Any Scuba Divers?

[tplyons]

Looking to get certified this summer, just trying to nail down a date for classes.

Just want to hear some of your scuba stories...?

[()smoke()]

i'm not certified and haven't been on a lot of dives, but it's one of my favorite things...my roomates in college were both master divers and we had a really cool underwater light for nighttime river excursions

diving in cozumel was really amazing, and i'd love to get back someday

[pedroims]

i am certified scuba diver, I got my certification in 2006. Worst story, we got a terrible weather and you wont be able to see more than 5 feet away from you, I got lost but keep it calm, I went to the top and everybody was waiting for me

[Waterpilot]

Man it's fantastic under the water. Where I live, we have a scuba park with a bunch of sunken boats and stuff. Though the Cabazon tend to be protective while they pretect their eggs. Tons of fun. We also catch our dungeness crab by hand during crabbing season.

[Matt Morgan]

I've been diving, open and closed circuit, since 1995 and it is one of my absolute favorite things to do. I've done plenty of daytime and night diving and for the most part have had great, easy going and really fun dives. I've also had my share of terrible weather, tough currents, terrible visibility, difficult navigation, etc. All in all though, it's awesome!

I've had the good fortune of diving in some great locations around the world and seeing some fantastic wrecks, reefs, wild life, etc. It's an experience that most people will never have and it is difficult to put into words how amazing some of the sights that you'll see really are!

Don't hesitate, just do it!

[ADbassman]

Diving is an amazing, otherworldly experience. I've been diving in Missouri, Arkansas, Mexico, Belize, California and Alaska. Belize was probably my favorite cause you could see atleast 50 - 100 feet in any direction and dive down to 50 - 60ft in nothing but board shorts and a scuba pack. Alaska and California were F'ing cold.

[Hollow Man]

Got my open water cert in 2010 and my advanced open water last year. I've only taken one dive trip outside of a quarry (Florida Keys last year), but I love it! Just wish it wasn't so damn expensive...

[baba]

I've done plenty of diving. A most memorable experience not involving reef life was while diving in lava tubes (sort of like caverns) off the Kona coast. A relative newbie lost her weight belt and instantly rose to the top of the tube where she was pinned. I saw activity out of the corner of my eye and she is up there above me thrashing about in complete panic mode....bubbles everywhere. Someone realized what happened, looked down and spotted the belt, snatched it and brought it up to her. She was completely freaked out and then we had to catch the surf surge at the right moment to be shot out of the lava tube through a tight tunnel and back into the open water. I always wonder if that was her last dive!

Monterey Bay was always kind of creepy with the kelp forests, cold water, and knowing you are in the great white shark triangle. I dove there with a guy that would take Taco Bell hot sauce packets diving, knife a scallop off of a rock while under water, pull out his regulator to pop the meat into his mouth, tear an edge of the hot sauce and suck some hot sauce, eat, replace regulator, and repeat as needed. Spicy foods and diving don't mix...

[Pilgrim]

I have about 40 hours underwater, mostly in Puget Sound. Haven't been diving in years but did enjoy it...and it's easier today to get corrective lenses in your mask if you need glasses like I do. The area around Hood's Canal on the west side of the sound is prime octopus spotting country...but they're so darn good at camo that they're hard to recognize even when you're looking at them.

That's cold water country - water temp 48-54 year 'round, so get a good wetsuit. The wreck at Edmonds north of Seattle is always a good familiarization dive.

[tplyons]

So I've contacted the dive shop that comes highly recommended to find a time to swing by the shop and meet the instructor and ask a few questions. I don't think I'll be able to justify dropping $150 on prescription lenses in my mask yet, but want to ask how he handles classes with contacts.

Doesn't look like I'll be going past a pool and then a quarry in the time being, but my buddy from work is going to get certified with me. We're both going back for our MBA's this summer, so I'm not sure how likely we really are to put it to use quite yet.

[tekdiver500ft]

As you can tell by my user name, I dive. Deep. I've been down below 500 feet several times (once with Sheck Exley), and there's nothing like it.

Classes with contacts (for most instructors) are no big deal. You simply don't wear them the day that you will be practicing flooding/clearing mask. For most prescriptions (nearsighted), you don't need contacts or a prescription mask, anyway. The air/water interface provides adequate magnification.

[tplyons]

Good to hear. I hear that some instructors will let you keep your eyes closed for the flooding/clearing, and others make you open them. If I can get away with them closed, I'd prefer to do that.

I've never had problems opening my eyes underwater, but haven't done so since wearing contacts.

[tekdiver500ft]

Yes, some will allow you to leave your eyes closed. Remember, though, that you will have to swim across the pool, find your mask, and clear it. It's easier with your eyes open.

Talk to your instructor, he'll tell you what you need to do, and what he'll allow. If he knows you wear contacts, he will make the allowances that his agency permits.

[CrewsControl]

Depends on the contacts, really, and whether you are in fresh or salt water, or a pool. They don't tend to pop out when you open your eyes underwater. But chlorine ions (either from saltwater or pool chlorine) does not feel good when soaked into your contacts. Before I got LASIK I dove with contacts and it was no problem, except for the chlorine ions. I used disposable contacts that were changed every week, so I just went through more of them when on a diving vacation.

My scariest dive moment was the deep dive for my advanced certification. My tank came out of the strap at 130 ft and was dangling by the hose until a buddy came over to help. I used a lot of air on that dive.

My best moment was when I saw a 7 ft brilliant green moray eel swimming in the open.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by CrewsControl

Depends on the contacts, really, and whether you are in fresh or salt water, or a pool. They don't tend to pop out when you open your eyes underwater. But chlorine ions (either from saltwater or pool chlorine) does not feel good when soaked into your contacts. Before I got LASIK I dove with contacts and it was no problem, except for the chlorine ions. I used disposable contacts that were changed every week, so I just went through more of them when on a diving vacation.

So this being the case, I'll keep an old pair around in an extra case for test day... and I can toss them right after!

[ADbassman]

Originally Posted by tekdiver500ft

For most prescriptions (nearsighted), you don't need contacts or a prescription mask, anyway. The air/water interface provides adequate magnification.

This is true. I'm 200/20 in one eye and 80/20 in the other but when I'm diving I don't wear any corrective lenses and I can see clear as day underwater.

[KwinS]

Hi. I got my Basic and Open Water in 1981. Went on to Dive Master later.
Went into commercial diving in '88, and did and saw some really cool stuff. Took an O2 hit in a chamber a couple of years later.
Now I just snorkel.
I do get the urge to go deep every once in a while, though.

[Hippos Melas]

I'm certified! I love scuba diving, mostly night dives. I've got an Open Water certification though, so nothing too advanced, but there's tons of cool stuff to see diving. If you get a chance, do a night dive as well as a day dive. You'll see so many different things it'll amaze you.

[Pilgrim]

My coldest dive was in Clear Lake in the Sisters mountains in central Oregon. It's a small lake created by glacial runoff, and the upper part is only about 4 acres total area - but when the water is good, you can see all the way across the lake underwater. There's a prehistoric forest still standing underwater - the trunks are in place but the branches and bark have been worn off by the action of the water.

On the surface it's about 45 degrees...for the first 12 inches. Get down a few feet and it's in the high 30's. I swam down into a depression where water was entering (about 30 feet down) and my temp gauge was at 34 degrees and still edging down.

Diving it in a wetsuit is simple. (1) Don wetsuit. (2) Walk into water. (3) Stick regulator in mouth. (4) Put face underwater. (5) Scream through regulator until your face goes numb and it doesn't hurt anymore.

But it was worth it to swim through the standing forest!

I see there's a small resort there now...http://www.co.linn.or.us/parks/parks/clearlake.html

[warnergt]

I'll never forget when I got certified. It was the morning of Live
Aid (1985). I got certified in the morning and quick rushed to
JFK Stadium in Philly. Arrived when Madonna was onstage.