Finished my Open Water Classes

[bc214]

Hello All,

First, thanks again for all the initial insight as I worked through my Open Water classes. Yesterday I finished my check dives and received my certification as an SSI Open Water Diver. I look forward to the next few weeks as I dive at the local quarry with a few of my friends that have been certified for a while. I am hoping to develop skills while working with those who will be my quasi-perma-buddies so that we are all on the same page for hand signals, OOA emergencies, etc. Being that I'm SSI, one is PADI, and another is NAUI, I look forward to sharing the differences and working together. Beyond that, I'm hoping to lock a dozen or so more dives before summer comes to a close, and I'll be traveling to the Bahamas in the winter time for some warm water diving.

Thanks for the tips and tricks with equipment, and all of my BP&W questions. I'm still in my Seaquest back inflate (hand-me-down), which works fine for now, but I hope to switch up to a BP&W in the future.

As far as my training went, I am glad that I picked the dive center that I did. My instructor has been diving for longer than I have been alive, and had a pool in his shop. I felt super comfortable the entire time, and all of my questions were answered. All of the technical skills went very well, and the few that I had issue with received plenty of additional training to make sure that I was comfortable (namely mask off breathing).

I have most of my equipment now, and I'm just looking into exposure suits. I'd like to get a 5 or 7mm full plus a hood for NJ diving (and quarry), and a 3/2mm full for the islands. But for now I'm renting exposure suits until I figure out exactly what I want.

So that's my open water story; hopefully I will have much more to tell in the future.

Thanks again,
BC

 

[mselenaous]

Congrats!
Now Dive Dive Dive!

 

[TSandM]

Congratulations! Glad to hear you already have plans to head out again.

 

[bc214]

Congrats!
Now Dive Dive Dive!

Thanks!


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---------- Post added July 12th, 2014 at 08:47 PM ----------

Congratulations! Glad to hear you already have plans to head out again.

Thanks! Yes, I will be diving with my instructor and his next class, plus I am heading up to the quarry with some friends after that. I also posted about some local bay/off shore dives, so I have some good leads as to where to find some good basic OW dives.


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[DukeAMO]

Congrats!

I actually like quarry dives, because they're generally easy and relaxing. Sometimes it's nice to just walk into the water with my buddy (husband) and lazily dive around for an hour or two. Kind of like yoga. Quarries are also a nice place to practice skills, or learn new ones.

And then you can mix it up with some epic dives to more exotic locales.

 

[RonMele]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience and accomplishment! I recently started diving (after years of friends and a nephew telling me I need to be doing this) when I did a Discover Scuba class (and then 2 open water dives) while on a short winter vacation in St. Thomas. I went back again in May to do my open water diver course (PADI) and am heading to Key Largo next week with an old Air Force friend of mine and her instructor to do my advanced open water training. I can hardly wait! But again for you? Congrats!


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[deepstop17]

Congrats...