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Hey all. I havent been around long, but have been reading for awhile. I just got back from my Bahamas trip where I completed my OW dives to become certified. It was absolutely amazing! Saw sea turtle, moray eels, many baracuda, grouper, lion fish, and many others. The reefs were so beautiful, and offered such a unique angle from snorkeling. Being a boater my whole life, it was very interesting to see a rental boat go flying directly over us when we were about 40 feet down. I have never seen a boat from that angle, and I would hope not to again!
Anyway, I truly enjoyed the experience, and will be looking into getting my own dive gear ASAP. I cant wait to continue diving here in PA, and get down to the islands as often as possible! My only regret is that I did not do this sooner.
So if anyone is planning on diving at dutch springs this summer, and need a buddy, or a group who wouldnt mind another, I would love to get involved!
Be sure to make yourself known on your regional forum, especially as the local dive season approaches. Meanwhile add some meat to your profile so folks can find you and know a little about you and your diving. This makes you more approachable and help folks provide better answers when you ask a question.
Welcome to the board! You should hold off on buying gear for awhile (despite what your LDS might tell you). Try renting for the first year to try out different things and see what you like.
There are a lot of things to consider when buying new gear, some stuff you probably won’t know right away. (These are rhetorical questions)
If you like the BP/W are you going to be mostly traveling to warm water diving (might want a lighter backplate) or cold water diving, potentially with a drysuit (you might want a heavier backplate).
Are you going to be a vacation diver that just dives in warm water a couple times a year? If so you may want to stick to renting and just buy a 3 mm wetsuit. Are you going to dive in Dutch Springs often, then you'll want a 7mm or even a drysuit
Are you going to do cold water diving? If so you'll probably want to spend the extra $ to get a cold-water reg.
You really need to discover a lot about your diving style/preferences that you won't know until you have some experience. A great resource are demo days. Find out if there are any in your area and try out lots of different stuff.
If you discover you have been bitten by the scuba diving bug, the first things I would recommend buying (first things I bought) are a wetsuit and dive computer. People pee in wetsuits...so it's best to have your own. A dive computer will help you (as a new diver) from doing certain things such as ascending too quickly, etc. Well it won't keep you from doing it, but it will alert you of what you're doing wrong. Some old-timers and DIR dives might say you don’t need a computer, or don’t need one right away…it’s a personal preference and I’m glad its one of the first things I got.
When you are ready to actually buy gear (after renting for a bit) do some research in the appropriate forums below. Also it really helps to find an honest LDS that cares more about getting you good gear than making a sale, although these are getting harder to find. Try to find one who’s prices aren’t well above prices you can find online (my LDS actually has lower prices than the Internet), and who carries many different brands.
And a final note, when you are searching for info on SB…use the “search” feature. The advanced search with “title” option is especially helpful. If you are in the advanced search area…where it says “Search by Key Word.” In the drop down menu it currently has “search entire posts” but you can change that to “search titles only.” Most questions you will have, have probably been asked already.
Thanks for the advice DivePrncs.
I have started my dive gear with a wetsuit and a good mask and fins already. I am now looking into a 7mm suit to be able to dive in DS, as the 3mm shorty will most likely not be very comfortable for DS! My LDS, and the DS owner in the Bahamas who my family is friends with both said the same thing about buying a computer to start and build off their.
Anyway, I will slowly get gear throughout this year, after focusing on one item, and trying a few, then making each purchase as I feel comfortable with each item.
Again, thanks for the welcome and advice to all. I will update my profile as best as possible, and depending on work, I will get out to DS in May. Catch yall around.
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Kudos and welcome!
