Scuba diving

jgrills · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:45 pm Post subject: Scuba diving

I love to dive. I used to do a lot more diving, but will again one day when life settles some. I'm a certified PADI Divemaster, and I hope to one day get my Instructor. Most my diving to date has been warm water recreational, but I'd like to get into some more cold and deep stuff. I'm certified in Nitrox, but I'd like to get into some of the more interesting mixtures for the deeper diving - tri-mix with helium and such.

The craziest dive I've been on in my life is was just south of Cancun, Mexico. My wife and I did a cavern dive with a caving instructor. The instructor put the group in experience order, least experienced with him at the front, most experienced in the back. Being a Divemaster, that meant I got to take up the rear. About 40 ft down there was a halocline (in this case where there was fresh water floating on top of salt water). It looked as if you were floating in the air looking down on the surface of water. Swimming through the halocline was amazing - the salt water was several degrees warmer than the fresh, (so it was also a thermocline), and sound didn't transfer across the boundary which was weird. After the other divers had swum through the halocline and stirred it up, I got to swim through it again. The view of the world was like looking through a plate of molten stained glass in rippling motion in front of you. Amazing. I'll never forget that dive.
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Shrubbo · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:05 am Post subject:

So cool, I recon that would be the closest you can get to being in free fall on earth. I will have to try it one day.

gunnerx · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:19 am Post subject:

I have always wanted to go diving. My friend traveled the world and went diving in lots of places. He took some really nice pictures along the way. We're going on a cruise next month and one of the excursions in St. Thomas is an introduction to Scuba Diving which counts towards PADI. I will definitely be going on that one!
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Caedrus · Doctor of Rock Joined: 07 Dec 2008 Posts: 345

Got certified in open water, advacned, and dry suit diving over the last month, finishing my last dive this weekend in Lake Tahoe before the huge snow storm hit Reno. What a trip. Freaking cold, the dry suit didn't help at all being in the water. Only being dry when you got out... =/

jgrills · Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:37 pm Post subject:

Nice! I don't have my Dry Suit certification yet, but I definitely want to. There are some dives up in Vancouver that I'd love to do, but it's a bit chilly for a wetsuit. What gas did you use in your drysuit? Just air?
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Caedrus · Doctor of Rock Joined: 07 Dec 2008 Posts: 345

Normal air. It was only my fifth through tenth dives. I may actually save to buy one though, one of my serious goals is to do closed water diving under ice in the arctic. I'm actually considering doing an MD/PhD in microbiology with under ice bacteria.

But it is WAY different. I shot to the surface feet first twice. :/ almost five times total but my buddy caught me the other three. He was doing a seven mili wet suit because he's to big to rent a dry suit.

HiAperture · Core Band Member Joined: 07 Mar 2009 Posts: 58

I got certified finally a year ago, but unfortunately I haven't really had any chance to use it past my certification dives. I grew up in the Florida Keys, so I have the perfect place to go, but I don't have too many other certified friends, and going on dive boats with tourists is mad expensive.

I really would like to take my photography underwater, which is the main reason I got certified in the first place, but the housing for my camera gear is a lot of money, and I need some more experience before I try to balance doing both things at the same time.

Any tips on how to get some more dives in without breaking the bank?
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jgrills · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:35 pm Post subject:

Caedrus, I've considered some ice diving myself. I would like to get into some serious tech diving, and go down to visit the Andrea Doria. If you start heading this direction, make sure I know about it. I don't even know where else to start looking for a dive buddy who'd be willing to go out with me and a ice drill and make our own dive spot.

HiAp: after the initial investment of your own gear, it becomes much more economical. Mask, fins, BC, and regulator are a great start. You probably don't need your own tank or weights for a long time, if ever.
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Caedrus · Doctor of Rock Joined: 07 Dec 2008 Posts: 345

Don't buy shitty fins. Mine are held together with duct tape and it bites.

jgrills · Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:53 pm Post subject:

Oh, get your own snorkel too. I personally hate renting gear that has to be put in one's mouth.

I have multiple pairs of fins for different diving conditions.

I have a pair of Atomic split fins that are bright yellow which I use for open water dives and training dives - it helps students find and identify me more easily under water. They're absolutely fantastic for straight leg kicking.

I also have a pair of more standard blade fins which are better for a frog-style kick which works best when you're swimming close to the bottom, or in a confined space like a ship wreck or cave/cavern entrance. The frog kick is super useful in those situations because you don't drive water to the bottom and stir up silt, so you keep visibility better.
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Kineticartist · Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject:

the kids and I all love to snorkel and all have decent masks, snorkels and fins and usually confine ourselves to snorkeling offshore in the gulf or in the local lakes when we go camping.

been considering getting all of us into scuba.

Got any more tips youd like to share for 5 newbs of different ages and sizes to get into to scuba? all of us are strong swimmers.
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Caedrus · Doctor of Rock Joined: 07 Dec 2008 Posts: 345

jgrills · Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject:

Yeah, everything you'll need to know should be taught by any decent instructor. I only have a couple other tips.

Buoyancy control is key to low-effort high-reward diving. Low effort diving directly implies low air consumption, which means longer bottom times (provided you're not hitting your nitrogen loading limits - but you'll be taught all that). You should be taught a "fin pivot" move where you learn to control your buoyancy with your breathing. You should practice getting yourself to neutrally buoyant with a half-full breadth. And be aware that your buoyancy changes with depth, so as your depth changes, you'll need to fine-tune your buoyancy. The good news is, the deeper you dive, the less change in buoyancy you'll experience. (For the same underlying reason, the first 30 feet of depth is the most dangerous.)

My other diving tip would be to keep your gear tight and secured to your body. While regulators, depth gauges, and air gauges are all quite rugged, you really don't want to be smacking the gear that you are depending upon to live on rocks and other things. Nor do you want your gear to damage or kill fragile coral formations.

And Caedrus, PADI doesn't do any real technical diving stuff. They are a recreational diving organization. I haven't yet looked into more tech certification organizations, but I could take that as homework.

EDIT: Actually it looks like PADI has moved forward some into Tech diving, with decompression diving and even tri-mix. I'll check out their courses and stuff, as well as TDI.
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gunnerx · Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:46 am Post subject:

Went on my first dive at St Thomas and loved it! Only went down around 20ft so it was basically just a very introductory dive. However, it was more than enough to convince me that I would like to pursue this hobby. Found out my friend is interested too so we'll most likely go for our certification next year.

I picked up the Canon D10 camera for the dive and snorkeling during the trip and was impressed with the results.

http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12427&g2_serialNumber=1

http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12447&g2_serialNumber=1

http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12453&g2_serialNumber=1

http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12461&g2_serialNumber=1

Snorkeling pics
http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12590&g2_serialNumber=1

http://photos.gunnerx.ca/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=12602&g2_serialNumber=1
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jgrills · Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 5:44 pm Post subject:

Nice pictures! Underwater photography is interesting, but it can be expensive. Housings for cameras can cost significantly more than the camera itself. Remember to keep your O-rings super clean - a leak can spoil your gear permanently. Maybe you'd get lucky and get a Magic Camera but don't count on it.
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