Any scuba divers here?

[mksj]

Certified in 1970 in the bay area, PADI, NAUI and more recently Nitrox. Was 120 lbs on my certification dives, would come out of the water blue most of time and the dives had minimal visibility quite often up off of Fort Bragg. Know a few friends that lost family member's, and I almost bit the dust diving in Fiji. First time we went to Palau, they started to implement stricter head count measures and requiring individuals to have sausages, strobes and air horns, they had just lost a party of 6 Japanese divers when they went out in rough sea's and the boat motor went out. They subsequently required twin engine dive boats and often a second boat. Palau and Yap is mostly drift diving, so if you do not get picked up you just continue out to sea. Recent diving on the Great Barrier Reef they have strict head counts and everyone is outfitted with a GPS transponder.

Wife has also been diving for 50+ years and we each probably have 300+ dives, mostly warm water diving and have dived most of the tropical regions in the world but haven't been to the Red Sea or Indian Ocean. Done a number of live aboard 's for 1-2 weeks when we could get away, but these days prefer diving day trips. Through the years we have seen almost all the large sea life disappear, and a lot of crazy divers (and dive trips), I think we have maybe one last dive trip left in us before we bite the dust, maybe try to get out to the Seychelles. I like diving Nitrox, I have noticed a lot less cumulative fatigue when your diving over multiple days. Lots of new fancy gear, but one still needs to know the basics, have common sense and know how to navigate underwater.

Lots of good memories and always met nice people, both divers and locals.

 

[Janderso]

PADI certified Open Water back in 1983.
Certified at Love Point in Monterey, CA.
Yes, cold water ain’t the best.I got spoiled diving warm water in Florida and the Caribbean.
Did some night dives and cliff dives off of the Dominican.
Haven’t dove since.

 

[bill70j]

wonder how many of you are scuba certified. I got certified when I was 10 and when on my first open water dive for my 11th birthday. now I am going in 3 weeks and just turned 13. Hope to see some more spider crabs and eels. also saw a couple of barracuda, they were looking at me funny. And lots of nurse sharks and lobsters.

Peyton:

Congratulations on your certification and for all the experience you have since gained. I hope you will stay with diving for many years to come.

I wish I had been certified at a younger age like you. I waited until 1975, when I got YMCA certified.

Our favorite spot is off the Northern California coast at Fort Ross. It is cold and many times visibility is limited. But when conditions are right it offers spectacular marine life and seascape viewing and photography. I have seen barracuda - and they do kind of stare at you.

We also like to make a sport out of diving. At Fort Ross we used to free dive for abalone and scuba dive for ling cod. Nothing better than fresh caught seafood.

Good luck on all your future diving experiences, including the one you have coming up in three weeks.

Bill

 

[ACHiPo]

I got certified (YMCA "gold" lifetime certification is still valid even though the program no longer exists) when I was 16 (I think the youngest back then). My open water dives were in Indiana rock quarries in a 1/4" wet suit--the "warm" water at the surface was about 70F, but by 10' deep it had dropped to 55 and at the bottom it was below 40F. Oh and visibility was about 10' if you're lucky. That's back when I was skinny, so not much natural insulation, either. I've only dived a few times since college, but made 4 dives in Tahiti in 2019 and it was spectacular. I look forward to do it again.

 

[Janderso]

I got certified (YMCA "gold" lifetime certification is still valid even though the program no longer exists) when I was 16 (I think the youngest back then). My open water dives were in Indiana rock quarries in a 1/4" wet suit--the "warm" water at the surface was about 70F, but by 10' deep it had dropped to 55 and at the bottom it was below 40F. Oh and visibility was about 10' if you're lucky. That's back when I was skinny, so not much natural insulation, either. I've only dived a few times since college, but made 4 dives in Tahiti in 2019 and it was spectacular. I look forward to do it again.

Evan,
I forgot about the cliff dives and the trip to Cozumel.
In the early 80's much of the reef was dying in the Caribbean that I was exposed to. So sad.
I don't know what it's like today.
I bet Tahiti was spectacular. Warm water and crystal clear.
I dove off Cape Haitian, my first deep dive. I believe we went to 125'. I had a bit of nitrogen narcosis but was able to get the hell out before I did anything stupid. I think I was in the water for less than 10 minutes.

 

[ACHiPo]

Jeff,
My first certified dives in warm water were in Pennekamp State Park in the Florida Keys in 1981. I remember being awestruck by "frightening" barracuda (who were likely much more frightened of us), hitching a ride on a sea turtle (a definite no-no now), petting a toothless nurse shark, and freaking out when I saw my first moray eel.

I made a few cold water dives during college which were nothing special.

Over the past 40 years I dove (dived?) a few time with divemasters on vacation in Mexico and Hawaii. Fun dives, but nothing like Tahiti. What made Tahiti particularly special was when we planned to go diving was not even a consideration. It was only as I was researching things to do did I discover what a great dive spot it is (and those beautiful pictures in Skindiver magazine came back to me). Visibility was decent at maybe 70 feet--the winds were high and there was a rainstorm our first night which stirred things up a bit. One thing that was definitely different was the deeper coral--our average dive depth was about 60' with some forays down to 90+.

I've heard stories of coral bleaching, etc. I can't really comment. I know the colors in Tahiti were not as vibrant as I remember in FL, but Pennekamp was at 15-25'.

 

[Janderso]

I remember being awestruck by "frightening" barracuda

That would make one pucker. Ever done a night dive?
Lots of eye balls staring back at you.
I got into some small jelly fish one time on a night dive. Not fun.

 

[ACHiPo]

Certified in 1970 in the bay area, PADI, NAUI and more recently Nitrox. Was 120 lbs on my certification dives, would come out of the water blue most of time and the dives had minimal visibility quite often up off of Fort Bragg. Know a few friends that lost family member's, and I almost bit the dust diving in Fiji. First time we went to Palau, they started to implement stricter head count measures and requiring individuals to have sausages, strobes and air horns, they had just lost a party of 6 Japanese divers when they went out in rough sea's and the boat motor went out. They subsequently required twin engine dive boats and often a second boat. Palau and Yap is mostly drift diving, so if you do not get picked up you just continue out to sea. Recent diving on the Great Barrier Reef they have strict head counts and everyone is outfitted with a GPS transponder.

Wife has also been diving for 50+ years and we each probably have 300+ dives, mostly warm water diving and have dived most of the tropical regions in the world but haven't been to the Red Sea or Indian Ocean. Done a number of live aboard 's for 1-2 weeks when we could get away, but these days prefer diving day trips. Through the years we have seen almost all the large sea life disappear, and a lot of crazy divers (and dive trips), I think we have maybe one last dive trip left in us before we bite the dust, maybe try to get out to the Seychelles. I like diving Nitrox, I have noticed a lot less cumulative fatigue when your diving over multiple days. Lots of new fancy gear, but one still needs to know the basics, have common sense and know how to navigate underwater.

Lots of good memories and always met nice people, both divers and locals.

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Great photos!

 

[ACHiPo]

That would make one pucker. Ever done a night dive?
Lots of eye balls staring back at you.
I got into some small jelly fish one time on a night dive. Not fun.

I had to do at least one night dive to get my advanced certification, but it was in a quarry so not that scary or interesting. I've never done a night dive in warm water. I did a late afternoon dive in FL--late enough that I could see the spiny lobsters start to come out. I asked about a night dive in Tahiti but got nowhere. Evidently the lemon sharks (not nice little reef sharks like the black tips) and tiger sharks come in to the lagoons at dark to feed. Not a good idea unless you know what you're doing (i.e. have chainmail and an shark cage)

 

[JPMacG]

I did a few night dives many years ago in Bonaire. Octopus come out at night - they are quite cute and playful really. But it is spooky to see only the beam of your flashlight.

It is fun to see a new diver's reaction to a school of barracuda. They kind of grind their teeth as they swim. Makes them look really ferocious. But they are harmless AFAIK.