THE official DIVE thread! SCUBA-DIVERS unite!

[GoatLocker]

I certified in Guam back in 88 and was there for 5 years. Great diving and lots of places nearby. Was stationed in Hawaii for 3 years and had a great time diving there. I also take my gear with me when I deploy, so I've logged dives in the Philipines, Thailand, Bali, UAE, Jordan, Acapulco and Cozumel as well as several Islands in Micronesia.

Originally Posted by WildBlueSooner

I am going to Guam for 4 months starting in October and plan on getting certified and doing a lot of diving there. I have heard it is some of the best diving in the world...I am really excited about it for sure. Any advice or specific things I need to check out, diving related, please PM. Thanks in advance

My best advise is to certify as soon as you get there. Get yourself a good set of dive booties, gloves, fins, mask & snorkel right away and rent the rest until you decide to spend the cash on a full set of gear. There are too many great dive sites to list. I like clear blue water, so I did a lot of dives off Orote Pt and NAVFAC. There are plenty of good dives in Apra Harbor, though the visibility can be low. Double Reef, Taguison Beach and Gun Beach are really nice blue water dives. Once you are comfortable under water, try night diving. It's awesome...

Originally Posted by ade06

West Coast Lobsters are wack! Where are the claws!!! Lol

Originally Posted by shilala

I got certified in 2007. If I could be in the water right now, I would be.
I love it.
I grew up on a lake and did a lot of snorkeling growing up.

Nice!

Originally Posted by PeteSB75

I don't know where exactly in Aruba we went. Was in/around an old wreck right off the resort beach area, maybe 5-10 minute boat ride from our hotel.

I was actually thinking about taking the course online, maybe doing the pool work locally, and just doing the open water dives the next time we are on an island near some good dive sites. There's a couple of Padi shops near where I live, but, tbh, I don't really want my diving to be in Long Island Sound...

I didn't even know you could do it online....the pool work & open water dives are part of the Certification so I'm not sure how they manage certifying you or even partially certifying you without pool/open water dives paired with the instruction...and when you go to that island paradise and want to dive, you'd need to either do a Resort Course at a resort (for a nominal fee & they rent you the gear & have a set, rather shallow (about 20 feet), area that you swim around to get your whistle whet), or pay to get certified while there. You can't just rent gear and go to any site on your own because shops won't rent to you without a C-card. I don't blame you about LI divin'!

Originally Posted by WildBlueSooner

I am going to Guam for 4 months starting in October and plan on getting certified and doing a lot of diving there. I have heard it is some of the best diving in the world...I am really excited about it for sure. Any advice or specific things I need to check out, diving related, please PM. Thanks in advance

Do it, do it! From what GoatLocker says, it sounds great!

Originally Posted by foomanto

haven't been diving seance 1996 got certified when i was Okinawa and did most of my diving over there. also been in the Philippines and Thailand and a couple of places in the states

there are good spots all over Okinawa you wont be disappointed if you get stationed there

Sweet!

Originally Posted by GoatLocker

I certified in Guam back in 88 and was there for 5 years. Great diving and lots of places nearby. Was stationed in Hawaii for 3 years and had a great time diving there. I also take my gear with me when I deploy, so I've logged dives in the Philipines, Thailand, Bali, UAE, Jordan, Acapulco and Cozumel as well as several Islands in Micronesia......Once you are comfortable under water, try night diving. It's awesome...

Awesome....you've been to some amazing spots! In and around L.A., I've dived Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, Catalina Island, Malibu and Newport Beach. Then outside of L.A....Kauai, Hawaii, Maui, British Virgin Islands, Cozumel, Aruba, Belize and Mykonos.

And night dives are awesome....I've only done night dives in Redondo Beach & Catalina Island.

[PeteSB75]

Originally Posted by mrreindeer

I didn't even know you could do it online....the pool work & open water dives are part of the Certification so I'm not sure how they manage certifying you or even partially certifying you without pool/open water dives paired with the instruction...and when you go to that island paradise and want to dive, you'd need to either do a Resort Course at a resort (for a nominal fee & they rent you the gear & have a set, rather shallow (about 20 feet), area that you swim around to get your whistle whet), or pay to get certified while there. You can't just rent gear and go to any site on your own because shops won't rent to you without a C-card. I don't blame you about LI divin'!

I checked their site and there's a Padi shop about 10-15 minutes from my apt, so I'll probably just pop in there to ask about it, and look at gear. Not in any rush right now, as it will likely be next summer at the earliest before I am looking at actually doing the certification.