2024 Diving Recap

[grantmac]

-How was your diving in 2024?
Pretty excellent. All in BC and Washington. Now mainly solo and using a DPV.

-How many dives?
97

-Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy?
Finally had an octo reach out to me. Big highlight.

-Any courses?
AN/DP

-Learn something new?
Nothing that scary on the other side of NDL. I don't get as narced as some people.

-Gave up an old (diving related) habit?
Relying on buddies. Now it's team mates or solo.

-What are you looking forward to in 2025?
More of the same really.

-New equipment?
Bought a DPV and new drysuit, the DPV was some of the best money I've spent diving. Use it at least 50% of the time.
Also just bought my own compressor, but it's a bit of a project so far.

 

[JuLe]

1. Good, just wish I would have had the time for more
2. 25
3. A few really memorable ones, like the first time I buddied up with my youngest after she got her OW.
4. No, but did help out our club with the OW course my daughter was in.
5. Always learning something
6. I haven't any idea what habits I should drop...
7. Will be doing quite a few pool dives during the winter months, daughter will be practicing w/ her drysuit so I might as well hop in also. When the ice on the lakes melt in spring, we'll get back to OW, looking forward to that.
8. No, but I'm sure something will come up that we need to get this year.

 

[MB NZ]

Probably an atypical response here!

1. What I did was OK, but very poor in terms of number of dives.
2. Three, yes 3, you read that right!
3. I went back to the Great Barrier Reef which was nice.
4. No.
5. No.
6. Having been a solo diver for a long time, I'm thinking of not carrying a redundant gas supply and staying shallow to make diving easier and more compatible with family boating trips.
7. Diving in the Mediterranean again.
8. I did buy a Halcyon reel in 2024.
9. I've been close to 1000 dives for a long time and would like to get there. Not that it means anything. I'm painfully aware that the "best" divers are those that dive all the time and I don't come close to falling in to that category these days. The passion has gone, but I can't quite let go of hard won skills and knowledge, but they are fading regardless.

 

[therookie]

• How was your diving in 2024?
  The best ever. But I say that every year...
  
  
• How many dives?
  14, coincidentally the same as last year
  
  
• Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy?
  We don't do a lot of drift diving, so a morning of two back-to-back drift dives, one on the south side followed by one around the point on the north side of the west end of Roatan in challenging (for us) conditions that my visiting buddies rated as their two best dives ever was special for all of us.
  
  
• Any courses?
  No, we were focused on continuing to apply the lessons from our AOW course the prior year.
  
  
• Learn something new?
  That I am much more comfortable diving in 28/29C water with a 3mm shorty than I was in a rashguard. Getting older and getting colder, I guess - and since my dive buddies are "northerners" I forget that I'm acclimatized to the tropics so what's warm for them maybe isn't for me. I was surprised at the difference the shorty made for me.
  
  
• Gave up an old (diving related) habit?
  I'm way too new to have old diving related habits. Working to make sure that the habits I'm developing aren't something I am going to want to give up in the future.
  
  
• What are you looking forward to in 2025?
  I set a goal of 20 dives for the year - looking forward to seeing what the sea brings to me in 2025.
  
  
• New equipment?
  Just small accessories that I didn't have before - a decent torch, a compass (not really needed for my diving around Roatan but I want to keep my nav skills up), a small slate for notes/communication...

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

1. Amazing! I got my cert in February, and it’s been a blast so far
2. I count 1 tank as 1 dive regardless of surface intervals. By that count,31
3. My first fossil dive was amazing. Found a 5 inch meg tooth. Also, on a later dive with my cousin in November, I found his goody bag he lost three months before, which was cool.
4. Just my open water
5. Scuba diving! Also learned to handke dark water by headlamp
6. No old habits yet lol
7. My cousin and I have big plans for diving over the summer
8. All my gear lol, but I’m proud of the dive helmet I made for my lights out of a hardhat and hose clamps, and especially excited about a new 7mm wetsuit I got for Christmas
9. Hoping for many more years of fun diving!

 

[dray_gnv]

1. How was your diving in 2024? I got much more serious about it.
2. How many dives? 75, but about 25 of those were training dives, so about 50 "experience" dives.
3. Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy? I gained several regular buddies/teammates.
4. Any courses? Fundamentals and cavern, with primers on doubles and drysuit
5. Learn something new? A more rigorous, thoughtful attitude/approach on everything from dive planning to team awareness
6. Gave up an old (diving related) habit? I gave up reliance on others for my safety
7. What are you looking forward to in 2025? Continuing on this path
8. New equipment? Jumped from recreational gear to a full DIR set-up
9. Other?

 

[Tracy]

1. How was your diving in 2024?

It was great, horrible year for weather, but still great

1. How many dives?

Much less than normal. Outside of teaching, I probably only had about 50 fun dives

1. Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy?

Went to Truk for two weeks, amazing trip.

1. What are you looking forward to in 2025?

Gunilda trip in Lake Superior

 

[fred32176]

1. How was your diving? Fun
2. How many dives? 27 dives
3. Did you have an extra special dive? My favorite dives were Looe Key and Wreck Trek. Looe Key had a reef shark cruise really close by.
4. Any courses? Nitrox and AOW.
5. Learn something new? Drift dives are a blast, shore dives with 75 divers suck.
6. Give up an old habit? - not been diving long enough for old habits.
7. 2025? More, just more
8. New Equipment - two galvanized steel HP 100s, sharkskin T2, Coolpix W300, an orcatorch sd01pro and I am going to stop thinking about this as the list could get longer
9. Started diving with a neighbor one street over and he had a heart issue and stopped diving for now, want my neighbor Dave to be healthy enough to dive again

 

[The Chairman]

• How was your diving in 2024?
  • Mostly vicarious. It was my second to slowest year in a long, long time.
• How many dives?
  • 2 in the Ballroom at Ginnie Springs
• Did you have an extra special dive? Saw something? A destination, or buddy?
  • That first dive after extensive back surgery this past Summer
• Any courses?
  • Of drugs and anti-coagulants
• Learn something new?
  • Growing old sucks but beats the alternative.
• Gave up an old (diving related) habit?
  • No, not really.
• What are you looking forward to in 2025?
  • Belize and a lot more diving. A return to my rebreather and diving the caves.
• New equipment?
  • Does my bionic back count? It's all titanium.
• Other.
  • Many thanks to J-J-Jenny for creating this thread!

 

[1fspeed]

1:Local, but some of my best ever.
2. 170 dives
3. Got decent footage of a Walleye - shy, hate bubbles
4. CCR MOD 1
5. everything felt new - CCR kinda does that to ya.
6. gave up blowing bubbles (most of the time)
7. Spending more time with my camera while on CC
8. Lotsa new gear - again CCR does that to ya.
9. 2024 highlight reel below