Welcome to spending er diving! And welcome to the board. You've likely lurked all over by now and starting to get feel the community out. It's a great board to learn the lingo, equipment and dive sites.
Let the excitement take its' course before you start spending. For sure look up Fins, Mask, and good regulators. Regulators: just say that out loud here on the board and that will set off a grass fire. haha. For me I went out and spent a years wage on gear. Then I found out what I needed. The yard sale was huge at my house. I wondered why the dive shop owner was so nice to me for the first few months.
If you need glasses to see, then start looking for masks first. It will take a while to get a perscription. I would advise actually buying two masks one for backup. With a perscription it is a little more difficult to dive somewhere if you break the mask and need another.
There are many types of devices for diving that you can test with most dive shops. Maybe go that route if you can at the local pool after you get your pool time for your certification. Some like to have their own bc for learning, I did. I bought a used jacket bc. and a new Zeagle ranger wing bc. I bought the wing bc because I had a sense that I would rather like that set up vs jacket style. I was right. I also had friends that dive with a backplate/wing and I figured it would be an easy switch if I went that way. I have. I still have my zeagle, I store it on Cozumel Island as I dive there a lot. I dive with my wing more here in Canada so far. I think thats starting to change also.
I see a lot of new divers coming to our dive shop trip meetings once a month. See if that goes on in your area. Get a feel for the dive shop and see if the equipment is what you like. It's a great way to meet people and learn a great hobby. That's great you run, that will help with your breathing rate at depth. The only time I run is when my wife asks me how she looks in a certain dress or something like that. Anyway, where is home for you? I grew up in Owen Sound. Like written earlier lots of good diving around Ontario. Even better on the west coast. But you will need more gear,, o man it never stops..... have fun pal. kev
