alittle help?

[Water Nymph]

I'm too young to buy any equipment,or get some scuba classes under my belt....
I'm planning to be a Marine Biologist so I kinda figured it would be a good Idea to start familarizing
( that's most likely spelled wrong ) myself with the spacifics ( I need to get a dictionary... =p ) of my future job. Only problem is I can't find a decent site, or someone to talk to about it. And what I have came across might as well have been written in Latin..
Any Info. would be greatly apreciated, and any personal experience War~tales would be adored...


Alittle help? =p ~ Water Nymph

 

[herman]

Hello WN and welcome to the board.

I think you have found a site you can call home. You will find every kind of diver here from the very experienced to diver want-to-be's like yourself. Please feel free to ask any question you would like and if the answers are a bit over your head, say so, I am sure someone can get translate for you. (It might help when asking the question to tell us that you are really new at this and to keep the answer simple). Not sure how old you are but I do know that SSI (a training agency) has a program called Scuba Rangers that is open to ages somewhere in the 8 to 13 range where you learn to use real scuba equipment in a pool with other kids. Kind of like a Boys and Girls club with scuba gear. PADI (another training agency) has a similar program but I can seem to remember exactly what it is called. You can look up the SSI and PADI web sites, I am sure you can find more info there. A hint for getting more/better responces, look closely at the catagories that you have available and choose the one that best suits you question. This question, for example, would maybe be better in the "Introduction and Greeting" or maybe the "General Info" . Again, welcome aboard and ask away.

 

[Starfish]

Welcome.

You may have already seen this site, but if you haven't, please give it a try:

http://www.marinecareers.net/

As you know what area you are interested in studying in college, check out the section called "Sea Grant" which explains funding available to students for college. It's never too early to look!

Check with you State Wildlife & Fishery or Dept. of Natural Resources for summer programs related to fish and marine science.

--Starfish (Bachelors of Science in Biology and Ph.D. in Research and Education)

 

[Water Nymph]

thanks for the tip Herman/Starfish, and the much appriciated welcome.....do you happen to have the site for the scuba rangers or any other classes?
And is anyone here from South Carolina? I just moved here
and I have no clue of whats here..
Starfish I couldn't agree more...( the never too early to look thing

 

[Tavi]

Water Nymph,

Here is a link to SSI's Ranger webpage. I hope you find something helpful there.

Tavi

 

[Water Nymph]

Who would have thought that getting older would be bad...

Thank you Tavi for the welcome and site link.
unfortunatly ( that has to be spelled wrong..) I'm 2 years over the limit...

I do have a question though..what the difference between SSI
PADI and the others?

 

[Tavi]

WN,

The different agencies teach basicaly the same things at the Newbie level. Finding a good instuctor is more important than what letters are on your card. My certification is SSI (I certified on vacation in the Bahamas). My wife and son didn't like the local shops, mostly because of the peoples attitudes. There are 4 within 20 minutes of our house.They certified with NAUI, because we found a great instructor. We traveled an hour and a half to do classes with him. It was well worth the drive.

SSI, NAUI, and YMCA all recognize each other. You can do your training with one and your c-dives with another. PADI does not do this.

Are you in the U.S.A.?

Being older isn't neccesarily a bad thing,Your that much closer to being able to get certified. I don't know the minimum age requirements. Perhaps someone else does.

Tavi

 

[Taltoz]

PADI has a Junior Open Water Diver program for 10-14 which requires that you dive with certified Open Water Diver. Then at 15 you can become certified to dive on your own.

http://www.padi.com/faq/dive.asp#4

 

[Water Nymph]

Thanks for the link Taltoz.. I'll check it out right away...

I'm in the great place of US..
But which program is the best?
Or does it matter?

 

[Water Nymph]

As if I haven't asked enough questions already, but I have a new one.
What on earth are the bends?(DCS)

I've been reading some articles on this site and I came across one that has a list of risk factors for DCS, but what is it?