Scuba diving PSers?

[Iowa Lizzy]

I dive with split fins and I really like them. I feel like I move through the water much more efficiently. Mine are purple! Actually, all of my equipment is purple b/c when DH was trying to convince me to try diving, I said "The only way you'll get me to try it is if I can have all purple gear." Well, he really wanted me to try it, so lo and behold, I have purple stuff.

Underwater Pumpkin Carving is crazy. It's two dives in buddy teams. The first dive, you have to get the pumpkin underwater for your buddy to carve. The second dive, your buddy takes your pumpkin down and then you carve it. It's a huge PITA until you get the top off and the air is released. It's something to say you've done, but I don't think we'll be making a tradition out of it. The hilarious thing, is that you actually get a card from PADI that says "Underwater Pumpkin Carver."

 

[sonnyjane]

Underwater Pumpkin Carving is crazy. It's two dives in buddy teams. The first dive, you have to get the pumpkin underwater for your buddy to carve. The second dive, your buddy takes your pumpkin down and then you carve it. It's a huge PITA until you get the top off and the air is released. It's something to say you've done, but I don't think we'll be making a tradition out of it. The hilarious thing, is that you actually get a card from PADI that says "Underwater Pumpkin Carver."

Wow that's so funny!!! I would totally put that on my resume lol.

 

[star sparkle]

I think it's so interesting how different areas trend on certain types of gear/equipment...around here most people dive in drysuits and with paddle fins, and elsewhere drysuits are viewed as "wussy" and everyone uses split fins! Apparently dive gear is just like jewelry in that everyone has their own personal preferences, but there's something to suit everyone!

Travel Goddess, that is hilarious! Speaking of cert cards, anyone else find it pretty ridiculous how PADI has to send you a new one for every single little certification you get? I got two new ones last week, both for the advanced certification and the enriched air certification, and of course I had my first OW one. Seems a little over the top if you ask me, but maybe that's how they justify the crazy cost of their training materials?

 

[sonnyjane]

Speaking of cert cards, anyone else find it pretty ridiculous how PADI has to send you a new one for every single little certification you get? I got two new ones last week, both for the advanced certification and the enriched air certification, and of course I had my first OW one. Seems a little over the top if you ask me, but maybe that's how they justify the crazy cost of their training materials?

I was so irritated when I got married and had to change my name on my card. I figured it would be no big deal, but I had to submit copies of my marriage certificate and drivers license etc., and it cost $30 to send me the new card because of the name change! Out of all of the things I had to change after marriage - drivers license, SS card, all my bank information, my dive cert card was the biggest hassle and the most expensive!

 

[Blackpaw]

I love diving too! it is my most favourite thing to do, sometimes i wish i didnt live in the mountains with only glacier fed lakes about my SO and I learnt to dive a few years ago, in Africa. We did a lot of diving over a year or so, in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Turkey (dont bother) and on the Red Sea. THe Red Sea was soooo amazing, we did a liveaboard for a week and got to dive the thistlegorm and the reef life was just spectacular (sth africa and mozambique were great too). Id recommend the red sea liveaboards - they're so cheap compared to the ones in the central america/the caribbean and the diving is insane.

Other than that we did some diving this year in Jamaica - which was a lot better than i thought it would be, lots of dolphins, turtles and my first seahorse!! And i did my first cold water in June, in San Diego at La Jolla cove. It was beautiful, i loved the sea lions and i saw a very sizeable shark there too (was way too close for comfort actually). But boy was it cold! it wasnt too bad at first, i was expecting a shock as i walked into the water but i didnt get one (good wetsuit i guess), but by the end i was chilly and was cramping all over...

Funnily enough im an Aussie but ive never dived the Great Barrier Reef!

Moosemon - Palau? Wow! id love to go there how did you do it? (hotel, liveaboard..?). any info would be greatly appreciated, its on my list of spots to dive! Id also love to go to Sulawesi area in Indonesia and do some of the WWII wrecks there....oh and the Galapagos sounds cool too.

Pierreone - how are belize and roatan? SO and i are thinking there will be our next dive trip, this coming summer.

Has anyone been to Bonaire? we'd love to get there but the flights are a bit of a killer out of Canada and we're not sure if we're better off spending the same cash backpacking through central america for a bit and diving in a few spots round there....

Oh and TG, Pumpkin Carver Certified? AWESOME

 

[star sparkle]

sonnyjane- How annoying! Sorry you had such a hassle, I think it's ridiculous that they made it so difficult.

Blackpaw- Thanks for sharing your stories! I can't comment on Bonaire, other than my local dive shop has arranged a big trip down in March and everyone is super excited about it (I'm not going on it, though). My instructor for my AOW cert also arranges a dive trip each year for he and his buddies, and he's invited SO and I along. That group is going to Curacao, and I'd imagine that they diving is quite similar in Curacao and Bonaire. He scouted it out a couple of months ago and said it was amazing, and now SO and I are trying to decide if we can go on that trip.

Travel Goddess- I told SO about the Underwater Pumpkin Carver cert, and he was in serious awe! At first he didn't believe me, then I showed him the photo you posted of the cert card and his jaw literally dropped. He's ready to pack his bags and fly out there to get the cert, no joke.

 

[star sparkle]

I just got back from a 9-day trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands!! One of my BFF's was having a destination wedding on St. Thomas so that was the whole point of the trip, but SO and I made sure to get in a bunch of diving while there! We did 4 days of diving, and it was seriously amazing. It was my first experience with warm(er) water diving and visibility better than 25'-30', and it was amazing. The best dive of all was to a plane wreck in 100'; it was apparently an old U.S. mail carrier plane that crashed in 2005, and the wreck is pretty much fully intact. We were able to swim into the cargo area and into the cockpit, so that was cool. Also did a dive to a sunken barge, and then the rest were all reef dives. Saw two barracudas, a couple of reef sharks, some nurse sharks, sea turtles, tons of different types of tropical fish, and lobsters that were practically as big as I am!

Anyway, just thought I share how much I loved the diving and how great of an experience it was, plus some cool pictures!

(GAHH...of course PS now isn't letting me upload any photos, but I'll keep trying and get them up ASAP!!)

 

[MsP]

Thanks for bumping this up!...somehow I missed it.

I'm certified and headed to Bonaire next week. We'll see how much I do.

I've did the Great Barrier Reef in 2008 and wasn't really impressed-- Belize was much nicer IMO.

 

[star sparkle]

Have a great time in Bonaire, MissPru!! My local dive shop is organizing a trip to Bonaire this year, but I'm not going. Sounded pretty awesome, though. Another one of our dive buddies is planning a dive trip to Curacao in July, and I'm sorely tempted to get in on that one. We'll see! You'll have to let us know how the diving in Bonaire is, I hear it's fantastic!


Still working on getting those photos up, hopefully PS will start cooperating with me soon.

 

[Blackpaw]

Ooooh MissP im so jealous! cannot WAIT to hear about your trip, Bonaire is on my list, its just so crazy expensive to get to from where i live anyways have a great time, im sure it will be awesome

star sparkle im glad you had a great time in the USVI ive never been so i cant wait to see pics.

SO and i are contemplating a trip to central america this summer (fingers crossed that work cooperates) so diving will be top of the list in mexico, belize and honduras! i really hope we can go

 

[mrscushion]

Yesssss..... a thread like this just puts some sunshine in my morning!

I love scuba diving! I don't do it nearly often enough, though.

Got my PADI advanced open water in the Philippines in 2003. Highlight to date has still been wreck diving among Japanese WW2 freighter ships in Coron Bay.

 

[mrscushion]

It was like flying or floating weightlessly in a dreamworld of coral, fish and color.

This!

Once I flew to Cebu island, and the diving there was spectacular!!!!!!!

And this!

 

[star sparkle]

Managed to get a few uploaded!

 

[star sparkle]

Bump!

Any new diving PSers in our midst?

My honeymoon is coming up and we're making it a diving honeymoon in Fiji. Can't wait to dive the Great White Wall and all the other amazingness that Fiji has to offer.

 

[AP1976]

I only went diving one time but I loved it!! It never really worked out to go again. My husband is scared of open water so he has no interest, and believe it or not - it's been 17 years! Yikes, can that be right??? In 1995 I went to Israel for the summer and was PADI certified as an Advanced Open Water diver in The Red Sea!!! Such an amazing experience, I have some cool photos I'll have to dig out and upload. It will be fun to see my 19 year old self, too, lol! This thread definitely has me thinking about making it happen again

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

I'm on a hiatus from scuba due to an acute case of pregnancy.

DH is now officially a PADI divemaster so he's still diving fairly often and he's assisted in teaching some classes. We're going to St. Lucia at the end of the month and he'll be diving daily while I stay on shore completely jealous.

Have fun in Fiji! That sounds absolutely breathtaking.

 

[Blackpaw]

Oh no TG that's so cruel!! but please can you tell me how the diving is? im hoping to get to st lucia in the next 18 months and will for sure dive. Its between there and barbados but from what i can tell st lucia is better for diving.

 

[star sparkle]

I only went diving one time but I loved it!! It never really worked out to go again. My husband is scared of open water so he has no interest, and believe it or not - it's been 17 years! Yikes, can that be right??? In 1995 I went to Israel for the summer and was PADI certified as an Advanced Open Water diver in The Red Sea!!! Such an amazing experience, I have some cool photos I'll have to dig out and upload. It will be fun to see my 19 year old self, too, lol! This thread definitely has me thinking about making it happen again

Wow, that sounds awesome! Yes, please post photos of your Red Sea dives - would love to see them!

 

[star sparkle]

I'm on a hiatus from scuba due to an acute case of pregnancy.

DH is now officially a PADI divemaster so he's still diving fairly often and he's assisted in teaching some classes. We're going to St. Lucia at the end of the month and he'll be diving daily while I stay on shore completely jealous.

Have fun in Fiji! That sounds absolutely breathtaking.

Ugh, no fair!

But that's awesome for your DH, is he trying to become an instructor? When FI has more free time, he wants to start the process for becoming an instructor.