Your very first and most recent dive

[ScubaSam]

First Dive -
I was on holiday down under and while at the Great Barrier Reef I did a Discover Scuba dive. I was taken to three different sites along the GBR two in the morning and then one in the afternoon. I'd never even snorkel before that day so the instructor thought it best I snorkel at the first site to determine how comfortable I was in the water. At the second site, I suited up but did not trust the regulator to give me air and water was coming into my mask (I wear contacts) so I aborted the first attempt after two minutes in the water. At the last site of the day, I was determined to dive and not return to the states a Discover Scuba failure. So during the first five minutes of that dive all I could think about was the sound of me breathing underwater. Once Darth Varder's voice saying, "Luke, I am your father..." finally left my head, it felt like a curtain opened up revealing an underwater world full of every color of coral and marine life. I remember gasping and smiling, which is a no-no underwater cause I took a mouthful of water but was able to blow it out through my reg. I have been hooked every since, a true scuba addict and with each dive, the addiction grows.

Last Dive -
This past Sunday at Dutch Springs, PA, with my rescue instructor doing some surface rescue training while learning to work the bubbles through the Fusion drysuit. Yes, task loading but it was tons of fun. I head to Key Largo next week to finish my OW rescue dives. I plan to buy a drysuit next year so I can extend my local diving season. I love diving and am the most happiest when I'm diving, it's my passion.

 

[Bratface]

First dive: 5 years ago, OW class in the Caribbean Sea while living in St. Thomas, USVI

Last dive: Yesterday (Thanksgiving) with my new sweetie, Florida Keys where he speared a large mutton snapper. Later on while on the boat in deeper water we saw 2 sailfish, a manta ray, and a turtle swim by.

 

[TSandM]

Not counting the pool . . .

My first dive: Late June of 2005, doing the first of the four OW dives for my certification, at a silty, fairly featureless training site across the bay from downtown Seattle. This was the "tour" dive, and I went down into about eight feet or so of viz, wearing a rented drysuit, inadequate undergarments, and way too much weight. I was completely disoriented and extremely nervous, and survived the dive largely because my instructor gave me his light to hold (while the lanyard was still clipped off to him) so I knew I couldn't lose him. The experience was less than compelling.

My most recent dive: 34 minutes on the upstream line from a cenote called Dos Palmas, in the Yucatan. In three years, I've gotten to where I'm comfortable a thousand feet or more underground from open water, and I almost have the skills to do the environment justice.

Thanks for this thread . . . It's good to remind myself of how far I've come, instead of stressing over how far I still am from the diver I want to be

 

[bamamedic]

My first dive:

Hmmm....my very first dive was dive #1 of my OW checkout dives, just a little over a year ago. It was at ABWA, a quarry in Pelham, AL...on a unseasonably warm November day. It was my first experience in colder water (all confined water dives had been in the pool), and my wetsuit was just a bit too big, so I froze my tail off! After performing skills on the platform, my instructor started to lead me on an underwater tour of a few sunken firetrucks, and I remember being kinda scared to leave the safety of the 8 foot platform...he actually had to hold my hand to get me over the railing, and into OW. However, once I left the platform, I loved it! It was so cool to be weightless and feel like I was soaring over the bottom.

My last dive: At ABWA (I can't help that it's only a hour away from my house and easy to get to LOL)...a solo scooter dive, using a long body X scooter, borrowed from a friend, while wearing my doubles and drysuit. It was fun! I'm kinda timid when solo diving, so I went down to about 80 feet near the wall, zoomed around for awhile, raced a friend who happened to be in the water scootering at the same time (on a much faster scooter), and then followed a prestrung line down to a sunken schoolbus and sunken sailboat. Did barrel rollls around the line, then just had fun turning sharply around obstacles. Wound up with 5 min of deco, which I completed at the 15 foot platform. After that, I explored the quarry wall at about 15 -20 feet, then turned around and went back because I was getting kinda cold.
Lots of fun! I really, really want a scooter...

Cool thread!

 

[DM Gary]

My first OW dive was at Windy Point on Lake Travis, TX.

My most recent dive was today at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, TX.

 

[Beachlover]

My first o/w dive was at Redondo Beach,Ca., July,1998. My last o/w dive was at Palos Verdes,Ca., last Sunday.

 

[Sas]

Dive 1
My first dive was Jan 31st 2005 in Hurghada, Egypt. I rocked up to a boat (believe it was a private one not a charter), they geared me up and chucked me in the water. I freaked out a bit because breathing through the regulator so some guy held me under the water until I stopped struggling. Then I swum around for a while and then we went a bit deeper (maybe dropped from 6 to 10m), where my ear started killing me so I bolted to the surface. Second dive went much better after they explained to me how to equalise and also not to hold my breath on the way up! Lucky I didn't the first dive... I don't remember much of what I saw, being too taken with just being underwater. There were a lot of fish and coral though. I do remember being scared of the coral in case it stung me or some kind of coral monster might jump out and bite me so I would swim away like mad if I came within about 5m of it. I guess given my buoyancy control it was probably good I kept out of the coral's way

I didn't dive again until this year and my most recent dive:

Dive 102
Nov 22, 2008 Well this dive was fairly fun, but annoyingly cut short. Did a drift dive over sand at a place called Quarantine Drift, and there are often old bottles and odd things to find. The weather was poor and no one wanted to wait until the next slackwater to do another dive, so we only had the option of a drift dive. Current was about 4 knots according to the boat. I saw a snapper and a crab. Someone found a shower radio and also a paper nautilis shell. I was quite comfortable and happy drifting along when the DM from another group came over and insisted I and a few others ascend with them (not even 30mins into dive). I thought something must have been up but I never found out why he asked everyone to ascend rather than just his group. Two people stayed down so he chased after them on the surface and told them to ascend Oh well I guess that is what I get for sticking with the drift line, I forgot how annoying it can be, usually I just disappear off it and do my own thing!

 

[DaleC]

First Dive:
I don't remember much, I was very young. It seemed to last about nine months and was pretty uneventful. However, when I surfaced someone smacked me on the _ss (which I didn't appreciate) and started to count my toes. Which agency teaches that?
Last Dive:
Cultus lake looking for Sculpins. Solo, 52 minutes, 14 feet and 46 degrees F. I'm livin the dream baby, livin the dream.

 

[Dich]

First Dive: I had done my pool dives in Madrid, but did the first real dives in Anguilla in the Caribbean. After doing the mask thing and a few other exercises, I finally got to see up close all the things I had seen snorkeling. I was alone with the instructor and it was amazing seeing all the colors. It was Frenchie's Reef.

Last Dive: Abu Kifan in the Red Sea on the southern route in June. Second or third trip to the Red Sea.

 

[InTheDrink]

My first dive was on Isla Acnchora, near Buzios in Brazil. It was dive #1for my OW checkout dives.

En route to the Island we saw a whale. At the Island the water was teaming with beautiful fish, two huge rays gliding past like ghosts (I don't know what kind as I had no idea at the time). But big . 4 turtles, one of which I stroked. A white Puffer fish, all puffed up. And all the usual tropical suspects. There was so much fish it was incredible. I thought 'wow, this is great, all dives must be like this'. How wrong can one be?

Last dive was Blue Hole in Gozo. It was good, with lovely chimney. However a storm blew up whilst we were under (wonderful lightning effects!!) and the run-off turn the Blue hole into a Brown Hole. Doesn't sound quite so appealing, does it? [edit: I was going to say 'Doesn't have quite the same ring' but thought that would be a cheap crack]

Next dive in two weeks in UK. No dry suit so that'll be fun! And I get to try out my new Jets!