Hi - and any advice out there?

[Grunt]

Hi everyone.

I like this board - there's a lot of knowledge on here, and I see diving as a pretty perpetual learning curve - standing on other people's shoulders is a valuable thing.

I'm in New York City, and I wondered if people could give me any views on a good dive store to dive with in the summer. I have Rescue Diver, and about 25 dives to me. I really want to dive, but two weeks a month in the sun on coral reefs is not an option (sadly). I was wondering about signing up for some courses to do over the summer - pool work I suppose to keep skills up to date and I understand there's some diving to be had nearby - although I'm expecting it's pretty cold.

I really want to find some nice people - not so concerned about whether they have 100 years diving experience - I want to enjoy my diving time with them.

And do you think I should go for Divemaster? Or is that going over the top?

 

[Tavi]

Welcome to the boards!!

There are some board members in your neighborhood, Maybe they can help with your questions.

I've read about great diving in the Atlantic!!

 

[Rooster1]

welcome to the board grunt, I am sure you will find all the info you are looking for here.

 

[SunshineFish]

Hi Grunt - Welcome!

Check out the following dive shops in Manhattan:

www.panaqua.com

www.seahorse-divers.com

I got certified thru Pan Aqua and hope to join some of the dive trips during the summer when the water warms up enough for me. Give either place a call and see if they have any upcoming trips planned.

Sandy

 

[Thistle]

Welcome aboard!
Pool sesions are good but they'll never give you the experience of real dive!
I strongly advise you to go diving for real even if you dive once in couple of months, in a weekend or so.
You'll see the difference!!
VV

 

[tentacle13]

Welcome to the board!!

Pool sessions are good. But if there are some lakes around, try diving, there might be some interesting finds and it is a good way to clean the saltwater!!

:ghost:

 

[Viv]

Hi Grunt - Greetings from a fellow New Yorker

Don't be sad about lack of access to tropical dive sites! There's plenty of diving to be found here in the NYC area. There are plenty of diving opportunities off of Long Island and New Jersey aas well as the quarry at Dutch Springs in PA. I also usually frequent Pan Aqua and Sea Horse Divers, as was previously mentioned.

Rather than taking more courses you may want to take some time to just explore the local diving scene a little. Joining one of the local dive clubs might be an option for meeting like minded divers. You might want to check out


www.seagypsies.org

Hope to see you around when the water warms up

 

[Grunt]

Thanks for all the hellos.

And thanks Viv - just looked at the Sea Gypsies site, and I think I'll come down to Alonzo's in June (it's just round the corner from my work).

And you're probably right - maybe I should pause a little and get some more dives in before I go on to the next course. The problem is that I'm not such an enthusiastic wreck diver - I did do penetration during my AOW (that always sounds so weird, doesn't it?) but I still don't feel properly qualified - and even if I did have the training, I've never seen what people find so interesting about the the wrecks - although I've only dived 3, so I'm not really expert on the subject. I'd always thought that NY/ NY area diving was all about wrecks or you could squeeze in between all the other divers at Dutch Springs. Perhaps I'll find out that there's more to it than that.

Thanks again.

 

[Viv]

I'll probably be at the June Gypsies meeting as well so I'll keep an eye out for you. We'll find some local diving to keep you busy this summer!

 

[Grunt]

Look foward to it Viv.

Although I should say that Grunt isn't actually my real name - I'll be the British one.