Hi - From Dubai

[Riger]

Hello all,

I recently went on Holidays to the Maldives with my Family. My wife and I planned to read 7 books each while there......

Walking around the Island on the first evening, we "found" the dive school. There was an advert for a Discover Scuba Dive, thinking it would be fun, we signed up.

Next day, after the theory and the "mask clearing" and "second stage recovery" skills in about 1.8 meters of water in the Lagoon, we headed off to the Drop Off.....

For the better part of 42 years, I was told that heaven was up above, for the record, THAT IS NOT TRUE ..... Heaven is under the sea. My wife and I had 42 minutes with a max depth of 12 meters.

We subsequently signed up for and completed the PADI OpenWater course and an additional 10 dives including 9 from a boat, 1 night dive and 1 un-guided dive on the House Reef.

We are back home in Dubai now (been living here for 12 years) and have started to research the equipment we will buy.

During the course and subsequent dives, we met the most wonderful people from the Dive Community and we consider ourselves fortunate to have "fallen" into this new world.

Special Word of Thanks to Wilco Both, our PADI Instructor who made the course so interesting and easy.

Best Regards
Richard (Riger)

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Welcome to the board! That's a great story, I'm glad you guys had a good time on your trip and seem to have a passion for diving now.

 

[Riger]

Thanks for the Warm Welcome DivingP

 

[sarita75]

:colouredsmilies: Welcome to ScubaBoard! :colouredsmilies: Glad to hear that you had such a positive experience and that you will continue your diving adventures!!! Congrats!

 

[Lloyd De Jongh]

Hello all,

Walking around the Island on the first evening, we "found" the dive school. There was an advert for a Discover Scuba Dive, thinking it would be fun, we signed up.

Next day, after the theory and the "mask clearing" and "second stage recovery" skills in about 1.8 meters of water in the Lagoon, we headed off to the Drop Off.....

Best Regards
Richard (Riger)

Wow, great story! I had exactly the same experience while on holiday in Fujeirah! I saw the DSD offered at Sandy Beach, did that out of curiosity and completed the OW course a couple of days later! One month later I have all my gear!

Safe diving, maybe we'll even run into each other sometime

 

[Riger]

Wow, great story! I had exactly the same experience while on holiday in Fujeirah! I saw the DSD offered at Sandy Beach, did that out of curiosity and completed the OW course a couple of days later! One month later I have all my gear!

Safe diving, maybe we'll even run into each other sometime

Hey Lloyd,

We are hoping to get our gear purchased and sorted within the next week or two, we might try our first Fujeirah dive toward the end of January.

Looking forward to getting our feet wet in the local waters !!

Riger (Richard)

 

[Lloyd De Jongh]

You guys must be really excited! FYI, I bought almost all my gear in NY. It's significantly cheaper there than here, even if you end up paying shipping charges. I bought my Bare 3/2 full wetsuit for 330AED, best price for it here was 850AED, and my price included both gloves and boots.

I bought the PADI eRDP here for 150, it's 80AED online. Saw that too late. My reg was quoted at 1750AED, I got the newer version of that reg and my octo for 1288AED. You'd save maybe 30-40% if you checked online for your kit, have a look at LeisurePro Buy scuba gear, scuba diving and snorkeling equipment, and everything underwater from LeisurePro.com and ScubaToys Scuba Gear and Scuba Diving Equipment - Discount dive gear. I sometimes get stuff flown in for me by cabin crew that fly out there.

Saved $70 on my fins that way, and about 450AED on my torches that way.

Good diving

 

[Scuba Mama]

Welcome to Scuba Board! I love your story. It is absolute heaven and peaceful underwater. It is almost Zen Like.

Congratulations on your certification!