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I play in West Palm Beach, FL. Great sport and absolutely great training for snorkelling/diving, as your skills quickly become second nature.

I agree with the above posts- a nitrox computer that does up to 45-50% is more than enough to meet your needs. I personally use an Oceanic Veo 180. It is a very simple, durable air/nitrox computer that I think is another good entry level computer and is pretty affordable. (Actually, I think the...

Well, I can give you 2 specific opinions from personal experience of 2 very different divers. 1st diver is a young brash fit guy in his mid twenties, diving before "tech" was established. He was diving a lot, fit, experienced for his age, comfortable in his gear. Diving with an older brother who...

Of course, you should seek medical attention and not rely on medical advice from a message board... But I just dealt with something similar after switching to new stiffer fins and playing some hi-level games of underwater hockey, then running a couple times on it even after it was hurting a...

Since I play underwater hockey, as well as scuba and free dive, I've found the Mares Quattro FULL FOOT fin to be an excellent fin for all 3. Fast and strong enough for hockey, light enough and full foot for free diving, and strong enough for the tropical scuba that I do. Not sure how they'd be...

Wow, that's a pretty rough day for a first ocean dive! Many boats in our area won't even go out in that. You should be proud to just have seen it through! And don't worry that it wasn't 100 ft vis with bright corals and manta rays and whale sharks... those great perfect dives don't happen every...

I've definitely seen them in the area over the years.

This argument is akin to saying that we should stop teaching kids to add, substract, multiply and divide, and instead just teach them which buttons to punch on the calculator. The vast majority of us use a calculator for all but the simplest numbers, yet I'd guess most of us appreciate knowing...

Definitely recommend a safety sausage and either finger spool or reel. Also, practice deploying it before your dive, if possible. Doing it for the first time by yourself on an ascent during a dive you're uncomfortable about is not a good idea. Most importantly, make sure the DM knows of your...

$5/tank is pretty standard in FL, but again, it depends on service provided and required. When my kids were little and we went to restaurants, my starting baseline tip went up, since they always required more work, patience, cleanup, etc.and I recognize that. Now that they are older, I'm back to...

I think eventually all serious divers end up with computers, but I prefer table training for a few reasons: 1. As stated, good straightforward model for teaching decompression theory, nitrogen loading, residual nitrogen, etc 2. Most new divers, in my experience, buy their gear first without a...

Aside from understanding dead space and the benefits of longer deeper breaths, by far the biggest factors for consumption for me have always been comfort with my gear, abilities and the conditions. The good news is that the best way to get that comfort is by diving a lot!! Also, I find that...

Also, look for a local underwater hockey club to play with. Besides being a fun sport, it'll quickly improve your snorkelling skills until they become second nature. I know there's a club in Charleston, not sure about NC.

There is nothing you can do that is more effective at making snorkelling/free-diving second nature. The most fun you can have underwater without a tank!

I own and like my Veo 180- it is simple, reliable and easy to set for air or different nitrox blends. Gives all the needed information including no-deco limits, remaining bottom time, elapsed bottom time, temp, max depth, PO2 limits (for nitrox use), etc. Stores plenty of dives, at least long...

I think I can give you an opinion from very close to your situation. I have just finished my PADI DM course, and I think it was definitely worth doing. Whether or not I ever use it professionally or advance to Instructor, it was greatly worthwhile from both a knowledge and skills perspective...