Hi from Baltimore!

[Ritzcat]

Hey guys! Excited to finally join the community! I've been reading forums on here for a while and never really felt the need to join in until recently!

I decided to quit my job and follow my dreams of being a professional diver! I've been diving since I was 11 years old after receiving my Jr. Cert through SSI. I'm currently half a class away from securing my Diver Master!

Now that I actually own and maintain my own equipment and am diving head first into this -.... see what I did there... I figured this would be a great way to meet dive buddies and become a better diver.

I'm located in Baltimore now, but I'm not a fan of our local diving scene. Ideally I'd like to move to Florida or California and get my masters in something that can be used with diving!

My short term goal is to become an AOW instructor, but this is just the beginning of my dive career journey!

Nice to meet ya!!

 

[drrich2]

Welcome aboard. Scuba Board can be a good way to network, and it's great for researching destinations and exploring gear choices. You mention Florida and California as places you've got an interest in; I liked both, but they're quite different. I did some research on the forum & elsewhere to plan out a California live-aboard trip last month; in case it may be helpful,

My Notes For Researching My California Dive Trip - My Notes for Researching My California Dive Trip

Florida diving is highly varied; even if we 'write off' the gulf coast of Florida to narrow it down to the southeastern coast of Florida, you've got a variety (and that's just of salt water diving, not inland springs and caves) from Jupiter (trip report), West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale/Pompano, the upper Florida Keys (trip report from Key Largo) on down to Key West.

I'm not sure how much difference it makes that central & southern North Carolina diving is geographically closer (if it's beyond your driving willingness, how much time & cost difference on a plane vs. Florida), but there is some sweet wreck & shark diving there (trip report).

Richard.

 

[thatmark]

Greetings from a fellow Baltimorean! Sorry I didn't see this on Friday, I'd have invited you to join a group of us at Hyde's yesterday.

Hope to meet you in the water sometime soon!

Mark

 

[Ritzcat]

Greetings from a fellow Baltimorean! Sorry I didn't see this on Friday, I'd have invited you to join a group of us at Hyde's yesterday.

Hope to meet you in the water sometime soon!

Mark

I'll be at Hyde's this upcoming weekend. Do not tell me how cold and miserable it was ... I was bored out of my mind at Dutch last month. I am not looking forward to it....

 

[Ritzcat]

Welcome aboard. Scuba Board can be a good way to network, and it's great for researching destinations and exploring gear choices. You mention Florida and California as places you've got an interest in; I liked both, but they're quite different. I did some research on the forum & elsewhere to plan out a California live-aboard trip last month; in case it may be helpful,

My Notes For Researching My California Dive Trip - My Notes for Researching My California Dive Trip

Florida diving is highly varied; even if we 'write off' the gulf coast of Florida to narrow it down to the southeastern coast of Florida, you've got a variety (and that's just of salt water diving, not inland springs and caves) from Jupiter (trip report), West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Fort Lauderdale/Pompano, the upper Florida Keys (trip report from Key Largo) on down to Key West.

I'm not sure how much difference it makes that central & southern North Carolina diving is geographically closer (if it's beyond your driving willingness, how much time & cost difference on a plane vs. Florida), but there is some sweet wreck & shark diving there (trip report).

Richard.

Going to take a few to get oriented and write such insightful posts like you! Thanks so much for attaching the links!

I have friends and family in both California and Florida so I haven't narrowed anything down yet. Seeing as the cost of living is significantly less in Florida I'm leaning towards staying on the east coast! I haven't decided where yet either. There are a few area's I'm looking into. Boyton beach is a top contender. Hopefully I'll be able to travel a bunch this winter and explore the different area's more! Not looking to make a move for another year!