Advice Please

Hi guys, completely new to this forum. I am recently new to diving and love it. I did 40 dives in Thailand and got my rescue about 6 months ago.

I live in LA and have yet to experience the So cal waters. I just went to channel islands (santa Cruz) and did some hiking only drooling when i saw the dive boats.

My questions are:

I've only dived the tropics- would it be advisable to do some very easy shore or catalina dives to acclimate to the conditions here. If the only difference is water temp- then i have no problem just jumping in and doing the channels first.

Since it has been 6 months- do you think i should do a refresher. I actually feel very comfortable with my knowledge, and would rather put that $100 towards dives. I think i would be very bored during a refresher since i've done over 40 dives back in December.

If i do jump in and the Channel Islands- can you please recommend any compaines/ places to rent equipment.

Is it common for a DM to accompany you on a dive? Will the boat provide one if i find a buddy? or if i can't find a buddy- will they pair me up

Thx for your help - much appreciated.

A refresher....hmmm, your choice. (My questions to myself at this point, if I was you, would be: Hey I'm new to the area and fairly new at diving. I haven't dove in a while. Is my life worth $100? What would my family do if I wasn't there? But then again, I'm fairly conservative...I have plans for the future. Besides, I love learning. I still take a college course once in a while just for the heck of it.)

I think most dive shops around here could set you up with a DM and do a dive at a local spot. Can't think of what it is called (possibly a 'tour' dive or 'local experience' dive) but that would be a good way (and inexpensive) to get your feet wet here, while doing a beach entry (with surf).

Sport Chalet offers rentals and charters and classes. I haven't been on all charters, but some of my favorites are The Encore and The Great Escape. If you go out of San Diego, I love The Horizon.

No, a DM will probably not accompany you on a dive, unless there are two and no buddy for you. Most likely a DM will pair you up if you can't find a buddy. But then again, if you don't take any type of refresher course, you better hope your buddy is rescue certified and patient with you when you ask all your questions. A lot to put on a stranger.

My advice: look into Advanced Open Water (if you haven't taken it). Tell the dive store your diving history. The instructor may do a pool session before the ocean session to refresh your techniques.

Personally, if I were on a dive boat I would not want to be paired up with someone that hasn't dove in 6 months and is diving cold water for the first time with me. Too much responsibility and you may waste MY dives. (Sorry, but I had to pay for the boat too.) (BTW, I would dive with someone newly certified.)

Welcome to ScubaBoard. Check out the So. Cal section. A great group of divers here! We try and get together once a month (differenct locations) and dive together. Look for the Wrinkle's Dive.

Personally, in your circumstances, I would spring for the refresher. You'll be wearing a thicker suit, gloves, hood, and you'll need to change your weighting and probably deal with trim/bouyancy issues. You should also get some pointers about kelp and what to do about entanglement. Casino Point might be a good place for this - check with CDS or Scuba Luv.

Hey dlt333,
Welcome to the scubaboard....
I was almost in the same position as you are...about 20 dives all in warm water, then went to Catalina on a Sports Chalet charter and buddied up with 3 LAPD officers, talk about a fast learning curve....they were great though, I guess I got lucky on that one as Sports Chalet DMs were too busy with their classes so no luck pairing up with them. As far as getting used to the colder water; thicker suit (7mil, hooded vest, gloves), carrying more weights etc. took me a while to get comfortable. What I did though, I used a pool of a local dive shop with all my gear on to set up my weights etc. but still when hit the water at Catalina I couldn't descent...needed 4 more lbs...again LAPD guys came to rescue on the spot and lend me extra weights.

I'll recommend to find a local dive shop with a pool and try your thicker suit and all before diving the real thing, also buddy up with someone; if we can work out the date I'll be willing to plan a day at Catalina with you. Feel free to PM me.

Take care chief....

Also, you might try the Three R's training to get used to surf entries.

http://www.lascuba.com/3rs.html

dlt333:

Hi guys, completely new to this forum. I am recently new to diving and love it. I did 40 dives in Thailand and got my rescue about 6 months ago.

I live in LA and have yet to experience the So cal waters. I just went to channel .

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Hi dlt, welcome to the board; you will find any number of people willing to give friendly advice here, and the advice already given is all good.

I notice you mention getting rescue certified in Thailand so you have obviously had plenty of training, but I am going to be very frank with you (and quote some of your training back at you as well): you are certified only to dive under the conditions you took your training. That means that if you have only dived in 80 degree water and only from boats, then you are not qualified for california diving - whether shore diving or boat diving.
As someone else noted, it is not just the cold but also the heavier gear and consequent bouyancy/trim issues.

I would agree that retaking the open water course would not be much help, but I would definitely recommend that you retake your advanced course, specifically because the mandatory OW dives will cover the three most stressful situations you are likely to encounter: low vis navigation, deep (read:cold!) diving and night diving. Also, make certain to do the dives from shore; surf is a big issue and not only when you are entering.

good luck, and make sure to join us at one of our get togethers.

Peter

Check out the group at DiveVets, http://www.divevets.com They always take out new divers and I'm sure there will be a bunch of divers hitting the beach on the weekend. Wednesday nites are their night dives, but I would wait until you get a few daytime dives in.

I would probobly suggest to ask an instructor. Everyone is different, but I personally would feel comfortable without a refresher course within a 6 month period. If it were more than a year, I would say definitely take one. I got certified in jamaica, which is comparable in temp and conditions, last June on my honeymoon. For me the jump to beach diving wasnt to big of a deal, but I grew up surfing in ca. Its a bit of a shock, to have constraints on vis, and deal with buoyancy changes, but the latter should be adequately explained by asking questions of some instructors. Maybe some local dive shops, or sport chalets.
In regards to buddies, this board is a good resource with people in many experience levels. Good luck, and let me know if you are up for a dive.

John

Oh my gosh that may have been my longest post ever. I feel like hbdivegirl, or lexy!

If you're looking to do boat diving or Casino Point - look for a Discover Local Diving course. Your guide will be a DM or above, and should be able to give you all of the advice you need on equipment. 6 months is a considerable time between dives, but if you got rescue certified you're should have the 20 DM skills down pretty well. Buoyancy control really isn't that big of a deal once you've got it down - you'll have different equipment, do your buoyancy check on the surface to make sure you're properly weighted. Keep in mind that the wetsuit will compress more with the thicker wetsuit, meaning you'll have to add more air to your BCD on a deeper dive. Don't add too fast, and remember you'd better be ready to vent on the way up.


If you're looking to do beach diving and have never done a surf entry...hmmm, that's a bit different, but I'd still go for a DLD. Just make sure you tell your guide you've never done a surf entry. Us so-caller's typicallyl get that as part of our open water course. If you've done rescue - come on, you can match the open water students. Just keep in mind its a new skill you'll be learning, and just like us so-cal students, it may make a lot of sense to do a skin dive prior to your first full gear surf entry.


Keep in mind, the recommended cost for a discover local diving is $25, if you can find anyplace offering it, give or take a few bucks. If you can hook up with someone going out to a site you want to go to anyway, the incremental cost is pretty minimal. Hey, give some of those hardworking DM's a chance to earn an extra buck or two.