[Jeremy0322]

You know those little blue ovals that people get around their name for stuff like moderators, rb supporter, of TOTM winner. IMO there should be one for people that are scuba certified. Scuba people are awesome if you ask me...

[Jeremy0322]

I guess no one else thinks that would be a sweet idea. Thats cool i guess

[pyromaniac398]

I think its a cool idea but it doesn't have much to do with reef building... but I agree with you scuba people rock.. I start my certification training in a month im so excited

[Jason L]

I agree dive every week here!

[Jeremy0322]

I am jealous. I live in PA so diving is a huge ordeal that involves a plane and a hotel and renting gear and all that crap. I am soo switching colleges. UNCW is like 5 minutes from the beach so i have heard. I am all kinda of alright with that,

[poochi487]

scuba is the best!!!

[stephaniesquires]

Hey - great idea - besides scuba has a lot to do with building reef aquariums, we've explored reefs and study the natural world and then recreate it in our homes!! (Ever been chased by a nasty looking wolf fish off the Washington Coast?? )
I haven't been in awhile - used to dive (off Laguna Beach) everyweekend. Really miss going, better dig out that equipment and take a refresher...

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by poochi487

scuba is the best!!!

You're in my general are - where do you dive?? I used to be a regular at Laguna Sea Sports in Laguna Beach.. climb down the stairs (boy there were a lot of stairs) and walk right into the cove, it was great....

[msbdiving]

Lobster season. Try the "stairs" off PV.

[capitalb]

I've been diving for a few years now in New Jersey! It's awesome! I've been diving this wreck off Sandy Hook that sank in 1827 full of cargo.I was also on Deep Sea Detectives,on an episode called Train Wreck.Twin locomotives from 1854 off Long Branch.Here are some pics of some things we found.
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...8/DSCN2580.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...8/DSCN2992.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...8/DSCN2991.jpg

There are just as many cups as bowls. Can't wait to go diving again

[e_baer]

I will be getting certified in the summer with a friend of mine

Jeremy- somewhere in PA there is a quary where they will certify you for SCUBA.

Here is a question...without looking it up anyone know what SCUBA stands for? (if you are not certified!)

[blu23girl]

Originally Posted by poochi487

scuba is the best!!!

Agreed! SCUBA diving rocks! Living in AK i havent braved the waters here, but i hear its nice... I used to go all the time when i lived in Tampa, and i frequented the Keys often! ah... how i miss the WARM weather!!

[msbdiving]

Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Nice find Bob. Almost sounded like some of the Dirk Pitt finds. Maybe I'll be lucky some day. Most of the wrecks that I dove on were to pull up sunken boats at the lake as a lifeguard. Those were kinda fun, the body recoveries, however, were not.

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by msbdiving

Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. Nice find Bob. Almost sounded like some of the Dirk Pitt finds. Maybe I'll be lucky some day. Most of the wrecks that I dove on were to pull up sunken boats at the lake as a lifeguard. Those were kinda fun, the body recoveries, however, were not.

Dirk Pitt - another Clive Cussler fan??? Love those books!!!

[Ganrin]

What kind of basic swimming/fitness level do you need to even start scuba training?

[capitalb]

You don't have to be a good swimmer at all, but fitness helps! You don't want to have a heart attack at 100 ft. below the surface and you need to be able to carry your gear. My gear bag weighs about 100 lbs. and tanks are probably 40lbs each. Diving is the coolest thing in the world. Just to be able to see things that most people never see. It's a great adventure! Good luck and keep me posted.

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by Ganrin

What kind of basic swimming/fitness level do you need to even start scuba training?

Surprisingly surface swimming and scuba 'swimming' are really different. In your scuba classes they should teach you proper 'kicking' with fins. It's more of a bike riding leg motion than kicking. It's really important to have a good comfort level in the water. The more stress you have the more air you're going to use.

[mothergoose]

Steph is right. no fun having to surface earlier than others all because you hyperventilate.

[Ganrin]

Thats nice, Im a pretty decent swimmer and very comfortable both underwater and at the surface, but my current fitness level would be problematic, but fitness can be improved

[Dr. Clyde]

I used dive up here in Alaska all the time when I was in my twenties but now just when I go on vacation somewhere warm.

[Jeremy0322]

The Quarry that Elliott is talking about may be called Nelsons Ledges. If that is the one than I sadly know it very well, that is where we took our final qualification dive. Let me paint a nice picture of this for all the divers out there. It is a spring fed hole, about 50 feet deep at the deepest point, and the water that day was 51 degrees in the warm parts. There was 3 feet visibility because of all the mud in the water, and in the middle is an old Volkswagen bug that makes all compasses completely useless. The instructor said it was good thought because if you could dive in that than you can dive in almost anything.

As for the fitness question, to get certified we had to be able to tread water for 20 minutes and swim 20 laps in an Olympic swimming pool without stopping unless we were treading, but if you can get down the kicking techniques and learn the floating and sinking capabilities of the vest diving in extremely relaxing.

[Blackjack2359]

All of you that live near the ocean are very lucky. My wife and I live in Colorado, so we are limited to where we can go scuba diving. We are both Advanced scuba divers and I am getting close to being a Master Diver. Ever since we started scuba diving, we got hooked. We will be going on a trip to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin next February to do some serious diving.

[boombadan]

I am a certified scuba diver I have not yet been diving in the tropics. One time I went off the coast of South Caralina but it was a wreck dive and nowhere near a reef. I live in Massachusetts but the waters up heres a bit chilly for me! I'll just have to dream about that cruise to the carribian untill the leaves grow back on the money tree