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Charun posted:Hey, Just read the previous A/T thread. Work sends me to the Perth CBD every now and again. Is the diving pretty close to there, or is it a bit of a drive out of the city? I'll take a look at Dolphin Scuba though - their site can probably answer my questions.
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Feb 19, 2012 13:42
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Crunkjuice posted:gently caress snorkels. I only recently took mine off when I realised that whenever I used it I ended up drinking seawater. Hated ever using snorkels.
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Apr 3, 2012 03:57
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I've got no interest in tech diving, weird gas mixtures, insane depth, caving - any of that beyond amateur-hour scuba at less than 30 metres. But gently caress me if rebreather shots don't always look totally badass.
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Apr 10, 2012 02:28
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Finch! posted:The gas is no weirder than recreational nitrox and the units aren't designed to exceed the 40-ish metre recreational limit. I was only putting those things in the list to show the other sorts of non-newbie diving things that people can do. I'm strictly easy scuba, and have no desire to go any further. I've only got 30 dives under my belt in the 4 years or whatever it's been, and still don't own any gear much beyond mask and fins. Tempted to buy a computer and reg set, though, I must say.
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Apr 11, 2012 01:23
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In Australia every dive company I've gone out with won't let you dive without a computer and they all hire them out as part of the reg set. I've only got the basic fins/masks/snorkel but am considering buying a computer and regs. So I've got 30+ dives under my belt with still just the basic snorkelling gear. I only go out 5 times a year or something so I'm just not that motivated to spend much on equipment.
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Jun 5, 2012 02:01
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Bishop posted:Peeing in wetsuit chat is my favorite diving chat. Just pee in your wetsuit. Warms you up on a cold dive. Feels good man. Only got 30 dives under my belt but I've yet to do it even once. My dives last about 40-50 minutes each and I've just never needed to pee when I'm down there.
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Aug 29, 2012 04:45
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I've got 30 dives under SSI, but I'm only up to Advanced Open Water. It all seems fine, although we did very little on buoyancy and nothing on alternate finning techniques. Mind you, finning stuff might be covered in the specialist wreck penetration training and stuff like that?
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Sep 4, 2012 01:15
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legsarerequired posted:If I decide to get certified, I plan on diving maybe one or two times per year, maybe less or more on some years. I definitely wouldn't mind owning my own mask, wetsuit, and flippers, but I don't know if I want to spend $1000+ on the more complicated equipment if I don't dive more often. I've been certified AOW for a few years now and still only own mask and fins, essentially (I also have boots, gloves and a knife, but they aren't that important depending on how/where you dive.) I only dive maybe 4 times per year so haven't bothered going any further with gear. One of these days I might go for a wetsuit and a computer, but that's about it.
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Nov 25, 2012 05:12
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Pug Smugly posted:Just got off a two night/three day live abord on the great barrier reef. Room is rolling like nothing else right now. Did padi open water and adventure certifications at the same time. Had so much fun, I'll throw up some pics when I get them of my dive buddies drop box. next on my to do list dive the H.M.A.S Brisbane when I move back home in a few months. As an odd coincidence, I did my AOW as a liveaboard on the GBR a few years back and dived on the HMAS Brisbane just last Saturday. Went out for 2 dives, but forgot to take my seasickness pills before leaving and I couldn't bring myself to go for the 2nd one, being too busy vomiting on an empty stomach. It wasn't rough, and the boat trip out is very short. I'm just a lightweight and an idiot. I also got a bit of a headache come on as I was surfacing, so maybe I came up too fast? Anyway, the Brisbane is a great site for your first wreck dive. I think it qualifies as more of a "swim through" than a wreck as it's very safe and open, but it's great. Lots of lion fish and some relative of the stone fish. Didn't see any of the octopus that hang out there though. 
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Dec 12, 2012 03:53
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macado posted:Found a couple old bottles while scallop diving this Sunday. As a bottle collector living in a place with a shallow history and only diving protected sites, I am extremely jealous.
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Jan 16, 2013 00:18
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MA-Horus posted:I will never dive without a computer again. Makes it SO much easier. Every dive I've ever had here in Queensland they have said it's illegal to dive without a computer. That is, they won't let you dive without one - I've no idea if it's actually enshrined in law. I'd be surprised if anyone here remembers how to read a dive table (but for all I know it's only me.)
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Feb 2, 2013 01:43
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Bishop posted:Huh. So if I showed up for a dive I knew the depth of and had a mechanical depth guage (try finding one of those pawn stars), I could not dive? I'm guessing bottom timers (simple computers that just show depth, time, and a few other things) are OK? All I can tell you is that every time they've given a dive briefing they have said "you can only dive if you have a computer". Like I said, I don't know if this is a law or just a choice by each of the shops I've gone out with. I've had a rental computer fail on me almost immediately once but the air gauge was fine and I just used my buddy's computer to track what we were doing. We're talking no-deco shallower-than-25 metres here, nothing crazy. Gromit fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Feb 2, 2013 |
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Feb 2, 2013 07:36
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Jeza posted:I am writing a short piece of fiction under the constraints that it must contain something about which I know nothing playing a prominent role. I'm curious, and don't want to come off sounding like a turd. If you have to write about something you don't know anything about, how is the result any different whether you are totally familiar with it, or you interview experts and get all the details from them? I'm wondering if whomever set you this task wants to see what you write "blind", or if they are just testing your interview skills? I'd enjoy more reading a story by someone with no idea just to see what a layman thinks diving is about and how it works, personally. But yeah, I'm not trying to be an rear end. I'm honestly just curious to know what the learning angle on this assignment is.
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Feb 21, 2013 10:22
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Jeza posted:What does writing 'blind' help with? Well, an important skill for a writer is to sound like they know what they are talking about even when they don't - especially with regards to something like speculative fiction, sci-fi or even stuff like historical fiction. To write this kind of thing confidently, you have to know how to spend your time in order to research effectively and not look like a total idiot. But you aren't writing about something you know nothing about if you heavily research it and then write, that's all. At that point you know lots about it. But I'm not here to derail. Like I said, I didn't ask in order to sound like an rear end - I was just curious to know more about why you were doing it. And you've answered that. Thanks.
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Feb 22, 2013 03:17
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Why not? I call them fins, as it's easier to say, but if someone says flippers I know what they are talking about, and you know it too. The word is an accepted synonym for fins, isn't it? I mean, I've heard lots of divers correct people when they use "flipper" but is it only because it sounds childish?
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May 5, 2013 11:59
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xxEightxx posted:Not sure if you can get to the GBR from Brisbane. I did my AOW on a liveaboard on the GBR off Townsville, but that's probably about as far south as I'd go and still consider it the GBR. You might still catch it at Bundaberg or Rockhampton, but I'm not sure. However, most of my diving is out of Brisbane in Moreton Bay and near Moreton Island. The reef there is actually pretty darn good, and there are plenty of wrecks to do a drift along just nearby.
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Jan 14, 2014 05:08
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I bought a blunt-tipped titanium dive knife that straps to my leg. I know that a smaller set of wire cutters or shears or whatever they are called that fit in a BCD pocket make more sense, but it's something I've always wanted and makes me feel like 70s James Bond when I'm strapping it on.
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Oct 13, 2015 01:30
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Bishop posted:im going to sigh as a draw my katana before slicing through moon jellyfish on my next drift deco If you're not freediving with that katana then you're doing it wrong.
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Oct 25, 2015 04:47
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pupdive posted:People learn to be good divers most easily by never being allowed to be bad divers in their open water courses. I dread teaching people who did not take my OW courses because the first thing I have to do is teach them a bunch off basic OW skills properly all over again, and I am fighting to remove ingrained bad behavior instead teaching them new fun stuff. You would hate every second with me. I don't dive very often (haven't been in 2 years) and on neither my OW or AOW did I learn a single thing about buoyancy or kicking. Like, not a single instruction whatsoever was given to me. I think I'm okay with my air consumption, but you'd probably want a blood-pressure monitor whenever you watched my technique to make sure you didn't blow a vein in your head.
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Dec 7, 2015 05:12
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Red_Fred posted:Has anyone done a liveaboard from Cairns or Port Douglas? Recommendations? I did my AOW with CDC on a 3-day live-aboard on the GBR. It was a long time ago so I don't have any useful tips, but it all went well enough. Their website gives you details on what they offer and where they go.
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Nov 20, 2016 03:54
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Last week I went with a friend and his family to dive on the cuttlefish spawning in Whyalla, South Australia. The place is a 4 or 5 hour drive out of Adelaide, and is pretty much a steel mill town that makes tourist dollars out of the yearly winter-time spawn. We did 2 dives on the site, the first of which I did as scuba (which I haven't done in 5 years) and the second just snorkelling. The others only snorkelled as none of them had a scuba licence. Given that the cuttles stay in less than 5 metres of water, and mostly in less than 2, I really only put the tanks on because I hadn't done it in so long. My dive buddy (I paid extra to have the hire shop woman come out with me as it had been so long since I last dived) took us out to where it was about 5 metres deep and there was nothing there so we went shallow. It's great diving when the whole thing is one long safety stop. I went through 50 bar of air in an hour! The water was pretty cold, but I only felt it in my fingers and toes after 40 minutes or so. Undersuit, 5mm wetsuit and hood was all it needed, but I'm used to diving around Queensland which is 3mm territory, if not just a rashy. But enough waffle from a guy with only 30-odd dives under his belt - let's get to the photos. The place was swarming with cuttlefish. At one point I counted how many I could see and it was over 50. Usually you saw a dozen or more wherever you looked. These photos are far from professional, made using a tiny point-and-shoot in what was essentially a plastic bag with a velcro seal.           [imgur album link] My mate didn't used any zoom, so any cuttles up close to the camera were simply that close. Most of them were about a foot long, but there were plenty the size of a dog. Gromit fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Jul 7, 2017 |
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Jul 7, 2017 09:38
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Squashy Nipples posted:Holy poo poo, amazing pics! I love cuttle fish, so this place is definitely going on my list. Some of the curious ones would swim up to your hand, but most of them would just leisurely cruise out of your way as you came through. I held my hand out and one swam over it and just hovered there. I could have hoiked him out of the water if I was some sort of weirdo.  e:I forgot to mention that you can fly into Whyalla - you don't have to drive like we did. We just needed a hire car out of Adelaide for other stuff. Gromit fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jul 8, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 00:21
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Before we went in I was wondering how long my friends would tough it out in the cold. We're talking middle-aged mum and dad and early teens daughter. Next thing you know we've been in an hour and finally decide to get out and warm up. Blue skies both days we went, which helped a lot. Get dry and soak up some sun makes a huge difference, even if the air temp isn't that high. They are there just to make out, so you see a lot of creepy face-grabbing but we didn't see them hunting. Lots of colour-changing of course, and some texture as well which is always awesome to watch. Gromit fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Jul 8, 2017 |
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Jul 8, 2017 04:28
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They are there from May to August. During my 2 hours in the water in total I saw only 2 or 3 egg sacs stuck to rocks, so presumably the females lay a lot more as the months progress. Then again, for all I know they are just better at hiding them than I am at finding them. Here's the entry point (Stony Point - I think there are a couple of others but this one is the easiest). They have set up a nice little area with some seating and cuttlefish info signs, and you can walk down to the water along a boardwalk and then use the chain and concrete pylons to steady yourself and help with your gear as you cover the wet rocks. It's about as user friendly as you could get without turning it into some sort of over-engineered tourist trap.  As we were getting ready to leave on the last day we saw a couple of pods of dolphins swim past, leaping out of the water as they went. Would have been cool if we'd had that happen while we were in the water, but then we probably wouldn't have noticed them. Gromit fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Jul 9, 2017 |
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Jul 9, 2017 02:29
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mobby_6kl posted:Had my orientation for PADI open water course yesterday. There's a decent amount of homework study and since the class will be mostly on work days, scheduling the group was a pain in the rear end because some rear end in a top hat has every evening booked a month in advance. Still, looks like a lot of fun and would give me some cool opportunities when traveling. I've been licensed for about 10 years now and only done 40 or 50 dives, and I don't own any more than fins, mask & snorkel, boots and gloves. I would stick with just those until you get a feel for how much you'll do it. The friend I learned with has bought all the gear but he has dived thousands of times. I've never felt I needed anything more, and if I decide to dive while I'm overseas I'll just hire everything for the extra few bucks anyway and save me lugging that stuff about. Obviously this would be different if I went on a specific dive holiday, but it isn't that big a part of my life.
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Feb 15, 2018 00:50
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