Tippytoes12
Contributor
There will be a global pandemic in 2020 and you won’t be able to travel to dive for over a year or even two, so use every bit of your annual leave and dive, dive, dive....
What are things you wish you could tell your past self (SCUBA RELATED)?
- Thread starter Addison Snyder
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Start diving as a teen or college student and travel the world as a dive guide. Live on the bare necessities and see the world.
But since I started when I was almost 50 ... don't buy all that expensive gear the salesman recommends. He's upselling you stuff you'll NEVER need! I got this jacket BC that can hold way more weight than I'll ever need in warm water and I hated it. I think we dropped $6K on gear between the two of us as soon as we were certified, and I don't think we use any of it other than the regulators now.
You don't need an expensive computer to dive.
Don't get the split fins. They're not helpful in current (at least not for you). Don't buy the ScubaPro Jets - they're too heavy and you'll end up in a heads up position all the time.
Learn to do a frog kick - or some version of it - early.
Stop chasing sharks - you can't catch them and you're just burning up your tank. Slow down and 'smell the roses'. It's not a race.
Hand finning doesn't do much to help propel you in any direction - but your brain doesn't know that - so when you fin like crazy you'll still bump into people and coral, sink, float - learn how to use your lungs and feet fins to control your placement in the water column.
But since I started when I was almost 50 ... don't buy all that expensive gear the salesman recommends. He's upselling you stuff you'll NEVER need! I got this jacket BC that can hold way more weight than I'll ever need in warm water and I hated it. I think we dropped $6K on gear between the two of us as soon as we were certified, and I don't think we use any of it other than the regulators now.
You don't need an expensive computer to dive.
Don't get the split fins. They're not helpful in current (at least not for you). Don't buy the ScubaPro Jets - they're too heavy and you'll end up in a heads up position all the time.
Learn to do a frog kick - or some version of it - early.
Stop chasing sharks - you can't catch them and you're just burning up your tank. Slow down and 'smell the roses'. It's not a race.
Hand finning doesn't do much to help propel you in any direction - but your brain doesn't know that - so when you fin like crazy you'll still bump into people and coral, sink, float - learn how to use your lungs and feet fins to control your placement in the water column.
CT-Rich
Contributor
The twelve week SCUBA DIVER certification was $125 for the NAUI program at a local Y. The three open water dives cost, I think, $35 plus rental ($25) and were done on a single tank. Total $185 in 1980 or $590 in today’s dollars and be the equivalent of AOW. The Assistant Instructor course was a college class and was covered by tuition and my tank was filled at no cost.
Take the darn class 20+ years sooner.
If you live somewhere will frozen lakes/seas 3-6 months a year, buy a drysuit from day 1. A very high-quality, warm semidry was a waste of money, happiness, comfort and dive time. Don’t make that mistake.
If you live somewhere will frozen lakes/seas 3-6 months a year, buy a drysuit from day 1. A very high-quality, warm semidry was a waste of money, happiness, comfort and dive time. Don’t make that mistake.
Gone for diving
Contributor
Don't bother with a new bcd jacket.
Buy a Back plate. Make back plate extension sooner to move waistband lower so its easier to get to d rings.
Buy a Back plate. Make back plate extension sooner to move waistband lower so its easier to get to d rings.
Go cave as soon as possible.
Having only experienced the cenotes of the Yucatán in my early 60’s (I am 71), I wish I had pursued cave in my 30’s.
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