Brand new, life forced my "bucket list"

[Serch333]

Hi everyone. As you can see by the title, I'm brand new to this and recently beating cancer at 45 into 46 has kinda forced me into rethinking and actually DOING the things I've always wanted to do.
Outside of traveling to certain world landmarks or countries, actually finally learning how to and going scuba diving, even if it's just a handful of times, is right at the top.
I'm an NYC guy,,but live in Long Island now, and as far as I know, NY/LI isn't world renowned for its scuba community. However, I am somewhat aware it's far from nonexistent.
So I was wondering if maybe some helpful suggestions and such could help me slog through the Google results in regards to learning, becoming certified (I suppose; im not even 100% sure if that means I CANNOT scuba until I get certified, or if it means that it could go "on my own" once certified).
My 2 main points is that I'm NOT looking to discover buried teasure or WWII wrecks lol, but rather just a fun, memorable underwater experience, and then above all, safety first. I am, at the very least, aware of decompression sickness, oxygen "poisoning," and overall not being a schmuck and bolting to the bottom, forgetting to breathe, or panicking and doing the reverse of bolting up TO the surface.
Any suggestions around the Long Island area for really impressive, safety heavy, but helpful with newbs like me to have a great time even in places like Long Island, would leave me much obliged.
Thanks in advance, cheers to all

 

[rx7diver]

Hi everyone. As you can see ...

For a first step, you might consider finding a LDS (local dive shop) that offers a "Discover Scuba" experience (where you're introduced to scuba by a scuba instructor who takes you scuba diving in a swimming pool).

rx7diver

 

[Khoujo1]

Welcome to diving! My wife and I picked up diving late, in our early 50s, and now it’s a focus for our travel. There’s no “right way” to do this, but here are my thoughts and suggestions.

1. I would absolutely begin with a Discovery Scuba dive in a warm and tropical location. This is a no stress way to find out if moving ahead with certification is for you. I would NOT do it in a pool or quarry, as the whole point (at least for us) was to see the fabulous life in the ocean. On our DSD we saw turtles and a bait ball and we were hooked.

2. If you want to then proceed, do the class work online. We did the PADI eLearning; I’m not sure if SSI/NAUI has similar offerings. We were fortunate in that we were able to do the confined diving section in the ocean, but most people do it in a pool. I would do this locally so you don’t waste a day in a great destination doing it.

3. Then go somewhere to do the open water section. We’ve had some great diving in St. Croix, Grand Cayman, Playa del Carmen, and Aruba. You can get to any of these locations easily from NYC. (Message me if you’d like dive shop references.). Most of our diving is actually in Hawaii, but unless you’re going there anyway the Caribbean is closer and less expensive.

Anyway, I hope you dive right in and especially hope your cancer remains in your past!

 

[Alex Ouroboros]

Glad you beat the “big C” really makes you re-evaluate a lot of things and by god you appreciate things much more!
You’ll have loads of pointers off the forum which will be more local and thus more suited for yourself,
You will be pointed in the right direction to someone local and reputable, don’t worry about which agency, the instructor(s) and how they are is important, take a step at a time, don’t rush things enjoy the journey which you will, give it a fair crack of the whip too, if things don’t go easily please persevere it will be worth it to you.
Oh, a bit of advice, to make it all much easier, once you’ve found a shop and had a taster, make buying your own mask (n snorkel) a priority, it will be much better than a school one even from the beginning, (my personal fave is a Cressi. A good all rounder, and cater for many different face shapes.

Good luck, enjoy.

 

[Marie13]

Glad you beat the “big C” really makes you re-evaluate a lot of things and by god you appreciate things much more!
You’ll have loads of pointers off the forum which will be more local and thus more suited for yourself,
You will be pointed in the right direction to someone local and reputable, don’t worry about which agency, the instructor(s) and how they are is important, take a step at a time, don’t rush things enjoy the journey which you will, give it a fair crack of the whip too, if things don’t go easily please persevere it will be worth it to you.
Oh, a bit of advice, to make it all much easier, once you’ve found a shop and had a taster, make buying your own mask (n snorkel) a priority, it will be much better than a school one even from the beginning, (my personal fave is a Cressi. A good all rounder, and cater for many different face shapes.

Good luck, enjoy.

Shops in the US (outside of touristy areas, such as FL) generally require students to have their own mask, snorkel, fins, and booties.

 

[-JD-]

You might be surprised that there is a pretty solid local diving community for you ...

These are good folks to talk to and join: Big Apple Divers
They do both local, regional, and travel diving. Strong mentoring and social aspects too!

There is also your LI divimg group that does at least shore diving: Long Island Divers Association


IF you can make it down to the Meadowlands later this month, there is a consumer dive show: BTS - Beneath the Sea 2024 - March 22nd-24th - Meadowlands, NJ
B.A.D and L.I.D.A will both be there. As will some other local dive groups and a pile of travel destination exhibitors.

Big congats! And best wishes for your new journey ...

 

[TMurrr]

Try diving in a tropical place. Then learn in a tropical place.
Heck, just book a trip to somewhere warm, find a dive shop on the island, and do the E-learning beforehand so you can step off the plane into your open water class. Most of the major certs do e-learning. Pick whichever agency your tropical dive shop (TDS?) uses.

Padi gets a bad rap around here and with most 'serious' scuba shops.
Why? They charge the most and provide the least. But their marketing department is phenomenal so they've crept into most corners of the globe. Its the most recognizable cert around.
SSI/SDI/NAUI / others are no better or worse, simply less expensive for the learning materials and the price of instruction is purely location based. Even in SoFL it varies from a $200 Groupon to $1k+

Which one to pick? Whichever one is convenient for you and has a good instructor to teach you.
(I'm going to get some hate for this opinion) But I believe quality of instructor for your Open Water matters much, much less than most other certs.
Open water is just basic skills / safety. Find a competent instructor who's teaching style you can learn from and is mid/upper tier. Ideally just chat with them for a bit, you can usually get a good 'vibe' if they are able to communicate with you in a way you like. If they can, go with your gut. You don't need to be trained by a world renowned cave diver your first time in the ocean. If the #1 in your area charges $1k+ (and is PADI) and the #2 instructor is ~$600 (and SSI), the choice is clear. Go #2.

Feel free to ask about specific dive shops on here, chances are someone has an opinion to share.

FWIW I learned to dive in a cold and gloomy March in southern California.
The 52* temps with an ill fitting 7mm and getting out to wet/cold/rainy was miserable.

My OW instructors argued the difference between 10ft of vis, and 15 foot of vis on the day of our checkout dives. If the instructors are arguing about vis, you want the argument to be "60-80ft" or "no, it was at least 100ft today!" not 10ft vs 15ft...

300+ dives later across 6 years and I wish I found the Caribbean (and Florida) sooner.
Next stop, southeast asia.