You are PADI Certified and now what.....and if you live in the center of USA ?

[boulderjohn]

I live near you. I will be going with a handful of divers to Santa Rosa, NM, this weekend. There are two sites there. One is the well known Blue Hole, a sink hole of moderate depth, cool water (about 62°), and roughly 75 feet of depth. (You can get deeper in one spot.) We will be diving the other site, Rock Lake. That site is much bigger and deeper than the Blue Hole (about 300 feet deep), but it is on private property and requires special permission. You have to dive under the supervision of someone with that permission (like me).

Someone suggested Blue Heron Bridge in Florida. I will be nearby for a while this winter, and I will be happy to show you it and other good sites in the area if you want to show up in South Florida.

As others have mentioned, Cozumel is a frequent destination for Colorado divers.

Many shops offer trips to more exotic locales. I bet whatever shop you are using has some scheduled right now.

 

[namerg]

I live near you. I will be going with a handful of divers to Santa Rosa, NM, this weekend.

Awesome. I am just a newbie. I am going on March to Homestead Crater in Utah to get my certification and afterwards if I can dive with you and your buddies to get more experience and have my skills polished that will be a plus. My goal is to be an Underwater Photographer. Cheers.

 

[boulderjohn]

Awesome. I am just a newbie. I am going on March to Homestead Crater in Utah to get my certification and afterwards if I can dive with you and your buddies to get more experience and have my skills polished that will be a plus. My goal is to be an Underwater Photographer. Cheers.

I look forward to it.

As a photographer, you will want to have superb buoyancy skills and kicking techniques that put you in position and hold you there without disturbing the environment. Not many recreational classes teach that for some reason.

I was diving for two weeks in the Philippines this fall, in two different locations with different sets of divers. Almost all were photographers. The difference was night and day. The first week was spent with strangers. They were all experienced divers with poor buoyancy control. They would go into a photography opportunity negatively buoyant and hold position by shoving a metal stick into the reef while their flutter kicking feet flailed away at the coral or sand beneath them. They either destroyed a lot of the environment or raised clouds of photograph-obscuring silt. At the second site, my better-trained friends could approach a subject, come to a full stop in mid water, hold their positions using technique instead of sticks, maneuver for shots using frog kicks, modified frog kicks, back kicks, sculling, and helicopter turns that enabled them to achieve precise position without disturbing the environment.

As I said, not many classes teach that, and there are few shops offering classes like that in the entire Rocky Mountain region. Let me know when you are ready.

 

[namerg]

Awesome boulderjhon. Thanks so much. I Love nature and want to explore the Underwater World. For sure i will get in touch once i get certified.

 

[RJP]

You are PADI Certified and now what...

Look at the back of your certification card when you get it. There will be an instructor's name right below your name.

That's who certified you.

:cool2:

Welcome to the endless word of possibilities ahead of you and a lifetime of memories as you pursue them!

 

[namerg]

Hmm RJP. I got lost...with your post.. :?

 

[TSandM]

He's making the point that an instructor certified you, not an agency. You have to have been around for the dive politics here for a while to understand why he is emphasizing the difference.

 

[namerg]

Yes i know that.

 

[drrich2]

I know it can be very expensive hobby regardless of the specialty you want to pursue scuba diving. I live in Colorado. So, for the people who does and likes scuba diving and live in central USA, how do you guys and if you are married plan the scuba diving. Scuba Diving needs to be considered as a vacation as a whole ? Save, save money for the scuba diving time ? I just want to have an idea so i can plan financially you know what i mean....

1.) Does the spouse dive? If not, can you go on, say, a solo trip once per year to a dive destination like Bonaire, or a live-aboard?

2.) Do you have young children? If you want modern U.S. class health care readily at hand, that's going to limit you. U.S. destinations like Florida and California start to look good.

3.) Are you employed & unlikely to take over a week off at a time, and don't like 2 day+ each way traveling? If so, some exotic destinations are out. Hello, Caribbean...

4.) Do you want a dive guide? Must it be provided or are you willing to pay for one? In some Caribbean locations a guide is almost a given. On boats out of California I'm told there's usually no guide unless you pay for one. In Key Largo, a number of op.s don't do a guide unless you pay, but Rainbow Reef Dive Center includes guides in the base price.

5.) Do you want to dive 2x/day, or 3 or 4 times? A lot of places only offer about 2 dives per day. Here's my trip report from Rainbow Reef Dive Center; I did both morning & afternoon trips & racked up 20 dives in 5 days. If you want to cram a lot of diving into a little time, you are looking at something like that, or shore diving Bonaire, or a live-aboard (I'm planning in the Sun Dancer 2 out of Belize, if you want a name to read up about online).

6.) Do you need non-diver attractions, and if so what kind? A lot of dive destinations don't have much traditional sandy beach. So, does the wife need...sandy beach, exotic shopping, zip lining, rainforest floor or canopy tours, ATV riding, Mayan ruins, bar hopping, dancing, socializing, reading on a lounge chair, what?

7.) Cruise ships offer an economical package deal that can land you on a few islands where you can do 2 dives/island dove, and get a sampling in. Do a forum search on St. Croix and St. Lucia and you'll see 2 threads I started on them. St. Thomas is very popular for this. It's how I did 2 dives each at Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Puerto Rico.

Richard.

 

[They call me Tater]

As a Midwest diver with a wife who doesn't dive I can offer some tips....dive locally as much as you can. Probably not a lot to see but that can be an advantage. You can concentrate on skills and buoyancy and become as comfortable as possible maybe even bordering on bordem. This will help you relax. Maybe do AOW. At the same time try to go on a dive trip with a local club or shop. 15-20 ocean dives in a week will do a lot for skill and experience...not to mention oohs and ahs of what you will see. Then find a tropical beach with diving and take your wife. In any case, have fun!