Post by julesd68 on Jul 1, 2014 13:26:43 GMT
So how many qualified scuba divers do we have on the forum?
I learnt to dive around 20 years ago. Started with the PADI Open Water course, doing the pool sessions in London and the dives down in Weymouth. I think learning to dive in this country is a great idea - remember having to do mask clearing in Weymouth with visibility about as far as my arm!
Shockingly cold in a wet suit. It's good training and you really appreciate warmer waters and decent viz after that!
Moved onto the Advanced PADI course when on honeymoon in the Maldives in 1996. We loved the experience so much we ended up going back to the Maldives, another 5 times I think ... It suffered greatly from coral bleaching at one point but we had some amazing dives with grey reef sharks, manta rays, turtles etc I also enjoyed the isolation of staying on an island resort you can walk round in 10 or 15 minutes. Just heaven watching the sun go down with a drink in your hand after a good day's boat diving ... We've not been able to go back since my son came along 9 years ago, but from what I see it's a shame that they have tried to make the resorts much more 'sophisticated' - the real charm was in the simpicity and rustic nature of it but hopefully there are one or two of these basically dive focused resorts still left for us to go to in the future ...
Saying that, I did come a cropper on our last trip to the Maldives. We took on a dive we shouldn't have with another gung-ho group, against the advice of the Divemasters. Utter stupidity for quite experienced divers who should know better. We dropped down onto a reef and the current was so mind-bendingly strong, all you could do was to hold on with both hands parallel to the reef, and watch the other divers get swept away into the blue! Luckily for me my wife is an exceptionally calm and measured diver. Somehow she navigated us as close as possible to the ocean floor to minimize the effect of the current, accross a relatively shallow plateau, into a more manageable current and we went on to finish the dive according to the original dive plan. So that was quite an experience. After my last dive I was convinced I was showing signs of decompression sickness - the pricking in the arms. My dive computer hadn't shown any warnings but I was convinced there was an issue. On the plane back I got into a real panic about it and on our return in the UK I ended up in the deco chamber at Whipps Cross as a precaution. I didn't respond to the treatment which showed that I didn't have a bend - it was possibly psychosomatic! Anyway, you learn some lessons from all this and move on - it's not put me off further diving at all. Can't afford any fancy diving holidays at the moment but at some point I'd like us both to do a refresher course and we'll take it from there ...
In the UK we did the conversion course to BSAC - British Sub-Aqua Club. For anyone who doesn't know, unlike the American PADI orgnisation ('Put another dollar in') , this is a club-based system of training. Really enjoyed this and appreciated the extra focus on safety that they have ... Also learnt to dive in dry-suits and travelled all over Southern England with them. Some great memories of wreck diving in Pembrokeshire and looking for old wine bottles. Also remember enjoying the wreck of the James Egan Layne in Plymouth. Downside of the drysuit experience is that the dives are relatively short and the amount of gear you need to wear and lug around; having to use so much weight in the water ... Also, it can sometimes be tricky regulating the air in the suit and you have to pay particular attention to your buoyancy. Having to tolerate a few arrogant 'characters' in the club could be more challenging than the diving at times for me though ...
Another trip we did was to Tobago, which was one of the least spoilt islands in the Caribbean at the time. After a long and delayed flight we stayed at a very nice, nearly empty dive lodge in a more remote part of the island - Speyside. The diving wasn't as spectacular as the Maldives but did do some rip-roaring drift dives which were entertaining and remember 'Japanese Gardens' and 'Heart Attack Alley'(!) in particular ... When not diving we had an open-top jeep to tour the island and the rainforest was absolutely wonderful; saw some great wildlife ... I'm not itching to go back to the Caribbean but wouldn't say no to some serious shark experiences in the Bahamas!
I remember the rental gear not being the best in Tobago, and after that we made sure we had two full sets of our own gear so all we needed to hire were tanks. All this gear we have to this day in a big wardrobe! Will cost us an absolute fortune to get it all serviced when the time comes ... I think the drysuits won't live to see another day though! Frustrating having it all just sitting there, and watching 'Coast Australia' made me realise how much I miss diving. Experiencing total weightlessness on an effortless dive is just about as relaxing as it gets for me.
Favourite dive? Somewhere in the Maldives - Kuda Rah Thila for it's profusion of stunning coral formations and abundant marine life with minimal current. 'Fish Head' for the school of grey reef sharks which were mesmorising from our viewing gallery on the edge of the reef.
Dream destinations? Would love to have a family holiday in Australia and dive the Great Barrier Reef. In terms of pure diving holidays, the Galapagos is a dream - I have a real thing for hammerheads. Truk Lagoon would be awesome to dive the sunken Japanse fleet there ...
I learnt to dive around 20 years ago. Started with the PADI Open Water course, doing the pool sessions in London and the dives down in Weymouth. I think learning to dive in this country is a great idea - remember having to do mask clearing in Weymouth with visibility about as far as my arm!
Shockingly cold in a wet suit. It's good training and you really appreciate warmer waters and decent viz after that!Moved onto the Advanced PADI course when on honeymoon in the Maldives in 1996. We loved the experience so much we ended up going back to the Maldives, another 5 times I think ... It suffered greatly from coral bleaching at one point but we had some amazing dives with grey reef sharks, manta rays, turtles etc I also enjoyed the isolation of staying on an island resort you can walk round in 10 or 15 minutes. Just heaven watching the sun go down with a drink in your hand after a good day's boat diving ... We've not been able to go back since my son came along 9 years ago, but from what I see it's a shame that they have tried to make the resorts much more 'sophisticated' - the real charm was in the simpicity and rustic nature of it but hopefully there are one or two of these basically dive focused resorts still left for us to go to in the future ...
Saying that, I did come a cropper on our last trip to the Maldives. We took on a dive we shouldn't have with another gung-ho group, against the advice of the Divemasters. Utter stupidity for quite experienced divers who should know better. We dropped down onto a reef and the current was so mind-bendingly strong, all you could do was to hold on with both hands parallel to the reef, and watch the other divers get swept away into the blue! Luckily for me my wife is an exceptionally calm and measured diver. Somehow she navigated us as close as possible to the ocean floor to minimize the effect of the current, accross a relatively shallow plateau, into a more manageable current and we went on to finish the dive according to the original dive plan. So that was quite an experience. After my last dive I was convinced I was showing signs of decompression sickness - the pricking in the arms. My dive computer hadn't shown any warnings but I was convinced there was an issue. On the plane back I got into a real panic about it and on our return in the UK I ended up in the deco chamber at Whipps Cross as a precaution. I didn't respond to the treatment which showed that I didn't have a bend - it was possibly psychosomatic! Anyway, you learn some lessons from all this and move on - it's not put me off further diving at all. Can't afford any fancy diving holidays at the moment but at some point I'd like us both to do a refresher course and we'll take it from there ...
In the UK we did the conversion course to BSAC - British Sub-Aqua Club. For anyone who doesn't know, unlike the American PADI orgnisation ('Put another dollar in') , this is a club-based system of training. Really enjoyed this and appreciated the extra focus on safety that they have ... Also learnt to dive in dry-suits and travelled all over Southern England with them. Some great memories of wreck diving in Pembrokeshire and looking for old wine bottles. Also remember enjoying the wreck of the James Egan Layne in Plymouth. Downside of the drysuit experience is that the dives are relatively short and the amount of gear you need to wear and lug around; having to use so much weight in the water ... Also, it can sometimes be tricky regulating the air in the suit and you have to pay particular attention to your buoyancy. Having to tolerate a few arrogant 'characters' in the club could be more challenging than the diving at times for me though ...
Another trip we did was to Tobago, which was one of the least spoilt islands in the Caribbean at the time. After a long and delayed flight we stayed at a very nice, nearly empty dive lodge in a more remote part of the island - Speyside. The diving wasn't as spectacular as the Maldives but did do some rip-roaring drift dives which were entertaining and remember 'Japanese Gardens' and 'Heart Attack Alley'(!) in particular ... When not diving we had an open-top jeep to tour the island and the rainforest was absolutely wonderful; saw some great wildlife ... I'm not itching to go back to the Caribbean but wouldn't say no to some serious shark experiences in the Bahamas!
I remember the rental gear not being the best in Tobago, and after that we made sure we had two full sets of our own gear so all we needed to hire were tanks. All this gear we have to this day in a big wardrobe! Will cost us an absolute fortune to get it all serviced when the time comes ... I think the drysuits won't live to see another day though! Frustrating having it all just sitting there, and watching 'Coast Australia' made me realise how much I miss diving. Experiencing total weightlessness on an effortless dive is just about as relaxing as it gets for me.
Favourite dive? Somewhere in the Maldives - Kuda Rah Thila for it's profusion of stunning coral formations and abundant marine life with minimal current. 'Fish Head' for the school of grey reef sharks which were mesmorising from our viewing gallery on the edge of the reef.
Dream destinations? Would love to have a family holiday in Australia and dive the Great Barrier Reef. In terms of pure diving holidays, the Galapagos is a dream - I have a real thing for hammerheads. Truk Lagoon would be awesome to dive the sunken Japanse fleet there ...
