Scuba

[satori]

on my way to open water certification, just finished my first pool session and am pretty stoked (and have a decent headache).

who's a Zissou here? gone on any great trips, have any tips or stories?

[neuros]

I love the water! I'm open water certified and started my adventure diving course some years ago... I've been to Malaysia, The UAE, Thailand, Egypt, the Bahamas and Singapore, but no diving elsewhere... I live in the chilly cold north with shitty visibility in the water and a close season when the water's tolerable, so it's been a traveling sport for me. it's amazing how much is down there
I wish i got more tank time

[fineout]

I got my open water last year, been scuba diving for probabaly 5years though (oops).
my best trip so far and probabaly wont be topped were my 2 dives in aruba.
beautiful water, 75* 40feet down didnt even need a wetsuit! and did a wreck dive on the Atilla which is a 400ft long german cargoship that got sunk in WWII, saw some barracuda a bunch of parrot fish and some moray eels. Then went to a spot where there used to be some sunken airplanes but they got washed away and now theres just some propellors and stuff, saw a manta friggen ray which was AWESOME! and a bunch of other cool stuff, all the while was buddied up with my dad and my brother so it made it a really cool experience.
I imagine you're waiting to do your actual water dive, as it must be freeezing! i took mine in early may last year and the water was 48* on the top and 45* 25ft down. Only had a 5mm wetsuit so i could barely move by the time we got out. terrible.

neuros, there is some GREAT diving in RI/MA, get a 7mil and man up!!! spearfishing for tautog and picking up lobsters is always a good reward, hunting underwater is so fun.

[JibeCity223]

i got my open water when i was 13.

Ive scuba-dived as much as possible ever since.
I go to the island of Bonaire every march to windsurf and do some diving, and its sick!
I dive with hammerheads every once in a while, but the coolest thing they have there is a 20 foot moray eel which for some reason swims freely in this fire-coral forest type thing. that thing s much scarier than the sharks could ever be!

Ive also hit up the great barrier reef and i gotta say its beautifull.

if you have a relatively clean, rock bottomed lake, you can have underwater bike races!

PS 150 feet: theres AWESOME stuff on the bottom (wierd worm things!) but you will go crazy and think you can just take your mask off.

Edit: 150 feet=with nitrox.

[satori]

so RAD to hear all this!

swimming with manta rays must be as amazing an experience as going to the moon!
the scuba shop my classes are based out of go to bonaire fairly often... hope i can join them someday! 150ft... i can't even imagine right now- i ruptured an eardrum years back so i'm real careful about clearing even 10ft down.

my instructor told a story about someone on one of his dives who got oxygen over-saturation just past 100ft and offered his 2nd stage to a passing fish... a good laugh afterward ON LAND at THE BAR! i have to say, so far divers are one of the coolest groups of people i've met. everyone's there for fun yet there's a lot of care and respect since it's so dangerous. you'd think there would be that attitude with speedboarding lol

[JibeCity223]

so RAD to hear all this!

swimming with manta rays must be as amazing an experience as going to the moon!
the scuba shop my classes are based out of go to bonaire fairly often... hope i can join them someday! 150ft... i can't even imagine right now- i ruptured an eardrum years back so i'm real careful about clearing even 10ft down.

my instructor told a story about someone on one of his dives who got oxygen over-saturation just past 100ft and offered his 2nd stage to a passing fish... a good laugh afterward ON LAND at THE BAR! i have to say, so far divers are one of the coolest groups of people i've met. everyone's there for fun yet there's a lot of care and respect since it's so dangerous. you'd think there would be that attitude with speedboarding lol

suba divers are the man, especially dutch ones, you meet the most interesting people at longboard races and dive boats. If you go 2 bonaire, check out the windsurfing. We also have a ton of friends there whos be more than happy 2 show u a good time. nitrogen narcosis/the benz is not something to mess with.

[243racing]

I've never gone scuba diving... snorkeling is more my thing. My favourite place though was Grand Cayman. The water is amazing, it's so clear and warm.They had some pretty sweet fish and sea life there... rays, I saw a few squid along with tons of others. I hear the scuba is amazing though. Barbados was pretty sweet too.

[pithaya]

I got mine at 14, I should have renewed it since I don't dive often but I really enjoy it. I got the certification in Florida but I dive in the Sea of Cortes. Its incredible, I've seen turtles, rays, eels, all kinds of fish. I went to an artificial wreck once too.

[fineout]

i really wanna go diving with hammerheads, my favorite sharks! and i agree about the morays, i almost grabbed one when snorkeling once. once i have some money i wanna get my advanced cert soon and get nitrox/deep diver cert.

[slither9192]

I got certified 2 years ago at 13. Now I am advanced open water certified. I go to the Birtish Vrgin Islands every summer which has some great divin. PLaces I have been are Hawaii
BVI
Dominican Republic
Hopefully many more to come. Anyone who hasnt been on a night dive has to try it. Its a little eerie at first but you get used to it. I also live up north so I don't dive unless out on a trip.
WOW i just noticed almost all who posted so far are from New England. Wierd snce the waters are freezing here.

[revzack]

Three years ago this month, 54 degree water. Exciting. I went last summer in Playa Del Carmen. Did 3-4 different Cenotes. They are alot of fun, Caves with light. I have my advanced and Nitrox Certification and have done somewhere around 35ish dives so far.
I have been to 110 ft in florida and 100 in a lake in Texas.
I rented some sketchy gear my first time diving in Mexico, so now I own it. Maintenance is expensive if you own it though.
I like my backplate and bladder over the vest, just cleaner lines and less to mess with.

I think Brainfartalerts is a rescue diver, or was taking a class, but I have been wrong before

[Alademuerte]

I got my open water back when I was 15


Then I got my advanced when I was 16 in deep diving, wreck diving, whatever...

And I was like 16 or 17 when I took my Search and Rescue.. So all I need now is my masteres then I go for instructors.

[sealfishtale]

I am rescue ceritfied and i am working on my dive master cert. I mainly dive in monterey because that is where I live, but I have been to Catalina, casino point, doctors cove and one other cove but I cant remember the name of it. I went diving in Catalina channel as well, I dove on a wreak there that was about 100 to 110ft down. Had some fun with some seals there also got to play with a lot of random fish that would swim around me. Also there is a great cliff for diving off of in doctors cove, it is about 45ft tall I think.

[lexx]

I took up diving last summer and I've almost qualified for my sports diver, which is the equivalent to the PAD I advanced diver. I have the basic nitrox qualification which means I can dive with 32% and 36% but once I finish the sports diver I'll have a ticket to dive up to 100% nitrox.

PS 150 feet: theres AWESOME stuff on the bottom (wierd worm things!) but you will go crazy and think you can just take your mask off.

Edit: 150 feet=with nitrox.

You went to 45m with nitrox? You do know nitrox is a shallow gas and the maximum operating depth for tabled nitrox is 42m (27%). Being narced is like being drunk, CNS oxygen toxicity is death.

By the looks of it you've all done the PADI course. I'm training in the BSAC which is a lot more inclusive, takes much longer to qualify but leaves you with a much broader and safer ground of experience. It also costs me much less to qualify and because it's done in a club environment I always have someone to dive with.

BSAC - be slow and careful
PADI - pay and die instantly

[grimble]

i'm a bit of a diver!
it's a been well over a year since my last time.

i've seen all sorts, from dolphins and turtles in warmer climes to a tractor in a reservoir in England.

enjoy it.
it's so peaceful.

if anyone is looking for a cheap and chilled place to get alot of dives under their (wieght)belt(arf!) check out Roatan.
i seriously considered doing my dive master their, but sadly no.

[fineout]

WOW i just noticed almost all who posted so far are from New England. Wierd snce the waters are freezing here.

you guys are big vag's, new england diving is fun theres a lot of good stuff to be seen here.

[JibeCity223]

I took up diving last summer and I've almost qualified for my sports diver, which is the equivalent to the PAD I advanced diver. I have the basic nitrox qualification which means I can dive with 32% and 36% but once I finish the sports diver I'll have a ticket to dive up to 100% nitrox.


You went to 45m with nitrox? You do know nitrox is a shallow gas and the maximum operating depth for tabled nitrox is 42m (27%). Being narced is like being drunk, CNS oxygen toxicity is death.

By the looks of it you've all done the PADI course. I'm training in the BSAC which is a lot more inclusive, takes much longer to qualify but leaves you with a much broader and safer ground of experience. It also costs me much less to qualify and because it's done in a club environment I always have someone to dive with.

BSAC - be slow and careful
PADI - pay and die instantly

it was pretty irrisponsible on our part. i was with my dad and im not sure what went on, we just kinda showed up at that depth, went OH ####, and got back up as safely as possible.
i felt like dying afterwards and i dont reccomend it. Im not even certified for nitrox or anything what standard PADI allows, after this ive limited my depth to a max of 80 feet to avoid any complications, the reefs dissapear past this depth anyways.
i agree that PADI doesn't really tell you what the hell your doing, they just kinda showed me how to use the equipment and told me not to hold my breath and were like GO! my dad used to be a salvage diver so ive learned pretty much everything from him, though that may not be the greatest idea consideing recent events...

[lexx]

yeah man. i'm not joking either about the CNS. Nitrox should only be used to 35m. The maximum operating depth for air is 50m, which is the legal limit in the UK for commercial diving, but I believe the maximum depth allowed by PADI is actually 40m but I'm not certain about that. The obvious reason why these depths matter is because of safety, but especially if you're on holiday or in the US you've got to remember that if you exceed your depth and something goes wrong there is no insurance policy that'll ever cover your bend

I'm hoping to start my dive instructor course this winter with the hope of qualifying as next year. My instructor is only a year older than me and has just got his trimix ticket to 75m so he can start plundering wrecks haha. Personally I like catching sea food like lobsters, crabs and scallops

[lexx]

double post.

[lexx]

on my way to open water certification, just finished my first pool session and am pretty stoked (and have a decent headache).

who's a Zissou here? gone on any great trips, have any tips or stories?

ps. why do you have a headache?!