Any advise to give to a newly certified diver?

[diversteve]

Actually, I will be getting my certification in April in Rocky Point, Mexico, but I'm interested in avoiding the mistakes made by beggining divers, and am open to suggestions/experiences from veteran divers. I'm also interested in suggestions for good diving spots in Southern California.

Hi,

AZScuba, our Phoenix based dive group is responsible for the Arizona Scuba forum here. We're a group of over 100 local(mostly) Arizona divers.

Good thing about getting certified in Rocky Point is that everything you dive after that will be better...I'd suggest a trip to San Carlos when you get the chance. Who are you diving with? Inland?

One of our club members is trying to fill a boat trip to California in August from the local dive community. It's a pretty big boat (24 divers or so) and should be a lot of fun knowing the organizer. More info on our yahoo group forum if you're interested.

Our AZScuba group meets the second Wednesday of every month for a social evening, we generally manage to discuss diving also. We have some regulars who dive mostly in SoCal so they'll have some insights into the best places. Most of our local e-mail traffic is on our Yahoo group instead of here for some reason.

It's free to join AZScuba.

If you're looking for gear, the Scuba Specialties(43rd Ave/Bell) auction is coming up on the 22nd of this month. There's usually some good deals, sometimes outstanding deals, depends on how many people show up. I'll probably be there, they're my new LDS.

For more info look here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/t57068-join-azscuba-club-.html

PM me if I can answer any other questions, I don't generally browse this forum.

Steve

 

[Christopher520]

Phoenix Diver;

I didn't want to repeat all the things that you have already been told.

My advice to you is, make sure your equipment fits correctly and that your weighted correctly, i have had dives ruined because i made a mistake and either, underweight or overweighted myself, or was wearing a BC that was slightly too big or small.

You'll find that if your equipment fits and is adjusted properly you can relax and spend a lot more time looking around rather than be frustrated by whatever piece of equipment is giving you a problem.

The majority of diving i do isn't pleasuring diving, I'm a public safety diver so the coral reef and fish aren't my primary concern for diving, the shape of the equipmeny im wearing usually is, so be safe, take care of your equipment because your life truely depends on it.

christopher520

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources. At the bottom, be sure to notice the Local & Singles Dive Club forums.

Carry a Storm Whistel, Safety Sausage, and in your dive bag - a couple of weight belt keepers, as you'll need them someday.

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[Phoenix Diver]

Thanks for all of the advice & comments!!! I will definitely be watching the AZ Scuba board, as I will be in need of a dive-buddy until my son gets out of the Marine Corps. Thanks again!!!!

 

[Dive-aholic]

Welcome to the Board, Phoenix. I'm in Tucson, but we go to the Phoenix area quite a bit to dive the local lakes. If you're ever interested, let me know. Lots of good advice here. The only thing I can think to add is learn to dive dry as soon as you can, and get yourself a dry suit as soon as you can. San Carlos has good diving and can be done wet pretty much year round. San Diego tends to be on the cold side, as do the AZ lakes - mid 50s usually.