Are you a SCUBA diver?

[Chloe11111]

I want to hear from all the divers here.

What agency is your cert with? What level are you certified to? How long have you been certified? Where do you dive normally? Wetsuit or drysuit? Favorite dive site? When was the last time you were able to dive?

I'm PADI certified to rescue and I have AED (nitrox) certification. I'm closing in on 5 years diving with most of my dives being in Roatan Honduras.

Dove also in Grand Cayman, Belize and Cozumel. Love love love the palancar reef in Cozumel.

Sadly with the pandemic, I haven't been diving since March 2020

 

[CRK]

during my student years i became 2 stars NOB (national certificate). since then they changed the exams into moduls so it is compared to PADI rescue diver with only 1 module (safety ascend) to level up
my specialism is wreck diving
like diving in egypt and on bonaire

so first dive around 30 years ago and last dive probably 10 years due to lack of time (something to do with 3 other sports ;-)
wetsuit dives mostly except when i go for ice-diving (obviously) or assist with "car in the water" courses

 

[Chloe11111]

during my student years i became 2 stars NOB (national certificate). since then they changed the exams into moduls so it is compared to PADI rescue diver with only 1 module (safety ascend) to level up
my specialism is wreck diving
like diving in egypt and on bonaire

so first dive around 30 years ago and last dive probably 10 years due to lack of time (something to do with 3 other sports ;-)
wetsuit dives mostly except when i go for ice-diving (obviously) or assist with "car in the water" courses

I would love to do a wreck specialty. Probably next on my list

 

[VdW]

I did my PADI open water like 5 years ago, went diving in Lombok and Jakarta (just beginner stuffs), planned to continue the certification but then I went to continue my study in NL. Since then, I haven’t done any diving. A bit sad when I look back, I really miss the ocean.

 

[Chloe11111]

I did my PADI open water like 5 years ago, went diving in Lombok and Jakarta (just beginner stuffs), planned to continue the certification but then I went to continue my study in NL. Since then, I haven’t done any diving. A bit sad when I look back, I really miss the ocean.

Egypt is not far for you. You should re-engage ...

 

[Captain Igloooo]

I would love to do a wreck specialty. Probably next on my list

I can highly recommend that! It's real fun (although it has been ages for me. PADI Advanced Open Water).

And I loved the night dive. The most peaceful and relaxing experience of my life.

 

[Chloe11111]

I can highly recommend that! It's real fun (although it has been ages for me. PADI Advanced Open Water).

And I loved the night dive. The most peaceful and relaxing experience of my life.

Not a night dive fan. But I do live near the St. Lawrence River which is FULL of genuine (rather than planned) wrecks. And they are preserved because of the fresh water.

 

[TimP]

PADI AOWD since 2013, learnt in Mexico Playa del Carmen/Cozumel and in the Cenotes.

Since then dived in a lot of countries and places, preferable where the weather+water is warm so wetsuit is enough

Been diving in Curacao, Aruba, Koh Tao (Thailand), Panama, Gili T. + Nusa Penida (Indonesia) with Manta Rays, Key Largo (USA), Boracay (Philippines).
In Europe also in Croatia and Gran Canaria.

Since 2016 I am also Nitrox Certified during a vacation on Gozo (Malta).

Love wreck diving (maybe a special course together? @Chloe11111 ), so far never made a true night dive (except of the Cenotes dives) which I really want to do.

Wish is also to dive Silfra on Iceland one day, even if I would need to do a dry suit course upfront

 

[iambobone]

20 years. PADI. Most of the specialties. I'm in California. Surge, surf, current, and pretty cold water compared to most spots in the world. Never did dry suit. There are 2 ships they sunk just off the coast of San Diego. The Yukon ( A Canadian Destroyer 366 feet long and 40 wide) and the Ruby E. ( originally built as a Coast Guard Cutter) which is 156 feet long and 40 wide). They are both only about a mile offshore and about a third of mile apart. Just about 100 feet underwater. You can wreak dive them as they were gutted, but every year, it seems like at least 1 person will die because they don't understand the redundancy of SCUBA diving and what can wrong 100 feet underwater when you can't see your hand in front of your face because your light went bad and no back up, and they didn't have a guide line to get them back to where they started. SAD.

I had a 7mm wet suit (now 9mm) when I dove the wrecks (multiple times) but right around 45 to 50 feet down, you hit a thermocline layer. The wreaks were sunk just outside the channel that goes into the harbor. The currents can be very strong on some days and sometimes they won't let you dive and dives are canceled for the day. When you hit that thermocline, the temperature drops to 40 to 42 degree's EVERY time I've dove it. You just tough it out for 10 minutes or so and enjoy putting your head into gun turrets because they are so big. Amazing.

Caribbean, Fiji (feeding of the Bull and Tiger sharks), and The Great Barrier Reef, northern end) outside of Port Douglas. Funny thing for me is, when ever I dove outside of California, I never needed a wetsuit. Never used a wetsuit outside of California, only a rash guard so my BCD wouldn't tear me up. Every where else was just like diving in a bathtub for me. Warm water. Although, I did have to where a "rash guard suit" while in Australia because of the jellyfish. You definitely didn't want a jellyfish grabbing on to your hairs while you are sitting in a pool of jellyfish doing your safety stop and the end of your dive, and that happened a few times. Mostly small jellyfish. Only about 1 to 2 inches long, but they can still leave a sting if you don't wear something. One diver didn't. He got stung all up in his privates. Not a good decision.

We know more about the stars and planets above us than what's already in our own backyard.....the ocean. Hope someday that changes. Lots to learn down there.

 

[Chloe11111]

LOL @iambobone, I need a 5mm to do 2-3 dives a day in 82F water. When I was doing my rescue cert, I was wearing a 3/2. I spent 4-5 hours in shallow water doing the skills. I had to take a day off ... I went out and bought a 5mm that day ... and dove the rest of my holiday in comfort.

 

[Myka Alarian]

PADI Certified in Advanced Open Water with Night Dive, Deep, Wreck, Boat, Nitrox, Rescue, Underwater Navigation, and Peek Performance Buoyancy specialties. Was working on my Master Diver but have been shelved this past year for Covid reasons.

Started diving in Okinawa Japan and love diving the Sea wall there along with sveral other spots around the island. Have dove wrecks around Mainland Japan and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia... Love them all. Spent some years diving in California and really enjoy diving the Kelp Forrest but as stated above it is colder water and the currents are not for beginners. Definitely a noticable thermocline at 40 - 45 feet that is shocking every time. Wildlife are curious and are a lot of fun to dive with especially in the Kelp Forests. After that I spent a few year Diving on the East Coast of the U.S. around Virginia and North Carolina. There is a WWII German UBoat that is sitting at just over 100 feet that you can dive on that is amazing and highly recommend. Weather is tricky and makes it hard to have clear dive conditions so plan accordingly if that is something you want to do. While there I also went fresh water diving before going back to Japan and diving around Asia.

I dive in wet suits ranging from 3mm to layered 7mm depending on where I dive. I prefer Steal tanks vs Aluminum and maybe someday will be able to finish my Certs. I started diving in 2012 and last dove February of 2020.

 

[Chloe11111]

PADI Certified in Advanced Open Water with Night Dive, Deep, Wreck, Boat, Nitrox, Rescue, Underwater Navigation, and Peek Performance Buoyancy specialties. Was working on my Master Diver but have been shelved this past year for Covid reasons.

Started diving in Okinawa Japan and love diving the Sea wall there along with sveral other spots around the island. Have dove wrecks around Mainland Japan and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia... Love them all. Spent some years diving in California and really enjoy diving the Kelp Forrest but as stated above it is colder water and the currents are not for beginners. Definitely a noticable thermocline at 40 - 45 feet that is shocking every time. Wildlife are curious and are a lot of fun to dive with especially in the Kelp Forests. After that I spent a few year Diving on the East Coast of the U.S. around Virginia and North Carolina. There is a WWII German UBoat that is sitting at just over 100 feet that you can dive on that is amazing and highly recommend. Weather is tricky and makes it hard to have clear dive conditions so plan accordingly if that is something you want to do. While there I also went fresh water diving before going back to Japan and diving around Asia.

I dive in wet suits ranging from 3mm to layered 7mm depending on where I dive. I prefer Steal tanks vs Aluminum and maybe someday will be able to finish my Certs. I started diving in 2012 and last dove February of 2020.

Interesting. I was thinking about doing DM because I just want to do more. But what's the point. I will never work as a DM. so I think specialties is the way to go for me.

But don't do MD. The most rude diver I ever dove with was just finishing MD. I was about 12 dives in and just finishing AOW. My BiL was trying to get me working on buoyancy so had me hovering over a sandy bottom while he was coaxing a little crab out of his hidey hole. I was doing pretty well - hovering about 45cm above the sandy bottom and holding steady. When the MD candidate wanted to see what was going on. She swam over and UNDER ME and all her bubbles got all up in my BCD. She knew I was a newb but didn't seem to care. I didn't float away much but it was too much for me to hold my position. Inconsiderate.

There is a wreck in Tobermory in Canada. It's pretty shallow. I think the hull is on the bottom at about 40ft/18m. The top is snorkel depth. But even in the summer, with the thermoclines, the bottom is about 40-45C. Crazy cold. In the summer!

I would love to do the kelp forrest in Cali. Just have to get the guts to do colder water.

Finish your certs!? You have so many. What is next?

 

[iambobone]

PADI Certified in Advanced Open Water with Night Dive, Deep, Wreck, Boat, Nitrox, Rescue, Underwater Navigation, and Peek Performance Buoyancy specialties. Was working on my Master Diver but have been shelved this past year for Covid reasons.

Started diving in Okinawa Japan and love diving the Sea wall there along with sveral other spots around the island. Have dove wrecks around Mainland Japan and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia... Love them all. Spent some years diving in California and really enjoy diving the Kelp Forrest but as stated above it is colder water and the currents are not for beginners. Definitely a noticable thermocline at 40 - 45 feet that is shocking every time. Wildlife are curious and are a lot of fun to dive with especially in the Kelp Forests. After that I spent a few year Diving on the East Coast of the U.S. around Virginia and North Carolina. There is a WWII German UBoat that is sitting at just over 100 feet that you can dive on that is amazing and highly recommend. Weather is tricky and makes it hard to have clear dive conditions so plan accordingly if that is something you want to do. While there I also went fresh water diving before going back to Japan and diving around Asia.

I dive in wet suits ranging from 3mm to layered 7mm depending on where I dive. I prefer Steal tanks vs Aluminum and maybe someday will be able to finish my Certs. I started diving in 2012 and last dove February of 2020.

The younger sea lions like to play with divers off Anacapa Island and Santa Cruz islands here in Cali. One of my dive buddies had a sea lion basically take his mask off, and when he put it back on, he said the sea lion was looking at him like "follow me". So he did. He followed the sea lion around for about 10 minutes and the next thing he knew, he was right back where the sea lion bumped his mask off and where they had started. Smart animals, and they know "their territory". Those Islands (The Channel Islands) are also known to be Great White's territory, mostly the northern ones though. San Miguel and Santa Rosa. We refer to them as the "Landlords". Many have been seen. Just don't hang out on the top of the surface for long. Most people are not bitten when you're on the bottom. Most always near the surface when they can silhouette you.

 

[Myka Alarian]

They are a lot of fun to dive with for sure. They would love to swim up behind us and bump us to scare us as they zoomed past and then would stop and look back to see what mischief they had caused and you could tell they were laughing and just enjoying themselves to no end. They would pout and look very sad when we had to go back and exchange tanks or end the dive. I liked diving there for that.

 

[Myka Alarian]

@Chloe11111 If I were to finish my DM I would need a couple more specialties but like you said... What would I use it for? I have thought about that myself and honestly the only real excuse I could give myself was to simply finish it...

I don't care for the deep dives as I simply find them colder than other dives and a LOT shorter. I like to hang out at around 40 -50 feet. I dive Nitrox almost exclusively. I really enjoy night dives as they are very relaxing to me and you see some pretty crazy things. I enjoy wreck dives but mainly from the outside of the wreck. I find the penetrating dives require too much focus for me to just enjoy the dive. Cave diving is recommended for me but I know I will not enjoy it so have been putting it off. Which really brings it all back to Why? Not sure really other than to finish.

Sorry to hear you had some very rude people diving with you. Once you figure out your Buoyancy it really affects the rest of your dives. To have someone mess that up for you especially someone that should know better is like you said as well... just rude(amongst other more colorful language). You should have seen me when I dove fresh water for the first time... you would have thought I had never dove before... took me a bit to figure out the weight difference(a LOT.. at least for me). Now I am currently about as far away from the water as I can get(due to work) so the dive gear is stowed away and we will see what the future holds for it.

 

[Chloe11111]

The younger sea lions like to play with divers off Anacapa Island and Santa Cruz islands here in Cali. One of my dive buddies had a sea lion basically take his mask off, and when he put it back on, he said the sea lion was looking at him like "follow me". So he did. He followed the sea lion around for about 10 minutes and the next thing he knew, he was right back where the sea lion bumped his mask off and where they had started. Smart animals, and they know "their territory". Those Islands (The Channel Islands) are also known to be Great White's territory, mostly the northern ones though. San Miguel and Santa Rosa. We refer to them as the "Landlords". Many have been seen. Just don't hang out on the top of the surface for long. Most people are not bitten when you're on the bottom. Most always near the surface when they can silhouette you.

I'd be more worried about diving with sea lions than great whites. Saw a video once of a sea lion attack on a woman (maybe near Australia). I guess it was mating season or something.

Great Whites are on my bucket list though

 

[Chloe11111]

@Chloe11111 If I were to finish my DM I would need a couple more specialties but like you said... What would I use it for? I have thought about that myself and honestly the only real excuse I could give myself was to simply finish it...

I don't care for the deep dives as I simply find them colder than other dives and a LOT shorter. I like to hang out at around 40 -50 feet. I dive Nitrox almost exclusively. I really enjoy night dives as they are very relaxing to me and you see some pretty crazy things. I enjoy wreck dives but mainly from the outside of the wreck. I find the penetrating dives require too much focus for me to just enjoy the dive. Cave diving is recommended for me but I know I will not enjoy it so have been putting it off. Which really brings it all back to Why? Not sure really other than to finish.

Sorry to hear you had some very rude people diving with you. Once you figure out your Buoyancy it really affects the rest of your dives. To have someone mess that up for you especially someone that should know better is like you said as well... just rude(amongst other more colorful language). You should have seen me when I dove fresh water for the first time... you would have thought I had never dove before... took me a bit to figure out the weight difference(a LOT.. at least for me). Now I am currently about as far away from the water as I can get(due to work) so the dive gear is stowed away and we will see what the future holds for it.

Most of my life, I wouldn't put my toe in the ocean. But I jumped in (literally) in a big way and got my first certification for my 50th birthday. Once I put a mask on, all the "terror" of what was beneath the waves disappeared. So if I were to do DM, it would only be for the sense of accomplishment.

I don't love or hate deep dives. I, too, like to hang at 50 feet or above. Love exploring at 20 feet as well. But I don't mind the deep dives and will go as long as there is something worthwhile - wrecks in particular for the big life we see on them (groupers and morays).

I'm all good on buoyancy now - that incident was in the first year.

But I had another little lesson when I switched from the 3mm to the 5mm. I forgot to take extra weight for the added thickness and brand new suit. Stupid people tricks. But the diving was effortless. I had been overweighting myself constantly. It was a lightbulb moment. Now, I still tend to dive with extra weight but it's because we sometimes get cruise shippers on the boat who seem to always underestimate their weight. I'm already better on air than almost anybody I dive with (except my sister) so it's nothing to take a few extra pounds. But it saves the dive for me because we aren't surfacing too early because some doofus was too proud to take the weight they should and struggles through the dive and blowing through air.

In Canada, we've been told not to vacation travel (although all our politicians think they are exempt) but I have booked for March 2022 in the Caribbean. In the meantime, I'm less than 1 hour dive from some of the greatest wreck diving in the world - in the St. Lawrence River. I just have to suck it up and realize I'm not getting to 82F water this year.

 

[Neil ellor]

@Chloe11111 Are you trying to upset me in lockdown. 2021 was disaster for me Egypt, Marsa Alam, Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Cape Verde, Sal. All booked and cancelled due to COVID not been in the water for over 12 months longest period since I started SCUBA in 2004 nightmare

 

[Chloe11111]

@Chloe11111 Are you trying to upset me in lockdown. 2021 was disaster for me Egypt, Marsa Alam, Mexico, Playa del Carmen, Cape Verde, Sal. All booked and cancelled due to COVID not been in the water for over 12 months longest period since I started SCUBA in 2004 nightmare

Yes - I had 3 weeks booked to Roatan for March. Cancelled. Not because Roatan is closed. But because our charter that flies direct from Montreal to Roatan has cancelled all flights until November 2021. We are now in the process of booking for 2022.

But you could come join me in the St. Lawrence River this summer ...

 

[Neil ellor]

It would be nice to be able to get out of the UK at the moment so many restrictions
I can count my last dive being in South Africa December 2019 shark diving, I didn’t get to see the great white but the black tips are big enough when they are close by
Losing track of time with COVID should have said 2020 was a disaster
Maybe one day we can buddy up @Chloe11111