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I've never heard of folks swimming in a nuke plant's cooling pond before but I guess if it's good enough for the manatees down here it must be good enough for humans. :) They congregate around the outfalls during the winter since the water temp's around 72 or higher. I just added a couple of...

Ouch, sorry to hear that. Not to mention it was probably cold water too. Those conditions would probably keep me out of the water altogether but then again, living up there you must really need a nice snorkeling/scuba fix by this time of year if you don't do cold water diving. My coldest temp...

I also went snorkeling over the weekend (see cool pix on snorkeling thread) & had trouble equalizing my ears. It mostly happened as I got down to about 15' or more (I never got past about 18-20'). I was continually pinching my nose & blowing on the way down but it didn't help too much esp. on...

I saw a couple of divers using a modified red Radio Flyer wagon to lug their tanks/gear to/from their car to the water's edge this weekend. The guy had built a special square wooden rack to set inside it to hold the tanks upright. It was really clever & I asked if his kid missed his wagon but he...

Probably not to Alexander Springs, ($22 total for 4 people to get in!!) & I'm not sure I'll get anywhere else before my class starts on Memorial Day weekend due to other weekend commitments between now/then. We'll be doing our checkout dives at Devil's Den in Williston (where I've never been...

We went to Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest. My profile pic/avatar is one of my shots but I'm having trouble posting any others. It said it uploaded them last night as an attachment but then they don't show up in the post. I must be missing something somewhere.

It's good to know that your LDS was flexible on prices when comparing to competitors. I hope mine is the same way when I go to buy a BCD & regulator setup after I finish class & have tried out a few different ones. I know I could probably find some good stuff locally on craigslist too but...

Only about 17 feet but I'm proud of it as it was my personal best & I just did it recently.

Snorkeled Alexander Springs, FL yesterday. (Not certified yet) Had a great time, vis ~50-60ft, lots of sunfish, bluegill & even a couple of bass. (Not to mention some great bikini-fish around too.;)) Also got to watch 2 classes do OW checkout dives at the bottom of the spring which was cool.

I finally got to get out again to one of our Florida springs yesterday & had an awesome day. Some highlights/observations of the day: Highlights: * I got to try out my new mask, snorkel, fins, 3mm wetsuit & weights in a place other than my pool! I LOVE this new gear & although I started with...

Oh, OK. I think I get it. Thanks for the input, I'll tinker around with it some more this weekend.

Regarding the vertical position, the only time I really do that is if I stop momentarily to get my bearings relative to the shore, etc., esp. if I'm in a large body of water. You're correct in that I'm only going down 10-15 feet, but I'm not sure I understand your statement about the 1 pound...

I'm getting ready to take my OW class next month & have bought a 3mm full suit and my weight belt (6 pocket) & assortment of shot weights. I've experimented a bit in my backyard pool with the suit & weights & also found that 10lb is not quite enough to stay down (only 6' deep) at level buoyancy...

Like you, I'm a bit "fluffy" in the middle & suffer from what I like to call "short-round" syndrome. (5'10" & 40-42" waist). Have you looked at Pinnacle's suits? I ended up with a Pinnacle Elastiprene & am very happy with it. Having never owned a wetsuit before, I too thought it was a bit too...

Thanks for the input so far. ALL 7 of the LDS's in my area require you to have weight belt/weights for their OW classes so there was no other option for me. As for the diving locations, my checkout dives will be in the springs but hopefully I'll be doing salt water diving as well. Kenny -...

A couple of quick questions for the group: I'll be starting my OW class in a few weeks & am supposed to supply my own weight belt & weights. I've been told by my LDS instructor that I have to buy soft weights due to the requirements of the training pool's owner. My instructor also said that...

Thanks for the confidence boost everybody. I guess I've just come across one too many posts that make it sound like you should be named Cousteau & have 6 months of classroom training just to be able to put on the gear & go learn, even in a pool. Somebody even had a pretty harsh post on one...

I've recently signed up for an OW class (PADI) but will not be taking it until May due to scheduling issues. I have a lot of snorkeling experience & have wanted to learn to dive since my teens so I'm really stoked about finally getting to do it all these years later. In the meantime, I have...