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Ya know something scary, Tom? The more people I dive with/talk to, the more things I discover to have been totally omitted from my cert training. Navigation was not, NOT discussed. I mean, what is THAT?? You just taught me an amazing amount in one post! Nice. Can't wait to do just what you described! Thank you =)
Lisa
Ben
I've been eyeballing that forum! I actually have met one gal here who is experienced and wants a dive buddy to go with a local social diving group. Lucky me! The advice here has been beyond value, truly.
Lisa
Ben
I've been eyeballing that forum! I actually have met one gal here who is experienced and wants a dive buddy to go with a local social diving group. Lucky me! The advice here has been beyond value, truly.
Lisa
Indeed! And what I've found in my short diving life so far is that the good folks respect you more for the questions you ask (and the dives you thumb) rather than the experience you've got. Folks here never seem to be short of answers, either... smart-ass or otherwise.
ASA, as one warm-water wimp (sheesh, what's wrong with liking warm water!) speaking to another, you make diving here sound pretty amazing.
Lisa
Lisa,
I've spent a lot of my diving in and around Guam where the water is about 82 pretty much every day, but when I lived in Los Angeles, I did a fair amount of diving the Channel Islands. It is pretty fantastic. And I have the greatest respect for cold water divers. It's much more strenuous than warm water--more gear, higher breathing rates, reduced viz, serious surf entries (for beach diving), etc.
The only place I've found that I really dislike diving is lake diving, where viz can be measured in inches.
Anyway, diving the Cal. coast is a great diving experience. Kelp forests are incredible, wildlife is great, from colorful nudis to large fish to sea lions. On one dive off Catalina in Nov. one year, we had about 60 feet of viz. Moving through a kelp forest with that kind of viz is nothing short of amazing.
One more thing Lisa- a lot of the responses here to take it slow and get more experience are based on your initial post, and what I am sure many people took as a bit of reluctance on your part. You should find in diving that the advice should be conservative, with a few "just go for it's" thrown in. Diving should always be done within the level of your training, ability and equipment. That said, there is certainly nothing about the TA trip that should be above your ability, provided you stay within your training and comfort level. That might mean siting out a dive, or a few dives, depending on the conditions. But certainly there is an advantage to diving multiple times on consecutive days, your learning curve goes up sharply because you get to practice what you learn right away. If you have a good (in this case that would mean patient) buddy, that is willing to stick with you and help you along, you could enjoy the trip immensely and come out of the trip a much better diver.
You are intelligent not because you think you know everything without questioning, but rather because you question everything you think you know
"Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong"....Leo Buscaglia
"Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge......Leonardo da Vinci
Indeed! And what I've found in my short diving life so far is that the good folks respect you more for the questions you ask (and the dives you thumb) rather than the experience you've got. Folks here never seem to be short of answers, either... smart-ass or otherwise.
-Ben
Ben
I have picked up a lot of hobbies over the years, but divers are the most enthusiastic, generous, encouraging (often hilarious) crowd, and offering more sound advice, than any other group I've ever encountered. I think I'm on to something really good here.
It's said that there are no stupid Q's, well, there are, and you can count on me to ask them >=)...but dignity is overrated anyway, right?
Lisa
Thanks Mike
I really appreciate that. I was definitely reluctant. I've done 6 dives in 3 days, so I know how that immediate review and repetition makes the learning stick. If I had dived with my prospective buddy before (because the buddy often makes the dive, for better or worse), and hadn't had the month I've just had, I would have been more up to the challenge! It means a lot to hear that vote of confidence from you. I do want to log some more dives and some liveaboard time in warm water first, particularly since I seem to get cold easily (course, living here doesn't help much, does it??).
Lisa
Had anybody suggested that you should get a dive parka? It's a critical component to keep you warm while on the boat between dives.
Your wetsuit is not your friend when you're out of the water.
Hi fnfalman
Thanks for that suggestion. I love it. I didn't even know there was such a thing, so I just looked at some other threads that cover that. Diving is a bulky sport to pack for!
Lisa
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Originally Posted by onebadasslass
