All help appreciated

[dwaters]

Welcome to the board and to your future addiction! Where is Califonia are you? if your from So.Cal. check out your future dive buddies on So.Cal.Kelp Divers. As other stated, buy the basics only and you get trained and learn what works for you, then buy the rest. As far as instruction, interview the teacher before jumping into a class. See http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=166469 for more help. Ask, listen, and you shall find your answers.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't know where you got that Rebel? No one in the US ever cards for gear purchases that I know of, not even tanks...? :11:

Your exact location in CA will help with suggestions. There's some great local diving in some areas, and we have two local dive clubs here. Diving in Palm Springs may not be so great.

If you haven't yet, click Forums above and start going thru the list - looking for those of interest to you, especially your local dive club. Always good to try a Search before starting a new thread, tho and be careful about posting Threads & Replies without reading the Stickies at the tops of most forums. Click the link in my Sig below to PM me if I can help you around here..

don

 

[WANNA SCUBA]

You guys are awesome. Love this site already!!

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

You can buy all the gear you want without a C card but any tanks you purchase will only have 14.7 psi in them at most

 

[redrover]

Hello Everyone. I am looking to get certified and dive this year. I am totally new to this and don't know squat.

I want to be able to dive in my spare time and on vacations I'm not looking to become a pro.

What certification would accomplish this?

What gear do I need to start collecting? What's the best place to get em?

Any other info is also welcome.

Thanks and Happy Diving!!

Opinions vary considerably as the order of gear purchases or when. All can be rented (at least as far as I’ve seen) for the class and you would do better to have some idea what seems important to you personally and make choices with a bit of experience diving in a variety of styles. My needs changed considerably from snorkeling into diving for just the basic mask, fin and snorkel.

For gear I say first is a mask that fits correctly. Try a few salesmen before deciding in case you have a difficult to fit face to be certain the person helping you knows how. This in particular is a personal fit issue and the right one may be a more expensive one and most likely you can’t tell what fits, and what fits correctly.

Then I suggest scouting around the shops asking to see the rental gear for a variety of styles to try and allow you something to go on for what suits you better. Try as many as you can. Perhaps there are places to just snorkel and try fins and wetsuit to get started. Just plan to be at a colder temperature for an hour.

Another suggestion as you’re still looking to get the class; take the time to pursue the gear threads (third chunk down) so you can see the opinions. Particularly important should you run across a steal of a deal, there may be a reason you’d be wise to pass it up.

And once you know what you want, aside from finding it on sale locally, scubatoys offers a discount to board members and is very helpful in general.