AOW on Oahu (Kinda Long Post)

[DiveMaven]

My suggestion would be that if you're unsure of your weighting and don't have much confidence in your bouyancy, to switch your fish ID module with Peak Performance Buoyancy?? It seems like having that as your first module will only help you with everything after that.

Oh yeah, and have a GREAT time in Hawaii!!

 

[justleesa]

It is brand new and I'm a chunky woman (Going to use Scuba to help change that!) So, the theory I was told is to take 10% of my body weight and subtract 1 or 2 pounds.

Sounds about right.....Your instructor will be of great help figuring out how much you will need. They usually look at the folks, grab weight and are dead on

I hope you have a great time and your hubby enjoys his DSD!!

 

[ivyleaguediver]

The thousand islands area would be a great place to do your AOW. I was just there in the area around Brockville, Ontario and the water temp. was 68F with virtually no thermocline and the water was quite clear thanks to the zebra mussels. There are great wreck dives from boat and also some easy ones from shore. I think you would like it there and its a lot less expensive than a trip to Hawaii.

 

[Nicholaa]

This trip to Hawaii has LONG since been planned and actually, it's being paid for by my parents (part of our future inheritance they say). My brother has lived on Oahu for years and he's getting married, so our entire mainland family is coming over to celebrate. Believe it or not, it's actually cheaper to dive and certify in Hawaii than it is to do my AOW back here in New York. It certainly surprised me.

DiveMaven - that's actually a good suggestion. I will mention it to my instructor and see what he thinks.

 

[MtnDiver]

1) What will the viz be like at a typical 80-90 feet dive in the waters off Oahu? We are actually planning to dive the Corsair for my deep adventure dive and I believe that's at 90+ feet. If I can't see anything as I am swimming/descending, I'm not going to want to do it. I feel disoriented and freaked out. If I can see the wreck beneath us, I'll be fine - I think - if I can take it nice and slow.

As with all things related to diving, conditions will vary from day to day and even hour to hour and also by dive location. My wife and I took our AOW while in Oahu last Labor Day weekend. We dove several of the deep wrecks off Waikiki and the vis was well over 100'. We could see the wrecks standing on the deck of the dive boat before splashing in. Same day, a little closer to shore, we dove Turtle Canyon and the vis was less than 35'.

2) What will the temperatures be like when we get that deep? Are there thermoclines like we had in the rock quarry back in PA? We only planned on bringing our 3mm wetsuits. If we have to bring our 7mm to dive Hawaii down that deep, I don't think I'm going to want to go down to 90+ feet. I can't imagine having to dive in water that's 65 degrees in a "tropical environment" and wear a 7mm wetsuit.

During our dives, the water temps were 80F at the surface and 73F at 100'. We dove in just swimsuits and rash guards and were very comfortable even on the third dives of the day. Of course, when I dove at Casino Point in Catalina, I ended up ditching my hood after the first dive because I was too warm.

3) If I used 22 pounds in a 7mm suit in freshwater, how much weight would you anticipate me needing in my 3mm suit in saltwater?

Just tell your instructor/divemaster on your first dive that you need to do a weight check and do it. Only takes a few minutes at the surface and then there won't be any guesswork involved.

Just my $0.02 worth. Good luck and enjoy your AOW class!

 

[scubadrewvideo]

Scubadrew - thanks for the video! That made me feel more comfortable!

You are very welcome! It sounds like you have a great dive vacation set up.
Might I also suggest. if you get the chance, to do a shore dive Sharks Cove on the north shore.
It is a great location for families, divers & snorkelers can have fun together, and in my opinion it is a must dive on Oahu in the summertime!!!
Check out this video to see.

 

[Teamcasa]

Hola Nicholaa, como esta?

Hawaii diving is like no other. Take the 3mm full suit, dive within your comfort zone, listen to your DM/instructor. The vis is remarkable and the undersea world of Oahu is amazing.

Navigation in Hawaii is also easy. You can see the whole course. But for practice using a compass, go to the local park, figure out what heading you need to get to a tree in the distance. Have a friend blindfold you, spin you around a few times, then as you keep your head down with a dive mask on, focus on your compass and walk using only your compass heading as a guide. If you hit the tree, you are on your way to passing navigation.

BTW Have a great time in Hawaii!

Dave

 

[crab lover]

I completely agree with Divemaven, try to swap days with the ID and PPB and you should take care of that weighting problem!

 

[awdorrin]

Hi all, Nicholaa told me she made this post so I figured i'd take a look. Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement about Hawaii, we are both really excited about the trip (atleast the SCUBA part of it, a little worried about the 18hr plane ride with two kids - haha)

Regarding the visibility at Dutch on our last dive, it wasn't quite as bad as Nicholaa made it out to be, but we could see she was uncomfortable which is why we surfaced.

We were following a line out to the school bus, the bottom drops deeper between the platforms and the bus and then comes back up, so we were in mid-water around 35ft and with the angle of the sun you couldn't quite make out the bottom or see the surface (probably 20ft vis))

I will say that dipping below the 2nd thermocline things got chilly (about 55 degrees) without a hood on. Definitely looking forward to the warm waters off Oahu!

 

[KrisB]

a little worried about the 18hr plane ride with two kids

Sounds like you need to make a trip to Costco to "rent" a couple iPod Videos...