Soon to be Certified

[fishgeek]

Hello all, I am currently attending a PADI OW Diver class and have completed my first Confined Water dive. Since that day I've become a bit obsessed with everything SCUBA. I've spent the last four days doing almost nothing except looking at dive equipment online and at the dive shop, looking for places to dive, and pretty much nothing else :-D. I'm going to SoCal this December and have planned a guided dive trip at Casino Point Dive Park on Catalina Island. Taking my 13yr old son on his first real dive since he got certified earlier this summer. It will most likely be my first non-training dive as well, but there's a possibility that I'll find some water nearby before then. I live in Idaho so there aren't a lot of 'clear' water options available but there are quite a few places to go.

Anyway, I've decided that if I'm really going to do it, I should go ahead and get all the gear (sans tank) so I have no excuse ;-)

If anyone here is from the Boise area, let me know and maybe you can point me to some good places.

And remember....a wet diver is a HAPPY diver!

-Fishgeek

 

[Fundive123]

Hi fishgeek, and welcome to scubaboard, and the wonderful sport of scuba diving. And as you've already realized scuba diving can be very addictive. Buying scuba gear can be just as thrilling and addictive haha. One piece of advice on buying gear is too try and rent different brands and styles of gear before buying to ensure that you'll be buying gear that you won't be upgrading/replacing right off the bat to accomadate your diving needs. Enjoy your trip to Catalina, and have fun exploring the underwater world.

 

[j2s]

Move to Florida !!! .....You'll be among friends and HAPPY, HAPPY :O !!!!!

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I'm going to SoCal this December and have planned a guided dive trip at Casino Point Dive Park on Catalina Island. Taking my 13yr old son on his first real dive since he got certified earlier this summer. ...

Casino point is a great introduction to all that cold-water diving in SoCal has to offer.

If you are coming to SoCal anyway, you might want to do your gear shopping here instead of Idaho. Lots of shops to choose from, much broader selection and probably better prices.

Keep this in mind: if you get hooked on cold-water diving, your gear requirements will be much different than if you want to dive tropical destinations. Gear that's most appropriate to our cold(ish)-water locale is easiest to find (and rent) locally.

 

[dwaters]

Welcome aboard here and to the underwater world!!!!

Have fun getting your c-card and feel free to drop on down to your local forum and join in the fun here: Rocky Mountain Region
And when joining us here in So.Cal., check us out here: SoCal

 

[beaverdivers]

Welcome to SCUBAboard!

 

[fishgeek]

Welcome aboard here and to the underwater world!!!!

Have fun getting your c-card and feel free to drop on down to your local forum and join in the fun here: Rocky Mountain Region
And when joining us here in So.Cal., check us out here: SoCal

Ontario eh....I'll be visiting family in Arcadia...

As big as this ole world is...it's still pretty small...

 

[herr2720]

I live in Boise area and dive quite often regionally. My gear is a mix of stuff I've bought local from Dive Magic/Boise Water Sports (both new and used demo gear and they've always treated me well), local used through Craigslist, and online on ebay and leisurepro. Boise Scuba Center can have some good deals too if you opt to buy local. A lot of it depends on what you want. Most of the gear for diving locally isn't really travel friendly so that should always be taken into account.

For tank fills I've found Boise Scuba Center to have the best price for straight air fills ($5/tank). Dive Magic is around $7.50/tank but you can get a 10 fill card that makes it around $5.50 and they have a candy jar that I graze on while I wait for my tank. So basically with the cost of driving it's just better to go to the closer store if you have your own tanks. Dive Magic also does Wednesday night dives in the local spots where they will give you a free tank of air in the summer.

Right now (and this year in general) the local spots such as Quinns pond and Lucky Peak aren't that great. I've been up to McCall quite a few times in the last few weeks and the diving in Payette is pretty good viz with little to no boat traffic this time of year, but the snow is less than a month away up there. If you don't have a drysuit Payette feels pretty cold after October 1st in general, last week the water temp was 54 surface and 48 at 30ft going to 45 at 60ft.
There are a lot of other random places to go that are a within a day trip from Boise as well.

 

[fishgeek]

I live in Boise area and dive quite often regionally. My gear is a mix of stuff I've bought local from Dive Magic/Boise Water Sports (both new and used demo gear and they've always treated me well), local used through Craigslist, and online on ebay and leisurepro. Boise Scuba Center can have some good deals too if you opt to buy local. A lot of it depends on what you want. Most of the gear for diving locally isn't really travel friendly so that should always be taken into account.

For tank fills I've found Boise Scuba Center to have the best price for straight air fills ($5/tank). Dive Magic is around $7.50/tank but you can get a 10 fill card that makes it around $5.50 and they have a candy jar that I graze on while I wait for my tank. So basically with the cost of driving it's just better to go to the closer store if you have your own tanks. Dive Magic also does Wednesday night dives in the local spots where they will give you a free tank of air in the summer.

Right now (and this year in general) the local spots such as Quinns pond and Lucky Peak aren't that great. I've been up to McCall quite a few times in the last few weeks and the diving in Payette is pretty good viz with little to no boat traffic this time of year, but the snow is less than a month away up there. If you don't have a drysuit Payette feels pretty cold after October 1st in general, last week the water temp was 54 surface and 48 at 30ft going to 45 at 60ft.
There are a lot of other random places to go that are a within a day trip from Boise as well.

Thanks much for the info. I am actually getting certified with Dive Magic/Boise Water Sports. Definitely looking forward to going on those local dives next Summer. I'm not going to get a Dry Suit anytime soon so I'll probably be looking more to places like Fishers Lake, which looks to be about 1.5 hrs from here. I was also told about a place within an hour or two that has even warmer water...from a hot spring or something, but I don't remember what it was. I don't really think I'm going to get much of a chance before Christmas to go anywhere local, but I am going to Lake Wapappello in Missouri for Thanksgiving. I'm going to try to get at least one water engagement there. There's a local dive shop in Poplar Bluff that I can rent some gear from. Then, as stated, I'm off to Santa Catalina for Christmas so I have a dive tour scheduled there.

Maybe we'll run into each other sometime when it's warmer.

Cheers,

Fishgeek

 

[MarinMervis]

Welcome aboard the forums,
Have a great stay here and an awesome time as well.