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jackyl posted:Just got back a bit ago from a three tank dive in key largo, including our first spiegal grove dive. That wreck owns. Similar thing happened to me with a big tarpon. It's awesome seeing a fish that large actively hunting instead of just lazing around.
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Nov 26, 2014 03:39
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jackyl posted:Just got back a bit ago from a three tank dive in key largo, including our first spiegal grove dive. That wreck owns. Hey, this sounds interesting! Care to tell us more, such as air mixes, bottom time, decompression table, etc?
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Nov 26, 2014 09:17
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jackyl posted:That's cool, it would have been amazing to see it sideways. But right side up... The thing is massive and I get why they say you can dive it 10 times and it's a new experience each time. Yeah! I would give a lot to have seen the reaction of the first person to dive the wreck after the hurricane. "WTF" doesn't even begin to cover it.
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Dec 2, 2014 18:06
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Had (yet another) fantastic trip to Maui this fall, and it rated as a particularly good year for us for fish diversity and size--they all seemed really big! Also it was another good turtle year, now that we have figured out how to spot them while snorkling. My wife, who is disabled (but still fortunately able to float!), has been feeling more concerned that she is keeping me from enjoying all the experiences we otherwise might do but don't because she is unable. She made me promise that next year when we return I will go off and do some bigger things on my own while she is resting in the hotel room. Soooo, I am considering getting SCUBA certified this year. I live in Calgary, and its typical that the open water dive portion of certification take place in and around Lake Minnewanka, in Banff National Park--directly fed by glaciers. I have noticed the divers wear drysuits for these sorts of activities, but still, brrr. Is it possible to do the coursework etc. here but do the test dives in warmer waters, or am I being an enormous baby and should just get everything done here? Has anyone done dives around Lake Minnewanka/Two Jacks? Are there actually things to enjoy and see in high mountain fresh water diving?
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Dec 3, 2014 20:35
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Bilirubin posted:Had (yet another) fantastic trip to Maui this fall, and it rated as a particularly good year for us for fish diversity and size--they all seemed really big! Also it was another good turtle year, now that we have figured out how to spot them while snorkling. You can do the course work where you live and then do the dives somewhere else. In my experience it was a little more expensive to do so. Is there a reason she doesn't want to learn to SCUBA? You don't mention her disability, but I would expect that if you can snorkel, then you could also do SCUBA.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:58
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asur posted:You can do the course work where you live and then do the dives somewhere else. In my experience it was a little more expensive to do so. Is there a reason she doesn't want to learn to SCUBA? You don't mention her disability, but I would expect that if you can snorkel, then you could also do SCUBA. Yeah without getting into the specifics of her disability (which is metabolically based) SCUBA isn't an option. She can float. She can get into her fins and mask with support, so snorkeling is fine. She cannot however stand long enough to put on SCUBA gear, let alone walk through the sand to the water or whatever under the weight of the gear, put the gear on, etc. Just not an option for her.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:17
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Bilirubin posted:Yeah without getting into the specifics of her disability (which is metabolically based) SCUBA isn't an option. She can float. She can get into her fins and mask with support, so snorkeling is fine. She cannot however stand long enough to put on SCUBA gear, let alone walk through the sand to the water or whatever under the weight of the gear, put the gear on, etc. Just not an option for her. You'd probably be limited to diving from a boat (which is pretty common anyway), but it isn't an issue to put on all the gear in the water. I definitely think that if the only obstacle is that she can't stand in gear then that can be worked around as I've seen a paraplegic dive. Your situation may be different, but if she's actually interested I'd reccomend talking to the people at your local dive shop.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:59
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asur posted:You'd probably be limited to diving from a boat (which is pretty common anyway), but it isn't an issue to put on all the gear in the water. I definitely think that if the only obstacle is that she can't stand in gear then that can be worked around as I've seen a paraplegic dive. Your situation may be different, but if she's actually interested I'd reccomend talking to the people at your local dive shop. It isn't the only obstacle. Physical activity period is the obstacle. Getting into a boat is often an obstacle. Walking to the dock. Getting into a chair. Breathing. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but its not an option and she isn't actually interested herself anyway.
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Dec 3, 2014 23:47
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Off to Bali in mid-December for 5 days of diving with my GUE instructor who runs the trips and i just found out that my Fundies buddy is also coming along. The rest of the group will be non-GUE folk but i'm looking forward to the chance brush up on the GUE stuff and drills with my buddy and instructor. Plus much alcohol will be consumed.
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Dec 4, 2014 07:07
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I'm thinking about doing some Rig dives in a a week and a half, but am not sure if I'm ready for them. I'm just going to call my DI and ask her opinion, but wanted to talk about diving so I posted this.
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Dec 5, 2014 07:26
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Bilirubin posted:Is it possible to do the coursework etc. here but do the test dives in warmer waters, I did this through padi, and thoroughly recommend it. I did all the class work before I left on holidays, then spent a day in their pool learning skills. By the time me and my dive partner were ready to go into the ocean, the other group were getting into the pool. I knew it was a good move when I heard the dive instructor assigned to us brag that he got the good group. It got us full days diving more than people who didn't do the work beforehand.
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Dec 5, 2014 08:41
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So one of my local shops is looking at doing a trip to various springs around central FL (Ginnie Springs, Blue Grotto, Vortex Springs, and one other that I forget). We'll do a dive near West Palm beach too, to cap off the entire trip before driving back to NC. We went to Ginnie Springs last year and The Ballroom there was pretty loving cool, especially going in at night and burying my light for a few seconds.
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Dec 7, 2014 18:25
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Heading to the Galapagos on Thursday for a 7-day liveaboard trip! Spending most of the time at the coveted Darwin and Wolf sites, so expecting it to be pretty amazing. Really hoping for a whale shark or two even though it's the tail end of the season for them. Got very lucky with some Minke whales in the GBR in July, so hopefully that luck carries through. Regardless, will have some good pics/videos when I get back on New Year's (going to the jungle and some other stuff too).
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Dec 8, 2014 20:36
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Has anyone seen one of these in the wild? The Suunto EON Steel: http://www.suunto.com/en-US/Dive-Collections/suunto-eon-steel/ Seems neat.
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Dec 11, 2014 17:29
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They demoed one of those at the dive club meeting last month. I liked it until I heard they were going to be around $1700  It felt solid and the screen was really neat. The owner of the dive shop mentioned they kept getting delayed. Wonder if that's because of manufacturing or a software issue.
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Dec 11, 2014 19:47
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Yeah, they sell it for 1k euros here. I wonder what kind of advantages does it have when you compare it with a Galileo Sol, if any... The screen does seem better, which is nice, but it seems fragile.
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Dec 11, 2014 20:14
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Any reason to not get certified in Cuba under ACUC?
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Dec 27, 2014 10:58
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I keep almost-losing my GoPro when I go diving. Does anyone have a good solution for securing a small camera to your body? I've thought about connecting it to my BC with a D-Ring + a strap, but I'd be worried about the strap potentially breaking.
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Dec 30, 2014 00:23
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I did a carabiner clip with a loop of 550 cord (aka paracord) around the mounting base of the Gopro and never had any issue. 550 cord is tough as all hell and doesn't break down too easily.
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Dec 30, 2014 01:45
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QuarkJets posted:I keep almost-losing my GoPro when I go diving. Does anyone have a good solution for securing a small camera to your body? I've thought about connecting it to my BC with a D-Ring + a strap, but I'd be worried about the strap potentially breaking. I've been toying with the idea of taking a GoPro and mounting it to a Goodman handle, then tying a bolt snap to the Goodman handle. Then I can clip it off to a D-Ring when it is not in use. Not sure if it will work or not, but I had been pondering this same question, and this is what I had come up with. After a quick Google search, it appears a few someones have got this idea already: http://www.dirdirect.com/GoPro-Hero2-Video-Lighting-System.html
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Dec 30, 2014 07:02
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I've got a Dacor reg with primary and alternate air hoses that I'm looking to part with. Serviced last February, and it didn't get in the water for like 10 years before this summer (hand-me-down from my brother who stopped diving). Anybody interested in it?
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Dec 30, 2014 18:08
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Just got back from a three-week trip to Ecuador, one week of which was spent diving in the Galapagos from the liveaboard Galapagos Sky. We did 17 dives over the course of 7 days, and it was just amazing. We saw
Here are a couple of videos (we have hundreds to still working on them, might post some more if I find some good ones) Sea lion: http://youtu.be/0bfUPkYAEX4 Whale shark: http://youtu.be/E4kWjzOvko4 Whale shark: http://youtu.be/HVoZJP4nudo Sunfish: http://youtu.be/rPSHnGuLuxc Sunfish: http://youtu.be/eKq1IKISoEg We also saw some amazing stuff in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (caimans, giant anaconda, poison dart frogs, etc.: 
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Jan 2, 2015 18:06
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Cippalippus posted:Has anyone seen one of these in the wild? The Suunto EON Steel: http://www.suunto.com/en-US/Dive-Collections/suunto-eon-steel/ The divemaster I went out with was using a shop demo on the dive. Said it was pretty and flashy but didn't really do anything a much cheaper watch would do just as well.
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Jan 2, 2015 18:18
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Oakland Martini posted:Just got back from a three-week trip to Ecuador, one week of which was spent diving in the Galapagos from the liveaboard Galapagos Sky. We did 17 dives over the course of 7 days, and it was just amazing. We saw Well, I think I've found my next vacation. How much did everything cost you?
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Jan 3, 2015 20:49
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Trivia posted:Well, I think I've found my next vacation. Eh, you probably don't want to know, lol. The cruise itself was about 6k per person, inclusive of airfare from the mainland to the Galapagos. The Cuyabeno portion was 500 per person for 4 nights (super good deal although it's quite rustic -- no electricity). We spent a few nights in Quito and a few in Banos (can't get the accent on my phone), too. Including airfare from Toronto it was probably 9k per person (usd). Totally worth it though. The Geo2 which you recommended worked great, by the way!
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Jan 3, 2015 22:33
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drat that's a good chunk of change! And here I thought a trip to Truk Lagoon would be expensive. I rarely regret spending the money to travel and dive though (and by rarely I mean so far, never). Glad the computer is working out.
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Jan 4, 2015 03:31
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May be going to Okinawa at the end of March; anyone have any recommendations?
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Jan 18, 2015 11:34
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Trivia posted:May be going to Okinawa at the end of March; anyone have any recommendations? I don't know myself, but a really nice instructor I know in Perth did a dive publicity feature on Okinawa for their tourist board or something - she reckoned it was great. Can ask her more details if you're keen to know more about specific site recommendations. Vid is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPgBq45eN4w Dive thread is quiet in the US winter - the water's really warming up here, I did my first no wetsuit dive of the year this morning and promptly blew my ear fixing a students weight belt at like 1 metre. Not cool!
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Jan 18, 2015 13:02
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It'd be great to know which sites / areas to try to hit while I'm there (maybe 3 days of diving at most). I know some places offer whale shark dives that are almost a sure-thing, but what I'd really like to see are the hammerheads, though I think I'll be juuuuuust out of season for those.
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Jan 18, 2015 16:19
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Going back to Ginnie Springs, along with Vortex Springs, Blue Grotto, and one or two other springs in FL in the second week of March. Going to be a good trip with our newest local dive shop 
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Jan 19, 2015 04:16
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Before I moved to Ontario I did a lot of dry suit diving off the west coast. Just went diving for the first time in the tropics this last week in cozumel, roatan, and grand cayman. Very different and awesome. Here is a video of the highlights of all my dives. http://youtu.be/YhIJbttIcqk Mandibular Fiasco posted:I've been toying with the idea of taking a GoPro and mounting it to a Goodman handle, then tying a bolt snap to the Goodman handle. Then I can clip it off to a D-Ring when it is not in use. Not sure if it will work or not, but I had been pondering this same question, and this is what I had come up with. After a quick Google search, it appears a few someones have got this idea already: http://www.dirdirect.com/GoPro-Hero2-Video-Lighting-System.html I use a bicycle handle bar mount. You can securely attach it to a D ring on your BCD or a zip cord/clip and when you want to use it it feels great in your hand around your finger. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 17:53 on Jan 19, 2015 |
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Jan 19, 2015 17:49
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Going with my diving club to the Y-40, the world's deepest swimming pool in little more than a month. It goes down to 40m and is filled with hot thermal water. Will try a few fancy Aqualung gadgets there! http://www.y-40.com/en/content/8-discover-y-40
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Jan 20, 2015 12:35
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Sometimes here in miami during winter when a cold front comes through the water temps dip into the 60's. Its really terrible.
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Jan 22, 2015 16:27
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About to take a trip to Grand Bahama island - it looks like almost unanimously UNEXSO is the best dive shop in the area, but does anyone know of any good sites to try to dive at? It looks like they have dolphin dives and shark dives, both of which seem incredibly awesome - anyone do any of these or have any other suggestions?
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Jan 26, 2015 13:29
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It was mentioned above that you can do your classroom training and pool training at home, then get your actual dive certification elsewhere. I live in Michigan of all places so I'd need to do the open water part sometime during the summer or spring. I was kind of thinking about going somewhere in the Caribbean or South America to hang out for a week just to take time off. Is getting your final open water certification like that recommended? If I do it like three months after my pool training will I have forgotten too much to qualify for everything? How much of my time (minimum) would it take up in days? And lastly, are there any places down south of the US border anyone can recommend as particularly sweet diving for someone going for their first dip? I'd probably want to go for a little over a week, but if diving's going to take up three days of that no matter what I do I might reconsider, given that it'd be my first go at it.
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Jan 28, 2015 02:44
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Brian Fellows posted:It was mentioned above that you can do your classroom training and pool training at home, then get your actual dive certification elsewhere.
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Jan 28, 2015 04:57
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Granted this was seven or eight years ago, but I did my PADI OW cert dives in Barbados on a trip with a bunch of friends that are longtime divers. Covered it in two days (4 dives). We talked to the dive op down there well before the trip and they set it up so I'd be on the boat with my friends, first day was a shallow water instructional/skills dive alone with the dive instructor, then a second dive with the rest of the group (closely supervised). Second day I essentially just dove with the rest of the group. Certainly recommend heading somewhere in the Caribbean vs. doing it in a cold, boring lake or quarry. Would do your classroom/pool stuff closer to the trip than three months though, so you're still confident with all of it.
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Jan 28, 2015 17:59
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I dunno, there's something to be said about getting your cert dives in a lake/quarry with poo poo visibility. If you can stay comfortable and composed in cold 6ft vis water, you can dive anywhere.
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Jan 28, 2015 19:52
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Squirrelo posted:I dunno, there's something to be said about getting your cert dives in a lake/quarry with poo poo visibility. If you can stay comfortable and composed in cold 6ft vis water, you can dive anywhere. Not just that, its such a waste to go somewhere beautiful and have to focus on learning to dive instead of enjoying it.
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Jan 28, 2015 21:23
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Not just that, its such a waste to go somewhere beautiful and have to focus on learning to dive instead of enjoying it.
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Jan 28, 2015 22:31
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