Remember your first dive?

[Hank49]

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, 1980 or so.

Swam out with Dr John E “Jack” Randall with no previous training whatsoever.
He said, “you ready”? And down we went.
He spent all his time taking photos. I used my air in about 20 minutes it seemed.
I remember thinking during the dive, “this is pretty cool, but I’d rather be surfing”. Didn’t dive again until 1993, when I got certified in the Philippines.

 

[Sam Miller III]

@mcpowell

There are some who were honored as observers and/or active participants in the recreational diving community from its very inception to the present day.

These individuals have no need of studying diving history for they lived it and would enjoy that dive history be preservers as accurate as humanly possible for future generations

There are those great historians who create their own concept of diving history-who can recall equipment that was never produced, events that never happen, people who were never involved, all based on - I think, I was told, I heard, I believe I suppose -- all statements devoid of facts, but molded for the readers as facts

Please check your PM

Sdm

 

[dead dog]

@mcpowell
There are those great historians who create their own concept of diving history-who can recall equipment that was never produced, events that never happen, people who were never involved, all based on - I think, I was told, I heard, I believe I suppose -- all statements devoid of facts, but molded for the readers as facts

Sam, that sounds sooo... much like you. Make your own history in life.

 

[ColoBob]

1980. I'd been snorkeling a lot. Bought a tank & regulator (tank was full). Went to a small lake & tried it - it was cool. Buddies? Well my brothers were above me with their snorkels. Then signed up for lessons & saved my money for a full wet suit and horse collar BC. Couldn't afford any of those new, fancy jacket BCs.

 

[jadairiii]

First dive after SCUBA class, with my freshly printed NAUI Jr Scuba Diver card in hand. Pennekamp, 1975. Family rented a couple of jon boats and we went out to the reef (??). I had borrowed my dive buddy's sister's gear, Dacor olympic regulator w/spg, Dacor 72 and a Dacor safety vest (not a BC) and my mask/fins/snorkel. In my hast to do my first "real" dive I rolled over the side with no fins, regulator not in my mouth, vest not inflated and over-weighted. Splash......panic......somehow launch myself back up to the side of the jon boat. Take a break, put the fins on, reg in mouth and have a great dive! The rest as they say is history. And from 1975 there was only one year that I did no diving at all, first year of working after college.

 

[The Chairman]

My first dive was in Lake Underhill in the summer of 1969. I was taught by a Master Chief at the Navy Base there, though it wasn't much of a class. My buddy and I separated almost immediately upon descent. I swam around, found a cool looking hole and then I ran into reeds (bullrushes?) No having a clue where I was I pushed off the bottom and surfaced. Coiled on top of the reeds was the largest Moccasin I had ever seen then or since. It was just moving it's head to check out the disturbance and I was pulling myself down to the bottom, kicked off and swam like mad, making sure I changed directions to lose the snake I just knew was hunting me down. Still pretty freaked, I ascended and looked for the reeds where I saw the Moccasin still sunning itself lazily on top of the reeds. Whew! I took a bead on the concrete dock we dove off of, descended and swam towards it. I found it with my head. Ouch. Vis was simply horrible shallow. I walked up the boat ramp and heard my buddy call out as he was swimming in from a completely different direction. No SPG, no depth gauge, no bladder and no instructor. I had a blast. Next summer will be 50 years of diving for me... I don't know that I'll head back to Lake Underhill. They've bisected it with the East/West expressway and it's more polluted than ever.

 

[Tripp]

I grew up watching "Flipper!" and I had always wanted to scuba dive. I hated having to continually come up for air when swimming underwater with a mask. I went to St. Croix for a spring break from medical school with a friend from school. I saw a pamphlet for a day-long course to check scuba out. I signed up. It was on the north shore, near Cane Bay. We had about an hour of "class" at a picnic table under some palms, then did a shore dive during which we descended gradually along the bottom. I still vividly remember the feeling of being able to breathe underwater. Such freedom! I was instantly hooked. We eventually reached a wreck of a Cessna or Piper, then gradually re-ascended along the bottom to the beach, and had lunch. The second dive we went out until we were on a fantastic coral-covered wall, and descended next to it, observing all of the colorful life that lived on it. I have no idea how deep we went, but we ascended in the same way, gradually following the bottom up to the beach. Couldn't get certified until all my medical training was finished, but am so glad I did.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

No. I'm happy to remember my wife's name.

 

[TMHeimer]

First OW course checkout dive (log book dive #1)-- Paddy's Head, Nova Scotia. Nov. 4, 2005.
I did #300 there also and plan #1,000 there in 2+ years.
First post-OW course dive (log book #5)--Vortex Spring, FL panhandle (solo). Feb. 4, 2006.

 

[dead dog]

No. I'm happy to remember my wife's name.

And..... her birthday. lol