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Posted: 12/16/2014 12:58:45 AM EDT
I'm going to be taking my Scuba open water course this weekend,...and am wanting to know if there are any scuba divers in the valley that I can meet up with and maybe accompany on some dives to the lake. Also would love to hear from people who dive on where they travel to that's not too far, to enjoy the sport.



How nice is diving at Rocky Point, San Diego area?
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 1:54:46 AM EDT
[#1]
The best close diving is CA from San Diego all the way up to Ventura.  There are TONS of places to go, wrecks, great beach dives, and some awesome boat diving off of Catalina Island, Channel Islands and some others.

For shore diving I like Laguna Beach, lots of rocky reef structure there.  Just have to be wary of the swell.  There are some good beginner beach dives too such as Corona Del Mar.  There are rock and sand entrances and exits for both.


Here are all the dive boats in so cal.. I really like the Peace.
http://www.californiadiveboats.com/

I dont dive much anymore.
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 2:05:17 AM EDT
[#2]
I do most of my Winter diving in Cali, mostly the Channel Islands (dry suit) love the Kelp forest.
Come summer is when I hit the local lakes.
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 6:21:19 AM EDT
[#3]
Its been many years since my last dive. I remember doing my 1st certification dive at Butcher Jones Lake in January. I could barey fill out my log book legibly afterward because I was so cold. +1 on Catalina Island, that was my final certification dive I believe. I've also scuba-dived in Jamaica (a must see if you get the chance) and somewhere else in Mexico (I forget where, I was probably 11 or 12). I wish I had kept up with it, nowadays I would probably need to go back to Scuba Sciences and start all over.

Matt
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 8:56:39 AM EDT
[#4]
Best dive boat out of San Diego is the Lois Ann.

Do wreck alley, the captain knows it well.  I lived in CA for 10 years, PADI DM, helped teach classes.

They take good care of people, we always used that boat for our classes.
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 11:34:34 AM EDT
[#5]
I got certifed when I was 15 with my dad.  I have not been diving in 15 years.

I do miss it...
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 4:47:17 PM EDT
[#6]
I have dove Lake Pleasant a couple times, visibility is poor and the water is too cold for me. The Pacific Coast is OK, but much prefer the warm waters of the Caribbean.  Honduras and Belize are no that far away and very inexpensive if you do not have to have 5 star accommodations.
Link Posted: 12/16/2014 11:34:23 PM EDT
[#7]


Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



I have dove Lake Pleasant a couple times, visibility is poor and the water is too cold for me. The Pacific Coast is OK, but much prefer the warm waters of the Caribbean.  Honduras and Belize are no that far away and very inexpensive if you do not have to have 5 star accommodations.
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How inexpensive is Belize?





I can sleep in a tent, and eat canned food, if need be. I don't earn a lot of money, but I'm ok living out of a tent, to save money.



As far as the Caribbean, how is Florida? Specifically Miami area? My sister lives in Miami, and I suspect I will be visiting her in April or May. I will definitely be wanting to dive there.
Link Posted: 12/17/2014 4:07:32 AM EDT
[#8]
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Quoted:
How inexpensive is Belize?

I can sleep in a tent, and eat canned food, if need be. I don't earn a lot of money, but I'm ok living out of a tent, to save money.

As far as the Caribbean, how is Florida? Specifically Miami area? My sister lives in Miami, and I suspect I will be visiting her in April or May. I will definitely be wanting to dive there.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I have dove Lake Pleasant a couple times, visibility is poor and the water is too cold for me. The Pacific Coast is OK, but much prefer the warm waters of the Caribbean.  Honduras and Belize are no that far away and very inexpensive if you do not have to have 5 star accommodations.
How inexpensive is Belize?

I can sleep in a tent, and eat canned food, if need be. I don't earn a lot of money, but I'm ok living out of a tent, to save money.

As far as the Caribbean, how is Florida? Specifically Miami area? My sister lives in Miami, and I suspect I will be visiting her in April or May. I will definitely be wanting to dive there.



Belize is cheap. Diving is good. Trips to the famous spots like Blue Hole and Glovers are usually more expensive. The food is cheap too, you'll eat a lot of stewed chicken and coconut rice.

I'm diving Lake Silfra on Thursday. Should be a good time.
Link Posted: 12/17/2014 12:26:25 PM EDT
[#9]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Belize is cheap. Diving is good. Trips to the famous spots like Blue Hole and Glovers are usually more expensive. The food is cheap too, you'll eat a lot of stewed chicken and coconut rice.



I'm diving Lake Silfra on Thursday. Should be a good time.
View Quote View All Quotes
View All Quotes
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



Quoted:


Quoted:

I have dove Lake Pleasant a couple times, visibility is poor and the water is too cold for me. The Pacific Coast is OK, but much prefer the warm waters of the Caribbean.  Honduras and Belize are no that far away and very inexpensive if you do not have to have 5 star accommodations.
How inexpensive is Belize?



I can sleep in a tent, and eat canned food, if need be. I don't earn a lot of money, but I'm ok living out of a tent, to save money.



As far as the Caribbean, how is Florida? Specifically Miami area? My sister lives in Miami, and I suspect I will be visiting her in April or May. I will definitely be wanting to dive there.






Belize is cheap. Diving is good. Trips to the famous spots like Blue Hole and Glovers are usually more expensive. The food is cheap too, you'll eat a lot of stewed chicken and coconut rice.



I'm diving Lake Silfra on Thursday. Should be a good time.
How much are flights there? What language is primarily spoken? I can speak spanish fluently.

 
Link Posted: 12/17/2014 5:56:08 PM EDT
[#10]
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Quoted:
How much are flights there? What language is primarily spoken? I can speak spanish fluently.  
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Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I have dove Lake Pleasant a couple times, visibility is poor and the water is too cold for me. The Pacific Coast is OK, but much prefer the warm waters of the Caribbean.  Honduras and Belize are no that far away and very inexpensive if you do not have to have 5 star accommodations.
How inexpensive is Belize?

I can sleep in a tent, and eat canned food, if need be. I don't earn a lot of money, but I'm ok living out of a tent, to save money.

As far as the Caribbean, how is Florida? Specifically Miami area? My sister lives in Miami, and I suspect I will be visiting her in April or May. I will definitely be wanting to dive there.



Belize is cheap. Diving is good. Trips to the famous spots like Blue Hole and Glovers are usually more expensive. The food is cheap too, you'll eat a lot of stewed chicken and coconut rice.

I'm diving Lake Silfra on Thursday. Should be a good time.
How much are flights there? What language is primarily spoken? I can speak spanish fluently.  


Flights will be entirely dependent on the season. Major airlines fly into Belize City and then you take either Maya Island Air or Tropic Air to the closest airport (read usually dirt strip). Tickets are less than $100 but if you book everything as a package with a dive op it's usually a bit cheaper as they'll take care of it as part of a package deal. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you want, you've really gotta delve into it yourself based on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. A little research goes a long way. Also, depending on the ops relationship with the airline, you can get them to keep it lower altitude if you're nervous about being completely off-gassed. BTW you'll be flying in a little Cessna 208 so it's not like you're flying very high anyway, it's sort of fun. Last time I was in the co-pilots seat so I got a great view all around.

Belize used to be part of the Commonwealth, so the primary language is English, and is in fact the official language of the country. It's taught in all the schools so pretty much everyone speaks it. Depending on where you go you'll hear a combination of English, Mayan (yes, real Mayan, and they're all 4 feet tall), Garifuna, or less-so Spanish. Remember that the English is very Carib influenced so depending on who you're talking to you may or may not actually understand them right off the bat. And if you speak to them in Spanish, you're not likely to get anywhere unless you're in a primarily Spanish influenced village. However, there are lots of expats, both American and Canadian, so you won't have any issues.

Alternatives to the bigger destinations are nice as well, places like Placencia or Hopkins are fun. Lots of wall dives if you want to do your deep dives towards your advanced. Depending on the op you can get on a lionfish hunt although I wouldn't recommend it until you get more than a couple dives under your belt. There are only a few wrecks and they're not impressive. However, there's TONS of marine life all over the reefs, biggest turtles I've ever seen, all species, sharks, some massive eagle rays, depending on the time of year you can do whale shark dives too.

Just remember, you're new to diving, getting your Open Water is a cakewalk, and afterwards until probably 50 or 100 dives everyone thinks they're hot shit and know what they're doing, BUT there are still things out there that will nail you. I don't care how good you think your buoyancy is or how great your instructor thinks you are, there is potential for dives to go south real quick whenever you're outside of the pool, the lake, or the conditions you'll be getting certified in when you actually get in the ocean. So remember, as easy as it is to be a beginner diver, you need to make every dive like it's your first open water, until you've really hit the point where you're a decent diver. There are a lot of stupid divers out there, ScubaBoard is full of stories, don't be a story on ScubaBoard.
Link Posted: 12/18/2014 11:25:46 PM EDT
[#11]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


I do most of my Winter diving in Cali, mostly the Channel Islands (dry suit) love the Kelp forest.

Come summer is when I hit the local lakes.
View Quote
What lakes do you hit?

 
Link Posted: 12/18/2014 11:53:02 PM EDT
[#12]
Canyon and Apache, the stuff you can find after a big holiday weekend is amazing!
Link Posted: 12/20/2014 1:32:58 PM EDT
[#13]
Do you shore dive or dive with a boat? If a boat, your own boat?



Do you go solo? Do you go with groups?



The reason I'm asking, is that once I get my certification, I would love it if there were options for diving locally. I don't think I'd be too confident to go diving by myself with just an open water cert, and minimal experience.
Link Posted: 12/20/2014 5:43:03 PM EDT
[#14]
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Quoted:I don't think I'd be too confident to go diving by myself with just an open water cert, and minimal experience.
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With only 4 dives under your belt I wouldn't go diving with anybody but a professional for a little while. It's mostly a, "you don't know what you don't know" situation, and they're paid to look out for that kind of stuff, not to mention carrying liability insurance. It's not a huge learning curve. In fact, it seems that quite a few people go straight into their AOW, and provided they're doing actual skill-building specialties they come out being decent divers.

Things like Peak Performance Buoyancy make you a better diver. "Underwater Naturalist" is just another way to make money. If you do actual training dives instead of fluffer dives, you'll be ready to dive with other people, non-pros paid to watch your back, within about 10 more dives or so.
Link Posted: 12/20/2014 7:57:41 PM EDT
[#15]
There's a few guys that dive Saguaro Lake. I've seen them out there (I work out there) in the early spring when the water is crystal clear. This spring we could see the bottom 30 feet down and all the big bass hanging out in the.....
Link Posted: 12/23/2014 12:26:11 AM EDT
[#16]

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Quoted:


There's a few guys that dive Saguaro Lake. I've seen them out there (I work out there) in the early spring when the water is crystal clear. This spring we could see the bottom 30 feet down and all the big bass hanging out in the.....
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Ok. So at least this is helping assure me that I won't be wasting money on buying scuba gear that will sit unused. I mean, I do plan to go to San Diego, Rocky Point, and Florida.... but would also like stuff practically in the backyard.

 
Link Posted: 12/23/2014 12:39:06 AM EDT
[#17]

Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
With only 4 dives under your belt I wouldn't go diving with anybody but a professional for a little while. It's mostly a, "you don't know what you don't know" situation, and they're paid to look out for that kind of stuff, not to mention carrying liability insurance. It's not a huge learning curve. In fact, it seems that quite a few people go straight into their AOW, and provided they're doing actual skill-building specialties they come out being decent divers.



Things like Peak Performance Buoyancy make you a better diver. "Underwater Naturalist" is just another way to make money. If you do actual training dives instead of fluffer dives, you'll be ready to dive with other people, non-pros paid to watch your back, within about 10 more dives or so.
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Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:



Quoted:I don't think I'd be too confident to go diving by myself with just an open water cert, and minimal experience.




With only 4 dives under your belt I wouldn't go diving with anybody but a professional for a little while. It's mostly a, "you don't know what you don't know" situation, and they're paid to look out for that kind of stuff, not to mention carrying liability insurance. It's not a huge learning curve. In fact, it seems that quite a few people go straight into their AOW, and provided they're doing actual skill-building specialties they come out being decent divers.



Things like Peak Performance Buoyancy make you a better diver. "Underwater Naturalist" is just another way to make money. If you do actual training dives instead of fluffer dives, you'll be ready to dive with other people, non-pros paid to watch your back, within about 10 more dives or so.
How do you dive with professionals? Does that cost a lot of money?

 
Link Posted: 12/23/2014 9:09:48 AM EDT
[#18]
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Quoted:
How do you dive with professionals? Does that cost a lot of money?  
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:I don't think I'd be too confident to go diving by myself with just an open water cert, and minimal experience.


With only 4 dives under your belt I wouldn't go diving with anybody but a professional for a little while. It's mostly a, "you don't know what you don't know" situation, and they're paid to look out for that kind of stuff, not to mention carrying liability insurance. It's not a huge learning curve. In fact, it seems that quite a few people go straight into their AOW, and provided they're doing actual skill-building specialties they come out being decent divers.

Things like Peak Performance Buoyancy make you a better diver. "Underwater Naturalist" is just another way to make money. If you do actual training dives instead of fluffer dives, you'll be ready to dive with other people, non-pros paid to watch your back, within about 10 more dives or so.
How do you dive with professionals? Does that cost a lot of money?  


Dive with a working divemaster, not some random joe blow,
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