strategy for gaining skills

[philba]

@PeteNBiddle, well, yes it would be. some names just never really go away...

I took a scuba refresher course from SeattleScuba. It was good because my last round of diving was with, uh, vintage equipment. I don't recall the price but it was well less than the full OW cert course. I think most good LDS's will something similar. I like the guys that are on North Aurora too.

 

[Peter_C]

Get with the local GUE chapter as they mentor many people and after some classes and more practice locally you will be ready to dive in some of the advanced spots you mention like the Galapagos. Local diving around Puget Sound holds lots of treasures to see, including Giant Pcaific Octopus, and the area is definitely worth exploring. It will also make you a far better diver. A drysuit will be required but before you rush out and purchase one, learn from some of the local GUE members what their suggestions are for pockets and other such accessories. Vis may not be tropical, but again this will teach you important buddy skills. Bright colors help

 

[PeterNBiddle]

@PeteNBiddle, well, yes it would be. some names just never really go away...

I took a scuba refresher course from SeattleScuba. It was good because my last round of diving was with, uh, vintage equipment. I don't recall the price but it was well less than the full OW cert course. I think most good LDS's will something similar. I like the guys that are on North Aurora too.

You sent me an encouraging email in 91 during the Win 3.1 beta recognizing the work I was doing. It meant a lot to me. So thanks (again). I've remembered it and tried to always recognize people similarly.

We just did our OWA at Utila Dive Center in September. I can't recommend UDC highly enough and you can pretty much go from where you are now to wherever you want to get to diving with them. The corals and diving are stunning on Utila as well.

 

[philba]

You sent me an encouraging email in 91 during the Win 3.1 beta recognizing the work I was doing. It meant a lot to me. So thanks (again). I've remembered it and tried to always recognize people similarly.

We just did our OWA at Utila Dive Center in September. I can't recommend UDC highly enough and you can pretty much go from where you are now to wherever you want to get to diving with them. The corals and diving are stunning on Utila as well.

Glad it meant something to you. Good to see it's had a pay it forward effect.

My GF and I finished our PADI OW cert in Kihei, HI. Pretty good. There is a sunken boat there we dived on (part of a feeble attempt at a reef) that was pretty cool and Molokini, while kind of cliche', was really nice. I was thinking of going back there to get more dives in (easy flight from seattle and not super expensive) though I want to experience a lot more places. Utila is certainly one of the places that I might go.

 

[kokanee]

+1 for dive-dive-dive. A week at a dive resort would be a good start if you intend to do most of your diving in tropical waters; preferably a place where you can do both boat and shore dives, where there is excellent shallow diving as well as a sandy area to practice the skills in your list. Hmmm.....Buddy Dive Bonaire comes to mind, but I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations of similar resorts (such as Utila which is on my wish list). Getting to the Caribbean from the west coast makes for long travel days but hey, you have the time.

I also have been working on skills and have a list like yours. Proper weighting was my #1 as overweighting seems to cause a disproportionate amount of incidents, (a fact I learned from lurking on the A&I threads) but that is part of good buoyancy. Happy diving!

 

[philba]

...
Getting to the Caribbean from the west coast makes for long travel days but hey, you have the time.
...

True Dat. I've been looking at trips based on distance. Hawaii and Cabo clearly are the closest (with direct flights). The Caribbean is closer than the east pacific region, though.

 

[kokanee]

I know this probably means getting an AOW cert with a few extra courses. But it also just means lots of dives in varying conditions and locations. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to take the AOW course, need more dives under my weight belt. I could do this where I live but I'm reluctant to invest in cold water gear and training when my goal is purely tropical. I know a lot of the skills are the same but it seems like a diversion to me.

When you get back from your first dive holiday I would suggest doing your AOW locally, in cold water. Because: 1. Cold water training will better prepare you for any diving, anywhere, like the Galapagos. 2. Its just easier. You are fortunate to be in the PNW with access to lots of great instruction and I agree with the other posters that taking a
UTD or GUE course will get you on the fast-track skill wise, even though you are mainly interested in tropical diving. You could rent the required equipment. Or simply get private instruction, but doing this in cold water will make you a better diver.

 

[Peter Guy]

The OP's wants are described:

I think these are the skills I need to work on to reach my goal. Some are pretty obvious. I'd love to get your input and thoughts.
- bouyancy control. I'm getting there. Probably take a course on this
- drift diving. it seems like all the great locations need this to some extent
- deep diving. at least 100'. most of the great location also have dive sites this deep
- handling various currents. I see a lot of sites often had strong currents.
- nitrox. more total bottom time in a day.
- navigation. more than just following a compass direction
- emergency and rescue techniques (not to be a rescue diver but to be a good buddy)
- UW photo and video (yeah, I know this is a lot of bouyancy control)
any other things you think I should work on?

OP -- Honestly, any decent instructor can probably help you reach these goals, BUT that really depends on how you define them.

For example, to pick the "big one" -- buoyancy control -- what is it? What do YOU mean when you say you want to perfect your buoyancy control? To some people it means being able to descend, ascend and "dive" while more or less staying where you want in the water column. To a UTD Essentials/GUE Fundamentals student, it means being able to do "the basic 5" while maintaining a "window" of 3 (or 5?) feet. To a Full Cave diver, it may mean being able to do valve, mask off and other drills while maintaining a 12 inch window. And to a really solid photographer, it may mean being able to photograph a nudibranch, on a silty bottom without raising a single speck of silt.

I'm quite sure that many scuba instructors can show you the way to the first level -- quite frankly not that many can get you to the second -- and even fewer to the last two. How good do you want to be? What level of control will be good enough for you?

Nitrox -- anyone can show you how to analyze a tank, set your computer and most instructors can show you how to run Nitrox tables and air equivalencies. If that is all you want, spin a dial and pick whoever is cheapest. If, however, you want more than that, perhaps some insight into the "rest of the story" ask around and find an instructor who is also a technical diver and is willing to do more than the bare minimum. They are around (and I know a few).

The rest of the list? Really, as your experience grows, the rest will sort of come naturally. Go ahead and take an Advanced Open Water Class but query your prospective instructor about what she is going to do and how much beyond the book is she going to go? Demand more and you'll get more.

What people have written about diving in Puget Sound is true. IF you learn to dive here and learn how to maintain control of yourself and your teammates while diving here, you'll be a solid diver just about any place you'll go. It is harder to dive well here than in "Gin clear water, the temperature of warm p***" (to steal a line). IF you really want to become a strong, solid diver, figure out what you want your level of competence to be, find an instructor or instructor cadre that will teach to that level and then take the instruction and work at it.

For what it's worth, I'm an independent PADI instructor on the Eastside and am friends with several other like minded instructors in Seattle, south of Seattle, north of Seattle and also on the Eastside representing six (?) different agencies. If you'd like some frank advice, PM me. (BTW, I'm 65, retired and at one time thought I was "gainfully unemployed" but now, not so sure!)

 

[TSandM]

Philba, I think you've gotten a lot of ideas above, and I'm not going to address all of your questions. But I am going to address one, which is the "warm water wimp" concept.

When I agreed, reluctantly, to learn to dive, my conditions were simple. I would do the classroom and pool work in Seattle, and my husband was going to take me to his father's in Maui to do the open water dives, because, as I stated vehemently, "I am never going to set FOOT in Puget Sound. It's too danged cold!" So the arrangements were made. Then I started my class here, and liked my instructors, and liked my fellow students, and got mau-maued into agreeing to do my open water dives here, albeit in a dry suit. Worse, my rented drysuit fit poorly and flooded on my first day of salt water diving, and I got hypothermic. Why I ever got back in the water here, I really don't know, but that was seven years and seven or eight hundred Puget Sound/PNW dives ago.

What I have learned is that the diving here really is some of the best in the world. I have been to the Caribbean, to the Red Sea, to Indonesia, to Australia, to the South Pacific, to Hawaii, to the Sea of Cortez . . . and my top three diving destinations are Browning Pass (north tip of Vancouver Island), Pt. Lobos in Monterey, and the Channel Islands off Los Angeles.

I have also learned that, with an investment in good exposure protection, it is entirely possible to dive here very comfortably. I did a 60 minute dive in 45 degree water today, and at the end of the dive, my hands were cold. The rest of me was fine.

If you dive locally, you can dive regularly -- and like every other skill on earth, it is easier to become good at it if you do it more often. In addition, mastering buoyancy control and situational awareness in cold water and limited visibility makes diving in warmer, clearer water that much easier. You can experience currents here, and depth, and all the other things you talked about, and do them without having to spend limited travel time on classes and training.

And you already have an idea of how much life is in the water here . . . do me a favor, and spend a few minutes looking at THIS thread on our local dive forum. If you aren't inspired by the magic Jan Kocian records, then so be it; but at least I can say I tried

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Philba, the diving in your destinations of choice is pretty easy diving, and dive shops are used to divers with limited experience and often no recent experience. Take a scuba refresher, and then head to a novice diver friendly resort. That could be any of the locations you mention. With each dive your skills will improve. How do you get to diving competence? The same way you get to Carnegie hall: practice, practice. As stated above, dive, dive dive.
DivemasterDennis