New diver in Texas

[Sir Garreth]

Good morning,
Just wanted to start off by saying that I'm loving the layout of the board thus far. I'm fresh meat when it comes to diving. Became PADI certified last year to be able to dive on our cruise celebration from graduating pharmacy school. Only have 4 dives under my belt but I'm going on another cruise here in a couple months. First 'real' dive was Turks and Caicos at the wall and my next is at Roatan. I am seeing myself becoming hooked for sure. Main reason I'm joining the board is for the plethera of info/advice you have to offer.

I'm pretty far inland from the gulf However, I'm looking for help/info on how to get in some weekend dives without completely breaking the bank everytime. Originally from Navarre, Fl so NW panhandle is a familiar territory but the dive world is completely foreign to me.

Thanks for having me.

 

[Resqdivemedic]

Welcome to the board. I'm sure you will hook up with a buddy or two through the the board who are in your area. Dive safe and dive often!

 

[Sir Garreth]

Thanks, trying to get my friend that certified with me to join the board as well....we shall see. He is kind of a slacker. He is also sitting right next to me.

 

[Resqdivemedic]

I know a lot of slackers. A good kick in the back side will usually get them going.

 

[RyanT]

Welcome! The Florida panhandle has some really great diving. It's not the Caribbean, but if you enjoy wrecks and fish, the area has plenty of that. As for doing things on a budget, you can do some shore dives in the Panhandle. They are not as nice as going offshore, but they do save you the charter fees, @TMHeimer can probably tell you a lot more about available shore dives in the area. For me, I find that lodging on trips tends to cost as much if not more than the diving. You might consider looking on Air BnB to see if you can find a small place for rent with a kitchen. That can save you on eating out as well. Enjoy!

 

[Sir Garreth]

Welcome! The Florida panhandle has some really great diving. It's not the Caribbean, but if you enjoy wrecks and fish, the area has plenty of that. As for doing things on a budget, you can do some shore dives in the Panhandle. They are not as nice as going offshore, but they do save you the charter fees, @TMHeimer can probably tell you a lot more about available shore dives in the area. For me, I find that lodging on trips tends to cost as much if not more than the diving. You might consider looking on Air BnB to see if you can find a small place for rent with a kitchen. That can save you on eating out as well. Enjoy!

Room and board wont be a problem. My mother still lives there. I did notice that a lot of the dive shops talk about visibility and stress the fact that experience is needed. Not sure how to have experience without getting experience, but I'm thinking a few shore dives in shallow water with low vis is a start. I was certified out of Lake Ouachita in Hot Springs, Ar and vis was about 1 ft maybe less. Stressful but I made it through.

 

[RyanT]

Shore visibility can vary from pretty much zero to maybe 20'. Talk to the local dive shops and they can certainly give you tips on best times to dive, etc. In the Destin area, there are a lot of offshore dives in the 70-90' range. While these require a little more experience, they are doable for relatively new divers. During the summer, it's not unusual to have 30-40' visibility. Offshore, the issue is just managing your navigation to make sure you return to the anchor line for your ascent. Then of course watch your gas and bottom time carefully!

 

[Sir Garreth]

Shore visibility can vary from pretty much zero to maybe 20'. Talk to the local dive shops and they can certainly give you tips on best times to dive, etc. In the Destin area, there are a lot of offshore dives in the 70-90' range. While these require a little more experience, they are doable for relatively new divers. During the summer, it's not unusual to have 30-40' visibility. Offshore, the issue is just managing your navigation to make sure you return to the anchor line for your ascent. Then of course watch your gas and bottom time carefully!

That was another question I had that you bring up. I have the basic OW PADI cert. which on our cert dive we went about 50-52 ft. However, when I dove in Turks & Caicos it was two dive masters on the cruise with us and a few other people with quite more experience. They knew it was my first true dive but the whole group went down to 80-95 ft. I stopped descending at 84 ft and just kind of hovered over the group. I was totally fine with it but when we got to the boat they started giving me slack about going beyond me qualification. Is it faux pas for me to be going deeper than what I'm 'qualified' for? Wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do in this situation.

 

[Ryan.Phillips]

Garreth, as a divemaster, I really put this one on the two divemasters. It's their responsibility to go through the proper pre-dive briefs and checks to ensure that every diver on the trip understands their limits, and to "watch over" diver safety throughout the entire trip. As a new diver, and only OW certified, they should have ensured that you and your dive buddy had a plan to stay within your certified limits, especially if they were concerned enough to berate you after the fact. Even more telling is your use of "giving me slack" instead of us, which suggests to me that you may not have had an assigned buddy, further indicating a need for the divemasters to work with you and act as a buddy for you if the rest of the group was going further than your limits. All that being said, there is no "scuba police," so in the end, it does fall on the diver to ensure that they stay within their limits. Diving deeper depths can add increased risks that are less likely at shallower depths, so if you intend to dive at those depths regularly I would advise getting the Advanced OW so you can pick up the the necessities for ensuring your safety.

 

[Sir Garreth]

Garreth, as a divemaster, I really put this one on the two divemasters. It's their responsibility to go through the proper pre-dive briefs and checks to ensure that every diver on the trip understands their limits, and to "watch over" diver safety throughout the entire trip. As a new diver, and only OW certified, they should have ensured that you and your dive buddy had a plan to stay within your certified limits, especially if they were concerned enough to berate you after the fact. Even more telling is your use of "giving me slack" instead of us, which suggests to me that you may not have had an assigned buddy, further indicating a need for the divemasters to work with you and act as a buddy for you if the rest of the group was going further than your limits. All that being said, there is no "scuba police," so in the end, it does fall on the diver to ensure that they stay within their limits. Diving deeper depths can add increased risks that are less likely at shallower depths, so if you intend to dive at those depths regularly I would advise getting the Advanced OW so you can pick up the the necessities for ensuring your safety.

I greatly appreciate the reply and input. My dive buddy was my father who also only has the OW. This was also the reason I didnt continue going down further. I've heard horrible stories of divers succumbing to Narcing and I really want to ease into those depths. I honestly felt calm and collected at those depths but I'm also not going to sit here and say that I would be able to fully hand any problems that may arise at those depths. I am absolutely going for my AOW. My ultimate goal is to do wreck diving. I'm a big history buff and the Oriskany is on my bucket list. I just want a little more experience under my belt before O start doing the deep dives, night dives, low vis etc.