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I wasn't taught this, but I've always tapped my wrist computer too. Seems to get the point across.
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Oct 8, 2013 17:09
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mishaq posted:Of course there's always variation in usage of hand signals, but from my training pinky up has meant "deco" usually in the context of asking your teammate to verify the dive plan and then begin deco procedures on a technical dive, not so much "how much deco time do you have left?" I've never seen or heard of it being used in a recreational context anywhere, is it common? There's also the "move up to the next level" sign, and the "hold" sign which you can follow with X minutes to indicate how long you need to hold at that depth. If water clarity is good enough you can still easily see everyone else so we normally just work our own schedules, even to the point to giving the "I'm done with deco" hand dusting sign, confirming how much deco the other person has left and leaving them on a line or with their surface marker and surfacing. In these situations the most important numbers team mates need to know are expected bottom time and total expected run time. DIR types would murder me for suggesting doing dives where people have different deco schedules but it happens all the time IRL. As has been said, you also can normally get away with tapping your computer and pointing at your dive buddy, or just looking at their gauges for yourself. Also a slate or wetnotes are always a handy thing to have if you can't get your point across with hand signals. In rec diving that last paragraph is probably the best thing to go off of because it keeps thing's simpler. Less room for confusion and things are rarely going to be as complicated as far as when/how you surface.
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Oct 8, 2013 23:12
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I've not on any actual deco but as BSAC have it as part of sports diver (on insanely aggressive tables) when we did simulation stops we'd kind of mimick the gas signal by tapping the computer and holding up how fingers for minutes. Judging by the thread that's organically emerged as pretty standard.
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Oct 9, 2013 07:30
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Holy Balls I just got back from vacation and had the chance to dive Roatan and Cozumel. I've enjoyed every dive so far because it was nice and relaxing and helped me clear my head but this was just mind blowing. Hearing the other divers on the boat talk about 100ft vis being a bit below average was Cozumel, and hear I was the other week being happy about 15ft in Freshwater. So Roatan was pretty nice got to see some tropical fish and some Grouper were pretty friendly nothing too out of the ordinary I suppose. There was a wreck that had been down there a couple of years, forgot to ask if it was intentionally sank there. We did not get the chance to explore it since the dive guide was pretty adamant about keeping us off of it. We ended up going through Anthony's Key Resort, there were about 20 people on the boat and they took us into 2 groups of 10. They did have 100 cu AL to rent so I ended up using those and got about 40 mins per dive. I talked to the guides and they were okay with letting me Safety Stop and Surface on my own so the rest of the group could continue on. Cozumel was everything I wanted it to be and more. The group I was traveling with on the Cruise ended up booking through Scuba Shack so there was only 7 of us on the boat. The people I dove with all had tons of experience and it showed, I had no practical experience with currents and ended up floundering around like a jackass and they were all hanging out at depth like it was no big deal. Both dives I only managed to get about 30 mins on each tank since I was working so hard to trying and get decent video and not get too far from the group. My favorite thing by far was the Turtle and the Barracuda, the group got to see a Nurse Shark but I had surfaced at that point and missed out. I am Glad I remembered to borrow someone's extra Sausage which came in quite handy on the 2nd dive. Again the guide on this trip was cool with me going up on my own. First dive I surfaced near a different groups Sausage/boat. The other groups Captain was kinda enough to let me hand on to side while he radioed and waited for my boat to come pluck my rear end out of the sea. On the 2nd dive, I gave the guide low on air and started up after he gave the OK. During my Safety stop I noticed a couple of things, first the current was ripping, and second there are boats going past (nearest was about 20 feet from what I saw). As soon as I surfaced I inflated that SMB and rested on my back and started to get my bearings. Good news, no boats near by, bad news, my boat was about 500 yards away. So I started kicking and keeping the SMB vertical and he saw me after 5 mins. So some things I learned; always have a SMB, use coral to block the current, the boat crew/Captain work hard, and lastly 100 AL + 24 lbs of lead is heavy. Also video I took of the Turtle I saw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VAUQfKJCWU
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Oct 9, 2013 09:35
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24 lbs??? Holy poo poo. I don't know how much you weigh, but that is 3x what I wear with a 3mil in saltwater. And yeah, Cozumel is crystal clear. The boat captain can basically watch you your whole dive if it's flat. I learned to dive there at 14 and got spoiled.
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Oct 9, 2013 17:49
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rockcity posted:24 lbs??? Holy poo poo. I don't know how much you weigh, but that is 3x what I wear with a 3mil in saltwater. The only diver who needed this much weights, out of over 500 that I had (mostly fairly fit young adults, so grain of salt there), was a fairly skinny woman... who had breast implants. Those motherfuckers float like crazy I guess.
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Oct 9, 2013 19:04
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eviljelly posted:The only diver who needed this much weights, out of over 500 that I had (mostly fairly fit young adults, so grain of salt there), was a fairly skinny woman... who had breast implants. Those motherfuckers float like crazy I guess. I did my OW cert with 30lbs in a 5mil suit in salt water 
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Oct 10, 2013 05:15
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I did a fun refresher dive a month ago in a five milli with about 6kgs. It was terrible! Couldn't neutralize buoyancy well, and wasted a poo poo ton of air. Next dive I halved it. I felt like I was floating on a cloud.
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Oct 10, 2013 05:54
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Really? 6 pounds in a 5m wetsuit? I'm properly weighted (i.e. nose at water line, etc.) with 18lbs in my new 7mm suit. Was it a really old 5mm suit?
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Oct 10, 2013 09:47
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Unimpressed posted:Really? 6 pounds in a 5m wetsuit? I'm properly weighted (i.e. nose at water line, etc.) with 18lbs in my new 7mm suit. Was it a really old 5mm suit? 6kg, more like 13ish lbs?
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Oct 10, 2013 10:22
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Bah, forgot to mention I was also using a steel tank. That's another 2kg right there (compared to aluminum ones).
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Oct 10, 2013 10:40
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Unimpressed posted:Really? 6 pounds in a 5m wetsuit? I'm properly weighted (i.e. nose at water line, etc.) with 18lbs in my new 7mm suit. Was it a really old 5mm suit? I can dive 6lb in a full 5mm in fresh water on an AL80 but i'm a skinny bastard. I usually end up floaty at the end too so now i just dive 8 lbs trimmed out and i'm fine. 4 for a full 3mm, nothing for neoprene shirt/dive shorts. My drysuit weight is 18 lbs i think? I'd have to check but it sounds right. Also, I've always been taught eyes at the water line for a proper weight check. 
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Oct 10, 2013 12:38
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Crunkjuice posted:I can dive 6lb in a full 5mm in fresh water on an AL80 but i'm a skinny bastard. I usually end up floaty at the end too so now i just dive 8 lbs trimmed out and i'm fine. 4 for a full 3mm, nothing for neoprene shirt/dive shorts. My drysuit weight is 18 lbs i think? I'd have to check but it sounds right. I guess I'm fatter than I think  or does 7 vs 5mm make such a big difference?
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Oct 10, 2013 23:31
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Unimpressed posted:I guess I'm fatter than I think Its not necessarily fat, but it is a contributing factor. People are just straight up built differently. I've seen two divemasters or relative same build/height/weight dive different amounts of weight. I however am in the very skinny/super low lead weight category so its much more likely I'm the outlier than you. Its not a big deal. VVV holy poo poo Crunkjuice fucked around with this message at 12:29 on Oct 11, 2013 |
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Oct 11, 2013 00:51
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I had to dive with 70 pounds and a steel 100 when I did my drysuit cert 
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Oct 11, 2013 03:47
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I'm 178cm and 80kg, by no means skinny, and I have a bit of a beer belly. No weights (with a steel tank).
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Oct 11, 2013 12:53
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Has anyone in this thread been to Utila, Honduras? My internet research today seems to tell me that the island's entire economy is based on scuba diving and divers coming there to stay. I am really interested in going down there semi-long term to finish my divemaster and instructor certifications, once I have enough logged dives (I don't log as much as I should). I figure a few weeks one summer would let me get it all done. Also, kinda related question--if all the cards I have gotten come from NAUI, would a PADI shop accept those for prerequisite completion?
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Oct 13, 2013 23:40
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:Also, kinda related question--if all the cards I have gotten come from NAUI, would a PADI shop accept those for prerequisite completion? They always have for me. My advanced cert is from NAUI, but all my other cards are PADI, and no instructor has ever given me trouble over it.
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Oct 14, 2013 00:01
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:Has anyone in this thread been to Utila, Honduras? My internet research today seems to tell me that the island's entire economy is based on scuba diving and divers coming there to stay. I am really interested in going down there semi-long term to finish my divemaster and instructor certifications, once I have enough logged dives (I don't log as much as I should). I figure a few weeks one summer would let me get it all done. The only time that would come into play is when you go professional. There's some funkiness there but recreational certs are accepted as prereqs everywhere
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Oct 14, 2013 01:44
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:Has anyone in this thread been to Utila, Honduras? My internet research today seems to tell me that the island's entire economy is based on scuba diving and divers coming there to stay. I am really interested in going down there semi-long term to finish my divemaster and instructor certifications, once I have enough logged dives (I don't log as much as I should). I figure a few weeks one summer would let me get it all done. You are correct, Utila is all about scuba diving; there is pretty much fuckall else to do there except drink a lot of booze, get bit by the sand fleas and deep sea fishing I guess (but if I am on a boat, my plan is to be diving). I did my OW with the Utila Dive Center there about 4 years ago and looking back on my experience I can offer the following information: UDC is most definitely a PADI dive mill so they are built for processing a LOT of students through their system. I stayed at the Mango Inn and remember them being in some sort of arrangement with the UDC where students of the UDC were able to get a special rate and an included breakfast plus a free van ride to the dive center in the morning. It did seem like there were a fair amount of transient backpacker types moving through central america who chose to stop in Utila and stay for a few months to move up the certification chain; so if that is similar to your plan there are probably worse places to act on it than Utila. That being said it is a Caribbean island so the hurricane season can really ruin your day(s). If you are planning to stay there for a longer term of 3-4 months you probably want and will be able to find an apartment or room for let in town once you got settled in. There is no real airport of which to speak on the island (it is just a paved air strip with a hut) so flights are pretty expensive to get there. I remember the cheapest option to get there was to fly into La Ceiba and take the once (or maybe twice?) daily ferry across, but if the weather looks dodgy I would stay off the ferry unless you have a super strong stomach. There is one guy who runs a 'ferry' from Roatan but I don't recommend Capt Vern and his catamaran. Since you said you are from NC I will add this: there are a fair number of US expats who reside on the island and it receives regular consular support visits from the embassy in Tegucigalpa. I would dive Utila again, but there really is nothing else to do there aside from the diving and it is kind of a pain to get to.
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Oct 14, 2013 03:40
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helpy posted:There is one guy who runs a 'ferry' from Roatan but I don't recommend Capt Vern and his catamaran. FYI, Capt. Vern was murdered last year by some "passengers" on his ferry. I wouldn't let this sway anyone from going to Utila, it just highlights the fact that stuff does go down in these less developed places even though they are very awesome in so many ways. It's always a good idea to keep your wits about you but especially so when you can't just call 911 for medical or criminal emergencies.
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Oct 14, 2013 04:39
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SuitcasePimp posted:FYI, Capt. Vern was murdered last year by some "passengers" on his ferry. I wouldn't let this sway anyone from going to Utila, it just highlights the fact that stuff does go down in these less developed places even though they are very awesome in so many ways. It's always a good idea to keep your wits about you but especially so when you can't just call 911 for medical or criminal emergencies. oh holy crap; I had no idea. sucks to hear that news right after badmouthing his boat service. RIP skipper.
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Oct 14, 2013 04:56
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Heading to Australia for the honeymoon and will be diving the great barrier reef. Curious if anyone has a company they'd recommend, we will be staying in port douglas. Also, I got a gopro + mask, but I was curious if there are any other accessories you veterans would suggest.
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Oct 14, 2013 07:44
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I dived the outer GBR on a Mike Ball live-aboard from Cairns (an hour drive from PD). If you only go on day trips you won't go out as far and the better diving is in the outer reef. As for equipment, we used 3mm wetsuits and they're only about 80 bucks here so you might want to get one instead of using their equipment. Mike Ball was amazing, if expensive. They do a 4 day tour and you either get on at Cairns and are flown back from Lizard Island or flown to Lizard Island and get off at Cairns. They fly you at low level so you can see the reef in detail from the air and have no problems with flying after diving. The service there is amazing and the sites are great. You can dive guided or on your own. It's basically 4 days of diving 4-5 times a day and eating/bumming around in between. They prepare all your stuff for you so you just do a dive briefing, put on the gear, dive, come back up, drop your gear and go do something until your next dive. Absolute heaven if you like diving, I can't recommend it enough. I haven't been on other live-aboards, but I'm sure Mike Ball aren't the only ones. I'd highly recommend going on one if you can afford it.
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Oct 14, 2013 07:57
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So, any suggestions for buying cheap dive gear in Germany? For warm water recreational diving. Near Heidelberg, if it makes any difference, but I'd imagine the choices and prices would be better online.
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Oct 14, 2013 13:31
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xxEightxx posted:Heading to Australia for the honeymoon and will be diving the great barrier reef. Curious if anyone has a company they'd recommend, we will be staying in port douglas. Also, I got a gopro + mask, but I was curious if there are any other accessories you veterans would suggest. Not familiar with diving there but I would recommend bringing a safety sausage to clip to your BCD. Also the red flip lens for you GoPro helps with getting the colors to pop while you are below 15 feet. If you just plan on holding your camera I highly recommend you tie it to yourself somehow so you don't lose it.
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Oct 14, 2013 20:43
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helpy posted:You are correct, Utila is all about scuba diving; there is pretty much fuckall else to do there except drink a lot of booze, get bit by the sand fleas and deep sea fishing I guess (but if I am on a boat, my plan is to be diving). I did my OW with the Utila Dive Center there about 4 years ago and looking back on my experience I can offer the following information: UDC is most definitely a PADI dive mill so they are built for processing a LOT of students through their system. I stayed at the Mango Inn and remember them being in some sort of arrangement with the UDC where students of the UDC were able to get a special rate and an included breakfast plus a free van ride to the dive center in the morning. Thank you for all the info. This was more than I expected to get! I don't think I'd stay longer than a month--maybe a week of fun dives and then the other three weeks doing divemaster/instructor and some more fun dives. Being there longer than that would be financially constraining, and I'm only off in the summer (day job is teaching) so at most, I could stay two months. I also don't want to get bored, with diving and drinking being the only things to do. I would have to save for quite awhile to do an entire summer there. However, I think going all the way to get certified as an instructor would be worth it, because me and my husband are going to be moving to Florida in the intermediate future. It would be fun to instruct or DM as a side job once we are permanently resettled.
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Oct 14, 2013 22:17
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:Thank you for all the info. This was more than I expected to get! 3 weeks is quite a short time to do a DM course alone, let alone an IDC (min maybe 10 days) on top especially if you're not already a very experienced diver. My DM internship took me just under a year! It's certainly doable, but won't give you the chance to build up the solid experience base that you need to be a really good DM. I've heard good things about Utila though.
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Oct 14, 2013 23:17
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As someone who would like to / has been thinking about getting my DM, does anyone have any recommendations? How is it usually done? All the information I have comes from guides / DMs that work in the Pacific region. I get varying accounts of costs / time investment, and I'm not really sure what to expect. In the end though this could turn out to be nothing more than a fevered dream.
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Oct 15, 2013 01:54
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xxEightxx posted:Heading to Australia for the honeymoon and will be diving the great barrier reef. Curious if anyone has a company they'd recommend, we will be staying in port douglas. Also, I got a gopro + mask, but I was curious if there are any other accessories you veterans would suggest. I went to Port Douglas last year for the Eclipse and did one dive as part of a tour. My recommendation is to do a full liveaboard on the outer gbr for as long as you can afford, the short and inner stuff just isn't as good. Queensland is very strict about safety, bring a doctor's note about any medical conditions you list anywhere when signing up, just in case. It's likely your liveaboard will provider all equipment, so unless you'd prefer to (also) use your own computer you should be fine (follow the liveaboard's packing directions of course). PM me if you want some above water recommendations for PD and surrounds, the tour I was on was really good in that respect.
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Oct 15, 2013 01:55
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Aquila posted:I went to Port Douglas last year for the Eclipse and did one dive as part of a tour. My recommendation is to do a full liveaboard on the outer gbr for as long as you can afford, the short and inner stuff just isn't as good. Queensland is very strict about safety, bring a doctor's note about any medical conditions you list anywhere when signing up, just in case. It's likely your liveaboard will provider all equipment, so unless you'd prefer to (also) use your own computer you should be fine (follow the liveaboard's packing directions of course). PM me if you want some above water recommendations for PD and surrounds, the tour I was on was really good in that respect. Sadly because we are moving around alot we only have 2 days to dive presuming a full 24 hour shoulder for airplane flights on both arrival and departure. Most of the live aboards have been 3 days minimum? iirc. We are both novice to say the least, diving has been my new wife's life long dream and we are just going through our certification now, so I'm sure it will be a thrill just to be doing it. Do you think I need a dr note in addition to padi certification? Is a dr note from the US sufficient or should I plan to pop in somewhere in Australia? Thank you all for the replies I really appreciate it.
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Oct 15, 2013 21:29
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xxEightxx posted:Do you think I need a dr note in addition to padi certification? Is a dr note from the US sufficient or should I plan to pop in somewhere in Australia? In my experience, unless you're going to tick yes to one of those "do you have X" questions, you don't need a DR's note.
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Oct 15, 2013 21:57
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Unimpressed posted:In my experience, unless you're going to tick yes to one of those "do you have X" questions, you don't need a DR's note. Yeah that's what I meant. If you do check diabetes/heart disease/etc then they may demand a doctor's note. If you don't check anything then they'll be ok (unless you lie to them, and have an incident, and they find out and and and). You may be able to find an overnight boat trip out of Cairns (they say "cans" try to get used to that now) or Port Douglas. I'd recommend avoiding the Agincourt Reef platform, that's where I went on a day trip and the reef was bleached without much life, dirty, and there were hoards of people. With some research you can probably do much better even with your time constraints. If you'd like I can try to look up the info of the local tour guide we had in PD, he was really great, scuba isn't his main thing but he told me can make that sort of thing happen. Really though, if it's the season try to make the Minke whale thing happen, that looks like the most amazing thing ever. As for being novices that's fine, I went and did a discover scuba dive because I only half finished my cert and it was super easy compared to coldwater diving in California. Two friends of mine that I did my cert with went at roughly the same time for their honeymoon and did a liveaboard out of Cairns and had no problems diving at all. I can ask them to comment or give more info if you'd like, or if you want any other Aus travel info, I have plenty, including birdwatching info if that's your thing. Today I went to my lds to buy a backup light and ended up with a BCD :3 I got a used Dive Right TransPac for $130, including tank bands and weight pockets. The harness is almost new, and the bladder looks worn but still fine. 24lbs of lead was surprisingly expensive. We spent like an hour getting trim weights onto the tank bands. My shop continued to be awesome when I found out they got some discounted hotel rooms in Catalina for students this month, diving is nice there but it's just so drat expensive to stay in the high season.
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Oct 16, 2013 01:24
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I've never been scuba diving. Two of my friends are certified divers and a few of us are going on vacation to Panama next week. I'm signed up to do a discover scuba thing for $70 1) Worth it? 2) Do I need to bring anything with me/know anything before I go? Residency Evil fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Oct 16, 2013 |
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Oct 16, 2013 01:46
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$70 is a pretty substantial chunk of the price to just get certified, I think. Still, if you're not sure if scuba diving is for you, it's probably worth it. They'll probably provide everything you need, but if you have your own mask/fins you might be more comfortable in that.
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Oct 16, 2013 03:26
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Residency Evil posted:I've never been scuba diving. Two of my friends are certified divers and a few of us are going on vacation to Panama next week. I'm signed up to do a discover scuba thing for $70 I think it's worth it, some people love scuba, some don't. They'll provide everything, if they're not going to they should tell you, but ask anyways. Usually when getting certified you need to buy your own mask, fins, booties, gloves, and hood (the last three depending on water temp), so doing discover scuba can save you on this stuff if you decide it's not for you.
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Oct 16, 2013 05:01
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Aquila posted:
I consider it lucky if I can walk out of my LDS without spending more than 100 per trip, so much fun and cool stuff I want. I swear they pump drugs through the AC or something, and of course they are starting a fall sale. Anyone have any good recommendations on a small dive light? Mainly looking for buddy signaling purposes.
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Oct 16, 2013 06:40
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Gindack posted:I consider it lucky if I can walk out of my LDS without spending more than 100 per trip, so much fun and cool stuff I want. I swear they pump drugs through the AC or something, and of course they are starting a fall sale. http://www.amazon.com/Dorcy-41-1467-Submersible-Anti-Corrosion-Flashlight/dp/B0023RSXSO I haven't dove with the scubaland instructors for a while, but this was a few of the tec instructors backup lights. Really good little light, and i used it as my primary for a while before i got something bigger. Great price too.
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Oct 16, 2013 12:37
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Hey Bishop, or any florida divers, you guys got any more info on the diver who is suspected to still be in the spiegel grove? http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/10/18/3696280/diver-missing-in-the-florida-keys.html
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Oct 18, 2013 22:38
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Woah... deaths on sites like the Spiegel always hit a little close to home. Let me poke around with some of my local sources about this, as far as where exactly they found the dude and what the details were. One thing I can say (not bragging I've just spent a shitload of time inside that thing) is I'm pretty sure I've been wherever inside the wreck that this took place. One thing that jumped out at me is that it was Scuba-Do dive charters, which is the same boat that had 3 divers die while penetrating it back in '07. (edit: I should note that this is just very bad luck on their part, they seem to run a solid operation) E: The best I've got so far is that they were on an engine room run. That's close to the most difficult penetration you can do on the ship. Shops are being tight lipped about it for obvious reasons. Things get a little tight as you get further and further in. I've had a hatch close on my head before (ow!). The easiest way to do this is where you enter on the port side then you head down a stair case or two and that's about as much detail as I'm gonna give. This is still in the preliminary local dive community/internet message board rumor stages so I can't tell you anything about their equipment setup beyond the fact that they were running a guideline. Someone had placed a semi-permanent line down in those parts but I haven't been in there since like June so I can't say if they were using that at any point or not. Bishop fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Oct 22, 2013 |
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Oct 19, 2013 04:11
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