Question for all you divers out there

[Jonathan Troutt]

Anyone reason for become certified if you only have freshwater lakes and rivers around you? Is diving fun at in these kinds of waters?

 

[brandon429]

Visibility is darn hard to see in most lakes, I can’t even see my hand when I tried diving west tx lakes

Bends/ embolism risk still applies at any depth pressurized breathing that cert is invaluable for that practice. Not holding breath practice/ mask clearing sounds simple but it’s critical

hold breath one time out of bad habit/non practice in the 0-4 ft depth range in a lake while pressure diving= likely instant lung doom, so critical.

If you know how to dive safely wo it then I guess it’s just paper, but here many shops won’t give you air to rent until you show cert or they look it up. It’s so friggin dangerous lol

 

[Gareth elliott]

Anyone reason for become certified if you only have freshwater lakes and rivers around you? Is diving fun at in these kinds of waters?

Lakes can be much harder to see below the surface. A lot more tannins and other organics. Some lakes are also incredibly deep. The swimming hole we used to frequent in Vermont was an old mine was very deep and very cold. Just something to keep in mind

 

[Mikedawg]

Certification would demonstrate that you can dive safely under certain conditions in case you ever had any doubts about your ability especially if you are a beginning diver, IMHO.

 

[tupes]

When I got certified, we went to Vortex Springs in Fl. We got there early and it was crystal clear, soon after swimmers got there and jumping and playing in the water it quickly got murky and a bit harder to see, but there was still plenty of fish and other things to see.

However, if it's something you think that you'd do on vacation and you can afford to get certified, do it. I'm sure it's not something you will regret.

 

[CDavmd]

Get certified and never go into a lake, quarry, etc again! Miserable in my view- I won't even dive the ocean up here in New England....too cold!

Guess I'm spoiled having grown up in S. Florida- but get certified and then go diving when on vacation in warm clear tropical waters!

 

[mborn]

Sure. I grew up in Las Vegas and got my open water certification in 1981. My first dives were in Lake Mead and a place on the Colorado river (Ringbolt Rapids). I had a lot of fun. My final certification dives were in San Diego and Mexico. I’ve lived in California since the early 90’s and haven’t dove fresh water since though.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

Ive always wanted to get my cert i have the ability now to get it. I just dont go to tropical areas much. So im trying to figure out how often i would use it here where i live.

 

[GThompson]

Ive always wanted to get my cert i have the ability now to get it. I just dont go to tropical areas much. So im trying to figure out how often i would use it here where i live.

Go ahead and get it. It never expires and you will find water good enough to dive in

 

[Hemmdog]

Get it. My checkout dive was the Susquehanna river in PA, super clear when I went, we checked out wrecked barges that had sunk decades ago. It was really cool, not a ton of fish but that’s ok. Diving is great and always fun as long as you can see and there’s not tons of jellies(ocean diving)

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

Get it. My checkout dive was the Susquehanna river in PA, super clear when I went, we checked out wrecked barges that had sunk decades ago. It was really cool, not a ton of fish but that’s ok. Diving is great and always fun as long as you can see and there’s not tons of jellies(ocean diving)

I can appreciate the jellies comment. I used to live in hawaii years ago and was surfing one day when a Man-O-War wrapped around my leg about 10 times. **** hurt bad. Once i got outta the water a big fat hawaiian came running over and tried to pee on my leg.

 

[saltyhog]

My wife hates diving in freshwater. Visibility in the lakes we dive here is about 20ft on a good day and 5 ft on a bad day. To give you an idea in some of the places we dive on reefs the visibility can be 100+ feet.

I really enjoy lake diving....not as much as ocean diving but it would well be worth the expense and trouble of getting certified for me even if I never got to go diving in the ocean. You never know where life will take you....one day you might be able to travel to exotic places to dive. Even if you don't it's worth it!

 

[Billdogg]

I did my checkout dives in a local quarry. Visibility was maybe 20 feet. 10 days later I was in Roatan with 80-100' vis. Two weeks after that I was back in the quarry. I like to dive where there is water. Of the ~1500 dives I've got logged, nearly 1000 are in FW. In my favorite quarry, there is a school of rainbow trout that will follow you around like a bunch of puppies waiting to be fed. I like to park myself on top of the old school bus and open a bag of food at my knees to get surrounded in a feeding frenzy. I've laughed so hard I've lost my regulator on more than one occasion.

Tobermory Canada has some excellent 100+ yo wrecks in pristine condition that, if in salt, would have been eaten away decades ago. Lake Erie has some nice wrecks too. Bonne Terre Mo. has a very cool mine to dive in.

There are as many cool things to see and do in FW as there are in SW. Can the visibility be less than great? Sure. It can be in the ocean as well. Is it often much cooler? Yup. I dive FW in a drysuit for a reason. Tropical SW in a swimsuit or maybe lycra skin. Need more lead for buoyancy control? Yes again.

Probably the biggest attraction for me is the proximity. I can get to the closest quarry in 20 minutes. The tropical ocean is hundreds of miles and a whole bunch of $$$ to get to.

hth!

 

[Jay Z]

Certification is a must if you plan on going on vacation and diving. Most places won’t rent to you without the PADI card, some equipment cannot be purchased without it either.

Far as diving goes, I do Lake Huron, lake saint Clair, and st Clair river. Our lakes might as well be oceans for the size of them (minus lake st Clair).

Clarity is usually excellent from the zebra muscles cleaning the water over the years. Love watching smallies, walley, sturgeon, and musky. It’s kind of like being in your own aquarium.

Plus I have no problems getting upwards of $200 a hour doing bottoms of boats, inspections, and repair work.

It’s worth the time and money for the cert. plus the info they provide could save you or yours life.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Lol, yes, definitely get certified!

Buy

A comfortable mask
A comfortable set of fins


Rent

Everything else.



Diving certification is always 100% worthwhile, even if you only dive another 10 times in your life.
What you learn is ridiculously amazing.

Btw, I'm on dive 1500+, at least.

The kicker is the thousands that you spend on new toys/equipment that you might use 10 times in your life.

A mask and fins you like that fit well will always be a good purchase. You want them to be familiar.
But the rest of it is often a complete loss in the return on investment sense.

Traveling on a plane with a full set of gear can be annoying. Especially with the newer integrated weights and BC's.
In a previous life, when weights came on a belt, tanks and weights were always provided at the destination.

Been years since I dove recreationally.

Diving in fresh water can still be lots of fun. There is still plenty of life.
Just less technicolor colors.

 

[erk]

Lol, yes, definitely get certified!

Buy

A comfortable mask
A comfortable set of fins


Rent

Everything else.



Diving certification is always 100% worthwhile, even if you only dive another 10 times in your life.
What you learn is ridiculously amazing.

Btw, I'm on dive 1500+, at least.

The kicker is the thousands that you spend on new toys/equipment that you might use 10 times in your life.

A mask and fins you like that fit well will always be a good purchase. You want them to be familiar.
But the rest of it is often a complete loss in the return on investment sense.

Traveling on a plane with a full set of gear can be annoying. Especially with the newer integrated weights and BC's.
In a previous life, when weights came on a belt, tanks and weights were always provided at the destination.

Been years since I dove recreationally.

Diving in fresh water can still be lots of fun. There is still plenty of life.
Just less technicolor colors.

I would add to also buy a reliable dive computer. This could save your life if the depth gauge on the rented equipment is acting up or if you forget the units are in meters vs feet.

 

[hart24601]

Can’t speak for myself but I dated a girl not all that long ago that was in a diving club and loved it despite being in Iowa. Lot of gravel quarries but she made it sound fun.

 

[Jonathan Troutt]

Well im gonna get it. Sometime next year is the plan. There are some small lakes near me that were made by flooding towns back in the day. The foundations and such are still there. That kind of stuff would be amazing to see