rocketman Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I used to do a lot of diving all over the place. My favorite place is the Caymans (specifically, the North wall of Grand Cayman). Actually I did a lot in the Niagara river (no, not by the Falls!). I live 20 minutes away from there so it's good to get some bottom time in. You can play with the fish and find some old stuff (like old prohibition bottles). I haven't been able to go in a few years due to back issues, but I'm going to Florida in a few weeks and plan to dive the Rainbow River. So who here dives? If you aren't a diver I highly recommended it. It's very peaceful floating in water and you get to see new things. Night dives are the best because you can clearly see the colors in the corrals when illuminated with your light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I always wanted to get into Scuba diving but where I spend all my disposable income on my GAS habit I'm restricted to snorkeling.Although it's not near as rewarding as Scuba diving it is a lot of fun especially in salt water which unfortunately rarely gets warm enough for comfortable snorkeling here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Certified diver here. Just basic open water. I went through PADI many years ago. I had plans to go all the way to Divemaster but life got in my way. I'd still like to take more courses, like cavediving or wreck diving. Unfortunately I haven't been outside Alberta, but I've had fun diving the lakes of Alberta! I still have some of my gear in the basement. It's pink! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 .........Yes........ [thumbup] ..................It's been a while though....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Well, I had to dig my gear out of the basement! It could use a serious polishing with silicone spray but otherwise it's okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Been diving and surfing most of my life - love it - probably sounds corny but I still like the diving in Maui and the other Hawaiian islands the best I like the number of turtles the whales and I love the warm clear water. Actually paid for a long summer in Maui way back when I was a teen working on the dive boats and doing recovery of all the dive shops rental gear that the snorkelers had dropped. When I was still in the single digits for age my dad was a recovery diver on the newly reopened Vandenberg AF base. They would launch stuff then blow it up and then they had to collect all the pieces. Caymans are gorgeous and the waters off Australia are something thats got to be seen to believe. Florida Rainbow river and Crystal River area both have some great area's to drift and/or snorkel with some great shops and classes as well as the deeper diving. I took a mixed air class that was very well done and a lot of fun and enjoyable even with all the emphasis on safety and planning which is critical for ted diving at those depths. Just remember the water is only 72 degrees in the springs so a 3mm wetsuit is a requirement if your taking any longer dives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Probably shouldn't admit this but my first wetsuit was before neoprene was used so it was black rubber smelled like a new car tire and you had to cover yourself with baby powder just to get it on and it still pulled at least 50% of the hair off your body every time you used it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I'm a certified PADI diver. It's not something I get to do often- the diving community in Sweden isn't really all that good- but I really enjoy the few times I get to do it on vacations. My favourite diving place thus far is either off the coast of Langkawi or Hawaii. The latter featured some minor cave diving within the means of a regular (that is, not a cave diver license or whatever they're called) license and was great fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowdiddley Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I hold PADI and SSI Dive Master certs. When I was in the Navy I was able to dive all over the globe, favorite places was the Red Sea interesting critters there, and Cuba had lots of sharks. A 8'-9' Bull shark had me and a buddy pinned against a reef for about 5 minutes before he got bored and swam away. Least favorite place was the Cooper River in Charleston, SC. zero visibility and in order to get any artifacts (thats why you are in the river) you have to run your arm up to your shoulders and feel around in mud and muck. Not very fun. I especially enjoyed the night diving also, at night things come out of their hiding places. Well, I had to dig my gear out of the basement! It could use a serious polishing with silicone spray but otherwise it's okay. I bet you looked great with that pink knife strapped to your leg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc3c46 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 I used to do a lot of diving all over the place. My favorite place is the Caymans (specifically, the North wall of Grand Cayman). Actually I did a lot in the Niagara river (no, not by the Falls!). I live 20 minutes away from there so it's good to get some bottom time in. You can play with the fish and find some old stuff (like old prohibition bottles). I haven't been able to go in a few years due to back issues, but I'm going to Florida in a few weeks and plan to dive the Rainbow River. So who here dives? If you aren't a diver I highly recommended it. It's very peaceful floating in water and you get to see new things. Night dives are the best because you can clearly see the colors in the corrals when illuminated with your light. I miss it. Living in the flatlands here and too far away from good dive sites sucks. I did Mexico (Isla de las mulheres), Canary Islands, Mauritius and Tahiti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Love the pink Gilliangirl! Here's me in the Cayman's with rented gear. Nowadays I take my own stuff with me (don't trust the rental places). I took cave diving training and did it a few times. Then my wife found out that life insurance won't cover diving accidents, so that put a stop to that. It's really cool to "walk" along the cave roof though. My best friend is a dentist who decided one day that he didn't want to do it anymore. He took the Hall's instruction course (see here) and got trained to teach everything. After a few months of resort diving instruction he realized that he wasn't making as much as a dentist, so he came back. Still it was a great experience for him. He taught me a bunch of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobG Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Did a lot more diving while I was stationed in Guam back in the day. Made it to PADI Advanced Open Water. Planned to get Dive Master certification but life definitely got in the way. Guam was a great place to dive and explore. Rarely ever needed a wetsuit. Visibility was usually 100 feet or better. Lots of variety....reefs, walls and wrecks (ships and airplanes)...all accessible from the shore. Favorite place to dive? Cozumel was very cool. Spent a week there with my wife at a dive resort. Drift diving with the current was fun. But for me, I'd have to say it was Truk Lagoon in Micronesia. Dove several Japanese wrecks from WWII all around the lagoon. The most memorable one was a night dive into the cargo hold of a supply ship in which sat a Japanese Zero. I have a picture of me (somewhere) sitting in the cockpit of the airplane inside the cargo hold of the ship 90 feet under water. Did I mention it was at night? Had a chance to dive in the Red Sea but it didn't work out in the end. My CO put some barriers in front of me that would have completely sucked the fun out of it for me. Wanted to hold me personally responsible for the safety of everyone that went on the dive trip. I was just a PADI-certified recreational diver, not a military diver or a certified dive master. No way I was about to take that on so I didn't go on the trip. Figured I'd get back that way again eventually on another deployment...with a different CO. Unfortunately it never happened. And that's how life goes sometimes....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Not I...but something I've always wanted to get into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.