THE official DIVE thread! SCUBA-DIVERS unite!

I figured we should start up an official DIVE thread for anyone and everyone who dives, "would rather be diving", dove once (twice, or three times a lady) likes "getting wet" and "going down" or saw it on T.V. and thought it was pretty cool so you decided to write a haiku about it.

So where'd you go last?

How awesome was it?

Any questions you might want to pose about anything dive-related?

Have you dived Palau, Yongala or your bathtub?

Any good advice or things to check out?

Post pics!

I'll post some pics of my trip to St. John in 2007:

We took a trip from St. John over to the British Virgin Islands & dove the RMS Rhone (the wreck from the 1977 movie "The Deep" with Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset & Robert Shaw):

Scubaboard is a nifty scuba forum but I don't spend any time on there: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/matrix/

And if you haven't read this book:



You BETTER!!!

I coudn't put the thing down. True story of a German sub discovered off the Eastern Seaboard.

Oh, and I'm Advanced Open Water Certified, no more......yet....

Hey, has anyone dived the Andrea Doria??

[ade06]

While I have never been Scuba-diving (been snorking several times), my uncle is a professional photographer and has been exploring the Santa Barbara, CA reefs for years. The attached link is to his new book that contains many underwater photos http://seaoflight.net/items/books/book001-detail.htm. (go to view book in the top right hand corner).

Thanks Ade!



Awesome stuff!

[Savvy]

I miss diving. I think the last time I went was '01 or '02...its been awhile. I've dove the Keys (Islamorada, and Key Largo) as well as some places off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. I definitely would go diving again, just don't really have the means to right now.

Maybe I'll try to get stationed on Okinawa or Guam for my next assignment haha.

Originally Posted by Savvy

Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. I definitely would go diving again, just don't really have the means to right now....Maybe I'll try to get stationed on Okinawa or Guam for my next assignment haha.

It's definitely a little costly, I hear 'ya. That part of Mexico is awesome...dove Cozumel back in 2005 or so.......best part of the dive was standing on the seafloor at about 65 feet with about 100 foot viz and only one other diver with me (the DM) and hearing a strange whirring sound coming closer and closer. Passenger sub comes right by us as we wave to the landlubbers inside.

I have wanted to get certified for YEARS, but living in MN doesn't provide a lot of opportunity (or a long diving season, locally). Usually go snorkeling when visiting the in-laws in FL, though. Saw some cool stuff in Aruba and off Looe Key when I've gone, though.

[PeteSB75]

Been diving once, this past April when I was on holiday in Aruba. Did a resort course and had a 1-tank open water dive at about 25 feet. Loved it, as did my girlfriend. We've discussed getting certified, but not really looked much into it. How much are we talking in terms of hours/dives/$$$/etc?

Originally Posted by Wanger

I have wanted to get certified for YEARS, but living in MN doesn't provide a lot of opportunity (or a long diving season, locally). Usually go snorkeling when visiting the in-laws in FL, though. Saw some cool stuff in Aruba and off Looe Key when I've gone, though.

Aruba diving is pretty nifty....a bunch of very accessible wrecks and you don't need a Wreck Cert to do 'em! Aruba supposedly has the best wreck diving of any Caribbean island.

Originally Posted by PeteSB75

Been diving once, this past April when I was on holiday in Aruba. Did a resort course and had a 1-tank open water dive at about 25 feet. Loved it, as did my girlfriend. We've discussed getting certified, but not really looked much into it. How much are we talking in terms of hours/dives/$$$/etc?

Where in Aruba did you go on your dive? We just got back from a wedding there in June...did a 2-tank morning dive to the Antilla & Pedernalis wrecks.

Certification isn't as time consuming as you might think.

I wouldn't get certified at a resort for two reasons.

1) Too expensive! Like $500 and up, for one certification.

2) Do you really want to be studying and taking tests and spend all your time on vacation doing dive tasks to earn your certification? If you do, go for it but I'd just prefer relaxing and save the course for when you get back home.

Back home, it'd cost about $250 including study materials. My shop, Pacific Wilderness out in San Pedro, required us to have a mask, snorkel, fins & booties. Everything beyond that, we were able to rent. Purchasing those items will likely put you out about $125 on the low end....maybe $150 on the high end, maybe more, depending on how fancy shmancy you want your gear to be.

We had four of us guys take a 'semi-private' course so that we could really pick our class & dive times and dates. The downside to this was that we had to opt out of the Catalina Island day trip and do both 'open water' dives at the beach. No biggie. We've since been to Catalina several times now. The normal cert class is classtime, pooltime, 1 beach dive & 1 boat dive.

But if you don't have an island about an hour away, your normal courseload would be (if I recall correctly):

1) Two weekend classes, Saturday & Sunday, 8 hours each, including pool time (for a total of 2 Saturdays & 2 Sundays)
2) 2 Weekend Dives (either both beach or a beach & boat or both boat)

How much studying time? Are the tests difficult? This ain't rocket science...you should read (so you can have the tools necessary if you encounter a problem) and you should do the quizzes in the book and you have to take the exams in class and pass or you don't get certified. But it's not tough stuff. A lot of it is common sense. And you can easily juggle the courseload and easy reading with your other daily tasks.

Anything on top of this as far as cost? Yeah, you'll need to rent a BCD(bouyancy control device), a Regulator (the thing you breathe through), wetsuit, tank & weights.....all this should come with the course fee for your initial dives.

Anything additional you do will set you back an additional $40 or so per day for gear on top of what you've purchased.

Hope that helps! You should get out & do it!

Lobster divin' off Catalina Island!

[ade06]

West Coast Lobsters are wack! Where are the claws!!! Lol,

[shilala]

I got certified in 2007. If I could be in the water right now, I would be.
I love it.
I grew up on a lake and did a lot of snorkeling growing up. I snorkled Pennekamp in Key Largo and that's what made me decide to get my certs.
I can't wait to go again.

[PeteSB75]

Originally Posted by mrreindeer

Where in Aruba did you go on your dive? We just got back from a wedding there in June...did a 2-tank morning dive to the Antilla & Pedernalis wrecks.

Certification isn't as time consuming as you might think.

I wouldn't get certified at a resort for two reasons.

1) Too expensive! Like $500 and up, for one certification.

2) Do you really want to be studying and taking tests and spend all your time on vacation doing dive tasks to earn your certification? If you do, go for it but I'd just prefer relaxing and save the course for when you get back home.

Back home, it'd cost about $250 including study materials. My shop, Pacific Wilderness out in San Pedro, required us to have a mask, snorkel, fins & booties. Everything beyond that, we were able to rent. Purchasing those items will likely put you out about $125 on the low end....maybe $150 on the high end, maybe more, depending on how fancy shmancy you want your gear to be.

We had four of us guys take a 'semi-private' course so that we could really pick our class & dive times and dates. The downside to this was that we had to opt out of the Catalina Island day trip and do both 'open water' dives at the beach. No biggie. We've since been to Catalina several times now. The normal cert class is classtime, pooltime, 1 beach dive & 1 boat dive.

But if you don't have an island about an hour away, your normal courseload would be (if I recall correctly):

1) Two weekend classes, Saturday & Sunday, 8 hours each, including pool time (for a total of 2 Saturdays & 2 Sundays)
2) 2 Weekend Dives (either both beach or a beach & boat or both boat)

How much studying time? Are the tests difficult? This ain't rocket science...you should read (so you can have the tools necessary if you encounter a problem) and you should do the quizzes in the book and you have to take the exams in class and pass or you don't get certified. But it's not tough stuff. A lot of it is common sense. And you can easily juggle the courseload and easy reading with your other daily tasks.

Anything on top of this as far as cost? Yeah, you'll need to rent a BCD(bouyancy control device), a Regulator (the thing you breathe through), wetsuit, tank & weights.....all this should come with the course fee for your initial dives.

Anything additional you do will set you back an additional $40 or so per day for gear on top of what you've purchased.

Hope that helps! You should get out & do it!

I don't know where exactly in Aruba we went. Was in/around an old wreck right off the resort beach area, maybe 5-10 minute boat ride from our hotel.

I was actually thinking about taking the course online, maybe doing the pool work locally, and just doing the open water dives the next time we are on an island near some good dive sites. There's a couple of Padi shops near where I live, but, tbh, I don't really want my diving to be in Long Island Sound...

[WildBlueSooner]

I am going to Guam for 4 months starting in October and plan on getting certified and doing a lot of diving there. I have heard it is some of the best diving in the world...I am really excited about it for sure. Any advice or specific things I need to check out, diving related, please PM. Thanks in advance

[foomanto]

haven't been diving seance 1996 got certified when i was Okinawa and did most of my diving over there. also been in the Philippines and Thailand and a couple of places in the states

Originally Posted by Savvy

Maybe I'll try to get stationed on Okinawa or Guam for my next assignment haha.

there are good spots all over Okinawa you wont be disappointed if you get stationed there

[GoatLocker]

I certified in Guam back in 88 and was there for 5 years. Great diving and lots of places nearby. Was stationed in Hawaii for 3 years and had a great time diving there. I also take my gear with me when I deploy, so I've logged dives in the Philipines, Thailand, Bali, UAE, Jordan, Acapulco and Cozumel as well as several Islands in Micronesia.

Originally Posted by WildBlueSooner

I am going to Guam for 4 months starting in October and plan on getting certified and doing a lot of diving there. I have heard it is some of the best diving in the world...I am really excited about it for sure. Any advice or specific things I need to check out, diving related, please PM. Thanks in advance

My best advise is to certify as soon as you get there. Get yourself a good set of dive booties, gloves, fins, mask & snorkel right away and rent the rest until you decide to spend the cash on a full set of gear. There are too many great dive sites to list. I like clear blue water, so I did a lot of dives off Orote Pt and NAVFAC. There are plenty of good dives in Apra Harbor, though the visibility can be low. Double Reef, Taguison Beach and Gun Beach are really nice blue water dives. Once you are comfortable under water, try night diving. It's awesome...

Originally Posted by ade06

West Coast Lobsters are wack! Where are the claws!!! Lol

Originally Posted by shilala

I got certified in 2007. If I could be in the water right now, I would be.
I love it.
I grew up on a lake and did a lot of snorkeling growing up.

Nice!

Originally Posted by PeteSB75

I don't know where exactly in Aruba we went. Was in/around an old wreck right off the resort beach area, maybe 5-10 minute boat ride from our hotel.

I was actually thinking about taking the course online, maybe doing the pool work locally, and just doing the open water dives the next time we are on an island near some good dive sites. There's a couple of Padi shops near where I live, but, tbh, I don't really want my diving to be in Long Island Sound...

I didn't even know you could do it online....the pool work & open water dives are part of the Certification so I'm not sure how they manage certifying you or even partially certifying you without pool/open water dives paired with the instruction...and when you go to that island paradise and want to dive, you'd need to either do a Resort Course at a resort (for a nominal fee & they rent you the gear & have a set, rather shallow (about 20 feet), area that you swim around to get your whistle whet), or pay to get certified while there. You can't just rent gear and go to any site on your own because shops won't rent to you without a C-card. I don't blame you about LI divin'!