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Welp, got my OW card yesterday and paid for my Nitrox course. Bye money! What's progression in scuba like? Not learning/certificates/courses specifically.
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Apr 27, 2017 22:44
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Easy and fun ('cause you're diving!). Rescue course is a fun challenge 'cause they put you through a lot of stress tests, so not only are you learning new material, you're learning something about yourself.
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Apr 27, 2017 23:21
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tesilential posted:I'm not worried about spit in the ocean, but the infections that can be transmitted through spit in a bucket. I get sinus and upper respiratory infections pretty easily and would rather not rinse my mask in a cesspool of other people's pathogens. Similarly I don't worry about poop in the ocean (i do it all the time When and why are you pooping in the ocean?
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Apr 28, 2017 00:42
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) but I would definitely worry about a turd floating around the mask bucket.
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Red_Fred posted:When and why are you pooping in the ocean? Usually on remote inshore fishing trips on a SUP because there are no bathrooms and I always have to poop when in nature (woods, ocean). 
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Apr 28, 2017 04:12
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tesilential posted:Spitting in your mask and rinsing in the bucket is extremely gross and an excellent way to never get invited on that boat again. I don't do it, but it wouldn't really bother me if someone did. I typically just do it off the back/side of the boat or once I'm in the water. Spit works perfectly for me, and it means one less thing to carry around or worry about.
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Apr 28, 2017 09:22
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Same, I have done the rinsing in the bucket after spitting thing when I've been on a boat where you couldn't actually reach the water. But everyone else was doing that too. I can see a hygeine argument, things like TB can spread that way, but I don't think it's a major concern and the sea water alone probably had more harmful stuff. Actually it gets me wondering what the mechanism here is. From what I understood it's basically cleaning off the inside of the mask to prevent moisture having somewhere to fog up ,so it's 95%mechanical action wiping. It's that accurate or is there something to having a layer covering the mask? It would seem like rinsing defeats that.
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Apr 28, 2017 18:59
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Saliva could just have one of those properties where it's slightly hydrophobic, or has some sort of oily component, I'm not sure.
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Apr 28, 2017 19:02
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I'm curious do they make those of you who do rescue diver get BLS certs? I just ask cause on my dive today the dive master gave us the emergency surface sign as we had a diver go into arrest. I'm a critical care nurse so I assisted and directed. The dive crew worked well for people who've never actually had to do it. I was thoroughly impressed. Hated waiting around for the coast guard to have us do paperwork though
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Apr 28, 2017 22:45
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MrNemo posted:Same, I have done the rinsing in the bucket after spitting thing when I've been on a boat where you couldn't actually reach the water. But everyone else was doing that too. I can see a hygeine argument, things like TB can spread that way, but I don't think it's a major concern and the sea water alone probably had more harmful stuff. As I understand it, the surfactant lowers the surface tension of the water so it wets the inside surface of the mask in a film instead of forming droplets.
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Apr 28, 2017 22:54
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Weebly posted:I'm curious do they make those of you who do rescue diver get BLS certs? I just ask cause on my dive today the dive master gave us the emergency surface sign as we had a diver go into arrest. I'm a critical care nurse so I assisted and directed. The dive crew worked well for people who've never actually had to do it. I was thoroughly impressed. Hated waiting around for the coast guard to have us do paperwork though Rescue level + requires a valid CPR card at minimum I think. Part of the training also goes over signs and symptoms of other medical related emergencies.
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Apr 28, 2017 23:09
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Made it out to the wreck of the Hyde twice in the last few days  vis wasn't so great, but I managed to see some Spadefish, a bunch of amberjacks lurking about, schools of tiny fish being driven to and fro by the jacks, some blue striped grunts, and a sandbar shark
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Apr 30, 2017 00:09
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Trivia posted:Easy and fun ('cause you're diving!). Well, was looking for kind of dive progression, numbers, depths etc. But I know this is pretty variable depending on location.
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Apr 30, 2017 02:29
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Progression depends on so many factors not one can really tell you how long it will take. As well as your own personal comfort and adaptability, the conditions you're exposed to, the instructors you have, the other people you dive with.... It also depends what you mean by experienced. There are different knowledge area and skillsets. You can have an instructor who's been taking people out to the same reef in the Bahamas for a decade with thousands upon thousands of Dives logged but all doing more or less the same thing. He will know his poo poo inside and out doing that but may be utterly useless with navigation for new sites or totally lost in a low visibility dive. Like doing anything it also depends on how much effort you are able to put into improving. I know very experienced divers who have what I would consider shockingly poor buoyancy because they've never really put time or thought into improving it. So yeah, it's not really possible to say what rate you'll progress at.
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Apr 30, 2017 04:35
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That's a great response, all very true. But, I think that there is a short answer to his question. Let's look at the Reservation form for the shop I just dove at. Under "Certification level", the drop box options are: Open Water Advance Open Water Rescue Diver Dive Master Instructor There are lots of different things to learn, and different tracks to learn them on, but these are the basic "levels". Some of the agencies call them different things, as well as other stages in between, but they all have these equivalent. Open Water: 4 dives. Congrats, you know just enough to not die. Typically limited to < 60 feet Advance Open Water: 5 additional dives. A taste of five different specialties, Underwater Nav and Deep are usually required. Rescue Diver: I don't know how many dives, but requires other certs, and a minimum number of overall dives. Dive Master: ? Instructor: ? EDIT: from the SDI website. Rescue Diver: Provide proof of current CPR, first aid and oxygen (O2) provider (where local law permits) certification* Provide proof of SDI Advanced Adventure Diver certification, or equivalent, or open water diver certification and 40 logged open water dives Dive Master: Certified SDI Advanced Diver or equivalent; advanced certification must include verifiable experience in deep, navigation, night, and limited visibility specialties Certified SDI Rescue Diver or equivalent Provide proof of current CPR, first aid and oxygen provider(where local law permits)* Provided proof of at least 40 logged dives Instructor: Certified diver for a minimum of 6 months Proof of 100 logged dives completed in a number of different environments with varying depths Be certified as a SDI Divemaster, SDI Assistant Instructor, or equivalent Provide proof of current CPR, first aid and oxygen provider*, where local law permits Squashy Nipples fucked around with this message at 14:45 on May 1, 2017 |
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May 1, 2017 14:37
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^ Thanks to you both, MrNemo and Squashy Nipples. I agree with you MrNemo, to put it in skydiving realm, I've done a variety of jumping, belly, freefly, wingsuit, tons of canopy work, to make myself well rounded. Also, picked up a coach rating and became a FAA Senior Parachute Rigger. In the path, for like belly: small groups and simple formations, gradually add people and maneuvers/points. I'm sorry to you both, I didn't word what I was thinking well, I do appreciate the responses. I'll try from another angle of: what have others done with regards to dive types to get to where they are currently? My OW dives were what I'd hazard to be very safe and protected: a spring and a drift on a river. I'm hazarding to guess some people have done OW in the ocean, right? So based on that, what would someone do next? Dive boat trip that has two or three dives in a day? Go to the dive shop and see what trips they have? (I live in Jacksonville, FL if that helps.) Sky was easier in this regard, dropzones are few and far between and it's all relatively the same sky. Scuba: the water and the geography under can vary a ton. This all said, I just finished SDI's online course work for Computer Nitrox 15 minutes ago.
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May 2, 2017 00:15
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It really depends on your interests and available funds, and where you live to an extent. Have a lot of time and money? Google "top dive destination in the world" and go from there. Otherwise, look into closer locales. I'd wager that most of us would recommend ocean diving, especially (but not necessarily) tropical areas for its varied biomass. After you get some experience and a bit more confidence in your skill, you can look into some of the other specialty courses that are offered, such as cave or wreck diving.
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May 2, 2017 06:04
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The Electronaut posted:^ The Keys or West palm beach both have good diving and are where my wife and I learned. I would also suggest looking into Bonaire for shore diving. What drop zone do you jump in Florida? Skydive Dallas has been my long time favorite but sadly I live in a desolate wasteland and have been grounded for a while...
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May 2, 2017 11:07
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Do you want to be an ocean diver? A tech diver? A cave diver? A recreational diver? There are great shops in FL, some very close to you for each option. Some of these options lead to wayyyy more expense then others.
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May 2, 2017 12:27
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In retrospect my answer was technically correct but not very helpful. Let's try something better. I've had a very different experience from, I'd guess, most of the other divers here in terms of conditions dived in. Most of my diving has been in the UK, cold water, crappy vis and in the open ocean. My first instructor strongly felt that those kind of conditions built up skill and experience faster than easier, more pleasant diving. The obvious downside is that it's a lot more work and less fun. I'd definitely recommend doing some open ocean diving first, get some experience diving off a boat. Either look into local places (no idea where you are) or book somewhere in Florida (seems popular). Alternatively if you're looking to go farther afield, assuming you're based in the US, Mexico has some amazing diving. Thailand or Indonesia, if you're heading all the way to Asia at any point, both offer some awesome diving and are super cheap in comparison. Despite the political instability Egypt has awesome diving and because of said instability is super cheap still and a lot of the life there is more abundant because there's so much less traffic. In terms of conditions, like I said experience on a boat. Try to get some diving on a variety of sites: wreck, reef, wall, pinnacle, etc. Maybe more varieties of dives? Navigation, night, etc. Some of these I think PADI offer as speciality dives or courses. Nav dives are probably worth doing with instruction as it's not the most intuitive thing to practise. Try getting a dry suit qualification and see what that's like. It's not necessary but it's much easier and more pleasant diving in cold water with one so if that's a possibility it's worth looking at. Find out what kind of diving you most enjoy and go do more of that. Make sure dive guides or buddies are aware of your experience levels and see if they're happy to help you learn new stuff. I'm guessing if you're getting randoms assigned as a dive buddy then this is a total crapshoot, likewise guides may or may not be keen to do teaching if it's not a course but decent outfits should really be able to offer some guidance.
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May 2, 2017 21:37
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If you're looking for a wholly new experience, I recommend a dive vacation. Find a place in the tropics, preferably a small island with a few operators. Make sure it has some good coral and life (i.e. DON'T go to Phuket or Phi Phi Island in Thailand), and then lounge on the beach, drink beer, and dive. You'll meet a lot of new friendly people and have a great time I'm sure. I took my non-diver buddy to the Gili Islands in Indonesia to get him certified. He had never done a vacation of that kind before and had no idea what to expect. First day we checked in at the dive center, got all his materials and gear situation sorted. Then we rented bikes to ride around for a self tour. When we saw little beach bars, we stopped for some beers and snacks. Come night, we had a great beach-side dinner. Every day was like that, and he had a blast. It was chill as gently caress and is arguably one of the best parts of the diving 'lifestyle' in my opinion.
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May 2, 2017 22:37
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Tropical places are great, but I'm a big fan of cold water diving and I think it often gets a bad rap. It requires more gear, and drysuits require training and money, but the life in temperate oceans can be incredible and very different from the tropical life that is much better known. Additionally, skills learned in cold water are far more transferable to warm water than vice versa.
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May 3, 2017 00:28
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Can't argue those points. Cold water can hold large amounts of biomass, arguably more than tropical in the right conditions. I wouldn't' be averse to doing more, but given the option, I'll always take tropical. A nice surface interval on the beach can't be beat.
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May 3, 2017 02:25
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I like to ask people who've done a lot of diving where they would dive if they could only dive one place over and over. For me it'd probably be the Channel Islands off of Southern California. What about you guys? DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 08:40 on May 3, 2017 |
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May 3, 2017 03:13
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Trivia posted:Can't argue those points. Cold water can hold large amounts of biomass, arguably more than tropical in the right conditions. I wouldn't' be averse to doing more, but given the option, I'll always take tropical. Cold water diving can be beautiful also check out these pictures (not mine). http://www.raymondwennekes.com/netherlands
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May 3, 2017 14:05
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Here's a few thing snapped from round the UK. I'm on my laptop currently and seem to not have some of the other stuff. I'm also super lazy so the shots (still) haven't been adjusted in photoshop. It's not always like this (shot at the end of one weekend when there was some pretty strong algal bloom) but it can be awesome.             http://imgur.com/a/HcotA
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May 3, 2017 14:47
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Ropes4u posted:The Keys or West palm beach both have good diving and are where my wife and I learned. I would also suggest looking into Bonaire for shore diving. DeLand, Palatka, and Sebastian are where I jumped a lot. My spurs are hung up for the moment on sky, I say this, though it has been like 4 years now... All: thanks for the responses. Goals in regards to specialization or skill set, the only thing that really stands out is wreck. Between discussion in this thread and with the instructor who did my pool, I'd like to pursue rescue as it sounds like a fantastic learning experience and overall fun. (I've played the student a number of times for instructor candidates in skydiving.)
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May 3, 2017 16:33
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Wreck is a fun course (when your dives aren't getting consistently blown out by weather  ), and probably the most useful for where I live. Almost all the diving here is wreck diving (coastal NC/Graveyard of the Atlantic). Every ship has a different story to tell, and digging into the history of some of them can be a fun exercise. Example: one of our wrecks here (the Hyde) found a few magnetic mines the hard way in Vietnam, and the only reason she didn't sink there was because the captain was quick on his feet about dumping the dredge load his ship was carrying as he also ordered full speed towards shore. I think that she technically sank, but landed on the bottom near the shore (decks never actually went under, but she was no longer afloat) and was easily salvageable.
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May 3, 2017 17:06
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Excited as I plan to head for my Full Cave class at end of the month. I can't wait. 10days in Mexico.
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May 4, 2017 16:45
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My dive vacation was great, I did a huge amount of diving, including my first sunrise dives. Like, hit the water by 6:45, so I can do a long dive, and still have sufficient surface interval so that I can still do the morning two-tank boat trip. The light has a very different quality at that time of day, and the small fish were WAY more active. Westpunt was amazing, it makes you realize that a lot of more accessible reefs on the island have been beat up. When I go back to Curacao next time, I think we will spend the entire trip in Westpunt, diving with these guys: http://www.gowestdiving.com/ This was my first trip where I got to really take advantage of my nitrox cert: Barbados doesn't have it, and in St.Thomas I didn't dive intensively enough for it to make much of a difference. But on this trip, I did three to four dives a day, and STILL had enough energy for a few hours of snorkeling. I'm fat and old, so this was pretty goddamn amazing; usually I need a nap after two tanks of air. I've got some cool pics and videos, but I'm too lazy to edit them and host them right now. The Mrs. took this of me with her phone and a plastic bag:  I'm free diving down into a ball of fish that is hiding in the shade under the catamaran that we took to Klein. The knee brace worked great, no knee problems all trip (but I did buy a smaller, snugger one). I got a blister on one of my toes from a long distance snorkel, so I had to wear my scuba fins instead of my snorkel fins. To my surprise, the ScubaPro Seawings made for excellent snorkel fins, very good at the surface, and I could back swim with great speed. Yeah, it was WAY too much fin for some casual free diving, but I don't care if I looked silly, because they worked great.
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May 4, 2017 21:45
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What's the best way to host video for sharing with you guys? I don't expect to be sharing it far and wide, and I hate that YouTube is connected to my Google-everything.
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May 4, 2017 23:24
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You can upload to YouTube as an unlisted video, which means you can only watch it if you have the link. It won't show up on a search, or on your channel.
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May 4, 2017 23:30
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lord1234 posted:Excited as I plan to head for my Full Cave class at end of the month. I can't wait. 10days in Mexico. Please give us detailed accounts! I'm really interested in tech diving but will probably never do it.
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May 5, 2017 00:16
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Cave diving intrigues me but in the UK it is more caving than diving. Dragging all my kit through muddy, wet caves for a 100m swim through murky water to more cold, damp caves doesn't excite me in the same way. In case it wasn't clear if you ever meet a UK cave diver, they are mental. I do love videos of clear water cave diving though so please pics!
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May 5, 2017 00:22
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I dive to see all the life, so cave diving never had much appeal to me. Different strokes :-) And since people are posting cold water pictures, here are a few of my favorites. All but one of these is from somewhere in California, the Stellar's Sea Lion was in BC:      
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May 5, 2017 06:50
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^^^ Great shots! Some Curacao stuff: First off, a great turtle video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27mtrMVjJwE And then a cool video of a Flying Gurnard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om4aD-V5c90 For this one, we were just wrapping up the dive, near the boat in shallow water. I saw this guy, pointed it out to the guy with the camera, and then we chased it around for a few minutes. A good reason to stretch out the end of a dive. Lionfish:  Seahorse! 
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May 5, 2017 15:50
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Squashy Nipples posted:My dive vacation was great, I did a huge amount of diving, including my first sunrise dives. Like, hit the water by 6:45, so I can do a long dive, and still have sufficient surface interval so that I can still do the morning two-tank boat trip. man did you go to sol food? And I think I'm the one that recommended westpunt so I'm glad you enjoyed it! e: checked older posts, I recommended kura hulanda which is where go west is. Funny thing, for years on their web site they had a picture of my wife and I when we were getting our OW there. That shore dive is great. let it mellow fucked around with this message at 03:35 on May 6, 2017 |
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May 6, 2017 03:28
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Kura Hurlanda is too pricey, because it's the only real hotel in West Punt. The Mrs. would rather have a kitchen (she is a vegan chef), so apartments are a better choice for us. There are some amazing bargains on AirBnB and VRBO, but I think this place is a good mid-priced pick. http://www.allwestcuracao.com/ It's right on the turtle beach, and it has outdoor showers and gear lockers. And Go West delivers the tanks every day. Didn't make it Sol, but we did stumble upon the best restaurant on the island. It's a little out of Westpunt, on the main road back to town. https://www.facebook.com/triopenotticuracao/ It's #3 on Tripadvisor, but only because it's so far out in the boonies compared to #1 and #2. It's one of those places where the chef loves to talk about his food!
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May 6, 2017 14:33
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Squashy Nipples posted:Kura Hurlanda is too pricey, because it's the only real hotel in West Punt. The Mrs. would rather have a kitchen (she is a vegan chef), so apartments are a better choice for us. There are some amazing bargains on AirBnB and VRBO, but I think this place is a good mid-priced pick. Yeah those are the apartments right next to kura hulanda if I remember right. Still you have access to the dock.
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May 7, 2017 01:36
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Looks like I'm going to Freeport, Grand Bahamas in June for a short trip. Anyone have any recommendations re: dive centers, sites, or gimmicky poo poo?
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May 7, 2017 21:42
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Trivia posted:Looks like I'm going to Freeport, Grand Bahamas in June for a short trip. Anyone have any recommendations re: dive centers, sites, or gimmicky poo poo? I just came back from the Bahama's on a sailing / diving trip. There is a diving site called the washing machine what is pretty funny to do. I hope the video is public so you can see it. https://www.facebook.com/corne.vandenbeemd/videos/1848337055425392/ And there is the shark feeding dives, they are common over there.
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May 8, 2017 10:24
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