the corals we have in the UK are near Scotland but they are cold water corals, bit too cold for me am afraid ;Cyclops
Either Or. A sport diver can only go about 100 feet, and avoids doing decompression. That is good enough believe me. At 100 feet you feel like you are in a vice if you are wearing a wet suit. No colors to be seen that deep anyway. From there it is endless
Its almost like we had mirror experiences. Had a guy who I was responsible for panic at 70 no visibility all I remember was chasing him around the wreck getting hit by his fins then the big deer eyes. I thought I was a goner. 3 Times equipment freeze ( cold water Canada ) Been abandoned I don't remember how many times ff idiots don't even know they are doing something wrong. This was all taking care of people for a dive master. The spookiest was on a night dive 2 miles off shore. My light failed no moon. Now I know what dark really is. My " buddy " was drinking beer when I got back. I had to go drink at a cabana with two German tourists that did not speak English to stop myself from choking him off ( for real ). I did photography and almost touched a stonefish just like you . Cool Photos mine are on slides ( Niconis ") in my dayI got certified in 1990. AOW shortly thereafter. I find that it's a great excuse to go to really cool places for vacation.
I have a habit of prolonging my safety stops. I find that it is my own personal time to just let my mind wander - to just completely relax and let my mind go where it will.
I encourage anyone and everyone who might want to give it a try to DO IT! Is it for everyone? Nope, and that's ok too
Cave certified in 1998, but that was soon put on the back burner because my soon to be wife didn't thing it was such a great idea.
I've never had a "bad" dive, although a few were a bit dicier than I'd have preferred. My regulator freezing up at 110' at Gilboa Stone Quarry. Another diver deciding that it'd be a great idea to panic at about 80' with 3' of visibility, spit out his reg and try to play rocket ship to the moon. Got him stopped at about 30', where he came around and thought that breathing would, indeed, be a good idea. Another time, my dive buddy getting a little narked. I was in the lead, turned to check on him and found him on his knees in the muck staring blankly at his computer. He didn't have a clue. Helped him up to shallower water so his head could clear. It was his last dive.
All told, over 2000 dives and counting. I don't see water without thinking about what's down there to discover.
My only regret about diving? That I didn't get certified sooner.
Roatan, Honduras - my first dive trip - no u/w camera :-(
San Salvadore, Bahamas There's really no feeling like going out over the edge of the reef and looking down a few thousand feet. Crystal clear water.
my first shark!
Night dive
Sea of Cortez, out of La Paz, Mexico
Playing with Sea Lions has been on of the highlights of my life
Didn't even see this guy until I almost touched him!
Florida Keys
Sometimes the little things are the best parts of the dive
and sometimes they're not so small!
Bonaire, NA - the easiest diving anywhere
night dive
Tobermory, Canada - 5 fathoms Marine Park - Bring your drysuit!!!
Hawaii - yes, there's turtles!
I live in Ontario. Tobamory was the spot. Was diving where the bottom was endless. Just swimming along thinking I was king. When this dude came up fro below with a dry suit, and pup tanks on him. He was cave diving on his own
Careful of that called skip breathing can be riskyI enjoy free diving, but living in Pittsburgh I rarely get the opportunity. Any time I have a beach vacation coming up I start re-training months in advance for breath holding and such to extend how long I can dive. Not nearly scuba, but being able to check out sea life for a full minute or 2 is quite nice. or at least be able to dive down to 30 feet or so to see something out of reach to most. Went to Hawaii for my Honeymoon about 5 years ago and was out diving on the reefs every day for 2 weeks. One of my favorite memories
1. Been certified since 1988. Best diving trips are 200 miles off the Great Barrier Reef Australia and Little Cayman Island. Have greatly missed it since Covid shutdown….refuse to get vaxxed so my diving may be no more if countries mandate.Most of us saltwater aquarium hobbyists have a fascination for the ocean and more specifically coral reefs! Seeing the fish and all the critters zooming around a coral reef is really inspiring to those of us who are reef keepers. But how many of you are actually certified divers and have you got to dive any coral reefs yet? Let's talk about it!
1. Are you a certified diver and how long have you been diving? Seen any cool reefs?
2. If you're not a certified diver now, would you like to get certified in the future?
PS. Show off some of your dive pics and videos!
I’ve been a certified diver since 1988. I have been all over the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Pacific. My two most favorite places in the world to dive are 200 miles off the great barrier reef in Australia. There is a research vessel that goes out there/live aboard. It was amazing! Sharks everywhere! My second most favorite are the reefs around Little Cayman Island. I won’t be diving for a while now though because many countries are mandating the vax. So instead I have a Red Sea 250 peninsula.Most of us saltwater aquarium hobbyists have a fascination for the ocean and more specifically coral reefs! Seeing the fish and all the critters zooming around a coral reef is really inspiring to those of us who are reef keepers. But how many of you are actually certified divers and have you got to dive any coral reefs yet? Let's talk about it!
1. Are you a certified diver and how long have you been diving? Seen any cool reefs?
2. If you're not a certified diver now, would you like to get certified in the future?
PS. Show off some of your dive pics and videos!
I don’t scuba dive, but do love to snorkel, I consider both to be hobbies. I would say a sport is something you can do competitively. i have never heard of a scuba or snorkeling competitio.
Free diving is a sport. They also have snorkel and dive races. So, sort of can be a sport lol.
