Getting back into Diving

[John_Duprey]

Hi All: I was trained back in the late 80's as an open water diver. Did a lot of diving for a few years then just got too busy. Eventaully sold my gear for needed $$$ (REGRET THAT) . Now I wan't to start diving again. I live on the South Shore (Whitman MA) and am looking for new diving friends. Ones who might take on helping me get re oriented to diving.

Best Wishes
John Duprey

 

[Diesel298]

well im glad to hear when people get back into diving
as far as sellin your gear. no biggie...the advances in the industry are leaps and bounds...so you would want to upgrade anyway. just done be sold on alot of the useless stuff.

 

[LobstaMan]

Welcome back to diving, John! I could give you advice, but the best thing to do would be to search this or another forum with the keywords "new to diving" or "return to diving" or something like that. You'll find out that most things you have questions about have already be talked about on the SB. Do the searches and have fun diving.

LobstaMan

 

[spectrum]

Many would suggest a profesional refesher or just plain running through the OW calss from the beginning. Only you know how comfortable you were and how much remains.

If you wander up to southern Maine give me a shout and welcome back to the sport. A few rounds of rental gear will let you be sure you want to dive back in and let you try some contemporary gear without a commitment.

Pete

 

[large_diver]

Refresher shounds like a good idea..most shops will offer them for a pretty reasonable price. Another idea would be to ask a shop if you could audit a BOW course (since you already have a cert)....if they view you as someone who is about to drop some $$$ to buy new gear, a smart shop owner would have no problem with this.

As an example, PG Dive in Newton offers free pool time every Monday night and they usually have a DM there....making it a perfect situation to work on skills.

As for developing buddies -- hang out here, join area dive clubs and get to know your local shop. Many shops offer group shore dives and/or boat dives during the warmer months. On the south shore -- South Shore Skindivers in Weymouth and North Atlantic Scuba in Marshfield are both great shops.

http://www.southshoredivers.com/
http://www.northatlanticscuba.com/

 

[scubastew]

AGREED do the refresher!! I recently got back into it after a lay off (is 5 years ago recent?) and felt I would have been well served with the refresher.

SouthShoreSkinDivers has (and I am sure NAS does too) a class you can take on a saturday morning and is relatively cheap.

other options:
>>take the AOW if you haven't already
>>do some snorkeling to get used to being in the water again, clearing your mask etc.

Also Deisel is correct, the newer gear is much much "better", easier to use, safer and outside of tanks, most 20+ year old gear would be N.G. (No Good) though I still have 30 year old fins that were my dad's. But likely that's more of a sentimental choice...good fins though

I live on the south shore so PM me if/when you are looking to dive.

Large_D is deadon most dive shops have clubs or can refer you to other divers looking for buddies

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Do the refresher. It is usually not that expensive and some shops will tailor it to your needs. Just need to get familiar with gear and spend an hour or two in pool with some guidance, or pool and an hour or so going over theory, tables etc., or there's the first two plus a local ow dive with an instructor or DM. We offer all three and price ranges from 50-125 or so depending on what you require(time,knowledge,gear) and want. There are even variations on each scenario.

 

[Sgt_Nutz]

Hi neighbor,

Glad you are getting back in the water. Don't know if Dan at Subsea Divers in E.B. has any courses coming up. It may be worth a stop at the store. Plenty of local and web stores have package deals on equipment.
www.leisurepro.com comes to mind........

Bob in E.B.

 

[scubajim]

I did the same thing after being away from diving for what seems a lifetime. But it all came back to me when I took a refresher course. Now I can't believe I wasted all those years of not diving

 

[John_Duprey]

Hey Bob: Good to hear form a Diver so close on this board. I do plan to stop bySubsea Divers tomorrow (Sat) and talk to Dan. Perhaps we can get together sometime and talk diving. And maby buddy up sometime.

Best Wishes
John
in Whitman

Hi neighbor,

Glad you are getting back in the water. Don't know if Dan at Subsea Divers in E.B. has any courses coming up. It may be worth a stop at the store. Plenty of local and web stores have package deals on equipment.
www.leisurepro.com comes to mind........

Bob in E.B.