers the compressor to pump air so it synchonises the flow with the diver’s breathing, ensuring you always get exactly the right amount of air.
This added efficiency is what allows the Blu3 Nemo to be much smaller and more affordable than a traditional Scuba set-up, and the whole thing packs down into a 12” backpack, meaning you can even take it on a plane with you.
The Blu3 Nemo weighs about 4.5kg and will run for 60-90 minutes before you need to surface and recharge. Prices start from £939 / $899.
