New wannabe hailing from the Bay

[JLowe]

Hi all,

I posted this in the Introductions and Greets forum, but thought I'd post it here too. Thanks kathydee, for pointing me towards the NorCal forum.

I just registered for SB and thought I'd say hi to everyone. I've been lurking for a while and this forum is awesome. It's a pleasure to be here.

I went on a two-week vacation a few weeks ago to Mexico. It was my first time in the Maya Riviera, I'd never been to Playa Del Carmen or anywhere in the Mexican Carribean. I had never even considered Scuba diving before.

While I loved swimming as a kid and spent lots of time at beaches and pools, I have always for some reason had a very serious respect for how dangerous water can be. Scuba was just not something I ever imagined doing myself.

During my first week in Mexico I started to learn how popular the area was for divers, Playa Del Carmen, Cozumel, the many many cenotes, etc. While out and about, I started to see people doing diving activities, getting off the dive boats and walking back through the surf to the beach, people hanging out in the doorways of small dive shops, people loading gear and vehicles in the mornings, all those pretty underwater photos everywhere that no one ever really considers where they came from, etc.

So, that's how I found the inspiration. Oh, that plus my big goal was to go parasailing but the buddy I was going to do it with went back stateside before I did. So, my "bucket list" item had not yet been fulfilled.

My second week there, I decided to do a "discovery dive." I went to "dive Mike Carribean Diving" and ended up diving with Ana. It was kind of terrifying (and there is a story here, and a couple lessons learned the hard way), but afterwards, I knew I had a bug.

Now, I'm back in the Bay Area and about to enroll in an Open Water class. And, that's the jist of it. Nice to meet you all.

 

[Peter_C]

Well welcome to Scubaboard

If you need help choosing a "Good" instructor or want gear advice please ask. The dive shops are not the best reference for our local waters. Weird I know, but they just push what they sell, mostly to warm water divers.

"The best way to save money on a wetsuit is to buy a drysuit!"

 

[fisheater]

What Peter said.

Welcome and ask questions!!!

We love it when folks are willing to take the challenge and learn to dive our local waters.

 

[JLowe]

Thanks guys.

I'd be appreciative of ANY advice or recommendations from you "locals" on good dive shops, instructors and gear.

Basically, where I'm at is: I completed SSI's online OW course because it was free and interesting. So, I've been eyeing an shop I found in SOMA that does SSI courses, but I'm open to any recommendations. On gear, I'm planning to research and try some masks, snorkels and fins, just the basics for now, stuff I'll use during the OW course.

Any feedback is genuinely appreciated. It's strange embarking on this whole thing from a completely blank slate, other then my discovery dives and stuff I read.

 

[davidbaraff]

JLowe: I sent you a PM, but I highly recommend Denis Miralda: dennisdives.com.
You *will* come out of his course a safe and competent diver.

He operates out of Pacifica, using Anderson's Scuba for the pool classes. O/W dives are in Monterey of course.

 

[Sasquatch]

Welcome to SB. I look forward to reading your future posts and perhaps a dive in the area.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Welcome to SB!

I would definitely join in on some SB meet and greets and also look into joining the North Coast Divers for one of our simple beach dives once you get certified.
Go to:
http://www.northcoastdivers.org

I would rent gear for now until you get familiarized with what we use around here.
Just to get outfitted to dive the cold waters of Northern California can cost thousands of dollars.
There are less expensive alternatives for people just starting out such as piecing together gear bit by bit and renting what you don't have, then when you see what people use here and understand a little better, you will be way more informed to make a smart choice and as a result you be saving a lot of money on not buying stuff twice.

The gear typically used in mexico will be slightly different than gear typically used here.

 

[Ben_ca]

Welcome! I think you'll find some gems of info on local diving here in the NorCal section... Hopefully we'll see you in the water soon.

 

[parabuzzle]

speaking of advice on shops and gear and locations. I'm new to diving in NorCal. (I'm from Florida and am out here because I am software dev). I am wondering which dive shops are preferred in the san jose area as well as where I can get a reasonably priced drysuit that works well but isn't the price of a small car. And also, maybe a noob tour of Monterrey would be cool in the future

 

[ae3753]

Welcome JLowe and parabuzzle to NorCal!

Come to the NorCal Meet and Greet on May 22nd.

Fortunately, there's a good number of shops in the San Jose area. Any Water Sports, Diver Dans, and Blue Water Aquatics are all in the general area. All three shops have treated me well.

Also, there's a good number of us who are happy taking new to Monterey divers out diving. I am going to try to spend at least 1 day a month diving with newer divers, so let me know.

Lastly, check out this great thread started by ben_ca: 3 things to tell the new guy (to monterey).