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Anyone have any experience with the PADI online Open Water course? Considering knocking that out, since my schedule is completely whack-a-doodle, and doesn't allow me to attend many of the scheduled open water classes. (I've already found a PADI shop that does the pool/ocean portions of the class on days I can attend.)
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Sep 11, 2016 01:17
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 14:34 |
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[Whining]Why are OW classes always on the weekend?[/whining] Some of us aren't fortunate enough to have Saturday and Sunday off. 
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Dec 4, 2016 02:40
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Openwater class diary, day two: Breathing underwater is loving cool.
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Jan 24, 2017 03:33
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Openwater class diary, day three, ocean dives one and two: Barracuda reef and the caves, Fort Lauderdale. There was supposed to be four students, so there was an instructor and a DM, but I'm the only student who showed, so I had a pretty awesome instructor-to-student ratio.  First dive, got in the water, and poo poo, I didn't load enough weights, and couldn't sink. (First time in seawater with my wetsuit.) CESAs suck, and practicing them is more than enough motivation to ensure I never have to do one for real. My air consumption, which sucked hard through all of the pool work and the first dive, was almost as good as the DM on the second dive, once I could settle down and mostly just relax and swim along. I was very pleasantly surprised, and a little proud, since I'm a pretty large dude. After the instructor asked for bottle pressure and I gave him 2000psi for the third time, he came over and checked my gauge, and seemed genuinely surprised. I was expecting to use quite a bit more.
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Jan 28, 2017 20:59
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Welp, I'm a certified diver. Open water diary, dives three and four: AL80s and their buoyancy-changing ways can kiss my rear end. Sleeping nurse sharks are adorable. Finished dive four with three hundred pounds more air than my instructor. 
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Jan 30, 2017 14:09
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Bangkero posted:Sorry if we sound unbearable (we are), but that's what we do when it's the middle of winter and can't go diving. Take a look at this article to help trim yourself: http://www.sportdiver.com/learn-to-dive/article/buoyancy-calculator-scuba-divers It's cool. When people are unbearable, there's generally something to learn. I'll retaliate by pointing out that what may have been the worst loving day for diving all year in Lauderdale still had 72° water. 
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Feb 1, 2017 16:58
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Key West dive trip starts on Monday. Yessssssssssss.
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Feb 18, 2017 21:54
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Key West dive trip report: Vandenberg trip on Tuesday got scrubbed and we lost a day of diving due to the dive operator allowing a large tour group to gangle-gently caress their schedule and pushing individuals with specific reservations off the boat. They offered us dives this morning which were canceled due to lovely weather. Not happy, will not be recommending that operator. The wet side of the operation was absolutely superb, though. The captain and DMs were extremely thorough and helpful, without being intrusive. Reef dives were awesome: Got buzzed by a Carribean reef shark a couple times, saw tons of barracuda, found $12 cash and a Canadian student's ID card. Good times. Need to find a small dump bag for crap I find on the bottom. Plastic bags, ID cards, mask straps, etc.
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Feb 23, 2017 03:58
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Red_Fred posted:I really should sign up for a garbage collection dive. Oddly, I just got the SP Mk25evo/S600, and my girlfriend dives the Apeks DST/XTX50, so I can actually directly compare the two, since I've dived both. (Though the Apeks only once, and pretty shallow.) They're damned near identical in breath draw, which is to say they both breath extremely easy, and both have breathing effort adjustments. The S600 also has a pre-dive/dive selector, so you can keep whatever breathing setting you want, and still prevent freeflows without having to readjust. They're both really, really good regs, and light-years ahead of probably any rental regs you're likely to run into.
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Feb 27, 2017 16:43
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A cheap plastic bin from Home Depot is great for throwing in your car too, so your carpets don't start smelling like seawater. Also keeps your crap from sliding under the seats if it manages to get out of your gear bag, somehow.
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Mar 4, 2017 18:01
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I've used spit, and it works alright, but 50/50 baby shampoo and distilled water, rinsed with seawater once in the water works better for me.
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Apr 26, 2017 16:30
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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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DeadlyMuffin posted:...and water temperature of 47F (~8C) which I think might be the coldest I've ever dove.  People around here are relieved that water temps are finally swinging back up to normal after their "frigid" wintertime lows of 73-75°F. I always think of stuff like this when I hear it. Great pics! My photography skills are basically "point GoPro at thing, never copy files off of GoPro."
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May 21, 2017 12:10
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Just finished my AOW cert with a night dive on the Tracey. Saw the resident Goliath, off in the distance, eyeballing us, among other things. Night dives are loving cool. But now it's eleven-thirty and I have to clean gear.
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Jun 3, 2017 04:23
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Cross post from the OSHA thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIPMfHUIVvk
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Jun 9, 2017 16:16
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Gromit posted:Would have been cool if we'd had that happen while we were in the water, but then we probably wouldn't have noticed them. If my limited experience is any indication, you'll know there are dolphins around, but you probably won't ever see them. I've heard/felt dolphin sonar/chatter a couple times, but they seem to give divers a pretty wide berth.
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Jul 9, 2017 03:21
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Math problems are a good way. I feel the same way and then someone handed me a slate with some simple arithmetic at 120'. This. I was on a wreck at ~110ft recently that had been reefed in 1989, and while at depth tried to figure out how long it had been there... I was nearly unable to do so, and managed it only after what felt like a couple of full minutes of pondering how math worked.
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Jul 26, 2017 12:29
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Also, if you're planning on snorkeling in the tropics, full-foot fins are a little bit easier to deal with. I recently tried snorkeling with my open-foot fins and 3mm booties (was on a dive vacation, and didn't want to bring four sets of fins,) and had a hell of a time getting the damned things entirely underwater; The booties were buoyant enough to make my feet float at the surface. Conversely, I love my open-foot fins for diving. Maybe broken-in booties would be a little bit less bouyant?
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Jul 29, 2017 15:55
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Future Wax posted:Yeah, I think this is my problem. I guess I'll just have to keep working on my nose breathing. If I contort my tongue a certain way it seems to help, although it feels really unnatural, but as long as it gets me through that's all that matters. When swimming without a mask, when you dive into a pool or such, do you use your fingers to pinch your nose closed? I was taught from a young age to blow air out my nose at water entry, or any time I wasn't vertical in the water to keep the water out. Consequently, clearing a mask is a non-event for me, but I can't really explain how I do it, either.
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Sep 25, 2017 02:39
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redreader posted:There was a guy diving with us in hawaii who didn't bother with a wetsuit. Just fins/bdc+tanks etc, / mask. Not even a shorty or anything. Swimsuit and a surfing second skin/shirt or whatever they're called. Hawaiian waters are cold, compared to the Caribbean. I wear shorts and a rash guard in Florida from April or May until November or December. I wore my 4/3 full wetsuit and booties in Hawaii, because I’m a weak baby man.
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Oct 17, 2017 20:31
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Collateral Damage posted:Either way you load them drive as if you were carrying Otherwise accurate.
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Nov 7, 2017 16:38
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The trick is to get out of the water after your last dive of the day, shotgun two beers, and take a nap. Best sleep of your life.
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Dec 3, 2017 19:02
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MrNemo posted:Yeah there's not much in the way of safety as a factor in choosing computer. Basically all modern computers should work well and have a basic sensible algorithm (barring occasional quality issues, I think the Mares Puck had a bad run a while ago). Nitrox capability is also pretty universal now but worth checking. Nitrox is available in basically all but the most basic, budget computers. One thing that I’d look for specifically is the above mentioned editable profiles and stop depths, but for opposite reasons. My Suunto Vyper Novo is a great computer, but the thing insists on REALLY shallow safety stops. Everyone I dive with plans a twenty foot safety stop, so after stopping with everyone else for five minutes at twenty feet, my computer loses its loving mind as I pass through ten feet. I also consistently have the most conservative bottom times and surface intervals, sometimes by as much as 20% compared to someone else with a different computer. Being able to tweak those things would make it a much better computer, though I’d already recommend it. The display is extremely easy to read, and it’s easy to use, even with thick gloves on. I got mine for less than half price, when someone gave me an older Suunto computer that was in need of service. Suunto doesn’t make parts for that model anymore, and upgraded me for like $275.
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Dec 7, 2017 12:46
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DeadlyMuffin posted:I just got back from Indonesia and have a ton of pictures, would it be okay to post ~20 pics to this thread or is that too spammy? This is a silly question. 
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Dec 11, 2017 21:47
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Hell yes. What was the water temp?
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Jan 20, 2018 20:57
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DeadlyMuffin posted:54F/12C. Not bad. What kind of exposure protection were you wearing? That’s almost twenty degrees colder than I’ve ever dove in. Because I’m a spoiled Florida fucker.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:01
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Kelp forests and Alaska are two of my cold water bucket list items... I need to get dry-suit certified.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:35
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Collateral Damage posted:Skip the snorkel, it's a pointless item that nobody actually uses outside of the PADI OW course and is more hassle than it's worth. If your school INSISTS that you use a snorkel during class, either get the cheapest $9 compliance snorkel you can find, or find one you’d be comfortable snorkeling with. Dive trips often come with snorkeling opportunities. Collateral Damage posted:* BCD or plate+wing. The holy war has arrived.
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Feb 14, 2018 14:49
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The Vikings posted:Looking for any recommandations for diving spots easy enough to get to from the east coast for a couple of days in mid-july. We are california locals but looking to meet up with a friend from DC who just got their open water, somewhere closer to the east coast. Tried to dive NC last summer and got scrubbed due to small craft advisory, and I've done a few spots in the keys before. She mentioned Bahamas for some reason. Where might be most worth it for just a couple of days of diving? Florida’s east coast from Jupiter south to Key West has solid spots the whole way down. I can be more specific if you’re interested.
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Jun 7, 2018 18:27
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So, I just booked a seven day live-aboard on Roatan Aggressor for the more attractive half and myself. Booking a dive trip makes me want to go diving. It’s a horrible spiral.
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Jun 10, 2018 13:41
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let it mellow posted:gently caress yeah, we saw the roatan aggressor a bunch a few weeks ago, please provide an aggressor trip report Not till March, unfortunately, but I certainly will. let it mellow posted:not that goon but please be more specific about Jupiter, we live there now I've not been out with them myself, but these guys are very highly regarded by my friends who have dove with them. I really want to come up and do Blue Heron Bridge, and some of the other shallow-water dives up there as well. Most of my diving has been boat dives, which are a blast, but I really enjoy beach diving, and I need to do more of it.
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Jul 12, 2018 18:35
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MrNemo posted:What this guy said. It will manage 2-3m ok in waterproof mode but really it's just designed for swimming. 2 options if you want to be cheap: Casio waterproof watch and tables or look for a second hand Suunto Zoop type dive computer on eBay. Normal caveat emptor but my first dive computer was an eBay special and I was very happy with it. Suunto does periodic upgrade deals too; When I was getting certified, my girlfriend had a spare older Vyper, which had a faulty pressure transducer. I took it in for service and the tech couldn’t repair it because Suunto stopped making parts for that model. $350 later, and I have a brand new Suunto Vyper Novo, which is ~$600 at retail.
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Jul 15, 2018 17:21
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Kesper North posted:I've had too many leaky gaskets and bad seals to take a chance on that, but maybe if I could afford my own drysuit I'd be blase about expensive electronics too. Cool idea though. Not to mention that there are cheaper ways to track heart rate than an Apple Watch. ...And now I want to track my heart rate while diving. Thanks, thread.
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Jul 15, 2018 21:13
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I didn't do any training through them, but I dove with Kaimana Divers while I was visiting, and have nothing but great things to say about them.
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Jul 16, 2018 23:09
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Squashy Nipples posted:Wait a minute... I'm confused. 68 degrees is cold to you? 68° for Florida divers is loving freezing. It’s generally like 74° even in the dead of winter. 
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Jul 23, 2018 16:17
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Trivia posted:I got cold diving in 26C water with a 5 milli suit with a rashie. It's me, I'm terrible. Last dive was just shy of a month ago, and it was fully 86° (30°C) at the surface, and never went below 82° even at 70ft. I dove with board shorts and a rashguard. Florida is awesome.
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Jul 24, 2018 00:28
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tesilential posted:It’s flat out amazing. The purest form of hunting fish. I’ve gone with diving with spearfishermen, but never done it myself. Looks fun, but I’m still content stabbing lion fish in the face.
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Aug 21, 2018 19:07
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Meclizine makes me sleepy, but the danger there is falling asleep on the drive to or from the dive. I've never been drowsy underwater. Other tips: Stay outside on the boat. Don't go in the cabin (if there is one) and stare at the floor, it'll just get worse. Best place to be is as close to the stern as you can get, on the centerline of the boat. That point will have the smallest rolling and pitching motion while under power. Stay out in the fresh air, and if there is land on the horizon, face that way and look at that.
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Aug 31, 2018 15:41
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Squashy Nipples posted:Right, but that's rock lobster right, not Maine Lobster? No big claws? I had no idea you could take cold-water lobster on scuba at all. I thought the commercial guys had shut everyone else out of the business.
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Sep 7, 2018 13:30
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 14:34 |
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The season is just about over for it, but anyone who hasn’t done the Goliath Grouper dives with Jupiter Dive Center is doing it wrong.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:49
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