New to diving - From Monroe, LA

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cbselby

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Messages
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Location
Monroe, Louisiana
# of dives
0 - 24
Hi Everyone,

I'm a brand new diver. I was just certified this past weekend. All I own is a pair of scuba boots.

Anyways, this seems like a very great site and I hope to spend a lot of time underwater. My first goal is to find a buddy and dive some sites nearby. Is anyone familiar with North Louisiana and some sites that don't require more than 4/5 hours drive?

Eventually I'd like to be a badass diver.
 
Welcome to Scuba Board, cbselby,

Keep diving, and keep reading SB, and before you know it you will become a bad ass diver.
 
Hi ...
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Thats the Spirit!
 
Hello - welcome to the board!

I have relatives in Monroe and Alexandria but I don't think any one dives...

My Uncle has a small lake on his property and a large pond in the front yard that was once home to a wally gator. The lake has water moccasins in it so don't think anyone would want to dive around there.

Welcome to the board anyways!
:admingreet:
 
Hi Everyone,

I'm a brand new diver. I was just certified this past weekend. All I own is a pair of scuba boots.

Anyways, this seems like a very great site and I hope to spend a lot of time underwater. My first goal is to find a buddy and dive some sites nearby. Is anyone familiar with North Louisiana and some sites that don't require more than 4/5 hours drive?

Eventually I'd like to be a badass diver.

First off, welcome to Scubaboard. There are a lot of interesting people here with a lot of interesting opinions - some good, and some not. You can get a lot of information here about dive sites and places to go and most of that is good. If you try to get information that is best gained by talking to a certified instructor as part of a diving course, then that information is better gained and probably more reliable in that venue. This is not to say that you can't get good information on Scubaboard about diving; just that you should use caution when listening to advice given out on the Internet in general. Pay for instruction and rely on that advice. As we say in South Louisiana, everything else is lagniappe.

If you want to be a bad ass diver, then spend more time in the water and less time talking about it. As you said, this place is a good place to meet other divers, but talking about it doesn't make you a better diver. You've got to get in the water, but dive within the limits of your training. Don't try to do too much too fast. It will come with time and experience.

I don't hear about much diving up your way. Monroe seems to be in the middle of nowhere when it comes to water holes. ABWA is over near Birmingham and there are some other spots in Arkansas, Missouri and Central and Southeast Texas. Your best bet is going to be to find some buddies in your area and carpool to the gulf. I would recommend Gulf Shores or east. Share expenses and accommodations and make a weekend out of it. Now is a great time for learning to shore dive. The water temps are toasty in the gulf. You can also dive on some of the shallower wrecks between Panama City and Gulf Shores. I would leave the Oriskany alone until you have more experience, and take your advanced open water certification and possibly nitrox cert as well. You will know what you want to do after you get some more experience.

Enjoy the journey. Learning to dive is more a marathon than a sprint. If you have not had a real problem underwater, learn how you will act when you do before you get yourself in trouble. This is why many people recommend to continue your diving education early at least through Rescue Diver. Rescue gives you an opportunity to push your physical, mental and emotional limits, help you understand how you will react in certain situations, and thereby help you set goals for yourself be it in physical fitness and health, in emergency preparedness or simply in general diving knowledge.

There are quite a few of us in Louisiana now on this board. We ought to be thinking about getting together for a dive outing somewhere.

Mississippi has a dive club also. It is at MSscuba.com. You may meet some other folks up in Jackson that are in the same boat as you. Jackson is quite a bit closer to you. MSscuba does not have as many members, but you may be able to meet some other divers to carpool with down to the coast or other nearby watering holes.

Good luck and dive safe!
 
Thank you all for your replies.

jimdiverman, I understand what you mean. On my second day of open water cert at Vortex Springs, I think I had a bad regulator. When I would look up, it felt like my tank was empty and I had a hard time drawing a breath. Panic wanted to take over, and I resisted. I figured out that it only happened when I looked up to the surface.

At another time on the same dive, I somehow got a mouthful of water when drawing a breath. I almost just shot up to the surface, but I collected myself and just coughed it out.

I know these things are probably more common than I think, but I was proud of myself for not totally freaking out and ending the dive. I want more time underwater to get acclimated and to learn how to react when things really go bad. Reading about others' experiences is also useful, so I'll be doing that.

Diving is just so cool, and I'm glad that I'm finally doing it!
 
Thank you all for your replies.

jimdiverman, I understand what you mean. On my second day of open water cert at Vortex Springs, I think I had a bad regulator. When I would look up, it felt like my tank was empty and I had a hard time drawing a breath. Panic wanted to take over, and I resisted. I figured out that it only happened when I looked up to the surface.

At another time on the same dive, I somehow got a mouthful of water when drawing a breath. I almost just shot up to the surface, but I collected myself and just coughed it out.

I know these things are probably more common than I think, but I was proud of myself for not totally freaking out and ending the dive. I want more time underwater to get acclimated and to learn how to react when things really go bad. Reading about others' experiences is also useful, so I'll be doing that.

Diving is just so cool, and I'm glad that I'm finally doing it!

Congratulations on following your training. The idea is to keep diving and to reinforce those good habits in additional training and diving with others with good habits, i.e., safe habits.

I was 38 years old when I learned to scuba dive, and I have not regretted it. I have met a lot of nice people diving, and enjoy being underwater and experiencing new challenges in different environments. You can explore underwater photography, fish id, caving, wreck diving and everything in between. It just takes time, patience, training, practice and, of course, money.

If I can help, just give me a shout.

Dive Safe!
 
welcome aboard
 
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