Poll: Scuba Diving / Snorkeling

[Captain Quint]

Started scuba at 14, I'm now 60. Yes, I love scuba.

I count myself lucky and have done dives in many areas of the world.

*Master Diver with SDI/TDI/ERDI/NAUI
*Cave diving, reef diving, wreck diving, wall dives, deep diving, blue hole dives, liveaboards and using different blends of gases for different dives.
*Love diving the loop. (closed circuit rebreather)

 

[Larz_1]

Wife and I have gone to Hawaii many times and always snorkeled.
I did a Discover SCUBA dive on Kauai in '14.

Getting my Open Water certification right now. I have my final dives this weekend.
Then on to the Advanced Open water cert. and beyond ....
I'm getting ready for a trip to Fiji in July for my 50th birthday .... CAN"T WAIT!!!!

 

[MBX5]

Just booked a trip back to Belize. It’s been a few years since we found Curacao haha.

 

[Captain Quint]

Wife and I have gone to Hawaii many times and always snorkeled.
I did a Discover SCUBA dive on Kauai in '14.

Getting my Open Water certification right now. I have my final dives this weekend.
Then on to the Advanced Open water cert. and beyond ....
I'm getting ready for a trip to Fiji in July for my 50th birthday .... CAN"T WAIT!!!!

Congrats on OW. You will love Fiji. Do a liveaboard if possible.

 

[Captain Quint]

Been reefing for 33 years (off and on, now on!) and diving for 31 years. Just returned from a week on Roatan Honduras, 14 fantastic dives, 3 at night, just over 500 dives all time. Seeing reefs in all their glory is just amazing. Its so funny when you hear the issues on R2R about "I have algae in my tank" when the live rock on a reef is covered in either corals or macro algae of some sort. Or "my X fish just ate my Y fish" when on a reef that's pretty much the norm. I'd encourage any one in this hobby health permitting to consider taking up diving.

Awesome. Next step is to buy a CCR as part of your PDG. You'll love going down ~500 BSL, pop up to ~130 to join other divers ;)

46 years of diving here with bottom time being around 9,000 hours.

 

[Captain Quint]

If you get a chance to take the trip out to Lighthouse reef(it's an all day excursion) do it! It's a very healthy reef with abundant life on it. This is the trip that goes to The Blue Hole first which is an ok, bucket list dive to 130+ feet. The other two dives on that trip are spectacular.

This is a video from that trip. Forgive the poor quality it was one of my first attempts at filming a dive.

Which blue hole my friend? :)

 

[Captain Quint]

Certified Dive Master here. Been diving for over 25 years, but still so many dives left to do...

My top 5 sites I've dove:
1) Manta Ray Night Dive (Kona, HI)
2) Stingray City (St. John's, Antigua)
3) Outer Molokini Crater (Maui, HI)
4) Bluefish Cove (Monterey, CA)
5) State Line - North Shore (Lake Tahoe, CA)

I've yet to get out to anywhere in Asia or NZ/AU - both of which are destinations that will happen. Just have to wait for my two girls (3yrs and 18mo) to get old enough to dive (14 more years to go...). :)

Do you do the Kelp, dive?

 

[Captain Quint]

I learned to dive and started diving in the Pacific Northwest. Dry suit diving. All over Puget Sound and up around Vancouver Island. ...............;Bored

Awesome!

Love my DUI and Megladon CCR for cold extended dive periods. Especially while diving off od Adak Island in the Bering Sea...brrrrrrr

 

[sfin52]

I'm a certified diver but only went snorkeling when I was at the Grand Cayman's last week since the wife isn't. I have to say, what I saw made me sad. I have never seen so much brown algae on a reef before. I spent 45 minutes in the water at the first stop and never saw a single invert. Tangs were in short supply. I'm hoping that isn't indicative of the way the rest of the reefs in the area are deteriorating.

Not in Costa Maya. Loads of tangs and even found a serpent star, several types of stars. Stayed on the surfance most of the time. My son 12 only second time going so I stayed close to him.

 

[Captain Quint]

I want to go snorkeling!! Is there a thread on here for first timers because I have no clue where to go haha but I know there is plenty of places down here in so cal

You can take an inexpensive explorer course with almost any Dive Agency to see if you like it. If so, the cost will count toward further instruction. :)

 

[Captain Quint]

I'm on a dive trip in Palau right now, y'all enjoy that money pit in your living room.

Love it. I was in Jakarta when you were in Palau....that is cool!

 

[User1]

Scuba certified here with various add-on classes. Considered doing more or becoming an instructor but figured I enjoy what I have now why ruin it... Couple family members got certified before one of our larger family vacations. My daughter and I along with my niece got certified together. It was fun. Now on those family trips we all get out and do a couple dives together and it works out great. My daughter really enjoys it and is a great dive partner.

What I find more ironic is that I was stationed in Okinawa for 3 1/2 years and while I snorkeled and did a lot of spear fishing I never considered, or was scared, or something, to take scuba classes. TDY to Guam, Philippians, Thailand, etc. All places I'd like to dive or are known for good dive sites. All within reach and nope. I wait until later in life and learned in the cold, very cold waters, off the Northern California coast :) To be honest I've had similar trips like those mentioned here and it is a lot like diving in the bath tub. Warmth of course.

Every time I come back to the cold waters of Monterey and say to myself this is still the best diving in the world. Yeah I don't get to see the corals and reef fish we keep in our tanks but it is a different kind of reef and visual experience. A must for any diver. We go at least once or twice a year and do mostly beach dives. Point Lobos is epic. Monastery Beach Carmel, appropriately named, is top 10 dive site in the world due to the sheer depth, visual experience with the kelp forest, but also only recommended to advanced divers. I dive traditional wet suit 7mm with 3mm chest heater, 5mm gloves and boots. Good for three dives. Boat dives have at least one deeper dive first one out and that makes me wish I used a dry suit but, well, not my cup of tea.

Anyway - love to dive. Enjoy the breaks to warmer waters when I travel or go on vacation. It is a different world than what I see here near me or in Lake Tahoe.

 

[Radman73]

Whole family is certified now. My wife was already certified when we started dating, and I got certified before we got married. Kids, 16yo daughter and 13yo son, got certified this past summer in the Turks and Caicos. They loved it and it's a blast diving together.

 

[rkpetersen]

Awesome!

Love my DUI

lol, still have my DUI but haven't worn it in probably 15 years or longer. I wonder if the seals are still any good. I know it will fit because I've lost weight. :)

tbh, the first time I fell into the water with just swim trunks, t-shirt, and gear (in Fiji), I was pretty much sold on that way of diving!

 

[User1]

lol, still have my DUI but haven't worn it in probably 15 years or longer. I wonder if the seals are still any good. I know it will fit because I've lost weight. :)

tbh, the first time I fell into the water with just swim trunks, t-shirt, and gear (in Fiji), I was pretty much sold on that way of diving!

Every time I'm in warmer water it is like a bath. I still wear a 3mm shortie is most cases. If I'm doing multiple dives in a row or full weeks worth then I'm in a 3mm body. After a couple days it can feel cold.

 

[Captain Quint]

Scuba certified here with various add-on classes. Considered doing more or becoming an instructor but figured I enjoy what I have now why ruin it... Couple family members got certified before one of our larger family vacations. My daughter and I along with my niece got certified together. It was fun. Now on those family trips we all get out and do a couple dives together and it works out great. My daughter really enjoys it and is a great dive partner.

What I find more ironic is that I was stationed in Okinawa for 3 1/2 years and while I snorkeled and did a lot of spear fishing I never considered, or was scared, or something, to take scuba classes. TDY to Guam, Philippians, Thailand, etc. All places I'd like to dive or are known for good dive sites. All within reach and nope. I wait until later in life and learned in the cold, very cold waters, off the Northern California coast :) To be honest I've had similar trips like those mentioned here and it is a lot like diving in the bath tub. Warmth of course.

Every time I come back to the cold waters of Monterey and say to myself this is still the best diving in the world. Yeah I don't get to see the corals and reef fish we keep in our tanks but it is a different kind of reef and visual experience. A must for any diver. We go at least once or twice a year and do mostly beach dives. Point Lobos is epic. Monastery Beach Carmel, appropriately named, is top 10 dive site in the world due to the sheer depth, visual experience with the kelp forest, but also only recommended to advanced divers. I dive traditional wet suit 7mm with 3mm chest heater, 5mm gloves and boots. Good for three dives. Boat dives have at least one deeper dive first one out and that makes me wish I used a dry suit but, well, not my cup of tea.

Anyway - love to dive. Enjoy the breaks to warmer waters when I travel or go on vacation. It is a different world than what I see here near me or in Lake Tahoe.

Way cool. I also was stationed in Okinawa and dove shore entry from where I lived off base down near the seawall in the Sobe area. I also dove several of the small Islands near Okinawa. Been to others you mention. I enjoyed diving off the rock (Diego Garcia) which was really just diving major shark infested water, Guam was cool too.

I agree on the dive max for various mm suits. Have skins, 3mil, 5mil, 7mil then go to my DUI TLS350 with 300 fleece.

I like about any dive. Drift, shallow reef, shallow wrecks, deep dives, deep wrecks, caves and more. I really like 130 and deeper but do use my Meg CCR for deeper than 130. I just got tired of so many bottles.

 

[Captain Quint]

lol, still have my DUI but haven't worn it in probably 15 years or longer. I wonder if the seals are still any good. I know it will fit because I've lost weight. :)

tbh, the first time I fell into the water with just swim trunks, t-shirt, and gear (in Fiji), I was pretty much sold on that way of diving!

The wrists and neck will need to be replaced. I do my own and my own VIPs on all gear. The only thing I farm out is Hydro.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I have always lived on the coast of Sydney & south. Use to snorkel a lot, some spear fishing, surfing, not so much now.
Snorkled & scoubered Treasure & Castaway Islands of Fiji back in 1995. Snorkled the GBR last year. All shallow water reefs so tanks aren't a nessesity. All reefs were amazing, never forget, hope to do again.

 

[14 foot reef]

I owned a collecting station in Hawaii for 10 years. Dove 5 days a week, 5 tanks a day collecting fish for export. Deepest dive ever .......251 feet on a single 80 cube bottle. Off the drop many Tinkeri Butterflies, flame wrasse, and Holo Holo angels(Banded angels). At 250 feet, looks pretty much like the Moon, just boulders the size of cruise ships with almost no growth, very "odd" looking fish. no color at all at that depth.

 

[saltyhog]

Which blue hole my friend? :)

The one in Belize.