Hi from San Francisco

[BikerBecca]

Hi everyone,
I am finally realizing a 30 year old dream to get my SCUBA certification(s). I am so very excited about all this and how this is going to have such a positive impact on my life.

I'm doing all my studying at the moment. Boy there's a lot to learn but it's so interesting. This weekend I will be doing my pool dives. Next week I get my Nitrox certification, then at the end of this month I'll be on the Big Island of Hawaii celebrating my 50th and doing my four open water dives to get my certification. Did I mention how excited it am?

I'm here to learn from everyone that is 100% more experience than I am. Maybe make some new friends and find some new dive buddies here in NorCal, and to have some fun.

Happy New Year everyone,
Becca

P.S. - I hope to change my avatar to a pic from my dives in Hawaii and replace this boring Corporate Head Shot.

 

[Chavodel8en]

Hey fellow NorCal diver Becca,

As you may know, there is a NorCal forum here in the Regional forums - good place to go for locally relevant advice & info.

I also recommend the Meetup.com website and app. There are at least 2 Bay Area scuba meetup groups (Bay Area Scuba Lovers & San Francisco Scuba Diving Group). Meetup is how I get most of my Norcal dives in (the SF Meetup also has monthly happy hours where people get together and gab all things scuba), and I also used Meetup to hook up w a Oahu local diver to do some shore dives.

Like you, I had always had a long-time fascination with the underwater world - for me I didn't certify until my mid-thirties. Its been lots of fun since.

Welcome and say hey to the fish in Hawaii!

 

[fisheater]

May I respectfully and STONGLY suggest that you do your checkout dives here (in Monterey) and then you will not only a certified diver by the time you hit the Big Island and will be ready some great diving, and not have to be relegated to doing skills instead of enjoying the Hawaiian critters and sights?

Divers living here who get certified in the tropics rarely (typically never) dive locally. By not diving locally, they simply never get any better. Dive skills are perishable and if you only dive on your annual vacation, you'll never advance. Diving here is great and challenging, such that you'll be prepared to dive anywhere.

An example. I got certified in Monterey and did a single, short dive on the Sonoma Coast before going to Hawaii. I took AOW there (as it turned out to be cheaper than booking the dives individually) and explained to my instructor that I was a rank newbie and that she should keep close tabs on me. She asked "Where were you certified?" I responded "in Monterey." "Oh," she said, "you're already a better than those guys over there with a hundred dives." "No. No. No, you don't understand," I responded. She smiled and told me that "You don't understand."

Turns out, she was right. In Hawaii, I was a buoyancy god, able to control my depth with easy aplomb. Back home, I still sucked at it and needed further practice to get it right.

By diving here, I have made my good friends and dive buddies in NorCal and SoCal. Also, my skills have enabled me to make a number of dive friends on the Big Island (where I love to go). Typically, they don't associate with tourist divers.

My original plan was, like yours, to do my class and pool work locally and get certified in Hawaii. I am eternally grateful that someone strongly urged me to reconsider that and get certified here. So, please seriously consider getting certified here, as well.

Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.

 

[BikerBecca]

Dear Fisheater,

Thank you so much for the advice. I would have done my checkout dives in Monterey instead of Hawaii, but the weekend that it will happen is the weekend where I am flying to Hawaii at 7am Monday morning, so I could not dive. I figured it would be better to at least do my checkout dives in Hawaii than not do any diving while there at all.

I do plan on diving in Monterey often with my dear friend Ryder. In fact, when I return from Hawaii I will be doing just that with him in mid-February. I've always wanted to see the Kelp Forest.

If I could have done my checkout dives in Monterey and then have fun diving in Hawaii I totally would have. It would have also been significantly cheaper for me, but this Hawaii trip has been planned since last Summer and everything is paid for already.

DearChavodel8en,
Thanks for the advice about the other forums and the MeetUp groups.

Thanks again everyone,
Becca

 

[TMHeimer]

Congratulations. I got my cert. age 51. It's nice to hear of someone doing all the required studying beforehand, which doesn't always happen. Good luck as you go forward.

 

[drbill]

Welcome to the world of SCUBA and ScubaBoard. I did my first dive a few years before you were born... and it still fascinates me today.

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida......have a great time in Hawaii..

 

[ram04769]

Welcome to the board, Becca and congratulations on getting scuba certified. Best wishes with all of your future diving experiences!

 

[BikerBecca]

Hi Everyone,
Due to personal reasons my plans fell through and I did not get my certification back in January and I did not get to dive in Hawaii. Hawaii was beautiful and I enjoyed my birthday with close friends, which was awesome, but no SCUBA.

The good news is I just spent the weekend proving I am a strong swimmer, learning all my SCUBA skills, and passed my written exam. Today I was signed off for my ocean dives to get my certification. I just made my hotel reservations for 4/28 - 5/1 and hope to be coming home from Monterey, CA as a Certified Open Water Diver.

I am so excited! As I said in my original post, this is a 30 year dream coming true. I am working so hard for this and the amount of happiness I am feeling right now is better than Christmas morning when I was 6 years old!

I hope in early May I can say I am finally a diver and I hope to share some cool pics and video I get while diving in Monterey, CA

Best,
Becca

 

[Henry Hallam]

Monterey has great diving if you don't mind the cold. Have fun with certification!!!