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OK, there's been some conversation about photography here and my point and shoot housing had its zoom lever break in the middle of our December Aruba trip. I am going to see about replacing it, but that got me wondering about getting a real set up. I know this is budget dependent and I have no idea what my budget is, since any camera in this range will be better than anything we've ever owned, so let's say a $2k budget, but I could go higher if the camera was magic or something. I saw an ad for the Sealife 1400 in this quarter's Alert Diver and it looks good, but I've also read that I can get an EVIL and housing for a similar price, which may be better for regular pictures. I don't know, we've always just had a point and shoot. What should I look for and/or buy?
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Feb 23, 2013 05:39
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Bishop posted:I'd go with Silent World. It's a shop that is small enough to customize trips for their divers (it's also one of main tech diving shops in the Keys), but they also have the boats and resources to get you anywhere. "Cattle boats" which have a dozen or more divers on them suck. Silent World just runs small boats, 8 or so maximum. When you make your booking just be sure to specifiy the type of dives you want. They basically catagorize their trips into 3 sections: "shallow" will get you two dives where you probably won't pass 50 feet. "deep/shallow" would be either the spiegel grove or duane wreck and then a shallow reef, and "double dip" which is two dives both on the same wreck (It's almost always the Spiegel unless someone requests something else. There's also their tech only trips but you won't be accidently be getting booked on a run to a 200ft deep wreck. If nobody asks for anything specific, it's the captain's discretion on which site to hit. I don't have any doubts as to their level of service but as you say I'm new to diving and also have no clue about what there is to see in the Keys. So thanks a bunch for the detailed information - I guess we will dive with Silent World and explore the rest of the Keys afterwards. My certification says 60ft and I've never gone below that - I'm happy to not even have to go that deep if there is plenty cool stuff to see which it sounds like there is. Thanks again for all the information!
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Feb 23, 2013 13:01
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) or tech suicide missions. When I want to do a shallow reef I use my own boat and go to Carysfort reef, which is pretty out of the way of the rest of Key Largo but real close to me. Silent world might be the only shop that occasionally goes there. 
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whaam posted:God diving is looking like its going to be really expensive. Just finished my $450 certification and now I'm looking to get some gear so I can dive locally but woo boy it ain't cheap. Looks like about 1k for a dry suit, 200 for a cheap basic reg, 500 for a bcd and thats just scratching the surface. I can't really afford that right now and probably not even later this summer. The local dive shops rent kit for like $45 a day if you already have the suit, but that seems like it would add up quickly. After the suit what is the first piece to buy? The BCD seems smart because it is so central but its also the most expensive it seems. Also getting a wet suit would be a lot cheaper than dry but would a 7/14mm full suit be comfortable in 10C water? Not talking about multiple dives just single 20minute dives. A little late with my reply. I would definitely look at used equipment. I bought my BCD for $250 out the door at my local dive shop because it was used as a rental once. Practically brand new. However, at my dive shop I'm on a first name basis with the owner because I got my OW there and I've been back in regularly for other needs (dry suit rentals, wet suit rentals, etc). He also knows the other instructor for my dive team stuff really well. So he tries to help us out. I would check if any shops near you are selling off rental equipment at a discount. It will be used, but 99% of it will still be in good to great shape. I wouldn't buy a dry suit unless you plan on diving dry like all the time--they are really expensive! I bought my fins, mask, snorkel, and booties brand new at the same dive shop where I got my BCD, and it was less than $200 out the door for everything. Next on my list is my own tank, and a skin suit. My own regulator will have to wait awhile. Edited to add: I would definitely pick up a BCD first. I was renting or borrowing them for awhile and it got old really quick because every time I was diving it was a different, unfamiliar BCD. Part of good dive safety is being familiar with your equipment. Now that I have my own, I have tools how I want them on it, I know how to release the weight pockets if I need to, and I know where all the straps and buckles are. It's helpful and gives me a more secure feeling. 
Hip Hoptimus Prime fucked around with this message at 14:17 on Feb 23, 2013 |
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Feb 23, 2013 14:10
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:Edited to add: I would definitely pick up a BCD first. I was renting or borrowing them for awhile and it got old really quick because every time I was diving it was a different, unfamiliar BCD. Part of good dive safety is being familiar with your equipment. Now that I have my own, I have tools how I want them on it, I know how to release the weight pockets if I need to, and I know where all the straps and buckles are. It's helpful and gives me a more secure feeling. I'm curious, what's your reasoning for preferring your own tank before a regulator? I'm a new diver, and I've always been told BCD then regs.
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Feb 23, 2013 21:48
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Unimpressed posted:I'm curious, what's your reasoning for preferring your own tank before a regulator? I'm a new diver, and I've always been told BCD then regs. Probably because he's dives locally. If you are a vacation diver primarily, owning a tank is dumb whereas you can bring your regs in your luggage easily. If you dive regularly within a few hours of your house, then owning a tank will save you in the long run from rentals. It depends on the diver.
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Feb 23, 2013 22:12
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Unimpressed posted:I'm curious, what's your reasoning for preferring your own tank before a regulator? I'm a new diver, and I've always been told BCD then regs. Get a wrist mount dive computer first. For many people who are looking to save money a BP/W works better than many BCDs, and once someone travels once their ideas on what kind of BCD to own changes too. Mask first, then dive computer.
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Feb 23, 2013 23:29
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pupdive posted:Get a wrist mount dive computer first. I'd say mask/snorkel/fins first, thermal protection then dive computer. Being comfortable during a dive is far more important than having a dive computer. Water temp actually limits your diving ability while not having a dive computer doesn't.
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Feb 24, 2013 00:25
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I definitely agree with the prioritisation of mask fins wetsuit. Having my own 7mm wetsuit has definitely made me feel far more comfortable. I guess I should consider the next step, computer or BCD. Having my own BCD is attractive in that I will be able to pimp it and not have to add/remove all the stuff every time (safety sausage, whistle, torch), while having dived the GBR with the same dive computer I got on the liveaboard definitely added to my awareness of my dive timings, depths, etc. Thanks for the tips!
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Feb 24, 2013 01:05
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Yeah, I wasn't entirely clear. I did buy my mask/fins/booties first before the BCD. I then bought the BCD a couple months later, when I got a work bonus I could throw at it. Still on the market for a good wrist dive computer, though. I forgot about that and will probably do that and a reg before a tank; but I was thinking of a tank first since it's cheaper and I do a lot of local dives. If I traveled, I wouldn't haul that with me...it would be easier to rent.
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Feb 24, 2013 04:12
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I did it in this order: Mask/Snorkel Fins/Boots(because full-foot rental fins give me the WORST blisters) Dive Computer Rashie (because I was diving in tropical water and didn't need anything else) BCD Regulator Still need a wetsuit, but I'm gonna wait until I lose more weight to pick that up.
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Feb 24, 2013 04:56
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Just got back from my trip to Manado, Indonesia where i did my Open Water certification and i had a great time. I cleared the PADI elearning modules before the trip and spent the first 3 days doing the pool/open water parts for certification and the remaining 3 days doing leisure dives. My good friend who persuaded me to take up diving and made all the arrangements at the resort was also there and he buddied up with me for the leisure dives. I didn't encounter any problems during the course although it took me about 10 minutes to figure out the mask clearing. The great part was that i was 1-to-1 with the instructor all the way and my friend had arranged for the manager of the dive centre to teach me as she was the best instructor there in his opinion. We spent half of the first day in the pool and then she spread out the open water skills training in 4 dives over the following 2 days so that i could have more time to work on breathing/bouyancy control, getting used to being underwater and to cover the necessary skills for the certification. She also incorporated some touring of the house reef during these dives. I'm not sure if this is normal but i found the whole experience to be enjoyable and well-paced. The feedback from the instructor and my friend who was doing his macro photography thing in the vicinity was that i'm did very well for a beginner and picked up things fast. Once i cleared the course it was off the do leisure dives with my friend and our dive guide. Although we were on the big boat (except of one day where we got our own personal boat) with the other divers, my friend has a close relationship with the resort and gets his own personal guide. This was awesome for me as i had to two of them to guide me along and give me pointers after every dive. Over the 3 days we did a mix of wall dives at Bunaken National Park (where i got to experience drift diving in the currents, plus some up and down currents and basically just got to see a bunch of cool stuff) and muck dives along the mainland (where i got to practice my bouyancy control/hovering/breathing control while they were photographing the little critters and got to see another bunch of cool small stuff). Throughout the week i went from lasting about 35 minutes on a tank of air to 70 minutes on the last dive, albeit a muck dive with lots of stationary time on the bottom next to my friend while he was taking pics of little things. I need about 8kg of weight (i weigh about 105kg/230lbs) with a 3mm wetsuit. We tried removing some weight (at 5m with a nearly empty tank, BCD fully deflated while kneeling on the bottom) but i started to float up immediately. That said, i have no problems hovering at/around 5m for the 3 minute safety stops. The water was a lovely 26-28 degrees celcius but visibilty was apparently not that great for the area (about 10-15m out at Bunaken and 5-8m along the mainland) due to recent bad weather. All in all it was a great trip and i'm already planning to go again. I'm also planning on getting my own BDC, regulator and dive comp. I've already got the fins, mask, wetsuit and booties before this trip. I looks like i'm hooked and there will be much spending on diving in the future.
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Feb 24, 2013 06:24
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Bishop posted:but they also have the boats and resources to get you anywhere. "Cattle boats" which have a dozen or more divers on them suck. Incorrectus, depends how they operate! When I go dive I can always hide away from the divers.. I dont care how many people are on boat just go where I want to go..
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Feb 25, 2013 04:53
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Back from my first experience diving. A bit panicky at the beginning when I didn't realize just how hard I had to blow to get one of my ears to equalize, but then it popped and all was good (saw a giant clam 3-4 feet across :O ) ...but no one told me about the cottonmouth 
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Feb 25, 2013 05:40
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Dry air does the cottonmouth thing.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:42
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Practice equalizing pressure when you're not diving too. It's gotten to the point where I don't need to use my hands at all, and can equalize just by blowing out. This pretty much leads me to constantly equalize as I descend, as I just breathe out my nose here and there. It also doubles as a mask equalizer too.
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Feb 25, 2013 06:03
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Trivia posted:It's gotten to the point where I don't need to use my hands at all, and can equalize just by blowing out. I never realized how difficult this is for many people. What do they do when they get a cold or something that messes with their sinuses and ears? Just deal with it? I learned a pretty early age that I hated that weird feeling in my ears and quickly figured out how to get rid of it.
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Feb 25, 2013 06:29
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paperwind posted:I never realized how difficult this is for many people. What do they do when they get a cold or something that messes with their sinuses and ears? Just deal with it? I learned a pretty early age that I hated that weird feeling in my ears and quickly figured out how to get rid of it. I thought it was pretty standard practice to never dive with a cold? That's a really good way to get reverse block. As for me, I too have problems with my eustachian tubes and have to blow and make a swallowing motion at the same time to equalize. I hate all you people that can do it so nonchalantly. 
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Feb 25, 2013 06:51
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practice the ears, they will do your bidding! Then you can just hold them open
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Feb 25, 2013 07:29
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Mr.AARP posted:I thought it was pretty standard practice to never dive with a cold? That's a really good way to get reverse block. Sorry, I meant just having a cold in general. I figured out about the age of five or so how to clear my ears, so I just took it for granted that anyone could equalize since it came so naturally to me when I began diving.
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Feb 25, 2013 07:39
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I would rather be hacking on the bottom than miserable in my house... LOL
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Feb 25, 2013 08:10
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SlicerDicer posted:Dry air does the cottonmouth thing. Yeah, bring a bunch of water with you. I usually drink some before going in and after I surface. It really helps cut that down.
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Feb 25, 2013 14:35
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Drink enough all the time during the dives. Also as mentioned just before and after. Now you will have your second huge problem going to the toilet....
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Feb 25, 2013 16:01
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Orions Lord posted:Now you will have your second huge problem going to the toilet.... What problem? Actually now that I think of it some of you seem to be dry-suit divers which does complicate things a bit...
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Feb 25, 2013 20:05
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Is it time for peeing in your wetsuit chat again? That's my favorite topic! Seriously though hydrate the poo poo out of yourself, especialy if you are doing a big dive.Mr.AARP posted:I thought it was pretty standard practice to never dive with a cold? That's a really good way to get reverse block I haven't had one in a long time, but in my experience reverse blocks tend to happen when you are descending and ascending a lot during a dive, or doing mutiple dives in a day. The best way to handle it is to descend until it stops hurting, clear your ears, and start ascending SLOW. Unless you are in some sort of emergency or are deep enough that you are still ongassing, there's no such thing as ascending too slowly. Bishop fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 20:31
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Basically reverse blocks happen to instructors who have to work and bull their way through it. It's pretty regular to have a crying area when colds are running around because the behind the eye sinus area is so painful.
pupdive fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 21:47
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raffie posted:I didn't encounter any problems during the course although it took me about 10 minutes to figure out the mask clearing. The great part was that i was 1-to-1 with the instructor all the way and my friend had arranged for the manager of the dive centre to teach me as she was the best instructor there in his opinion. We spent half of the first day in the pool and then she spread out the open water skills training in 4 dives over the following 2 days so that i could have more time to work on breathing/bouyancy control, getting used to being underwater and to cover the necessary skills for the certification. She also incorporated some touring of the house reef during these dives. I'm not sure if this is normal but i found the whole experience to be enjoyable and well-paced. The feedback from the instructor and my friend who was doing his macro photography thing in the vicinity was that i'm did very well for a beginner and picked up things fast. I love it when students see the logic and progression in a course. That is how it is always taught, but many instructors don't paint the picture beforehand so students are never sure of the overall idea.
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Feb 25, 2013 21:49
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totalnewbie posted:Back from my first experience diving. Just to make it clear to any new divers. Blowing hard is not necessary, and can be easily do some harm, mostly because the side that is clearing OK is just getting beaten up when students to blow hard. The solution is ascend open up the closed side then re-do. And do it after full exhalation not after full inhalation. It's just equalizing pressure not putting a bunch of air in there.
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Feb 25, 2013 21:52
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Question: in mid-April I'm going to a destination wedding in Mexico at a resorty type place, Playa del Carmen. There's a cenote or two around within walking distance and I assume cool stuff like scuba diving. I don't have any certs at all. If I take a PADI online course how much time do you think it'd take before I can walk up to the tourist scuba outfit place and say "hey take me on a really simple dive?" Should I even worry about it and just snorkel? I'd like to learn scuba, my aunt's a very serious diver and it would be cool to eventually learn enough to go on simple dives with her. I'm in Chicago and a dive shop actually trains at the gym at my work, dunno their schedule yet though.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:35
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The online course will just get your bookwork and testing out of the way, so you'll still need to do the water work somewhere . Either go locally with your shop (which won't do everything in the gym pool, either) or get the coursework out of the way and then do your cert dives in Playa Del Carmen.
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Feb 26, 2013 00:29
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Definitely try to do your bookwork before you go on vacation. The last thing you want is homework when you're supposed to be relaxing (not that it isn't hard, just a little time consuming). I did my advanced in the Philippines and the desire to go out right after skills tests was pretty enormous.
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Feb 26, 2013 00:48
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Not an Anthem posted:I don't have any certs at all. If I take a PADI online course how much time do you think it'd take before I can walk up to the tourist scuba outfit place and say "hey take me on a really simple dive?" I did my first ever scuba dive with a 5 minute primer while I was putting on my wetsuit, given to me by a dude who spoke passable english. There were no incidents to speak of, and it was a really simple dive, that was fairly shallow as well. Generally, if you stay calm, you will be fine.
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Feb 26, 2013 01:02
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Frogmanv2 posted:I did my first ever scuba dive with a 5 minute primer while I was putting on my wetsuit, given to me by a dude who spoke passable english. There were no incidents to speak of, and it was a really simple dive, that was fairly shallow as well. Generally, if you stay calm, you will be fine. I don't mean any disrespect personally to you, but don't ever loving give this advice to anyone. Its wrong, and its dangerous. Plain and simple. I know how easy diving is, and if you just stick with a divemaster very shallow you probably won't get hurt. I also know very well firsthand how easy it is for someone to freak out, or something minor to go wrong, and for a simple dive to turn into a rescue. Do not dive in open water while uncertified for your safety. My advice is to do your e-learning at home, and do your pool training with your local dive shop in chicago. They'll do everything and sign you a piece of paper that you'll bring to a dive shop in playa del carmen and they'll have an instructor do your 4 open water dives. That will be the best way to maximize your vacation.
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Feb 26, 2013 02:47
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Crunkjuice posted:I don't mean any disrespect personally to you, but don't ever loving give this advice to anyone. Its wrong, and its dangerous. Plain and simple. I know how easy diving is, and if you just stick with a divemaster very shallow you probably won't get hurt. I also know very well firsthand how easy it is for someone to freak out, or something minor to go wrong, and for a simple dive to turn into a rescue. Hear hear. Dive training isn't so much about what to do when everything is fine, but more about what to do when it isn't.
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Feb 26, 2013 03:50
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Not an Anthem posted:Question: in mid-April I'm going to a destination wedding in Mexico at a resorty type place, Playa del Carmen. There's a cenote or two around within walking distance and I assume cool stuff like scuba diving. Bishop fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Feb 26, 2013 |
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Feb 26, 2013 04:14
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Bishop posted:I recently took a class while having a pretty bad cold and it worked out, I could still clear fine. If you can clear while sitting on your couuch pre-dive, you will be ok underwater in my experience. A lot of dive professionals I know will violate the rule of not taking decongestants pre-dive when they or teaching or DMing. I once saw a dude pop a second decongestant pill out at like 170ft and swallow it with a bit of saltwater. That's a bit on the crazy side though. As someone who's had to deal with basic run-of-the-mill rhinitis my entire life, I too have to break the no decongestants rule. In general, I'll take my daily over the counter pill in addition to a 12-hour Sudafed. This seems to work the best for me and actually eases the trouble of equalizing on the way down. DAN's advice pretty much told me that certain decongestants are fine as long as you've taken them with no problems, but not a cure for blocked up sinus colds.
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Feb 26, 2013 04:23
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Can anyone here recommend a good setup for ambient light underwater video recording? With a budget of say, 4k max for housing and camera. Im currently looking at the Canon HF G10. The big caveat is that its going to be used for shooting spearfishing video so no external lights, decent low light performance required.
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Feb 26, 2013 15:33
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Trivia posted:Definitely try to do your bookwork before you go on vacation. The last thing you want is homework when you're supposed to be relaxing (not that it isn't hard, just a little time consuming). hey cool where in the philippines? Most of my diving is done there. edit: btw awesome sipidan pictures. Great that you got tickets to be able to dive the area so many times. I hear a lot of divers complain about getting shafted in the lottery. Bangkero fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Feb 26, 2013 |
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Feb 26, 2013 15:40
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It was some package deal on Cebu. It was 60,000 yen (~$600) at the time for roundtrip tickets, hotel, and Adv. lessons. The diving itself was so-so, but the deal was so good I couldn't pass it up! We got lucky on the Sipadan dives mainly because we reserved 3 months in advance. I had heard about just how hard it was to get the permits, so we snatched up what we could as soon as possible. I don't ever recall there being a lottery, the only stipulation is that we had to do 2 days of local diving for every 1 at Sipadan. Considering just how fun the local diving was, I would hardly call it a bad deal. One a side note, guess where I'm going in a week! 
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Feb 27, 2013 02:30
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Frogmanv2 posted:I did my first ever scuba dive with a 5 minute primer while I was putting on my wetsuit, given to me by a dude who spoke passable english. There were no incidents to speak of, and it was a really simple dive, that was fairly shallow as well. Generally, if you stay calm, you will be fine. Counter to the others, I do reccomend this path I do intro dives regularly (as an instructor), and really it is about 20 minutes of explanation most of which is extraneous. Diving with an instructor as an intro diver is how many people do all their diving. It is for the experience, and gets you no rights to do more diving (unless you pay again, and listen to the brief again), but it is plenty worth it.
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Feb 27, 2013 04:37
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pupdive posted:Counter to the others, I do reccomend this path How do you in good faith recommend someone try an activity with potential lethal consequences without certification or training?
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Feb 27, 2013 05:24
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