Diving

[piterr]

Hi all.
Is someone here who dived? or diving? I'm a diver from CMAS, (**) and i wanna to do DiveMaster in PADI. Diving is very beautifull sport, and it's awesome :d

 

[chroniclyfaded]

i am advanced naui scuba, and ex commcerial. its fun. wheres your favorite place to dive?

faded.

 

[piterr]

hi
thanks for reply. I usually dive in Poland, in lakes, but I was twice in Croatia(Istria). It's beautifull place to diving
In this year i'm gonna to buy a dry suit and dive in baltic wrecks!
peace, bro!

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi Guys,
I'm not a current diver due to health issues, but have dove alot in the past. It would be great to hear from divers describing where they like to go.

I learned to dive while living in san Diego so my early diving is Pacific ocean ranging from some dives off the Mexican coastal islands off TJ to La Jolla. Dove Catalina Island and several other boat trips.

Later I moved to Florida and dove both in the fresh water springs and caves around White Springs and down south to the Keys where I dove Largo (Pennecamp) and Looe Key in the middle keys and a few dives areound Key West. I also took a seaplane out to the Tortugas and snorkled in the moats surrounding the old fort out there,

I loved being underwater and took every opportunity to do so.

Piterr,
Thanks for starting the thread. I was surprised that there wasn't one earlier. So wreck diving in the Baltics! That sounds exciting. It's cold enough that you need a dry suit? I've dove in some fairly cold winter water...oh say 55 degrees. That's with a full 1/4" wet suit with spine pad, hood, booties and gloves. It was a little rush when that cold water first hits your crotch...but once everything warmed up...I was good to go. Bet the Baltic is colder and if you're going deep, then even colder yet. Sounds exciting.

I dove some wrecks off of Pensicola Fl and also near Panama City there are some wrecks. They're sanitized and there's no real sense of adventure since they are all stripped down Navy vessels that were intentionally sunk to form an artificial reef...home for fish. It was still very fun to dive the wrecks because of the fish and being down near 100 feet and having to use a light was different diving then what I usually did then. Still quite fun.

I also have dove several lakes. Lake Havasu along the Ariz/California line. Weird because it was a man made lake and there are stands of trees on the bottom.

And lakes up in Minnesota. Murky bad visibility with nothing to see. Just did that one because I lived there and that was the only water.

Tell us more about your dives. The Croatian dives were in the Mediteranean? Warm enough for coral reefs? Sharks?

Oh, I snorkled in the Sea of Cortez while on a sailboat trip. That was wonderful and we always bagged some fish.
Peace,
ET

Addendum: CF, just noticed that you are ex-commercial diver. My best dive bud was on the San Diego Port District dive team. Did some construction supervision, mooring repair, and salvage and destruction of abandoned sunk vessels. Challenging and interesting work...though off days when no diving...he sometimes had to drive around San Diego Bay in a small barge picking up water trash. Even that doesn't sound so bad. So what's your experience?

 

[chroniclyfaded]

hey bro.
working in the industry is okay. decent pay, good benifits, but depending on where your working, you might work 18 hrs if your doing salvage. most divers work in the gulf of mexico on the oil rigs. and make around 17hr, for 12 hrs aday, an work for about 30-90 days straight then take a few months off. you get paid even if you dont work. as long as your on the ship/barge.
i am currently trying to get on my local carpenters union, and do diving locally, but i dont see that happening. i had a kid right after i finished dive school. and being away from my family for 3 months just wasnt cutting it for me. plus they UA like a motherfucker. and i love weed. so for now im out the dive game. but a rec dive is always rad. i love diving in wreckage up in Wa state. its cold you need a drysuit. but its rad.
i want to go to belize and go dive. thats where i wanna be.

faded.

 

[EvilTwin]

Hi Faded,
Sounds like most dive jobs are kinda like commercial fishing. High pay but long hours and away from home alot. For single guys or older married guys that need a break from the wife...lol

I remember an ortho patient I met in the course of doing my work. He was a commercial diver age around 40 and he was in for his second total hip replacement. Swimming with huge fins if tough on the hips.

And you always hear people say that you shouldn't work in an area of your recreational passions. Turns sour. Like few airline pilots really appreciate the joy of flying like they did when they first learned.

I'll bet cold water wreck diving would be fun. I still dream of diving again and certainly I could do some snorkling. I like mucking about looking at small creatures. I enjoyed shooting macro shots and underwater photography in general when i dove. I'd sometimes spend an entire dive on a very small area. For solo diving only since it really drives partners mad.

I've read Belize diving is wonderful. Second only to the Great barrier reef if memory serves (in terms of size). The offshore islands of Belize sound like paradise...as long as you don't mind sand that is.

The Looe Key diving I mentioned was unique. The key isn't really a key so much...not a real island. Just a row of parallel walls that are exposed at low tide. Right on the ledge of a major drop-off that goes down into the gulf stream. When diving it, you experience swimming through two walls with each having a unique flavor and wildlife. You get to the end of one and turn around and go back through the next corridor. It's pretty shallow so is best during calm times. Once while diving there I swam through a school of barracuda and later saw a huge manta ray dropping off into the gulf stream. Best diving in the keys in my opinion.

It's so nice to think about all this. It's below zero outside right now. Rough winter and I'd rather be in the Keys for sure!
Peace,
ET

 

[piterr]

It's cold enough that you need a dry suit?

actually yes. The water is about 4Celsius so it's very cold. but wrecks are amazing and so beutifull so i'll try to buy some dry suit to dive!

@EvilTwin:You are lucky, that you could dive in springs in Florida. To be honest it's my dream and i hope so i could dive there in future. but it's only dream....
peace!

 

[EvilTwin]

actually yes. The water is about 4Celsius so it's very cold. but wrecks are amazing and so beutifull so i'll try to buy some dry suit to dive!

@EvilTwin:You are lucky, that you could dive in springs in Florida. To be honest it's my dream and i hope so i could dive there in future. but it's only dream....
peace!

Hi Piterr,
Many of the springs outlet into caves so it's not safe to dive unless you are a certified Cave Diver and carry the right equipment and follow the proper procedures. Some of the caves have been blocked off. Technically to differentiate between a cave and a cavern is...can you see light from the surface while you're down there.

I've never gotten Cave certified so i only dove the open springs and caverns. There's a river right in the middle of cave country in NE Florida called the Itcheetucknee River. It's crystal clear since almost all the water comes from springs. People use inner tubes to float down the river. Ar a wet suit will keep you warm for the while lengtht of the river. Takes about 2 hours.

At Ginnie Springs near the Itchitucknee are three large caverns each one lower then the previous and staggered a bit. There's a permanent safety cable and it's the closest thing to cave diving you can get without actually doing it. Because the water has little food in it...animals are scarce and unusual. Blind eels and catfish...turtles, and if you're near the ocean, you'll often spot some Manattee in certain parts of Florida.

The Keys are great diving but the springs are one of those little surprises that many people don't partake of.
ET

 

[armedoldhippy]

some beautiful springs around Tampa, in a park there. most are gated due to people not coming back out, however. have snorkled, never scuba'd. looks cool, though. AOH