Anybody into Scuba?

[diablo]

I've got one more week to go before I take my written test to be (halfway) NAUI certified as a scuba diver and am curious to see if anybody among you has already completed it (or the PADI course). Anyone gone beyond that to get Advanced Dive certified? Rescue Diver? Wreck Diver?

I'll be going to the Red Sea in June to dive which is why I want to be certified in the first place - but scuba seems so enjoyable that I can't see it ending there. Hell, I'm even having a blast in the 10 foot swimming pool we've been using for the class. While I'd originally planned on doing the written portion of the test here, and the 5 certification dives in Egypt, I'll probably just get fully certified here and try to get Nitrox certified before the trip so I can stay down longer... then again, I kinda want to get the Underwater Photographer class but I really don't see the value in it if I can count the previous number of dives I've been on with 2 fingers...

Anyway, feel free to comment if you've got an idea of what you're talking about.

 

[tactic]

you can catch a snapper for us some day and we'll have dinner together

 

[diablo]

No, but I'll try to remember to spear a sea turtle and mail you the head if you'd prefer.

 

[penkitten]

under water photography... sounds kewl as hell and can make you money.

people pay alot of underwater pics dont they?

 

[7 Virtues]

My high school geography teacher was a diver. Anyone who wore a watch to class had him come up to them, and show them his fancy diving watch.

Every class. Every person. No matter how many times he'd shown you before.

 

[diablo]

Originally posted by penkitten
under water photography... sounds kewl as hell and can make you money.

people pay alot of underwater pics dont they?

Ironic you should say that. My god-sister (godparents daughter) is in the same class as me. She's a photographer as well (though she does weddings and the like), and some guy is paying for her to get certified, to fly and stay with him in Australia, and take pictures of him diving at the great barrier reef.

Then again, she looks a lot better in a swimsuit than I do...

 

[penkitten]

Originally posted by diablo
Ironic you should say that. My god-sister (godparents daughter) is in the same class as me. She's a photographer as well (though she does weddings and the like), and some guy is paying for her to get certified, to fly and stay with him in Australia, and take pictures of him diving at the great barrier reef.

Then again, she looks a lot better in a swimsuit than I do...

doesnt matter about that cause she wont be in the pics, so it matters that her pics are good.
so if your pics are good also , ppl will give you a shot.

sounds like a nice investment and sounds fun and interesting.

i got it! i know what you should do... you should email me and gio one of your pics you take when you learn how under water, for our wedding gift.
i will frame it and put it in the bathroom to go with my fish theme.
and it would be nice, since i cant swim...

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by tactic
you can catch a snapper for us some day and we'll have dinner together

Dude, did you just ask Diablo on a date?

 

[tactic]

he's doing the work though, while i get to chomp

 

[penkitten]

Originally posted by tactic
he's doing the work though, while i get to chomp

chomp on what?

 

[quest]

gotto love when threads go so off topic.

diablo a guy at my work used to dive for abeloni (spelling) which is illegal (in australia atleast) and he did it for years... ended up bankrupt and in trouble with the tax office.

but apparantly there was some good cash in it

i think it'd be great going scuba diving..

i can barely swim, but i assume scuba diving would be a completely different type of swimming.. i'm interested to give it a try.. quite expensive if i'm not wrong.

 

[BigDawg]

Originally posted by diablo
I've got one more week to go before I take my written test to be (halfway) NAUI certified as a scuba diver and am curious to see if anybody among you has already completed it (or the PADI course). Anyone gone beyond that to get Advanced Dive certified? Rescue Diver? Wreck Diver?

I'll be going to the Red Sea in June to dive which is why I want to be certified in the first place - but scuba seems so enjoyable that I can't see it ending there. Hell, I'm even having a blast in the 10 foot swimming pool we've been using for the class. While I'd originally planned on doing the written portion of the test here, and the 5 certification dives in Egypt, I'll probably just get fully certified here and try to get Nitrox certified before the trip so I can stay down longer... then again, I kinda want to get the Underwater Photographer class but I really don't see the value in it if I can count the previous number of dives I've been on with 2 fingers...

Anyway, feel free to comment if you've got an idea of what you're talking about.

I'm currently working on my Rescue Diver certification through PADI. In fact, I have a class tonight. My OW and AOW certifications are also through PADI. I'll tell you that this is one of the best things I've ever done (I've been certified for almost a year).

Have fun in the Red Sea. I've heard it's some of the best diving in the world. I haven't done any tropical diving (only freshwater), but I'll tell you that diving is an experience like no other.

It is so surreal to be at depth and then look up towards the sky and see fish.

You're going to have so much fun, and it's wild, because any problems you might have in your life just disappear while you're underwater.

Cheers!

 

[Ice Cold]

You wanna do diving AND photography?

You better have a pile of gold buried somewhere, cause equipment costs. :woo:

 

[tactic]

Originally posted by penkitten
chomp on what?

eat

 

[Patrick124]

II'm certified. fun **** man.
My experience in Hawaii liek 3 times..

 

[diablo]

Big, are you getting your Rescue cert for any purpose in particular? The thing with UW photography is that it's only a 1-day course, about $50, and you can rent equipment anywhere. I dove once before in the Virgin Islands and had a blast.. this should easily top it though. How was your AOW certification? That would be the logical next step, but it would also seem wise to perhaps get my nitrox cert before I go so I can stay down longer...

 

[BigDawg]

Well, the Rescue Diver cert not only trains you to react and respond properly in an emergency, but it also gives you a few extra skills which will boost your confidence as a diver. So, the main reason I'm getting it is to improve my experiences underwater, but I eventually plan to get Diver Master (or Master Diver certification), and Rescue Diver is essential for this.

PADI offers a number of these short specialty courses, like Underwater Photography, Equipment Handling, Nitrox, etc. I'm interested in a lot of them, too, and will eventually take a few of them, money and time permitting.

My AOW course was pretty cool. We had five dives to do in two days: Underwater Naturalist (look at the fish and record info on our slates), Underwater Navigation, Deep Dive (we went down to about 65 feet), Night Dive (f**kin' awesome--a different world), and a Search and Recovery Dive. Each one tested a different set of skills while reinforcing what we already learned in OW.

As for Nitrox certification, that's cool, but I would recommend that you get a few dives under your belt with basic air. I think PADI will certify Nitrox only to those divers who have AOW first, and I don't know what NAUI's policies are. Besides, 30 - 40 minutes for a dive is plenty of time to see some amazing things.


Happy Diving!

 

[diablo]

Good idea, I think that's what I'll end up doing. I plan on going to Key Largo in the Florida keys once I get back; it's only a 5-6 hour drive there and from what I hear the diving is great, especially for the beginner who's still working on his buoyancy. I've got a natural knack for virtually anything water-related, but practice never hurt anyone.

Oh, a random question - do you happen to know anyone who has a Spare Air they'd sell me? I want to use it for snorkeling - they hold 50 breaths, which would be perfect for snorkeling... especially in the Red Sea... if I saw something down below the surface that I wanted to check out with more than one breath, this thing would be pretty bada*s. Then again, I could always use it for what it was actually meant for... saving my life if my main air ran out and my buddy wasn't anywhere to be found.

 

[( . )( . )]

Yeah I got the open water PADI ticket years ago, I needed it for my old job. Might even get back into it now I've given away booze and smokes with the amount of extra time and money I'll have, very relaxing under there, kind of like meditation.

A few of my mates have done the advanced and one of thems qualified to teach now, from what Ive been told It wasnt that hard to get, 8 courses or something a few hours logged which if you like doing it doesnt take much and maybe a bit expensive.

These guys go a couple of times a week and the food they bring up has me kicking myself I'm missing out.

Not sure If my tickets still valid though now do they expire?

 

[BigDawg]

Originally posted by diablo

Oh, a random question - do you happen to know anyone who has a Spare Air they'd sell me? I want to use it for snorkeling - they hold 50 breaths, which would be perfect for snorkeling... especially in the Red Sea... if I saw something down below the surface that I wanted to check out with more than one breath, this thing would be pretty bada*s. Then again, I could always use it for what it was actually meant for... saving my life if my main air ran out and my buddy wasn't anywhere to be found.

Not sure, but you might try www.leisurepro.com. And any dive shop near where you live might be able to point you in the right direction, too.