SCUBA

[penguinz]

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.

[Holladay]

Go fist yourself. 😉

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

[DJ's left nut]

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.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by tx4chiefs

I've been certified for almost 20 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.

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

[Hog Rider]

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

[DJ's left nut]

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...

[GloryDayz]

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.

[RedRaider56]

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

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by RedRaider56

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!

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...

[scho63]

Originally Posted by RedRaider56

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

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.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by scho63

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 , 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.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

Often overlooked is the Mediterranean... When the Navy didn't have me clearing steel leaders from the sub , 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.

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

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by scho63

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.

[GloryDayz]

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..

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...

[GloryDayz]

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)

[Coyote]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

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

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...

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.