1st time in salt water

[DIvemaster234]

Make your 1st dive there a shallow one(40-60fsw) because when you get in the water the 1st time you will be so excited that first bottle will be sucked DRY in minutes.

Have a good time.

 

[Don Burke]

Other than depth >130ft and sharks, what are the things I need to remember to consider when diving off Hawaii? My training and only other dive experience (3 dives) has been in fresh water quarry with depth of 35 feet.

Sharks are actually a minor consideration, although pretty much everything in the ocean has some way of hurting you.

Make the first couple of dives fairly shallow to make gas management and bottom time non-issues until you get your weighting figured out. That will be pretty easy to set up in Hawaii.

Your weighting will be pretty easy to figure out. Get yourself adjusted for neutral in freshwater with the same gear you intend to dive in the ocean. Divide overall weight of diver and all gear by forty and that's the amount of weight you need to add. Round up any fraction of a pound.

 

[MikeC]

Don't forget a safety sausage and whistle, in case you surface away from the boat, assuming you are doing a boat dive.

As with all diving DRINK lots of FRESH water.

Have fun.

 

[scubacowboy]

Don't forget a safety sausage and whistle, in case you surface away from the boat, assuming you are doing a boat dive.

As with all diving DRINK lots of FRESH water.

Have fun.

OH MOST DEFINETLY!!!., I wouldnt dive without one, the sausage saved me , my neice, and my brother in law from a long night of drifting hopeing to found after the anchor line broke and the guy I had on top had no clue he was drifting. I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about that!

 

[Hank49]

Hawaii has waves. Lots of waves. This time of year from the south/southwest and in the northern hemisphere winter months, very large swells from the north/northwest. If you're not familiar with the ocean, listen closely to your divemaster. Shore dives can be extemely tricky with undertows created by incoming waves, and sideshore currents. If there is a swell, stay away from shore, especailly if it's rocky or with reef. Or better yet, do'nt dive that day....take a surfing lesson.

 

[farmir]

Thank you all for the info. Some I had considered (ie. waves, boat crashing down on my head etc.) some I had not. Saftey sausage and H2O both great thoughts I hadn't considered. Weight I know will be different not sure how much I normally wear 3mm full suit with hood and 20 lbs in fresh water and was figuring an extra 6 lbs would be about right.


Thanks again,
Brian

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I wear the same amount of weight in my 3mm full suit in saltwater as I do in my 1/4 inch suit in fresh water (12 lbs; I'm 5'7, 125lbs). Make sure you take the time to do a proper buoyancy check.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Pilaar39]

I haven't done a lot of diving.. yet, but what I have done has been in the Caribbean off a dive boat. We just got back from a weeks diving off Grand Bahama Island.

Take a Triptone if you get seasick.. I take one everytime I get on the boat.. weak stomach! We had pretty heavy swells.. at least to me: about 6 feet. Boat was tossing all over. Very difficult to move around.

Watch out getting back on the boat if there are waves. That ladder can really slam around and slam you around.. my wife's legs are totally black and blue from bruises. And always stay back away from the ladder until the person in front of you is fully back on board.. nothing like a diver falling back on you!

Close your eyes if clearing your mask.. the salt water stings

The water was 78 degrees.. and we had 3 mm full wetsuits. Towards the end of the week (after 10 dives) we started to get cold. I was told the more diving you do, the lower your core body temperature gets. I believe it!

 

[Hory]

Close your eyes because salt water stings? Yes they do sting, but get used to it. I normally open my eyes on salt water for about a minute or so while I'm doing my bouyancy check. The eyes adjust to it and won't sting after that. You need to get used to it as you will clear your mask from time to time or flood it to get rid of fog if you haven't put any defogging gel or liquid on your mask.

If at any point in the dive, you don't feel comfortable, let your DM know so that you and your buddy could end the dive or the whole group ends the dive. Don't be embarrassed by nasty stares on the boat for doing this. Safety first!

I guess you will be doing a lot of boat entry dives in Hawaii. You can leave the snorkel behind. They're just useless underwater.

While diving, make sure you are close to your buddy so that if there are any OOA situations, you can easily get to him to share air. Best that you do your first dive in shallow water initially, practice the hand signals and safety drills before doing any deeper depth diving. This first dive, or "shakeout" dive will flush out any equipment problems or safety issues. It's also good to know if your buddy is experienced enough to handle emergency situations.

Have fun and enjoy Hawaii!

Hory

 

[Hory]

Oh, one final thought. Don't fly after diving. Give yourself at least 24 hours before your flight out of Hawaii.