Scuba Divers!!!

So we all love our trucks obviously but does anyone love to dive??? Where are the scuba divers at around here? Come on fellas (and ladies)!! Post those fun diving related photos and if there's a truck shot in there even better! Tell a diving tale.....Ready....set...GO!!

Here are some of my own Diving photos to get it started. All photos were taken by me unless they are of me.

Free dove (holding your breath) in 30ft of water for this nice lobster in the Bahamas. Used a hawaiian sling (spear with a big ass rubber band, all done by hand, no gun)


GRRRRRRRRR !!!! Kauai, HI


Hawksbill Turtle


Here horsey horsey horsey


These guys are freaking HARD to spot. Only found in Cozumel.


Drop off on the Santa Rosa Wall....evidently it goes to over 8000ft down.


One Pissed off Moray....he may have come after me shortly after this picture. I may or may not have screamed like a little bitch when he did.


Nudibranch in Cozumel. Notice the size of the grains of sand.....this dude was super tiny.


Sleeping Nurse Shark up close.


Looking out from a coral cave on the Santa Rosa Wall.


Anemone Shrimp Macro


Anyone need a sponge??


Love not wearing a wetsuit with my backplate and wing set up. SO FREE!!

 

No pics, but the best dive I ever did was a night drift dive along the Dalco Wall in Puget Sound.

 

Ohh nice!!! I've not dove in "cold" ocean water before. Quarries don't count. I went and did my dry suit cert and hope to get to California for some diving this spring.

 

I don't scuba, but do freedive. I dive for abalone and I spearfish.

 

Oh nice! I like free diving but prefer warm water instead of the kelp forests I'm sure you're used to. Do you have any recommendations of places to check out in the Southern California area, I see you're in the bay so you may not. I really want to dive a kelp forest while I'm out there.

 

I don't know anywhere in so cal. I usually dive in the Monterey area and dive for abalone way up north. Kelp forests are beautiful from below, but bring a nice wetsuit, I wear a 7 mil.

 

Oh yeah no doubt, cold ass water. I'd be diving with a dry suit. I feel like a damn statue in a 7mm. Unfortunately Monterey is a bit far for me with where I'll be in Arizona, but the LA area is only 4.5 hours away and San Diego around 5-5.5 hrs.

Curious, see many if any great whites out there. I don't have to deal with those where I usually dive, its usually assorted reef and bull sharks.

 

A 7 mil really isn't that bad. I've never seen a great white while diving or surfing. I was on the Great Barrier Reef and saw some reef sharks, and even thou they aren't that dangerous, they are still intimidating.

 

Ha, I can only just stand a 5mm, most of the time when I dive I'm not wearing anything and if I can get away with just a shortie I totally will.

This was a picture I took on a GoPro while in Fiji last year. A 10 ft Bullshark eating a fish head that was just given to him by one of the Fijians. That was intimidating see how big 10ft actually is when its attached to a bunch of sharp ass teeth!!

 

I got my cert diving La Jolla and Catalina Island, beautiful, but yes, 5-7 mil suit required.

From Phoenix, San Carlos is an 8 hour drive and some of the best diving on the West coast. Much warmer than CA diving and worth the trip. I did my advance and a few other specialty certs down there. Tons of great diving in Mexico.

The AZ lakes suck to dive in, cold and mucky! But great for getting your search and rescue.

I'll look for pics and upload a few later.

 

I haven't had time recently to dive but I definitely will post some pictures up in the morning!

 

Never dove before but it is one of my goals in life to learn how. Also want to try free diving.

 

I would LOVE to go to Catalina island, if I do get to go diving out there I'd definitely be diving in a dry suit. As mentioned above I'm really not a fan of the 7mm suits I hate how constricting they are it's one of the reasons I went to a backplate/wing set up besides wanting to go the technical route.

I'm not sure that I'll be able to get down to San Carlos I'll be a good 3 hours from Phoenix in Bullhead City.

Guess I could also go into the Colorado River I've never been much of a freshwater diver unless it was in the springs in florida. I don't care for murky or gross water. Haha, I can only imagine what Search/Rescue is like in a mud puddle (lake). I did my rescue cert in a quarry that literally had 3 feet of visibility from all the open water students finning the bottom.

PICTURES!!!! Can't wait to see them!!

I can't recommend it enough! Save up a bunch of money, like our trucks, diving is an expensive hobby. Find a shop that you like if there are lots of choices around. Go on a trip!! I can't recommend Blackbeards Cruises in the Bahamas enough for someone who's trying to figure out this whole diving thing. I had only 7 dives under my belt when I went on it a, total noob. Do your Advanced Open water while your on it!!! Opens up a whole bunch of options of what you can do next. It's relatively cheap, its all about the diving (4 dives a day), the food is amazing I do mean amazing, I ate better there than I have anywhere else I've gone, the accommodations are like camping at sea. The diving is pretty damn good, you'll get a little bit of everything, Night dives, Deep Diving (nothing like diving on a wall that goes down 5000+ feet), Drift diving (look up The Washing Machine on Youtube), Wreck diving, Shark Feeding Dives, Sink Holes, and Lobster hunting (free diving only). If you can't tell I get excited about this stuff. I'm actually brining all my diving gear with me to Phoenix in hopes of getting in some diving while I'm out there.

 

I think you would surprised, I have a 7 mil open cell wetsuit made with Yamamoto neoprene and it's very flexible. But I'm also not fighting with a tank and all that gear. All I have to wrestle with is a weight belt a spear gun and hopefully a dead fish.

 

I did a live aboard for diving Catalina Island, that way you got two to three days of diving in without have to ride out/in every day. Lots of fun.

Plan a trip and do San Carlos, several shops in AZ do buses down there, or at least they use to. There is/was a Club Med not far and Catch 22 beach is in the area to. Just outside the harbor is a place they call "The Aquarium" Some of the best night diving I have ever done. Plus the clubs in Guaymas are fun, even for a gringo.

I have heard some stories about good diving in the Colorado River. Find a local dive shop and get the 411 on the area as soon as you get there.

Why in hell are you moving to Bullhead City?

 

Hmm......I'd try it out. What brand is it that uses the Yamamoto Neoprene? I've always used things like Henderson or BARE. Do you not find that the open cell neoprene doesn't keep you as warm as the closed cell? I mean shrinkage is an issue in those cold ass waters

Ohh wow, see now thats fun!!! I love bus trips, we have a place like that here in ATL that has a custom "bus" that will take you down to the Keys. Couple days of driving and a little vacation. Do you happen to remember the names of the groups that did that? The Aquarium area sounds really great. I rather like night diving, this may be a dumb question but is the Gulf of California as cold as the Pacific or is it warm tropical water there. I really know nothing about the waters in that area.

I found one dive shop in Bullhead city, I have no doubt I'll be going there to at least see what they offer. Perhaps Lake mohave isn't that bad?

Ha....several people have asked that, mainly those already in AZ. I'm headed there for a temporary travel Nurse Practitioner job at one of the hospitals. They need someone who can do ICU patients on nights so I'm going to help them out. It'll be for 4 months, but it could go longer if I enjoy it, etc. The plan is to come back to Georgia when I'm done but I really like Arizona so the possibility that I will look at staying there is rather high. I"d just prefer Phoenix frankly.

 

My wetsuit is a mako brand. I have never had problems being cold. Recently in Monterey, with the El Niño year, water temps have been in the low to mid 60's. It has almost been to warm for that wetsuit, I've thought about just wearing my surf 4/3 wetsuit. When I dive up north for abalone, it's probably in the low 50's and the 7 mil is perfect.

 

I am leaving the Phoenix area soon, moving to the mountains. There are several travel nurses working in Payson. They need some quality help in the ER, some of them, well lets just leave it at they NEED help.

The dive shops I use to dive with are gone, divorce, reputation, etc. One of them was the best, but they had a reputation for being asshats.... they were, but they knew their shit and once you got past the idle looking and got to know them, they were good people. I can't remember the shop I was working on getting my dive master. Damn, that seems like a lifetime ago. I need to do a refresher and start diving again. Maybe in a few years, when the kids are older, I will get my wife into it.

The Gulf of CA is warm water, usually only dove with a skin on. The winters the water might get into the upper 70s while in the summer it can be in the high 80s.

My problem is that I like expensive sports/hobbies, so I have to focus on one at a time.

 

I will check them out I had not heard of them before. HA, you know talking about water in the 60's that's just...brrrrrrrr. I'm used to the 80's!!!! The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean will make you well....I guess I'm a pussy lol. I admit it...I own it.

Ohh wow, any particular reason for leaving? Just don't care for the Phoenix area?

Payson is a nice area I was up in the Tonto Forrest this past August when I was visiting out there. I haven't been a bedside RN in almost five years since becoming an NP. Much prefer the provider role over the bedside nurse role

That is very unfortunate that the shop is gone. I am definitely looking for recommendations from anyone who lives in the area on shops to go visit. Ha, you know the whole asshat reputation, I just want nice people who will let me dive and not be jerks about it. If they go to cool places all the better. I'm kind of at a cross roads with my diving after getting my Master Scuba Diver thru PADI. Stay where I am and be happy (which I know I won't be) or go the Technical or DM/Instructor route. I'm thinking of doing the Technical route first to get all that knowledge before heading to do DM/Instructor. I really want to go deeper and stay down longer.

 

My wife and I are Arizona natives. She is originally from Kingman (about 45 mins East of Bullhead City), and I have lived all over this state. I love and hate Phoenix. It is a great city with lots of things to offer, but it is a big city with all the issues of a big city. I want the small town experience again, I want my kids to grow up in a small town were life is a little slower. Also, I hate the heat, I am so over it. The winters are awesome in Phoenix, Christmas in shorts and flip-flops! However, it comes at a price. Payson has 4 seasons and gets some snow, but not tons of it.

I am currently working as an EMT in Payson. Rural EMS is so much better than the ass-backwards way fire controls things in Phoenix.