OT: SCUBA?
- Thread starter RuLaw2004
- Start date
love diving, been doing it since college days, capture underwater memories with video or pictures, however don't get frustrated with the pictures, it takes time to get better underwater
visit as many sites as possible, looking for diversification and don't overlook the national underwater parks like pennekamp or st john's
try spiny lobster season in Fl, nothing like diving for lobster and coming back to the beach for some cold beer and fresh as it gets lobster
personally speaking, its one of the most relaxing activities I've ever experienced, enjoy
Dove for a few years. Logged over 24 hrs. Underwater - maybe 50 dives total. Great sport. Great entertainment. Find a buddy and enjoy. My opinion is dive where the diving is great and don't waste your time diving where it's not. There are so many great dive places in Florida and the Carribean that are relatively inexpensive.
After you get certified, make one of your first dive trips in Florida to Looe key. National park 25 miles north of Key West. 30-40 feet of water. Amazing coral reliefs and wildlife. Also make sure you do a night dive. Really cool.
Some people like hunting, some like wrecks, some like caves, some like photography etc. lots of options.
Enjoy.
After you get certified, make one of your first dive trips in Florida to Looe key. National park 25 miles north of Key West. 30-40 feet of water. Amazing coral reliefs and wildlife. Also make sure you do a night dive. Really cool.
Some people like hunting, some like wrecks, some like caves, some like photography etc. lots of options.
Enjoy.
Concur with everything RU85 stated. have done over 100 dives. Probably better to do different places, but I've done Turks and Caicos twice, Aruba twice, and Domican Republic and Bahamas once, among other places. Try going every six months, if not, every year.
Make sure of one thing. Years ago when I got certified, everyone in our class rented equipment for our open water dives. One guy went all-in, and bought all new equipment. On our first ocean dive, he was so sea sick, he couldn't dive. Wound up selling all of the equipment.
Don't really need one for the Caribbean. Can rent one if you want for Florida. In fact I would just rent everything. That's what I do because it's the easiest.
agree with Al, unless you live in FL or the caribbean or someplace where you dive all the time, just rent, its a pain to travel with gear, spend it on a 4K GoPro or other memory gear and better locations (trips)
Al, did you dive the big ship that was sunk during WWII in Aruba? I dove that ship 12 years ago and it was pretty interesting.
Did it several times, once at night, which was my favorite. That's my favorite wreck. They used to have a WW2 airplane down there, too, but the sea ultimately ripped it apart. Now the parts are strewn over the ocean floor. That's another good point OP. Definitely do a night dive because more creatures come out at night. Also Did a rowboat dive in DR, which is where I also got to dive caves. Did a shore dive in St Croix.
Wasn't so crazy about the shore dive because you have to lug your equipment over the beach, but it was nice to do once.
Red sail sports is a solid dive shop in the Caribbean.
Diving is included at Sandals Barbados, so I hope to check that out.
Finally, people usually tip the dive master $10-$20, depending on how much they liked the dive.
SCUBA owes a big part of its history to a Rutgers alum:
http://news.rutgers.edu/feature/chr...was-father-scuba-diving/20151213#.VobxuvkrKM8
http://news.rutgers.edu/feature/chr...was-father-scuba-diving/20151213#.VobxuvkrKM8
One of the loves of my life. I have been to and seen some of the most amazing things on earth do to scuba diving. The underwater world is fascinating and beautiful.
Swimming with schools of Hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, turtles, seals, all kinds of fish. It's just awesome.
I started just like you, got my open water cert., and then all the way to divemaster. Have over 400 dives in such places as the the keys, bahamas, bonaire, caymans, dominica, belize, honduras, and my favorite, the galapagos islands.
Good luck with your scuba journey, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Kids and age slowed me down a bit, but I hope to get wet sometime soon.
Swimming with schools of Hammerhead sharks, whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, turtles, seals, all kinds of fish. It's just awesome.
I started just like you, got my open water cert., and then all the way to divemaster. Have over 400 dives in such places as the the keys, bahamas, bonaire, caymans, dominica, belize, honduras, and my favorite, the galapagos islands.
Good luck with your scuba journey, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Kids and age slowed me down a bit, but I hope to get wet sometime soon.
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I never did it,but I did write a story in 1983 for our company paper about an employee who went all over the world meeting the legends of the sport.In the story,I used every metaphor ever used about water.About the Dolphin Code I said:"All attempts to crack the Dolphin Code have failed to hold much water.It's been too difficult to fathom."
I'm an AOW diver certified at Rutgers. As an undergrad I took a study abroad summer session at Little Cayman Island and got to dive every day. It was amazing. Other than that, I've dove the World Islands in Dubai, Maui and Oahu, Key West, the Baltimore Aquarium, and Dutch Springs in PA (where I did my checkout dives). I can't wait for next time, it's a fantastic experience and I would recommend it to anyone interested. If you live near Rutgers, it may be far cheaper to certify through them. For the checkout dives you can use their equipment for free as well as for the instruction so it may end up saving quite a bit of money.
gotta get re-certified.. my PADI cert expired .. prolly just take the whole course again.. never hurts to make sure
always check the rubber O-ring connecting your regulator to your tank before you dive
also.. scubapro http://www.scubapro.com/en-US/USA/home.aspx
there are other companies but that one is the best.. i still free dive with my gear(boots,fins,mask,snorkle,weights) and any other thing you wanna outright own.. beware it can get expensive(few thousand dollar range)
i would recommend Dosil's http://www.dosils.com/ right on Rt 36.. they'll hook you up with gear
always check the rubber O-ring connecting your regulator to your tank before you dive
also.. scubapro http://www.scubapro.com/en-US/USA/home.aspx
there are other companies but that one is the best.. i still free dive with my gear(boots,fins,mask,snorkle,weights) and any other thing you wanna outright own.. beware it can get expensive(few thousand dollar range)
i would recommend Dosil's http://www.dosils.com/ right on Rt 36.. they'll hook you up with gear
I was certified at Dutch Springs as well - water temps were around 55. I swore that I would never do cold water diving again! I love diving for what you get to see and for the therapeutic aspects of it - no ringing telephones to interrupt what you're doing.
I seldom get to do actual diving trips but often try to tack on a day or two of diving to other trips, including work-related trips. I've never been diving in the US aside from those check-out dives, but can recommend several places in the Caribbean that are worth the trip, including Roatan in Honduras, Belize, Cozumel off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan, and Dominica, which is not really reef diving but has many colorful sites.
In the Pacific, Palau offered the most terrifying though exhilarating diving I've ever done due to the combination of strong currents and the large number of sharks. It's the only place I've been where the dive master gives you a long cord with hooks on both ends, so that you can hook yourself onto the reef to avoid using energy (and too much air) while trying to stay in place so you watch the sharks (who are watching you!). Fiji has many beautiful dive sites; we went diving for 5 days off of Taveuni Island there and it was spectacular.
In August of 2015, I also had a chance to do a day of diving in Indonesia, which has some of the world's best dive sites. We were in Labuanbajo on the western end of the island of Flores (direct flights from Bali), which serves as the port of departure for the trips to see the famous Komodo dragons on a couple of smaller islands in the channel to the west of Flores. The Wonderpus dive shop in Labuanbajo did a great job on the diving day trip, combining it with a visit to see the dragons as well, all for around $100. Highly recommended.
Diving is an expensive hobby, especially if you purchase your own equipment. I've never done that since it is bulky to pack and I'm virtually never doing a trip just for diving. Just about any dive shop will have equipment for you to rent which alleviates the need to schlep everything with you.
Have fun!
I seldom get to do actual diving trips but often try to tack on a day or two of diving to other trips, including work-related trips. I've never been diving in the US aside from those check-out dives, but can recommend several places in the Caribbean that are worth the trip, including Roatan in Honduras, Belize, Cozumel off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan, and Dominica, which is not really reef diving but has many colorful sites.
In the Pacific, Palau offered the most terrifying though exhilarating diving I've ever done due to the combination of strong currents and the large number of sharks. It's the only place I've been where the dive master gives you a long cord with hooks on both ends, so that you can hook yourself onto the reef to avoid using energy (and too much air) while trying to stay in place so you watch the sharks (who are watching you!). Fiji has many beautiful dive sites; we went diving for 5 days off of Taveuni Island there and it was spectacular.
In August of 2015, I also had a chance to do a day of diving in Indonesia, which has some of the world's best dive sites. We were in Labuanbajo on the western end of the island of Flores (direct flights from Bali), which serves as the port of departure for the trips to see the famous Komodo dragons on a couple of smaller islands in the channel to the west of Flores. The Wonderpus dive shop in Labuanbajo did a great job on the diving day trip, combining it with a visit to see the dragons as well, all for around $100. Highly recommended.
Diving is an expensive hobby, especially if you purchase your own equipment. I've never done that since it is bulky to pack and I'm virtually never doing a trip just for diving. Just about any dive shop will have equipment for you to rent which alleviates the need to schlep everything with you.
Have fun!
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