2024 Diving Recap

[Scuba_Jenny]

1. How was your diving in 2024?
2. How many dives?
3. Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy?
4. Any courses?
5. Learn something new?
6. Gave up an old (diving related) habit?
7. What are you looking forward to in 2025?
8. New equipment?
9. Other?

1. I was able to do a lot of diving this past year, despite only a few dives from Mid Sept - November because of weather. Couple hurricanes, though not directly impacted those winds are hundreds of miles wide made for nasty conditions.

2. 114 total dives, a new yearly record for me.

3. New to me was dive trip to Bonaire with the SB Invasion (if you've never been on an Invasion, it's worth it!!!). OMG! I LOVED Bonaire. Looking forward to getting back there.

4. Started an AAUS diving course. Plan is to get that finished up soon. I took it for the academics, but hope to be able to utilize it at some point in the future.

5. AAUS seems to be mostly a review of my DM course so far. As for learning something new... I've become more aware of subtle surface conditions when assessing whether it's a good option to dive or thumb it and get a drink. yeah, that was fun...

6. Can't think of anything right now.. and am wondering why I even posed the question. Like, why did that pop into my head?

7. Have a trip to Coz planned. I look forward to finishing the AAUS course.

8. No new equipment. But do have a new-to-me vehicle that is much better at hauling dive gear, so I guess that counts.

9. Looking forward to another good year of diving!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I had one of my lowest totals in many years, 50 dives. I made #50 yesterday. I did have a few amazing adventures.

2024 Diving Recap

 

[rhwestfall]

2..... two freaking dives in 2024..... "Broke Up" with my dive buddy as we diverged in values. Nobody around to dive with, and life really got in the way with family issues...

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

@Scuba_Jenny What a cool thread!

1. My 2024 diving was excellent. Made trips to Roatan, Key Largo, North Red Sea, and Cozumel. I had one liveaboard, the MV Fling (Freeport, Texas), canceled due to weather.

2. 93 dives, my highest total in one year.

3. The Duane off of Key Largo was special because I saw my first goliath grouper. And the SS Thistlegorm was quite memorable too.

4. Received my AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty through Rainbow Reef Dive Center and Coral Restoration Foundation.

5. Coral nursery upkeep at Tavernier, Florida. I didn't get to outplant any coral fragments during my brief stint with Coral Restoration Foundation. But the cleaning of the Christmas trees in the nursery was hard work!

6. I was able to go the entire week on the liveaboard in the Red Sea and not drink a drop of alcohol. Normally I would enjoy a beer at the end of the day.

7. More diving trips planned in 2025: Bonaire in January; Cozumel in February; Thailand (Similan Islands and Phuket) in March/April to start the year off.

8. I purchased a set of Scubapro Go Sport Gorilla fins to lighten the load during international travel. The Gorillas are okay and don't seem as responsive as my Jet Fins. But the Gorillas are 1/2 the weight of the Jets and much easier for travel.

9. I look to do a lot of diving in 2025! Have the above trips booked and looking for more!

 

[Wants2divemore]

1. Good diving overall
2. 41 dives
3. Went to North Carolina diving with my sons, their first time boat and wreck diving. Best dive was on the Aeolus wreck.
4. No new courses
5. Got my own drysuit (Seaskin Nova) and feeling very comfortable in it.
6. Can't think of anything.
7. Work trip in Dec where I hopefully get in 4 days of diving on the Vandenberg.
8. New drysuit.
9. Really appreciate all the advice, trip reports, and witty banner on SB. I've learned so much more than I ever could have on my own,.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

4. Started an AAUS diving course. Plan is to get that finished up soon. I took it for the academics, but hope to be able to utilize it at some point in the future.

5. AAUS seems to be mostly a review of my DM course so far. As for learning something new... I've become more aware of subtle surface conditions when assessing whether it's a good option to dive or thumb it and get a drink. yeah, that was fun...

I must pick your brain on the AAUS diving courses. I emailed a few organizational members but have run into dead ends.

 

[Rilelen]

1. A good year….lots of local diving and hit a few local Florida “bucket list” dives I’ve been wanting to see - Spiegel Grove, Jackson Blue, Vortex, Morrison, etc.

2. 242 dives, including 99 cave dives

3. Work travel took me to San Diego, so I got to do my first cold water west coast diving! The kelp is magical

4. Finished full cave and AN/DP

5. See above! I also picked up a sidemount rig and have been giving it a spin (I’m primarily backmount)

6. My old habits are fully intact

7. My buddy and I have been talking about trying to set up a Mexico cave trip later this summer…

8. I won a sidemount BC in a raffle & then stumbled across brand new dedicated sidemount regs at a gear swap that had never even been assembled for a ridiculously low price. So now the universe is clearly telling me it would like me to give sidemount a chance.

9. Mostly in 2025 want to keep up the dive pace, finish my Abe Davis, and maybe look into being checked for a PFO :/

Here’s a photo collage of every dive site I hit in 2024!

 

[TMHeimer]

23 dives, my lowest since 2006, right after I got my OW. Cut way down on the wetsuit winter diving here. Dived the usual sites here in NS and NY area. Found a couple of interesting northern shells. Fairly boring really. Hope to do a bit more in 2025. I've cut out sites that involve any real work at age 70.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I did about 45 or 50 dives total, but those were working dives and some of them up to two hours long.
All I did was purple urchin removal dives at Stillwater Cove in Sonoma County, Northern California.
We dived every weekend that was divable.
We totalled 21,231 lbs. of purps since September 17th of 2023.
We are doing this as a kelp restoration effort.
I have about 15 -20 core members that show up religiously, including people who help out doing shore support.
In the last year we had a documentary film made and got funding from SeaTrees.org for our efforts.
We're looking forward to this coming year in a big way!

Stillwater Cove from the overlook.

 

[jellycatsdad]

1. It was my first full year of diving since I got certified. Full of ups and downs. I look back at that time and I’m proud at how I grew as a diver.
2. 55 per Shearwater Cloud.
3. Went outside of Monterey for the first time, a solo trip to Catalina Island.
4. Took my AOW so I can go on deeper dives.
5. Learned my weighting has an impact on my trim, and caffeine before scuba kicks up my anxiety underwater.
6. Panicking when my SPG/AI drops below 1000psi. And sucking down air.
7. Refining my trim, working on navigation and getting more dives in. I want to get a drysuit in the second half of this year.
8. A new set of Scubapro Seawing Novas and a Peregrine TX.
9. Nope, maybe work towards rescue diver?