Belgian newbie says hi

[Ripley]

I got Padi OW certified about 6 months ago and as most of the recreational divers I went out to buy a nice jacket style BCD and one of those fine black/yellow regs.

During the courses my instructor, who was a tech diver, started to tell me about the DIR way... you know, those bp/w BCD's, long hoses, no consoles etc...
Ah well, good for you with your dry suit and odd looking donut shaped bladderthing on your back, but hey, that's only for tech divers! And I'm NOT that.

After my certification my instructor became my personal buddy. And he kept on talking about DIR, the GUE-team he's diving with, how they see things etc. I became curious and started reading around on the internet.

Result: after barely 15 dives my Apeks regulator is being equipped by my buddy with the long hose, console has been tossed aside, enter the bp/w bcd and exit the jacket style BCD... Why? well... I'm convinced: DIR makes totally sense.

 

[virtualRuben]

Welcome to scubaboard! There's an argument to be made for both traditional and DIR setups, but eventually you should go with the option that's most comfortable for you and your buddy so I think you made the right choice. Also, check out the BeNeLux section under Western Europe if you want to meet other divers in your area.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Welcome to Scubaboard!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Welcome! As you probably know, there is a large GUE community in Belgium. Check out their Facebook group. They do great things, like removing ghost nets in the North Sea.

 

[Ripley]

Welcome to scubaboard! There's an argument to be made for both traditional and DIR setups, but eventually you should go with the option that's most comfortable for you and your buddy so I think you made the right choice. Also, check out the BeNeLux section under Western Europe if you want to meet other divers in your area.

Will do for sure. Always nice to meet other divers. Thank you for the tip

 

[Zef]

Where in Belgium are you located? Where do you dive? What club(s) are you affiliated with?

I live in Wallonie in a tiny village just a few kms from the french border off the E19. Carriere de Dour is less than 10min from my house. We often dive in the area between Beaumont and Phillipsville and normally dive all year but I am working on Masters in Business Administration (MBA) that is consuming a lot of my spare time at the moment. My wife and I will be heading to TODI on the Feb 22nd with our club, and we are also planning a dive to NEMO 33 with some folks in the MBA class for early March....you are welcome to meet up with us if you would like. PM me and I will send you our contact info.

-Z

 

[Ripley]

Welcome! As you probably know, there is a large GUE community in Belgium. Check out their Facebook group. They do great things, like removing ghost nets in the North Sea.

Hello, I know some of them and I have to agree: they do great things.
Personally I limit myself to dive with them for Project Baseline

 

[Ripley]

Where in Belgium are you located? Where do you dive? What club(s) are you affiliated with?

I live in Wallonie in a tiny village just a few kms from the french border off the E19. Carriere de Dour is less than 10min from my house. We often dive in the area between Beaumont and Phillipsville and normally dive all year but I am working on Masters in Business Administration (MBA) that is consuming a lot of my spare time at the moment. My wife and I will be heading to TODI on the Feb 22nd with our club, and we are also planning a dive to NEMO 33 with some folks in the MBA class for early March....you are welcome to meet up with us if you would like. PM me and I will send you our contact info.

-Z

Hello Zef, I'm located in the Antwerp region. Our "housreef" is de Nekker in Mechelen. Next to that our club often dive in Ekeren, Oosterschelde, De Beldert (Holland), Grevelingen (Holland) and on a regular base in the known quarries (Vodelée, La Gombe,...). The usual dive locations for Belgian
Todi is in our agenda on February 16th with our club.
I believe Nemo is also on the agenda but can't recall the exact date.

 

[Zef]

Hello Zef, I'm located in the Antwerp region. Our "housreef" is de Nekker in Mechelen. Next to that our club often dive in Ekeren, Oosterschelde, De Beldert (Holland), Grevelingen (Holland) and on a regular base in the known quarries (Vodelée, La Gombe,...). The usual dive locations for Belgian
Todi is in our agenda on February 16th with our club.
I believe Nemo is also on the agenda but can't recall the exact date.

Love diving both Vodelée and La Gombe....we usually to Lillé in the morning have steak on stone for lunch and then head over to La Gombe....but because of the need for reservations at both places, diving there requires a bit more planning in advance than most of the other sites in the region.

Have you been to La Rochefontiane? or Villers-2-Eglisses? Lots of tech divers seem to like La Rocherontaine because it drops down below 50m in one area, and V-2-E is always interesting to dive.

La Roche doesn't require a reservation, nor does La Croissette (Vodecée). Lac de l'eau d'heur is always a good standby for bubble blowing time as it is easily accessible, inexpensive, and good for a wide range of abilities. Floreffe is another nice spot although it is relatively shallow...there is a glider and a cesna (I think it is a cesna) sunk in there. Dour is close to the house but rarely dive their....thought about joining the club that manages it which would make diving there free and provide me another option for filling my cylinders for free but I have not gotten around to it yet because of preoccupation with school.

Regarding your comments about DIR setup, I dive a single backmounted cylinder but have adopted the BP/W, long hose, and octo on a necklace because it made sense to me as well. I see lots of different configurations among the rec and tech divers at all the sites here in Belgium....as long as the setup makes sense and is functional for the diver and their buddy then its all good.

We will have break from class for a couple of weeks in March....if you would like to get together for a dive or a beer give me a shout.

-Z

 

[Tribal]

Welcome Ripley, nice to see you that you did find the right way that fast.

we usually to Lillé in the morning have steak on stone for lunch and then head over to La Gombe

Just admit it. Nobody likes the cold dark water but we need a reason to go eat the steak/Pavé.