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Go in and start talking diving and see how they respond. Some shops will try to sell right away. Some will just plain talk to you as a person/diver and build a relationship. Personally those are the shops I like to associate with. Try going on dive boats too. There will probably be a couple of...

Start diving right away. I waited a little over a month after my OW and had a "holy sh*t there's no instructor in this dive" moment. I reckon the feeling of uneasiness will get more severe the longer you wait. That dive was with a random online buddy though so maybe that was a contributing...

Torn between Big Island and Oahu though leaning a bit to the former. Would love to move to either island. Dive in the morning. Work. Dive again at night. Plenty of other things to do outside of diving as well.

Holy wow!!!

I do love the hug from my 7mm :hugs: I do know another instructor from the PNW and he also says it's cold. He probably thinks California is the tropics hahaha

To independent instructors who are selective about who to take as OW students: what is/are your criteria for selecting students? I know instructors who prefer teaching AOW or freediving because those courses are kinda sorta for people who have some sort of comfort in the water.

A buddy of mine went in before I did and told me that it was a little bit tight but he was a much bigger guy so I figured I should be fine. I also checked it out from the outside and saw that it was wider than "wiggle through" ones we've done before so definitely dropped my guard. I just...

Welcome! Check out the Facebook group "So Cal Scuba Dive Exchange" for used gear. I got my backplace-wing setup for like $350 on sale. It's the XDeep Ghost. I know some people don't like it but I love it except for the fact that it might not be acceptable for GUE Fundies :( so I might have to...

Maybe he was using fin keepers and it happened at the end of a relatively long dive (so already low on O2) at the beginning of a long one-way cave (so he couldn't have been pulled out) I got caught inside a shallow but tight cave-like place in the middle of a surge once and realized that it was...

I practice both types of diving albeit I have far more experience freediving than I do with scuba. I honestly am more afraid of getting in trouble while on scuba just because my existence underwater is dependent on life support equipment which places the body in a complicated unnatural state...

That's half the purpose of the float I(we) use. Purpose one is to hold the line. Purpose two is for an ascending freediver to grab onto and rest after a long deep dive. Purpose t I think it's called an abalone float. It's basically a tire innertube with a cover so you can pretty much jump on top...

I did your 2nd method - spread it out over several dives. As someone already mentioned - no big deal if you're only a couple lbs over. Should have it figured out by the next dive.

I have a Trident float and my flag is ziptied to a tent pole. It nice because it sticks up high but unfortunately I lost it because it fell off as I was pulling the line up (I jump on top of the float to pull the line up). I have another one in order and I intend mounting it on another tether...

Don't dive with unfamiliar gear. That's one of the first rules in "the book" and I learned mine the hard way. Wast on a boat trip to a local diving hotspot and the plan was to freedive on day 1 and scuba on day 2. I wasn't gonna do the optional day 1 night dive because I wasn't certified as...

+1 more on using longblade freediving fins. Test them out first before purchasing though as the super soft ones may not be able to handle the extra weight and drag of scuba gear. Not the best for tight spaces and for giant strides (gotta jump in without fins) but they really are easy on the...

Frenzel for me. Never looked back after getting it down. It's instantaneous. Can even do it in bursts of 3 if I somehow fall behind.

Must have really lucked out when I went last month.

An instructor at my LDS mentioned this too. I asked him what makes a scuba diver "good" and he his answer was the ability to problem solve. Hmmm...maybe I need to push it or be less careful next time. Most of my scuba dives have been uneventful. :eyebrow:

Hi, Jo I'm new to the group and scuba diving as well. Let me know if you venture up to LA. I'm trying to dive more regularly and have yet to find a default scuba buddy/group. I actually might head down to Lags on Saturday if I end up getting a HP100 in Tustin.