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Dive buddy quest
- Thread starter Johnbone
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The best way to get into local diving is to get active and meet people in person.
Happy to meet up at Dutch some Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun if you want to get a few dives in... and discuss local diving options and the appropriate training/skills/gear necessary to be prepared to go diving off the coast.
Ray
KDAD
Contributor
We needed at least four active members to have our own forum
I think they were all in the same lake last weekend for the monthly forum meet-up.
OP keep browsing the threads and see if anyone is setting up a dive that meets your abilities and experience and see about joining them. Other than Bonne Terre I probably won't be diving for a few weeks due to work.
Basking ridge diver - yes, I posted 3 times on dive buddy because I never saw the first two after I posted. I posted twice in the PA/NY/NJ section here for Dutch and anywhere else in Jersey. Neither page had anybody posting to dive on the 26th, which is the only day available to me due to work schedule and home responsibilities. We have a horse farm which demands attention and if I dive, I need to make sure everything is squared away early in the morning since I will be gone all day.
Being new, I did a search for clubs and the ones that I did happen to see don't seem to be very active or its part of a dive shop and they have a class going on. I did find a page for a shop, Salty Dog, which has a buddy page. I emailed a couple of people and got some responses and was I nvited to tag along with a group, if I can't find a buddy, from one of the instructors.
I've been wanting to dive my whole life, 46 now, and after my wife told me she booked us a vacation to the Yucatan, she suggested that I get my cert. well, once I hit the open water for the first time, my mask kept flooding because I couldn't stop smiling at the fact that I'm actually finally doing it. This isn't just a passing fancy for me. It's more of "it's about time". Being new, I didn't know there was a specific format or certain things I should include in the post, but now I do. TY. My work schedule is 5 on 3 off with rotating days off so when I can go changes weekly, for the most part. So, would posting two weeks in advance be bad form? That way, I can make arrangements at home ahead of time to make sure I'm free.
Since it was mentioned, what's the gripe about split fins and snorkels? The snorkel was stressed out the wazoo in the class. Which brings up something else. I was looking at the advanced class, but someone I was talking to, not too long ago, mentioned that a new diver just out of OW posted on here that he was looking into the AOW class and got ripped to shreds by people. Is there something wrong with doing that?
As far as diving with a group, I don't care. Without sounding like an ass, I would dive by myself if I could, but I don't have that training, yet. I'm extremely comfortable in the water and didn't have any issues at all during my OW class. The only thing I know I have to work on is my dive planning and learning the tables better.You'll have to excuse all the questions, but I don't know anybody that dives where I can sit and have a conversation about all of this.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, if anyone reading this is looking to go diving, in freshwater, saltwater, molasses or even quicksand and you want a buddy, despite the fact that I am very new and you don't mind diving with me, and my schedule allows it, I'll go. I want to get some dives in and more experience. And if I learn something new or a new technique or whatever each time I dive, all the better. I've got my own gear already so all I have to do is throw it in my car. (The gear that I used in my CW had holes in it and the mouthpiece on the reg was falling apart. Had no faith I rental fear after that)
Being new, I did a search for clubs and the ones that I did happen to see don't seem to be very active or its part of a dive shop and they have a class going on. I did find a page for a shop, Salty Dog, which has a buddy page. I emailed a couple of people and got some responses and was I nvited to tag along with a group, if I can't find a buddy, from one of the instructors.
I've been wanting to dive my whole life, 46 now, and after my wife told me she booked us a vacation to the Yucatan, she suggested that I get my cert. well, once I hit the open water for the first time, my mask kept flooding because I couldn't stop smiling at the fact that I'm actually finally doing it. This isn't just a passing fancy for me. It's more of "it's about time". Being new, I didn't know there was a specific format or certain things I should include in the post, but now I do. TY. My work schedule is 5 on 3 off with rotating days off so when I can go changes weekly, for the most part. So, would posting two weeks in advance be bad form? That way, I can make arrangements at home ahead of time to make sure I'm free.
Since it was mentioned, what's the gripe about split fins and snorkels? The snorkel was stressed out the wazoo in the class. Which brings up something else. I was looking at the advanced class, but someone I was talking to, not too long ago, mentioned that a new diver just out of OW posted on here that he was looking into the AOW class and got ripped to shreds by people. Is there something wrong with doing that?
As far as diving with a group, I don't care. Without sounding like an ass, I would dive by myself if I could, but I don't have that training, yet. I'm extremely comfortable in the water and didn't have any issues at all during my OW class. The only thing I know I have to work on is my dive planning and learning the tables better.You'll have to excuse all the questions, but I don't know anybody that dives where I can sit and have a conversation about all of this.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, if anyone reading this is looking to go diving, in freshwater, saltwater, molasses or even quicksand and you want a buddy, despite the fact that I am very new and you don't mind diving with me, and my schedule allows it, I'll go. I want to get some dives in and more experience. And if I learn something new or a new technique or whatever each time I dive, all the better. I've got my own gear already so all I have to do is throw it in my car. (The gear that I used in my CW had holes in it and the mouthpiece on the reg was falling apart. Had no faith I rental fear after that)
If you are looking to dive at Dutch, consider contacting some of the local dive shops that dive at Dutch at least 2 or 3 weekends out of the month. There is a list here (sorted by state) to help you get started. Good luck!
Chances are that a person asking if AOW can be taken right after OW will only get "ripped to shreds" by about 1/3rd of those responding. 1/3rd will say "that's a great idea" and the other 1/3rd will say "it really doesn't matter."
But seriously, in PADI (and several other agencies) the Advanced Open Water course is not "an advanced class" but rather a class that - just as the name implies - "advances your skills" beyond what your learned in OW.
Right from the PADI website...
You don’t have to be “advanced” to take it – it’s designed to advance your diving, so you can start right after earning your PADI Open Water Diver certification. The course helps build confidence and expand your scuba skills through different Adventure Dives. You try out different specialties while gaining experience under the supervision of your PADI Instructor. You log dives and develop capabilities as you find new ways to have fun scuba diving.
I took AOW immediately after OW, largely because I was going on a family vacation with no buddy and it was cheaper to take AOW and do five dives that it would have cost to hire a DM to do four dives. I lucked out - I suppose - in that the instructor I had was great and I actually learned a lot and did "advance" my skills from what I learned in OW.
The detractors of this approach (beyond the people with poor reading comprehension who believe that the course bestows an "advanced diver" certification) will suggest that after OW you'd be better off "just going diving" for a while before taking AOW. To me that's like suggesting that after taking Algebra I a student should take a semester off and "just go do math" before signing up for Algebra II. Sure, you can do that. But there's no real reason not to take the two courses back-to-back... and they are designed that way. And many times new divers who spend time "just going diving" before taking AOW end up picking up and ingraining bad habits and sloppy skills that could have been obviated by taking a good AOW class instead.
Frankly, if a student "isn't ready for AOW" right out of OW... there was probably something wrong with their OW course. Unless the student really doesn't like diving or isn't comfortable in the water at all, they should come out of OW as a knowledgeable, competent, confident diver. And, accordingly, should have no trouble going right into an AOW course.
On the other end of the spectrum, certain detractors will tell you "AOW is a complete waste of time... I took it after I had 50 dives and I didn't learn anything." In those cases, I blame the instructor for not tailoring the course to their student's abilities and needs. It's highly unlikely that even after 100 dives that there was nothing that the student NEEDED to learn. Shame on the instructor (and the student a little) for not identifying what those things were and incorporating those into the class. I wouldn't offer the same AOW course to a student fresh out of OW that I would to someone with 50 dives... that makes no sense whatsoever.
If you want to take AOW, talk to the instructor you might take it with before signing up. Not someone who answers the phone at a shop, not the owner of a shop, not just any instructor at a shop.. talk to the actual, specific instructor that you will have. Ask them "How do you teach AOW?" and then listen to the answer.
If they start telling you what they teach before they ask you what YOU want to learn you know you're not going to get a course tailored to your specific needs and desires.Most shops offer a one-size-fits-all approach to AOW comprised of a fixed slate of five dives. You may be a better diver after those five dives... but much of that may well have come from simply getting five more dives under your belt. (Especially if they are logged dives 5-9 for you.) Imagine how much more you could get out of a course tailored specifically to your needs and desires.
Ray
@OP: I went on Meetup.com and searched for scuba in my area and found a good local group that meets for happy hour once a month. I've now got a couple of excellent dive buddies out of that. And a fun happy hour to go to and BS about scuba once a month. Meetup might be worth checking out. If there's no scuba meetup group in your area, maybe consider starting one (I have no idea how urban/suburban/rural the area is where you live).
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