Getting Cert. and Headed to Andros!

[ScubaDru]

Alright... Here goes... First post!

I'm currently a student at Oberlin College, Oberlin OH. I'm getting certified at the LDS as my family is going to Andros Island (bahamas) Oct. 15th! I'm extremely excited and am totally in love with scuba already. I hope to contribute more to this awesome board as I get more experience.

Anyway... I had some questions I wanted to throw out there:

1.) Supposing the bahamas are spared from another storm, will the diving conditions be affected from the recent hurricanes?

2.) Has anyone ever been to Andros? What do you recommend / suggest against?

3.) Since I will only have my Open Water Cert, does that limit me to certain dives? If there is a dive guide accompanying us, does that let me, for instance, do "the wall" which goes down around 90ft? Or do I need more certification (ex: advanced open water)

4.) And one quick equipment question , I'm being offered a used Knighthawk for around 200 bucks. I've read they are nice, but I've been training in a SP Glide 500 which is jacket stlye and I like the way it acts like a life jacket at the surface so you can just bob there and relax. Will the back inflation on the Knighthawk allow for this?

Thanks!

-Drew

 

[ThatsMe]

Alright... Here goes... First post!

I'm currently a student at Oberlin College, Oberlin OH. I'm getting certified at the LDS as my family is going to Andros Island (bahamas) Oct. 15th! I'm extremely excited and am totally in love with scuba already. I hope to contribute more to this awesome board as I get more experience.

Anyway... I had some questions I wanted to throw out there:

1.) Supposing the bahamas are spared from another storm, will the diving conditions be affected from the recent hurricanes?

2.) Has anyone ever been to Andros? What do you recommend / suggest against?

3.) Since I will only have my Open Water Cert, does that limit me to certain dives? If there is a dive guide accompanying us, does that let me, for instance, do "the wall" which goes down around 90ft? Or do I need more certification (ex: advanced open water)

4.) And one quick equipment question , I'm being offered a used Knighthawk for around 200 bucks. I've read they are nice, but I've been training in a SP Glide 500 which is jacket stlye and I like the way it acts like a life jacket at the surface so you can just bob there and relax. Will the back inflation on the Knighthawk allow for this?

Thanks!

-Drew

for the wall dive they are probably going to want you to have some type of experiance.

 

[zf2nt]

Alright... Here goes... First post!

I'm currently a student at Oberlin College, Oberlin OH. I'm getting certified at the LDS as my family is going to Andros Island (bahamas) Oct. 15th! I'm extremely excited and am totally in love with scuba already. I hope to contribute more to this awesome board as I get more experience.

Anyway... I had some questions I wanted to throw out there:

1.) Supposing the bahamas are spared from another storm, will the diving conditions be affected from the recent hurricanes?

2.) Has anyone ever been to Andros? What do you recommend / suggest against?

3.) Since I will only have my Open Water Cert, does that limit me to certain dives? If there is a dive guide accompanying us, does that let me, for instance, do "the wall" which goes down around 90ft? Or do I need more certification (ex: advanced open water)

4.) And one quick equipment question , I'm being offered a used Knighthawk for around 200 bucks. I've read they are nice, but I've been training in a SP Glide 500 which is jacket stlye and I like the way it acts like a life jacket at the surface so you can just bob there and relax. Will the back inflation on the Knighthawk allow for this?

Thanks!

-Drew

That's a good price on the Knighthawk, so if it fits you and it's in good condition, then you probably should grab it. I have both a Knighthawk and a Seaquest Balance, which are very similar to each other, and vastly prefer them to the old front-inflation BC's (such as that SP Glide). With a modest amount of inflation, you will bob up in a vertical position and be totally comfortable. With too much inflation, you're likely to end up more horizontal. Even there, though, it's quite possible to lie on your back if you just spread your legs apart. The back inflation BC's really are much more comfortable, IMHO. (I'll also admit I prefer the Balance to the Knighthawk.)

As far as diving with just a OW card, don't worry about it. The divemasters are likely to watch everybody carefully on the first dive, irrespective of certification level, just to get a feel for who they need to watch more carefully. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to have all the divers put their own gear together for the first dive and then watch to see who knows how to do it on their own and who has to ask questions. You may get a lot of special attention you don't necessarily want if you fumble with this, show you can't control buoyancy once you get in the water, or flail about wildly once you start swimming. But if you appear competent, you're probably not going to have any hassles about doing any of the dives with that OW card. I dived for over 10 years with just the PADI Basic C-card. That was PADI's entry level certification up until about 1987, at which time they virtually disavowed it. But never once did I have a resort operator challenge me about doing any dives with my Basic card.

All that notwithstanding, you really should ask once you get to Andros about taking an AOW course or maybe going for one of the specialties. You're likely to do just about everything required for an AOW anyway, so why not get a little professional coaching while you're at it and upgrade there at the resort?

And by the way, if Andros hasn't been hit by extremely strong waves you're not going to see anything under the water be different as a result of all the hurricanes.

Bruce

 

[ScubaDru]

Bruce, Thanks for the advice on the BC. And I'll definately look into the AOW course both here and @ Andros.
-Drew

 

[pharmguy]

Hope you are getting excited.

Who are you diving with? I dove with Small Hope Bay when I was on Andros (1997?) and they were a good operation. Before they let me on the boat they made me prove myself with a BCD-reg-mask removal and replacement in 5 ft of water. I had been certified OW in Canada 18 months before and had no experience other than my 4 OW dives. They seemed to have no problem with my first OW dive being a 95 ft wall after I passed their little test.

There is a big naval presence on the island so don't be alarmed by this sounds you may hear. Do be careful in the bars though.

Enjoy.

 

[FredT]

1.) Supposing the bahamas are spared from another storm, will the diving conditions be affected from the recent hurricanes?

-Drew

The bottom off the east side of andros is mostly lithified marl and coral. If anything the storms will have helped clean the reef. After the hurricanes and November Storms when I was there vis was back to half of normal within a week, with the full 150 to 200 foot vis coming back after about 3 weeks as the finer marl settles out.

2.) Has anyone ever been to Andros? What do you recommend / suggest against?
-Drew

IF going to SHBL you are at about the best place to eat and drink on the island already. There are a couple of good Bahamian bars in Fresh Creek and a really nice one the size of about 10 phone boths up by Stafford Creek. The thing that makes a good bahamian bar are the people on both sides of the bar, not the amenities. The Bahamians off the tourist islands are wonderful friendly people provided you accept them as equals. The "ugly american" is accepted poorly where ever you go inthe world. If in Fresh Creek there is a restraunt a couple blocks above the creek on the north side that serves the best cracked conch I've ever had.

3.) Since I will only have my Open Water Cert, does that limit me to certain dives? If there is a dive guide accompanying us, does that let me, for instance, do "the wall" which goes down around 90ft? Or do I need more certification (ex: advanced open water)

-Drew

"The WALL" on the east side of Andros goes to 6000 ft, not 90. It STARTS at between 70' and 240' depending on where you are on the island. 90' sounds like you are going to the Fresh Creek area. Hang with the divemasters and you'll do fine. All the other complicating factors for deep and wall dives like low vis, currents, and cold water are missing off Andros. Relax and enjoy the dives. Just realize that it may spoil you for lesser locations.

4.) And one quick equipment question , I'm being offered a used Knighthawk for around 200 bucks. I've read they are nice, but I've been training in a SP Glide 500 which is jacket stlye and I like the way it acts like a life jacket at the surface so you can just bob there and relax. Will the back inflation on the Knighthawk allow for this?

Thanks!

-Drew

A a caveat I manufacture backplates and related gear, so consider the source. I've been diving for over 35 years. All but 10 of those have been with a back inflation rig in one form or another. The 10 years I dove with a SP Jacket there simply weren't any decent back inflation rigs around. Once you've used one a few times you won't want to go back to the poodle jacket. Better stability in the water both submerged and on the surface and considerably less "equipment related" drag. Check out the DIR forums here for more info on the back inflation systems available.

FT