Moving to Seattle Spring/Summer 2011

[divermike1011]

Hi everyone. My wife and I are finishing up my tour here in Hawaii and are looking forward to the day when I can hang up my uniform and we can finally move to Seattle. I've been looking around this forum in particular and can already see there are a ton of great diving resources! I'm currently AOW/Nitorx certified with PADI and am taking PADI Rescue Diver next week, and I'm really excited. My goal once we settle in is to hopefully get a job at a dive shop while I figure out what I want to do as I am looking to change careers from what I used to do in the navy and I don't want to go back to school until I have a better sense of a field to study. One of the best things I did in the navy was to serve as an instructor at "C" school (follow on technical school) and since I love teaching and diving I'd like to combine the two. I don't know if I'll have time to complete my Divemaster before I leave Oahu, but I am guessing that it will make it far easier to get a job at a dive shop then without it.

Can't wait to get to the PNW!

Michael

 

[tangfish]

You're going to love the diving and people here. Swing on by nwdiveclub.com and introduce yourself!

 

[KaizerWilhelm]

Welcome, Michael! The diving up here is amazing! There is no place like it anywhere in the world. We have a ton of great dive sites throughout the Puget Sound and up in BC. There are also a lot of good shops around the Seattle area, too. The diving community here is amazing and we're always looking to expand our 'membership'. You're gonna love it up here.

 

[divermike1011]

Thanks for the welcome! I'll definitely check out nwdiveclub.com.

 

[TSandM]

Welcome in advance to PNW diving! Seattle is a wonderful place to be a diver, with good shore diving available virtually 365 days a year. Give us a holler when you get here, and we'll be delighted to take you out and show you around!

 

[oldsalt]

Michael: I echo the welcome of others. As a broken down old sailor myself, I would love to show you some of the dive sites we have.
- Curt

 

[divermike1011]

Thanks Curt, I'm looking forward to PCSing to CIVPAC soon. I've really learned a lot from the Navy, but I'm ready to let someone else go on deployments and never be home, and so is my wife! I'll post better dates once I know them, just waiting on some medical stuff at the moment.

Michael

 

[tsc]

Welcome Michael- don't expect much above minimun wages at dive shops in seattle- there is always a bit of turnover and more then a few shops have closed the last few years.

 

[divermike1011]

TSC:

Thanks for the heads up. I've been mentally preparing myself for not making a whole lot in the beginning and I imagine with the economy dive shops have been hit pretty hard. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but I'll give it a go if I can.

Michael