SCUBA
 

How many here are certified? I do my pool class on Saturday and open water soon.

Always wanted to and finally doing it at 42.

Wish I had gotten my certification before going to Cayman this past spring.

I have to hold my breath every day.

I don't know if the certification ever expires, but I was certified 20 years ago or so.

If you're doing your open water dive in the midwest, don't expect a very interesting dive because most of the waters in our area have very poor visibility. If you get a chance to go back to a place like the Caymans, it's a fantastic experience.

I always wanted to dive the Bon Terre lead mines (in the SE corner of MO), but I never got around to it. That seems like it would be pretty interesting.

I was certified back in 1980 as I wanted to be an oceanographer. Sadly there was no money to be made in that profession so I went in another direction.

I haven't dove in close to 20 years.

Yes, you should be very sad you didn't dive in the Caymans as I did twice. Best ever and that includes diving the Great Barrier Reef, Haiti, Cozumel, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, and New Jersey wrecks

Open water will be at beaver lake. Visibility ranges 15-30 feet.

That's better than a lot of places. It will be worlds different when you do it in the clear water of places like scho63 mentioned.

never been certified just done the local SCUBA thing at the resort with the 1 hour training up to 40 meters a couple times.

Dove in Cozumel and went to 48 meters and dove in Jamaica and cant remember the exact depth. Something like 38.

Love it and plan to go every chance I get. Should probably get certified.

Sounds fun. I've gone snorkeling in the Pacific out of Mexico and it was exhilarating. Absolutely loved it wish I could do it again but now I'd be afraid my COPD would set off aspirations and that would be the end of me. So I'ma gonna pass on SCUBA but it is something I think would be fun.


Snorkeling is cool as **** in the Ocean I've seen fish I never new existed.

I have snorkeled and dove in Mexico, Jamaica, and just snorkeled in Costa Rica, the Bahamas and Hawaii.

Coolest shit out of that I have ever done is snorkel Sharks Cove at North Shore Oahu Hawaii. Absolutely incredible. We went once and went back, then went again, then went again. Totally lost in another world for hours and hours at a time.

I now want to go dive Sharks Cove.

You went down over 150 feet with little training but a few hours of cert dives at a resort?

These depths are normally not where causally divers go :hmmm:

I think it may have been feet not meters now that you say that. Im not good with metric conversions. :harumph:

Congratulations.
If you ever hit the Caymans again hook up with Living the Dream Divers. Best operation we have ever used. Our daughter was certified last spring and we took her to Cayman for her 21st birthday in September 'so she could dive with Mom n Dad' as a birthday present. They (Living the Dream) are a top notch operation - every day was better diving than the day before, they even had a birthday cake on board for her on our last day, her birthday. They are exactly as advertised on the website - treat you like they have know you forever - setup your equipment, and put it on you as you sit on the rear of the boat, then take if off and change tanks after surfacing. They take care of any issues you have with equipment, and are entertaining during the surface intervals. They will also pick you up at your condo and drop you off when the day is done.
Wife and I were certified back around '80 (open water in a gravel pit:eek:). got deep diver, night diver, navigation diver, drift diver and naturally, our advanced certifications. Took 'Dive Trips' to Cozumel, Cayman, Cayman Brac. Our own dive trips to St Thomas, St Maarten, Saba, Cayman, then Cayman again. Living the Dream was far and away the best bunch of folks we had ever used.

Good luck and plan your dive then dive the plan.

JP

That sounds cool as **** :thumb:


Sharks are just misunderstood creatures, the salt in the sea is from tears of sharks that just want a hug.




Wish I could do some more snorkeling it's absolute blast

Did you dive Tarpon Alley in Cayman? It was a large coral head with fingers at around 60 feet and then in the shoots that went down another forty were HUNDREDS of giant 30-60 pound tarpon just slowing moving back and forth as the current passed in between the shoots and fingers.

It was something I will never forget.
I also have a great picture I took of a nurse shark, a turtle and a giant 250 lb+ grouper at the anchor when we go to the bottom at around 80 feet.

Clearest water I ever dove.

Certified in '89.
Got to dive the Wall off the back beach at Gitmo. Water depth drops from 60 feet to 12,000 feet (2,000 fathoms by the chart), straight down.

Found God with a regulator in my mouth at 110 feet.

Received my certification on Key West back in the 80s. Been down 5-6 times since then but sort of lost my "zeal" over the years.

Living in the Midwest, there isn't much call for tanks, regulators and the like....

However, while stuck in San Diego for two years, I did go twice with my Son - who was in the Navy at the time. Checked out several wrecks.

Certified about 17 years ago. In DiveMaster class right now. Been all over the Caribbean. Didn't do it until I was about 40. Wish I'd sone it sooner. Making up for lost time now.
Nothing like weightlessness underwater with no sounds other than your bubbles.

I'm a diver. I certified many year ago. I used to dive locally in San Diego which is really quite poor diving. I did have one really great dive in San Diego off of La Jolla when these squid were spawning. There were millions of them. There laid these tubular egg sacks all over the ocean floor. It attracted all manner of sea life to feed. It was really incredible and hard to describe in anyway that does it justice.

Once I got a taste of really good diving I haven't been back down locally. I mostly dive in Hawaii now since that is Mrs. 2bike's favorite vacation spot.

I am certified and have dived in the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, and Playa Del Carmen. The Cayman's was awesome. I did my open water test in Iowa in a quarry. It sucked! It was October and it was early morning. The temperature was like 50 degrees(maybe less) out and another class had just dove in the wet suit I was borrowing from the instructor. It was already wet and it was cold as shit. I froze my balls off.

If you ever get the chance do a night dive. Did mine in the Cayman Islands and it was cool as shit. Spooky but cool.

That Lake is supposed to have huge Stripers. I went to Texoma with a guide and he goes there(Beaver) for a month from 8/15 -9/15 to guide. He said he'd guarantee me a fish to put on the wall. Take you a speargun or a fishing pole.

We have dove there a couple trips. The tarpon that used to hang out there (if I remember) and Bonnies Arch are rarely around anymore, too many divers. Plus a Hotel on the beach has tarpon feeding a couple times per evening where folks can hand feed the beautiful beasties. That may have helped draw them away.

Cameras are great to have, and you can now rent GoPros. Man how things have changed. We had not done any dive trips in 15 years. Cameras are much less bulky, LED dive lights are crazy bright and most dive op's let you use complimentary computers if you don't have one to get the most out of your bottom time.

Probably won't ever jump in again - other things to do and see, but when the kid requested getting certified to be able to dive with us on her 21st birthday I happily said YES!

Oh, and a small live-aboard is the way to go. I did a week on the Sea Dragon cruising the tiny islands in the Bahamas. Five dives a day if your surface intervals allow!

JP

Was certified early this year. Saying there's a lack of good dive spots where I live is an understatement. Once you get used to breathing underwater the rest is cake. It's like being weightless in outer space. At least that's what they tell me.</br></br>Have fun and give yourself time to get used to the breathing.

Certified; have hundreds of hours underwater; and been diving in a couple of dozen countries (mostly Caribbean and Central America). Been bumped by a shark; been in the water with the world's largest fish (on a few occassions); and heard whales singing while underwater.

Best advice: remember there is a sometimes a difference between what people will allow you to do (especially in third world countries) and what is a good idea. Have fun, but be smart and do not exceed your training and experience. Scuba diving is not a ride at Disneyland.

Oh, and go night diving if you get the chance- some of the strangest things on this planet are nocturnal marine animals.

I am really looking forward to it. Definitely will be going back to Cayman when I can. Did a bunch of snorkeling and can't wait to see how much more there deeper.

Some pictures I got while snorkeling Cayman...

http://i.imgur.com/NQwe9LL.png

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http://imgur.com/M0lrfTR.png

http://imgur.com/DTFNWVL.png

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I've been certified for over 17 years. NAUI Master Diver and training to be a Divemaster. It is a peaceful while underwater and you can go to beautiful islands for vacation.

Diving and Chiefs, two of the greatest things.

Cool man, I dig it, but this is a football forum.

You must not look at this site much. I get some of my best "non-football" advice from this board.

This is an eclectic group of people who DO share a passion for our Chiefs, but other passions as well.

Go fist yourself. 😉

Where's the tits man

That wasn't very footballish? What the heck is this board coming to?

Managed to regular old Scuba certification in 3 hours despite having roughly zero experience.

I was on vacation with a buddy of mine who has a fair number of military dive certifications and has had to do a bunch of blind dives and stuff but he never got his PADI certification. He went to see what he could do and their short answer was 'nothing'.

He explained to the surferbro at the resort's PADI center everything he'd done and threw out enough terminology/lingo to convince him that he knew what he was talking about. So surfbro made us a deal - if we could come back after lunch, take the tests and pass, then get in the pool that afternoon and pass the skills tests, he'd let us skip the course work, short-cut the pool work and head out the following morning to do the major skills. He handed us the course book and away we went to cram for 2 hours. I understand why he let my buddy do it but I didn't know ANYTHING beyond snorkling. I got in by association (and wisely keeping my mouth shut). Fortunately, I am no stranger to power-studying for exams.

Grabbed a few Dos Equis, crammed like crazy, passed the written. I did everything I needed to do in the pool from 2-4, we did our 1 bottle dive and skills tests in the ocean the next morning and that afternoon did a couple of 2 bottle dives as 'Scuba certified'.

Went out the next year and knocked out our open water test in the morning and booked a different charter in the afternoon. All he knew was that we were open water certified at that point so our guide pretty much told us to hop off the boat and meet them back at the flag when we hit 10% on our indicators. It was night and day - "oh, well you guys must not be idiot tourists...have fun".

There's nothing approaching being left the hell alone and getting to dive. When you're out there with the instructors and the groups and stuff it's kinda fun. But that afternoon by ourselves at maybe 30 feet where we couldn't really hurt ourselves, there was no stress, no worry - just a whole lot of ocean to explore. I missed this year's trip so I still have some work to do for AOWD, but I'll get there.

Any interest at all in the Doria or has that become more of a dick-measuring contest for the super-wealthy these days?

There's nothing approaching being left the hell alone and getting to dive. When you're out there with the instructors and the groups and stuff it's kinda fun. But that afternoon by ourselves at maybe 30 feet where we couldn't really hurt ourselves, there was no stress, no worry - just a whole lot of ocean to explore. I missed this year's trip so I still have some work to do for AOWD, but I'll get there.[/QUOTE]

I am glad you had the opportunity to do your own thing at safe shallow depths, and it sounds like you are aware of the dangers involved in deeper diving. However, for those who are reading and think there is no problem to diving, be forewarned you - can - die. The laws of physics and pressure can not be broken without consequences. It is a serious sport and serious divers whether novice or advanced will not take kindly to screw-ups. You not only risk your own health, but can screw up everyone else's dive experience. When you are with groups, please follow the orders of the master diver/crew. When you dive alone with your buddy use extraordinary common sense and have a plan then stick to it. Unguided diving is the most rewarding, but use your training when preplanning, planning, during and after your dives.

thanks for your time,
JP
30 year advanced diver

Oh, no question.

I'm on shallow reefs. I'm not just gonna go do a wall dive and pretend like I'm ready for that.

But I'd say anywhere shy of 50-60 feet, no matter how badly you **** up, you can probably just drop your weights, blast your BCD and get the hell out of dodge.

I think the deepest I've gone is 48 feet and I haven't done anything apart from shooting under an archway here or there where I've put something over my head.

A man's gotta know his limitations...

Just got a Hero5 Session for the younger son for an upcoming trip, anybody got experience with the various mounts for us to try? I've been using a Canon SD750 with SCUBA case for a while, but I thought I'd celebrate his AOD and Nitrox certifications with a modern-day gift...

I found this helpful, but I thought I'd ask.

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I was PADI certified many, many years ago and dove quite often, prior to my wife and I starting a family. I can say without a doubt it is one of the most relaxing, yet invigorating sport to do.

I've was lucky to have an opportunity to dive in places like The Cayman Islands, the great barrier reef, Cozumel, Hawaii, Dominican republic to name a few. One of my favorite places to dive was in Key Largo. Dives are about 30 feet deep, so you can do 4 of them a day and the fish and coral were stunning. May not be an exotic locale but was very nice back in the day

The Navy afforded me some opportunities to dive some of the world's lesser pleasant waters! ROFL

But, to be fair, they afforded me the opportunity to dive some beautiful waters too... Like they say, the Navy givith, and the Navy takith away... :D

I did these four spots as well! Grand Cayman Island was amazing and Tarpon Alley was one of the most memorable spots I've ever been at.

I've dove in:
-Haiti : Saw and photoed a group of 15-18 lobsters all squeezed in together under a giant rock-small cave. Incredible coral and colors
-Bora Bora: Numerous sharks (black tip, reef and white tips) and many octopus
-Jamaica: Dove through a small cave during the dive and came out the other side and divemaster had a GIANT moray eel he knew that he fed on each dive. The eel was at least 5 feet long and thick as 6" rope. Also two giant barracuda that looked nasty as hell.
-Fiji: Lot's of smaller fish and really some of the nicest clearest water like Cayman Islands
-New Jersey: Did my checkout dive along the rocks and did a few shipwrecks. It's a little scary at first as the visibility is low and you really need to pay attention.
-Hawaii: Lot's of turtles and some porpoises
-Great Barrier Reef: Sadly the weather was bad the day I dove and the overcast sky made the experience less than stellar. Saw millions of small fish. Also several giant clams like 3 feet wide and incredible colors. Nothing big but really cool.
-British Virgin Islands: I was on a dive boat for 10 days and we did the Wreck of the Rhone, the wreck they used in the move "The Deep" with Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bissett and her giant knockers. Also did my first night dive and it was incredible! So many neat things including parrot fish that encapsulated themselves in a slime bubble to sleep safely.
-Grand Cayman: So many BIG fish including a 400-500 pound giant Grouper, nurse sharks, hundreds of 25-40 pound giant tarpons all clustered. Also went really deep on one of the dives on the Cayman Wall, about 140 feet deep. The deepest I ever went.
-Nassau Bahamas: Lot's of variety and some turtles and good sized variety of fish
-Cozumel: Really neat protected preserve we dove right off the beach. Had a great variety and bigger fish. Lots of stuff on the bottom as well.

Often overlooked is the Mediterranean... When the Navy didn't have me clearing steel leaders from the sub LMAO, we had some great great down-time dives. We also got to dive in the norther parts of the British isles, and that was pretty special too. Don't get me wrong, it's hard to not like blue water diving, but my older son has had as much fun diving green water sites as blue water "fish tank" dives.

:clap:

I've never been to the Mediterranean or the Red Sea, two places I would love to dive! Maybe one day.....

"The Blue Hole" - Dahab, Egypt, put it on the list... Amazing dive.

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Welp, just paid for this year's Coz trip dives for the younger son and myself.

A major plus with us staying on the southern end of the island this time means most of the 2-tank dives are close enough to the dive sites to allow coming in between dives, and that's OK with me...

We bought 22x2 2-tank dives for the week, so that means we pretty-much have to plan our poops for when we're not diving.. LMAO

Below is the dive operation's schedule for that week (prolly every week!), but because we get there Saturday and fly out the next Saturday we can only make, MAYBE, the 2:45 dive on the first Saturday. Other than that, the younger son and I are pretty-much doing the rest of the dives. The main exception will be Wednesday when we take the Coz <-> Playa del Carmen ferry and meet-up with Pro Dive's Playa del Carmen operation to spend Wednesday diving Cenotes. Oh, and we took a later Saturday flight to give us (just about) 24 hours dry.

I AM SOOOOOOO ****ING PUMPED...

One more kinda cool thing (if I didn't mess them up) I just replaced the capacitors and gaskets in both Citizen Eco Drive Aqualand Promaster dive watches.

Instead of paying a jeweler ~$120 to do both (one was getting weak, so I figured I'd do both), I got the capacitors and gaskets $50, and a watch tool kit for ~$12. So money saved, and I can now change batteries (and capacitors in Eco Drives) on my own...

Pretty simple actually!

Woot... (If they don't leak)

Mixed gas or common air breather, Shipmate? You obviously are serious about it now. I was a PADI “hobby-lobber” before Going to Panama City Dive school a long time ago. Sharks and Daisies was not a drill I was taught by PADI.

As a former Marine, I was not involved with the bilge yuck of ports and below water line ship work but always felt for Shipmates diving pierside or at port anchorage that did that work. I wouldn’t ever let a SF Army trained Marine Diver be Dive Sup. The Navy trained guys had the repetitive dive tables beat into them.

Damn, dude. Sounds awesome. My wife hates diving, but she's preggo with my first child, a boy, and by God he will be my dive buddy starting in about 10 years.

I got my Advanced Open Water in Utila, Honduras during my big trip. I loved every minute of it - especially the night dive. I did some more diving on the Corn Islands in Nicaragua. Highly recommend both.

I'm not really into sitting on a beach all day - so diving perfect for me on vacation.

Was a submarine ship's diver, so 21% 98% of the time, 36% 2% of the time. And yeah, diving the boat in places like Naples, Groton, Norfolk, and even Charleston, were pretty terrible. But diving the rest of the waters in the Med., the waters near Oslo, fjords, and (very) far north, was worth every shit-hole and every shit dive I ever had to do... And squeezing into the ballast tanks was ALWAYS A JOY!!! :D

Speaking of tables and beating them into people.... My younger son just spent a couple of hours last night working tables (SSI and PADI), just to brush-up on the skill. I won't lie, it's fun, but it's important too. He, like me, has become to comfortable with the dive computers! And with most days being 4-dive days, being limited to 32%, and one 5-dive day, I want him to understand/be reminded of how much graduated dives and SIs matter. If you don't pay attention, the Suunto will have its way with you and you'll be a bobber and telling jokes with the topside watch. That being said, even with Suunto's crazy-careful algorithm, it gives you LOTS of time you wouldn't get if you use a pencil..

I have a non-diver wife too. I'm OK with it, it gives me my "me" time and she can waste all the time she wants getting sandy (YUCK!!), reading books, "enjoying" the resort's gym, and the spa (she's not Bob Kraft!), we'll dive and meet her for dinner!

Too real. I love my Suunto D6, especially its compact size, but that thing'll buzz at me even if I'm doing everything right and ascending like I'm Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy.

Yyyyyyup. Sand SUCKS! :D

Good for your son-old school but provides understanding behind the computer. Enjoy your trip. Sounds very well planned. Yeah I went to school with a couple of sub divers (went before the USMC started their own school down at Panama City). I was senior guy and a Marine aviator so took lots of crap from the instructors. They commonly wore a dive shirt imprinted with, “Fly Navy. Divers need the work!”

Wife and I are both AOW. Few ocean dives, and just dove Epcot (WDW) this past fall. I don't have much else to add other than I prefer backplate/wing!

Certified in '87, Naui

became a Padi Scuba Instructor in the 90's, retired from teaching in 2005

Palau has to be the best place i have dove

Chuuk (Truk) was pretty damn cool too

from Palau
https://i.imgur.com/rVdPaid.jpg

Certified in the Maldives. Have done a lot of amazing dives all over. It's absolutely one of my favorite things in the world and I can't recommend it enough to anyone considering it.

i want to go to the Maldives...wife and i were looking at the aggressor there and at galapagos.

Dont get swallowed by a bryde's whale while diving in a bait ball like this guy.

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Did you dive the wrecks at Bikini Atoll?

My next door neighbor in Va. Beach (long after I got out) was a full-on Navy diver (hard-hat), and yeah, he pulled a couple of pilots out of the water. His worst mission was aboard the USS Hoist when they recovered remains from flight 800. He was jacked after that, and I get it...

Speaking of the Hoist, before I joined the Navy I dated the Hoist's CMC. Amazing how small the world is...

This is another dive I want to do:

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My boat kicked the Radford all over the ocean during an exercise, I went 10-for-10 with putting ADCAPs on them, enough to have been given the ship's seal. I might just return it... Skimmers are just too easy.. Unless you were on the USS Moosebrugger, those guys were uncommonly challenging..

And I think the Navy still has the school in PC, "On the Bayou"!!! Good times...

Well that's kind of in the middle of nowhere! LIKE!!!

If you ever have the chance to dive Guam (before it tips over), I'd highly recommend it... Examples here.

Unfortunately no. Didnt that the island hopper. Direct flight from guan and honolulu. Did dive guam / apra harbor.

Bikini would be a dream destination.

Thw wrecks in Truk were amazing though.

Guam is some great diving. The wrecks in apra harbor are good dives

I highly recommend diving. I also waited until my 40's, but now I wish I hadn't. I dive every chance I can and am now a divemaster. Been all over the Caribbean.

Gratz on the divemaster rating. Well done.

Some of the local divers stationed at the base's dive locker who were working on our boat took us to the southern part of the island, it wasn't deep, but it was endless reef..

Dove for first time in Turks and Caicos last summer. Going to dive at minimum once yearly until no longer physically possible.

Diving kelp forest in June this year and hopefully somewhere else this fall/winter.

Yeah, never done that area. It's on the list for sure. Galapagos too. Though not sure I can ever live on a boat for several days and dive intermittently.

Maldives was amazing for a variety of reasons but each resort is on its own island. The diving is outstanding but travel time to each site can be forever. The most amazing schools of fish I'll ever encounter. There's every type of dive there if you search for it.

Bora Bora is my favorite place to dive. Multiple sites nearby and all pay dividends with experiences. You have a nearby dive to see mantas, another to be surrounded by 20 lemon and reef sharks, and then another to see a school of 30 eagle rays. This was very rewarding.

Hawaii didn't blow me away, but there was a gimmicky night manta ray dive which was perhaps the coolest thing I've ever done.

I did my PADI Discover Scuba in Fiji and then dove there again a few years later when I was more serious. Similar to the Maldives. A lot of amazing stuff and all are spread out. Gorgeous.

In the Caribbean I've done Turks many times and the Caymans. A lot of really nice experiences there but they're relaxed.

Regardless, if you're reading this thread and interested, go get certified. If you're just underwater for 45 minutes concentrating on your breathing in a relaxed state, it's still one of the best forms of therapeutic meditation that you'll encounter.

I like the idea that diving makes planning vacations easy.

The son and I have diving the ghost ships on the Great Lakes on our bucket list.

(And this lady doing the photography is one of the best in the business...)

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Right outside of Apra, near Orote Point, there is a small blue hole... great little dive site drops down pretty deep, open back up to the ocean, fun dive.

Never dove the southern end of the island though, wasn't there long enough. But i did get to see most of the island...

Hangin' out at the Inajaran Pools
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:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

It was a great trip. 25 dives, a Cenote and night dive (firsts for the younger son), and lots of good time. I touched on my NDL once, but that's OK, a 10 minute stop was worth the price of an extra 10 minutes.
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Was talking to an old dive buddy on the east coast today and he's planting the seed for a trip to Truk. Now THAT would be cool as all get-out...

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So the son was looking for some things in the basement, and looks at what he finds... Ha, now he's pumped to make that dive. Perhaps I return it to ship as a token of my appreciation for it becoming a reef and helping the ocean. :thumb: :D
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Or let him present it to the museum:
“The USS Radford National Naval Museum was a collection of memorabilia about the ship that was located in Newcomerstown, Ohio.[2] The museum closed in 2011[3] and its contents were moved to the USS Orleck Naval Museum that is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Exhibits include photos, uniforms, and displays about the ship and her service.”
Nah, your first idea was better.

Indeed... I just have to wait a few years until the younger son's "legal" to dive to the keel. It'll be worth the wait.

Then I'll send the museum a picture of us returning it. I'll just make sure some dolphins are permanently embedded in it.. Ha!