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Scuba Steve!

Ultima83

Ultima83

New Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
294
Hey everyone. I am an avid scuba diver. I love to get into the water at every chance that I can. I'm not the most "seasoned" in the world, but I can certainly say I'm not a rookie to the hobby. I was curious as to who here dives on a regular basis and what your favorite parts of it are. I enjoy being with the marine life because it's a totally different world down there. It's amazing being able to see manta rays, sharks, octopuses and all sorts of creatures in their natural habitat instead of at the local aquarium.

Some of my favorite places that I've been diving at are Puerto Vallarta Mexico, The Great Barrier Reef (My personal Fav), Guam, and Port Villa Vanuatu. The diving in Hawaii hasn't impressed me all too much, but the only dives that I've been on there were all shore dives. I've been told by numerous people that you have to do the boat dives to get anywhere decent, so I plan on accomplishing that when I get back from deployment. Hopefully I'm not the only person here that enjoys this hobby. Lol. ;)
 
Divemaster here! I try to dive at least once a week, although lately been flying to NJ more than I want to. Some of the best wreck diving in the world is down here in South Florida, which is what I really enjoy. Wreck, night, and bug hunting is my favorite. If you ever have a chance, try to get on a "liveaboard" as they take you to some of the more remote dive sites a day charter could never get to.
Dive within your limits, remember your training, and ALWAYS dive w/ a buddy!!
 
Oh yeah, I always dive with a buddy. Merlik is my dive buddy as how we both went through our training together in Guam. We're both Advance Open Water qual'd with our Nitrox cert as well. The liveaboard thing is something i was looking at when I get back to Pearl. I've always been told that those type of dive boats can get you to the best possible sites, but being in the military, it's hard to get the time off when you want it. :p I plan on going for my Rescue/ medical diver with all the associated certs that go with it next because I've seen first hand how important it is.

My first dive was in Puerto Vallarta. We were with a big group of people from my ship that all decided to take the trip together. While we were out, one of our members had an accident I guess I could say. While he was underwater, his regulator separated from his mouthpiece in the middle of a breath. What resulted was our friend taking in a large gulp of seawater strait to his lungs. He blacked out underwater and thankfully, the divemaster was aware enough to see this entire thing happen. The divemaster bolted with him in tow strait to the surface and began what CPR he could on the surface trying to revive him while calling for the boat with his airhorn at the same time. If he hadn't have reacted as quickly as he did, our friend would be dead now. I don't want to ever have to use that type of training, but it is always good to have the knowledge in case I end up in that sort of situation where I may have to save someone else in a tight spot.
 
Years ago:

Trained with the Metro Dade Police as an underwater investigator

Also Adv Open, Rescue, and Nitrox something else in there but it has been about 8 yrs or so.
 
Tried to take a diving class. Couldn't finish. Just sitting at the bottom of the pool in 10' of water got to me.

Can't stand to be in closed places and that's just what it felt like.

I'll just have to stick with that other kind of diving. :whistling:
 
Seems to be about the same, unless your with someone that requires you to tie a 2x4 across your back to keep from fallin in.


:sign:


Cheers man, too bad it didn't work out for ya. Diving is so peaceful.
 
I had always wanted to give it a try. The thought of diving always peaked my interest. My brother and I both signed up for the classes. At least he finished and certified.

The class was split up into 2 groups, 1/2 the class doing instruction top side while the other 1/2 did their under water.

I was doing the water exercises and when we came up to hand off the tanks, mine was almost empty. It was supposed to last for both groups. I was breathing so fast I damn near emptied the tank. :(

Now here I live in Sunny Florida.

On a simular note... we took a trip to Rock City and Ruby Falls. I was able to go into the cave to see the falls, but had a heck of a time at Rock City trying to go through 'Fat Mans Squeeze'.
 
I love to dive, but I haven't since my honeymoon almost 4 years ago. I have been diving in the Caymans (my favorite), Cozemel, Cancun and the Bahamas.

It's a great way to spend time off.

Ken
 
You might enjoy this thread:

Linky

Multiple certs here, but I mostly, almost always, free-dive. Free dive and spear fishing (with a three-prong or HI sling, but sometimes with a gun) are among my passions.
 
Padi rescue diver. I started working on my dive master cert. but never finished it. Its been a few years since i dove last. I need to get back in the water.
 
geldor1 said:
I had always wanted to give it a try. The thought of diving always peaked my interest. My brother and I both signed up for the classes. At least he finished and certified.

The class was split up into 2 groups, 1/2 the class doing instruction top side while the other 1/2 did their under water.

I was doing the water exercises and when we came up to hand off the tanks, mine was almost empty. It was supposed to last for both groups. I was breathing so fast I damn near emptied the tank. :(

Now here I live in Sunny Florida.

On a simular note... we took a trip to Rock City and Ruby Falls. I was able to go into the cave to see the falls, but had a heck of a time at Rock City trying to go through 'Fat Mans Squeeze'.
Click to expand...

Oh wow...someone who knows what the "Fat Man's Squeeze" is. I haven't been there since I was a child.
 
MiamiCubano said:
You might enjoy this thread:

Linky

Multiple certs here, but I mostly, almost always, free-dive. Free dive and spear fishing (with a three-prong or HI sling, but sometimes with a gun) are among my passions.
Click to expand...

Oh lordie. I guess I missed this one. Oops. ??? Yeah, it looks as if there are plenty of people here who dive. Thanks MiamiCubano
 
I've been a certified diver since May 1993. Also when I did my training, I picked up being a Altitude Diver right off the bat which was cool as hell. Its a good thing I learned the difference between low altitude diving and high altitude diving. :) I think my favorite inland dive has been a place called Blue Lake which is just south of Wendover, Nevada which the lake borders on Nevada and Utah. Nothing like a Geothermic lake. :thumbs:
 
Rescue Diver here (I don't dive enough nowadays to justify the yearly cost of Dive Master). Been diving since I was 12 or so.
 
Hey Geldor, I know what ya mean! I went through dive training a couple of years ago with my son. During our first underwater training, we were sitting on the bottom of the shallow end of the pool in all of our dive gear. My head was about 3 inches from the top of the water. At one point, I got so freaked out, I had to stand up. The instructor stood up with me and asked if everything was ok. I told him I was ok but just needed a moment. I settled back down and finished the class.

Later during our first free swim (still in the pool), I had terrible trouble with my buoyancy and spent most of the time on my right side (almost upside down)...water flooding in my mask and generally just flailing around underwater like a big spaz. My son keep telling me to "calm down"... Finally, I bailed and got out of the pool early. I was just sitting on a chair thinking "I'm done!". My son gets out and gives me the pep talk about not quitting, etc. The weird part is that I'm a pretty good swimmer and very comfortable in the water and I can't understand how come I'm such a spaz underwater. Later, when we are turning our rental gear back in, a 4 lb bag of lead shot (dive weight) falls out of the right pocket of my BC. I didn't know about it and that's what kept rolling me over underwater. We laugh about it now, but it almost stopped me from finishing the class. If it hadn't been for my son, I would have bailed for sure.

Our first couple of dives were not very much fun. I had a lot of trouble with my ears and had to learn to slow waaaaayyyy down. Of all the ways I could describe myself, smooth and graceful wouldn't be among the terms I would use! I really have to force myself to move at about 20% speed underwater. For me, that is the hardest thing.

Interestingly, that year (2004) was also the same year I took up smoking cigars regularly. It's also the year I had foot surgery and was laid up for 8 weeks post-op, plus was pretty screwed up for 6 months prior. I call it "The year of learning patience"....People laugh sometimes when I tell them I started smoking cigars and SCUBA diving the same year. For me, it was a lot of the same new skill...being patient and learning to enjoy the calmer moments of your life.

I'm still practicing....
 
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