Hi all

[Sasq]

I have posted the stock greeting over in the newbs greeting forum,
just thought I would wave in here as well.

Living in Tokyo, been here 5 years, belong to a disturbingly expensive Japanese Dive club - more for my Japanese language practice then any other reason.

Looking forward to seeing more of Izu, and after getting more experience, maybe catching up with you guys localy.

Cheers Dan.

 

[Jonathan]

Hi Dan,

Yeah - pretty expensive round here but there are more reasonable ways of doing it!

And yes that was a quake today - man they are getting bigger and more frequent, scary stuff!

 

[Sasq]

Hi Dan,

Yeah - pretty expensive round here but there are more reasonable ways of doing it!

And yes that was a quake today - man they are getting bigger and more frequent, scary stuff!

yeah, I know, but at this point, it's more a point for practice on my J - was married to a J lady, i can fight in nihongo fantastically, general convo needs work, so being honest, I tend to avoid gaijin for the most part.
(I am the only non native in my office, while work based convo's are ok, general kaiwa needs work)

That and my current licence is through my dive club - will PM details, prefer not to speak direclty if you want to know. even though I am 'advanced diver' can't dive with a buddy on mine till I hit master Diver.

Am actually happy taking it slow.

my friends back in oz don't get the sig...

where you based? I live in Nezu (stones throw from ueno zoo)

 

[ken chung ar]

That and my current licence is through my dive club - will PM details, prefer not to speak direclty if you want to know. even though I am 'advanced diver' can't dive with a buddy on mine till I hit master Diver.

hi sasq,

welcome to a strange land. although i have lived in this country for 15 years, it's still strange sometimes, particularly its people. a good example is, perhaps, ur dive club (JUDF-oriented?). no diver here is expected to be independent, and everyone follows their guide.

PADI Japan wants to correct it, though. they try to teach diving students to be on their own, to become able to navigate themselves underwater, etc. a good way to practice independent diving is to plan and execute ur own dives with beach entry. u can do that in IOP, Ohsezaki, Arari-koganezaki, and Akazawa in Izu area. u go
with ur budy who watches u during diving. even if u and ur budy get lost UW, u put ur head up above water and see easily where u are, since it's a shallow beach without current.

ken chung ar
frantic Dolphin diver

 

[Sasq]

My first ocean dives here were at ohsezaki, not the most riviting of places to look at, but yeah, borderline impossible to get lost

Due to complications of my first few years here (read J wife, who sucked the life/cash outa me, and cut me off from the rest of the world - no not bitter at all am I ) I don't even know anyone to go buddy diving with atm.

nope not JUDI based, little different, as I said, more or less happy taking it slow. I did sign up for a 'dive-all-you-want' subscription with my club, 27000 a month, but if I book for a one day dive, costs me 1500 to get out to izu, go for my two dives etc (plus insurance/service fee etc - yay japan)
Bound to that for 12 months, after I get past that I am looking forward to branching out - well before, but you know what its like here for spare time.

As I said, my club takes it slow, and won't let you do buddy level licence till you have 25 dives under your belt, then the course is I think 6 ocean dives, two of which are navigation (I think). Thats only after I have done the rescue diver course, which covers CPR etc as well. (anyone not in Japan reading this, I have yet to meet a non medical person here or someone that needs it for their job, who can)

The follow the instructor thing irritates me a little, feel more like I am on a tour bus then enjoying myself, but, all in time.

At this point, Living in centeral tokyo, I don't have a car, so organising myself to get out to Izu is an exercise in pain and frustration.

Planning on using this 12 months of dive all i can, to get to know izu, in the non painful deal with traffic way, and hopefully meet a few people on the way to team up doing budy dives with later.

Oh and if anyone knows any good links/books that gives pointers on UW navigation, let me know

 

[Mar Scuba]

Ken, sounds to me like BSAC/CMAS.

When I train divers, I teach them to dive in independent buddy pairs, to plan the dive and dive the plan. That includes navigation from and back to the descent line.

However, many many Japanese instructors I have seen do not, whether they are PADI, NAUI, or some other Japanese organization. It's follow the leader, the Divemaster has a computer so you all don't need one, etc.

On the other hand, I know a few really good Japanese instructors, one retired now, who are just great teachers.

Sasq, if you would like to become more independent and learn how to look after your buddy, feel free to join one of our tours, or PM myself, Jonathan, Thomas, or Jagfish.

 

[Sasq]

It's not quite as bad as that. to get my 'advanced' the whole weekend was, BC control, learn your computer, watch your gages, octo shareing, reg recovery, mask recovery etc. they really drilled the saftey aspect. just zero on the navigation. but they made sure we knew how to respond to a buddy who was having air problems, and how to ask for help. I figure its a good start.

check PM

 

[HakoFugu]

Hi, Dan (and everyone!)

I'm out in Yamanashi prefecture (which, as luck would have it, is about as far as you can be from the ocean and still be in Japan, with the exception of central Hokkaido!). I got my OW cert through a local PADI outfit, with a trip out to Futo in Izu, about two years ago. I have to say that self-sufficiency didn't seem to be the goal, and I was a little taken aback at how quickly they rushed through some of the safety procedures. Navigation study consisted of swimming in a straight line for a few meters, turning around, and coming back. The people were quite friendly, receptive to questions, and patient with my poor Japanese skills, but it really seemed like they were grooming students to play follow-the-leader.

I haven't gone diving since my training dives, but I'm going again with them in a few weeks just for a refresher.

Mar Scuba, I'm very interested in your programs, so I imagine I'll be contacting you in the near future!

In the meantime, I'm looking for like-minded buddies (i.e., beginners... or patient intermediates!) that want to make some trips to Izu to practice skills and wander around in a safe environment. I'm in no hurry, and have no interest in pushing any envelopes or diving anywhere near my limits. But I'd really like to do some diving this season. Haven't really investigated any diving clubs, but it sounds a little restrictive? That and my poor Japanese skills have held me back a bit.

Anyway, maybe I'll have a chance to dive with some of you in the future!

Cheers,
Joel

 

[Mar Scuba]

Mar Scuba, I'm very interested in your programs, so I imagine I'll be contacting you in the near future!

In the meantime, I'm looking for like-minded buddies (i.e., beginners... or patient intermediates!) that want to make some trips to Izu to practice skills and wander around in a safe environment. I'm in no hurry, and have no interest in pushing any envelopes or diving anywhere near my limits. But I'd really like to do some diving this season. Haven't really investigated any diving clubs, but it sounds a little restrictive? That and my poor Japanese skills have held me back a bit.

Hi, Joel, look forward to meeting you in person.

We are starting a new program with more beach diving to allow people to develop their skills. For example, one dive will have a Peak Performance Buoyancy lecture and some thoughts on how to increase the Zen of Scuba Diving (Mar Scuba motto and trademark).

Please send me an e-mail and we can arrange something soon,