Scuba/Freediving Diving Thread

Not to derail the thread, but I work with a bunch of EOD guys now...... Im working on clearing a former bombing/ firing range. Thanks your your service.

But yeah its 5 dives still. a good weekend and you can get it knocked out in HI.

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
Has anyone ever dove Belize and if so is it that much different/better than Mexico (Playa del Carmen/Tulum area).

 

Thanks for all the info guys. It's really helpful and is giving me a lot to look forward to.

Are they Military EOD or Civilian?

 

PADI MSDT here (Master SCUBA Diver Trainer) I have been teaching SCUBA for over 5 years.

Its such an awesome time, love to be in the water, its nice to be at the beach in 10 minutes and hit the water!

If anybody is looking for Diving certification (PADI) I am a certified instructor, if I can get a group of 3 or more I can set up training courses.

Making me want to hit the water right now. However for where I live I am doing shore dives mostly, and its a bit of work kicking out past the waves, better be aware of when the sets are coming in or your going to do a lot of extra swimming! If you time it wrong its like an extreme water treadmill!

 

I work with both military (army and navy) EOD and civilian UXO guys.

Back on topic....IM headed to the Bahamas for 8 days over christmas and new years on a live aboard. totally stoked

 

Time to revive this old thread I got my Open Water I certification in 1993, but haven't been diving as much as I would like. My last dive was a shipwreck night dive. It was AWESOME. I recently decided to go for my advanced certification. Last time I went to Laguna Beach, some guys were gearing up-had a newer Tacoma I've been bitten by the bug again, and hope to do more local diving (my wife won't dive locally because the water isn't "pretty").

 

I'm taking a week long trip to the bahamas in july, should I get certified before I go and will that be an advantage? Or just try to do it while I'm there? I have never done it before at all. I am interested in getting my rescue dive cert as well because I am a first responder on a lake. I just know nothing about any of this to be honest.

 

You'll have to do some serious diving in a week to get your rescue if you're completely uncertified, in fact that might be physically impossible I would definitely get certified before you go, then you'll be able to maximize your dive time.

 

Oh I didn't mean get the rescue there. I just want to do normal diving there, I'm sure they have a class you can take to get certified for normal diving there but I figured it would be easier to do it first. I just don't know the differences between any of the dive certs or what kind of restrictions there are.

 

x2, get your cert before you go. I just got back from the Bahamas, it was incredible!

 

^^^^This, you don't want to spend your vacation in scuba school while everyone else is out having fun. If you can find a local dive shop, do it at home before you go. Some places will let you do your open water check out dive at the resort you are going to, so long as it's the same agency (PADI/NAUI). Even with this, i would just enjoy open water diving on the trip and then do the rescue diving another time. Just my .02.
In 2003 i got certified on long island and then had a blast in mexico. Have been bit by the scuba bug ever since!

 

I know I can get certified here, problem is the water is terrible and visibility is almost nothing.

 

It builds character. Actually, an Open Water cert from someplace like WA or down here in Monterey is worth a little more, IMHO. The cold water, extra and more cumbersome equipment, and lower vis all present greater challenges to work with, especially as a noob. I think it helps focus you better. If you earn an Open Water cert under these conditions, I think you are earning a little more.

 

maybe anyone wanna do a dive meet in nc?

 

I agree, the water on the south shore of Long Island isn't paradise. I did my checkout dive in a 7mm hooded suit, with about 5ft vis at best. When i got to the Caribbean Sea, it was a surreal experience. Better to learn in tougher conditions, makes the vacation dive feel more of a vacation - fun and easy.

We dive out of Beaufort, NC in the summer on the Atlantis. Great boat, great operators! Wreck dives are incredible.

 

I don't know how many of us are on here but I'd obviously be down wanna come down to the coast? We got some nice wrecks down here

 

True that. Our dive instructor was a mean bastard, and pushed us hard. We spent lot of time in the pool blindfolded at the bottom recovering our gear, then did a couple dives in one of the skankiest lakes in SoCal. There were freakin' diapers in the water I feel like I could handle pretty much any dive conditions after that.

 

One of my first real dive "emergencies" as a buddy was in murky water in the Sea of Cortez. It was early in the season, and the viz was poor, about 30 ft. max, and it was colder than you'd expect. We were wearing 5 mils. Small group of 3 pairs, and my buddy and I were last. My buddy is way more experienced than I and she was in trail. The front pairs took off like rockets into the murk at abtou 60 ft deep. (I have never understood this approach to diving. I want to look around, not race.) We had no option but to keep up just to stay with the divemaster. So I spent all my time glancing forward to spot fins ahead of me, quick glance down to look at scenery, and quick glance back under my armpit to spot my buddy. Rinse and repeat rapidly. Not very fun. Then one time I glance back and no buddy. Fuck. I look foward for fins and say screw them, go back for buddy. So I had to execute a pretty much perfect 180 in murky water that was already disorienting, and kick straight back the way I came as fast as I could hoping that I am on the right bearing to find my buddy. After about 30 feet I could make out a huge column of bubbles and as I got closer, could see her inverted kicking her ass off straight down just to maintain depth and struggling. Turned out her BCD inflater valve stuck open and she could not get it off, but had to keep pulling her dump valve so she wouldn't shoot to the surface. I pulled her down on the sandy bottom and gave her my octopus so we could shut off her air (hold the jokes, too obvious). Then we looked around, checked our gauges, said fuck this, and aborted to the surface.

Point is, the first time I had an event in less than ideal conditions, I was able to deal with it easily and sucessfully. So I was happy to have had those cert dives in even worse conditions.

And take note. You need good underwater signals to say "fuck this."

 

+1

If you get the cert there, you have two options....

Resort-course, which is a 1-day class and you have a divemaster up your ass 24/7, max depth 30ft... or pay three times what you'd pay here for the full class, and you'll end up spending your entire vacation in the classroom and in the pool.