Diving

Bad_azz

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Considering the amount of people here who partake of this activity , I am surprised there is no thread for it...
I have been diving just the once- and it was an amazing, hilarious, traumatic and never to be forgotten experience.
Anyway divers tell us your diving tales and share your ideas of what are the best sites etc.
 
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I would like to start by saying I am very happy that I was (PADI) certified 'back home' at the time. And that, after seeing what they do with newbies in the Red Sea, Caribbean and Asia, is what I would advice anyone who plans to take up scuba diving. Or at least make sure you join a professional organization with a good rep.

There is a lot of chaff in the wheat in those touristic resorts where you get certified in a record time in ideal and very easy circumstances. Also, they don't really question anything; if someone took his/her last dive 10 years ago, you need a 'refresher'. And people are allowed to dive after just a morning session in a pool?! It can be hilareous etc. but can easily become traumatic [sic] if something happens.
 
Considering the amount of people here who partake of this activity , I am surprised there is no thread for it...
I have been diving just the once- and it was an amazing, hilarious, traumatic and never to be forgotten experience.
Anyway divers tell us your diving tales and share your ideas of what are the best sites etc.

Maybe add snorkeling to it also being related and all. Then again, someone could just start a thread on it and others add to it.
 
Maybe add snorkeling to it also being related and all. Then again, someone could just start a thread on it and others add to it.

Fair point. I did consider putting that in the title- I didn't know if it was apt to put the two together though -sorry. If the mods want to change it fine with me. :)
 
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I would like to start by saying I am very happy that I was (PADI) certified 'back home' at the time. And that, after seeing what they do with newbies in the Red Sea, Caribbean and Asia, is what I would advice anyone who plans to take up scuba diving. Or at least make sure you join a professional organization with a good rep.

There is a lot of chaff in the wheat in those touristic resorts where you get certified in a record time in ideal and very easy circumstances.
Also, they don't really question anything; if someone took his/her last dive 10 years ago, you need a 'refresher'. And people are allowed to dive after just a morning session in a pool?! It can be hilareous etc. but can easily become traumatic [sic] if something happens.
Here! Here!
I am PADI, TDI and SDI instructor and have spent countless hours for my diving education since the age of... well... I don't remember! But I was young.
Over the years I have been appalled at what a "diving course" may look in South East Asia when taught by "instructors" with only basic knowledge. Very sad and pretty dangerous imho if the diver may be placed in a difficult situation. I don't teach anymore (anyway I was teaching mainly tech diving, meaning to already experienced divers, and tried to stay away from the PADI business as much as possible) but feel pretty sad when I see divers who clearly do not have the level and skills they should have to really enjoy it.

I don't do any more deep dives with gas mix or anything technical, just enjoying recreational diving in what is certainly one of the most beautiful area to dive: northern Sulawesi. Save for my 8 years old daughter, the whole family are divers and it's just a matter of age for the last one to get graduated. Anyway, considering how at ease she is in the water element it shouldn't be long for her to get the virus.
 
I did my Open Water certification in Bali. It went pretty well for me, I was very happy.

I did witness another student losing it completely with a panic attack and leaving the course though. I guess he just wasn't ready.

ps: good thread idea!
 
I think the term diving is more general, not only for scuba diving but shall also cover snorkelling, skin diving and free diving.

Four of us are certified PADI recue diver.
we love recreational scuba diving as well as other outdoor activities such as trekking. So far not interested with technical diving.
Myself was initially certified by CMAS / POSSI in 2003, daughters and wife followed later with PADI Open Water
My daughters were certified when they were 11 and 10 years. Both were junior competitive swimmers. So very comfy with water.
From my personal experience and having seen daughters and wife certification process, I have to say that CMAS program is more comprehensive than PADI.
My instructor was the instructor of Indonesian Navy frogman. very tough and discipline. He test everybody for 200 m swimming and 15 minutes floating to allow us to join his class.
His program include 6 x 3 hours pools session - and before each pool session always started with 400 m swimming with fins. The objective was to make everybody comfortable in the water.
I remember that 2 of my class mates had to repeat on his next class (at no cost).
For me - he is the best instructor I have seen so far anywhere.
I do not see the similar situation on my daughters and wife. The quality of instructors are not on the same par. Daughters got reasonably good instructor, but my wife get very bad instructor in Tulamben Bali; he just trying to complete the session ASAP, and get another students. The result was very poor. I was not happy with her capability after certified. Later, she joined specialities class in Bunaken with two fish diver with Tina (the owner) as instructor and I highly recommend her ( not sure if she still train OW now)
 
Participation in a dive club offers many advantages for the newbies. I also had instructors who were almost sadists. A lot of physical endurance and swimming. One navy guy really liked to pull off masks and take out regulators and shut off air supply. Now obviously that results in automatisms to make the arm movement to find the hose or take second regulator, clear the mask, etc. And that is the way it should be. And it is one of the the concerns with many of these 'hey let's get our Open Water while being on vacation' programs; they do no focus on automatisms since there is no time and no 'need'.
 
I had to tip backwards off a rubber dinghy in the sea, I kid you not! I had visions of me sliding elegantly feet first- oh no no no nooooo... I wasn't allowed to do that- backwards I tell ya!
 
There are multiple ways to enter the water. The most common methods from a boat are; or you take a big 'step' forward or you 'drop' backwards when sitting. All these methods require you to hold your mask. The first is more convenient since you're upright in the water immediately, but the chance is you will hit the boat with the tank/bottle/cylinder if you don't step far enough. It's also not so good for shallow water or if there is a lot of movement. And the equipment is rather heavy making it difficult for some people to stand up. That's why the people on the boat often prefer the backroll.
 
There are multiple ways to enter the water. The most common methods from a boat are; or you take a big 'step' forward or you 'drop' backwards when sitting. All these methods require you to hold your mask. The first is more convenient since you're upright in the water immediately, but the chance is you will hit the boat with the tank/bottle/cylinder if you don't step far enough. It's also not so good for shallow water or if there is a lot of movement. And the equipment is rather heavy making it difficult for some people to stand up. That's why the people on the boat often prefer the backroll.
But, you see - I had never intended to actually go diving in the first place... I smoke, I am not exactly a strong swimmer and I hate my head being underwater...
& I have this friend who figured it would be a fun idea to give it a whirl & who was I to stand in her way?
So I found myself signed up and signed on.
We spent most of the day in this deep pool doing all the training- I spent a lot of that time on my head looking at the sun shining thru my flippers...
Then they started adding lead weights- a lot of them. Anyway- I won't bore you with the details but I ended up outside the harbour walls on a dinghy.
& we were split into 2 groups - the instructor with group one said - "okay my group , listen up..." So of course I was in group 2 and completly ignred her and sat watching twinkling waves and such ... & then I saw them tip backwards out of the boat & I thought to myself "Thank feck I ain't in that group!!!"

THEN- my heart dropped at the words out of our instructors gob: " Ok guys you heard what she said...Let's go!"
Me : "huh???!!!"
 
I'd best add that I had a near nervous breakdown at those words - but I got balls... so I figured find your calm place baddie, find your calm place...
so I sat there doing some chill-out breathing etc... but our instructor kept popping up out of the water calling me to get my ass in... "come on you'll have a blast!"
So I had to keep pulling this big lumpy thing out of my gob to respond to him- "give me a minute- I am trying to find my calm place"
By the 5th time he popped up - just as I was almost psyched up... I ended up yelling at him "I'm trying to findmyfuckingcalmplace !!!!"
Anyway- over I went- and it was kinda fun.
I clung to the anchor rope as instructed flapping my flippers a lil bit to stop the current taking me under the boat.........
and something grabbed my ankle- that was it- back in the boat. Finished !! Enough.

Turned out it was my mate that grabbed my ankle- apparently my flippers were smacking her in the head.
Would love to go do it all over again- best laugh I ever had in my life.
 
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This is a system they have in Hawaii (I'm not sure about Indonesia, I never visit those waterfront companies). I did it with some non diving family members. It is rather cool in fact, it is a bit a combo of snorkeling and scuba. So you're connected by a hose to a floating air tank.

600


Pretty safe and gives people a good idea...also you walk slowly into the water from the beach so you would not get that initial anxiety. But still a good laugh since you go 'en groupe'. Esp. if someone (as with us) does not empty the regulator first but starts breathing right away so they inhale salt water. Great start, throwing up over the others.
 
BA, I wish I saw you that moment with my camera

and here, another snorkelling fun session in Tulamben
my camera was not fast enough to catch the moment when tulamben surf brought him down to the pebble beach


tulamben_1.jpg


tulamben_2.jpg



tulamben_3.jpg




tulamben_4.jpg



I'm ready now ....
 
I saw that kind of system after my debacle (it was being pioneered in the Red Sea as far as I remember ) & I remember vividly thinking "oh, how civilised".
 
Wisu- he has a float on...??
Something I deffo do not need - especially up front & centre hahaha
 
I've only done a little snorkeling in Belize. Fun, but I'm not in shape for it whatsoever.
 
I did a lot of snorkling around Guam and that area of the Marianas Islands, Rota and Tinian. Lots of WWII artifacts can be seen snorkling but would need diving gear to actually do much exploring. As a side note, there is a lot of WWII artifacts on the ground too that you can get close to and as far as Rota is concerned, venture into the jungle and you may well trip over something not seen for 60 to 70 years. The water and land could still hold WWII munitions but they had a large scale removal from planes and ships under water in the 70s and 80s so the water wrecks are pretty safe from getting yourself blown up.

Most time spent in the water was around home on Guam. The North, West, and South had some amazing reef areas. The spiny starfish was getting to parts of them but it wasn't too bad. The bad was some of the currents. Reefs can shred you if you get pushed over them depending on the tides. Jagged corral is not your friend. The underwater wildlife is spectacular. Eels, clown fish, amebas, assorted tropical fish, big parrot fish, lion fish, stone fish, a big assortment of shelled creatures, clams, and more. Squid were a common sight morning and evening when scooling and were not hard to catch for a beach snack. Then there were the Nurse sharks who marked the limit you want to adventure over the reef. They never bothered anyone but beyond them, the reef went down and out of sight.

The East side of the Island didn't get much for Snorkling and very little diving. There was no reef and basically, you started at the top of the Marianas Trench so it just went down, down, down. Great for surfing though. There were a few very hidden caves where one could snorkle and from time to time come across nice lobster but if you were not a long time resident with local friends, you would never find the caves.
 
The diving is one of the things that interests me in Indonesia, and probably how I got here, hope to get there one day to dive(where's the scuba smiley:bowl:)



I'm going through my padi dive master right now, I currently live in a small town in the US called Lauderdale by the Sea, one of the few places in the states you can shore dive, so I can put on my equipment and go a couple blocks and kick out to the reef where it starts around the end of the pier, the end of the first reef is about two and a half-three pier lengths out, the reef rises up to about 6-7' then drops to 25-30', there are markers so the bigger ships don't hit the reef(there's a wreck from 1900 called The SS Copenhegan up North,) the ledge is a wall of coral and rocks. We take some epic swims sometimes staying out for 2-3 hours(steel 120). Also have good wreck diving and deep reefs from Jupiter to Key West, then about an hour North we have our own muck diving place called Blue Heron Bridge.

I do a bit of photography/gopro, I enjoy catching lobsters and light pole spear fishing, I mostly spear the invasive lionfish and eat them, though I'm not tech I've been down to 177', my first love was always sharks since a kid but I found now I actually love the coral itself. I love my reef but somewhere I hear the South Pacific calling my name.
 

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