Ask us about SCUBA (and other forms of) diving!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask us about SCUBA (and other forms of) diving!

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

My wife and I will start the open water certification next week. We won't be doing the actual open water for a few more weeks. Is a dive computer something we should get for that or can we wait until we do our first dive?

Also, how is this for a "beginner" computer?

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/MRSPWC.html?&&

We have masks, boots, fins, and snorkels. What else is a "must get" before our first dive?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 17:53

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 16:23

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

Isn't it a huge pain in the rear end not having a computer though? I'm just now reading through the class books and it seems like it would be a hassle having to plan dives manually. Even if only diving once a year.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 19:05

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

I thought there was classroom element to PADI nitrox? My understanding is the diving itself is pretty much the same as with regular air but you need to learn new tables.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2012 16:05

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

Anyone have first hand experience diving in the Dominican Republic? We went to Cozumel last year and we want to try a new place. Obviously we're not expecting Cozumel levels of enjoyment but I hope there is more than sand and the occasional wreck.

We're probably going to stay in Punta Cana.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2013 21:00

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

DarkHorse posted:

I was in Punta Cana this year and took the lazy route of booking a trip through on-resort scuba shop since diving wasn't the focus of the trip.

They said there's not very great diving on that side of the island. Instead we took an hour-long bus ride across the island to the Caribbean side, then a half-hour or so boat ride to a wall reef. It went down at least 60 feet before leveling off, and probably went deeper, though we had lots of newbies in the group and they didn't want to push it. There was another feature a half-hour boat ride away called the pool that had shallower diving with fewer reef features, but a decent concentration of fish.

All in all it was definitely some decent diving. Nothing mindblowing by Caribbean standards, but that's still a great trip. The only downside is all the transit time, meaning you can only fit a few dives in a day before you have to pack up and get back.

I took some pictures with my parents' underwater camera, I'll see if I can get a hold of them.

Cool, thanks for the info. This is in-line with the research I've done as well. We'll have to decide if this is a decent trade-off for visiting a new island. DR is attractive because it's still pretty cheap. We were thinking about Bonaire but it's too expensive for what we want. We might just end up going back to Cozumel since the diving was so fantastic.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2013 15:37

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

Hashtag Banterzone posted:

I dove off of Saona near La Romana and it was really nice. I think Saona/Catalina are supposed to have some of the best diving in the DR. Plus they are pretty close to Punta Cana.

Thanks for the info. Actually we decided to change direction. I'm booking Roatan today. Anyone been to Coco View? Two boat dives per day and unlimited shore diving!

# ¿ Aug 1, 2013 13:38

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

Just got back from a week in Roatan. We stayed at CocoView resort which I highly recommend if someone is after a dive heavy vacation. Diving was pretty great overall, though we had limited vis due to storms. Did a shark dive with Caribbean Reef sharks which was pretty neat.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 17:58

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

jackyl posted:

We're going to be there in May. There's a dolphin dive too, right? Did you do that?

e: Haven't decided where to stay yet, although we've heard really good things about Anthony's Key.

I heard bad things about Anthony's Key while we where there but it depends on what you're looking for. Anthony's is a pretty busy resort and caters to a bit different crowd than CocoView. CocoView is strictly a diver resort and caters to divers with things like full 'concierge' service for your gear, etc. The dolphin dive I believe is at Anthony's Key; we chose the shark dive instead. If you're considering CocoView I can answer any questions you may have. We are probably going to go back unless we can't resist the temptation of going somewhere new next year.

Kaddish fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Dec 23, 2013

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 23:50

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 16:23

Kaddish: Feb 7, 2002

jackyl posted:

What did you hear about Anthony's if you don't mind sharing? Or anything about any other ones?

I just started looking at the CocoView reviews on TripAdvisor so no real questions, but it does look like a cool resort! And we are probably going to do multiple dives a day almost every day we're there, although we may take a day off and go exploring, since that's something we enjoy doing usually.

Just that it's more of a people mover type place. They do some cruise ship business but I think they have a special place close to the cruise ship dock for that, I'm not entirely sure. It's one of the oldest resorts on the island, I believe only one other is as old and they are currently in the process of rebuilding. If diving is your focus I honestly don't see how any place could be better than cocoview. Plus at CocoView you can meet 'Doc'. He's been on the island since 1972 and gives two lectures a week. Very interesting guy.

# ¿ Dec 24, 2013 15:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask us about SCUBA (and other forms of) diving!