I shore dive at Vero (which I am sure is nothing like CA). I would never want to be heavy there, because once you fall down or get knocked down it is super hard to get up with too much lead on. Maybe the slant of the beach is different where you dive though. You know how everyone does stuff differently. Besides, I have big enough lungs that I could stay down on the return trip, but personally I like riding the surf.
Getting started with minimalist diving
- Thread starter OldNSalty
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I shore dive at Vero (which I am sure is nothing like CA). I would never want to be heavy there, because once you fall down or get knocked down it is super hard to get up with too much lead on. Maybe the slant of the beach is different where you dive though. You know how everyone does stuff differently. Besides, I have big enough lungs that I could stay down on the return trip, but personally I like riding the surf.
Beach conditons do vary. I've never dove Vero, but I've body surfed there. Great beach for that. I remember trying to shore dive the North side of Point Sur California and getting pummeled by the surf so bad I gave up. Dang it's hard to believe that was 28 years ago! I'd like to try it again some day.
Man, you aren't kidding! Sometimes using the method that is good for one area can be downright embarassing to use in another.
I was NAUI certified in Monterey and was taught the "beach crawl". Works fine there, because the beach has a medium slope to it.
The first time I dove the Laguna area (Southern California), I did the beach crawl. It turned out to be a loooong crawl and the life guard left his post to walk up to me to see if I was O.K. I guess they don't do beach crawls down there since the beaches have a much gentler slope and the life guard thought that maybe I was injured or something! I soon learned that divers in the area put their fins on and off in the water and walk in and out of the surf- no beach crawls or backward entries with the fins on. Man was I embarassed
Man, you aren't kidding! Sometimes using the method that is good for one area can be downright embarassing to use in another.
I was NAUI certified in Monterey and was taught the "beach crawl". Works fine there, because the beach has a medium slope to it.
The first time I dove the Laguna area (Southern California), I did the beach crawl. It turned out to be a loooong crawl and the life guard left his post to walk up to me to see if I was O.K. I guess they don't do beach crawls down there since the beaches have a much gentler slope and the life guard thought that maybe I was injured or something! I soon learned that divers in the area put their fins on and off in the water and walk in and out of the surf- no beach crawls or backward entries with the fins on. Man was I embarassed
That's hilarious. I did the same thing at Vero the first time as well. Once you get past the old coral line, you have to walk for a bit before you can even get enough depth to dive. That gives you plenty of time to get beat and look like a schmuck. I accomplished both of those goals
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
North Coast ia a bit different from Monterey in that there are less protected beaches and a lot more rocks and structure. These are some calm coves with coarse sand but the taper is somewhat steep I guess depending on how the last storm or rough high tide left it. A lot of times on shore dives we will climb over rocks the size of basket balls up to rocks the size of small cars and find a shelf or a ledge. We gear up and wait for the swell to crest then belly flop into the water and kick like hell. We go out, do the dive, then when we come back in we'll either go back to the entry point and wait for a swell to pick us up and put us back on the rock and scamper like a crab to safety, or we'll swim all the way back into a cove and get out on the beach. Lot's of bruised up knees in my adventures. We get kevlar sewn onto our knees and elbows on our suits.
We don't have big expansive beaches like some places where we dive. Our beaches are small and generally where a creek or river runs in.
I mostly dive of my boat now. However where we launch and what we have to go though to launch is a whole different story and would need a separate thread.
We don't have big expansive beaches like some places where we dive. Our beaches are small and generally where a creek or river runs in.
I mostly dive of my boat now. However where we launch and what we have to go though to launch is a whole different story and would need a separate thread.
You guys can crawl, I stand tall and march into the sea, I am Nemrod.
N
N
Nemrod, Master of all that is Sea,
I now see that my post was a bit confusing. The crawl is used for exiting. For entry, we were taught to have everything on, including the flippers, and walk backwards into the surf until thrown off balance or deep enough to turn around and duck under a wave and kick like hell.
james croft
Contributor
The advantage of minimalist diving during surf entries is that there is less gear to get ripped off and tossed up on the beach. I once did an embarrasing and exhausting beach dive in some tough conditions in Hatteras. I was lucky just to keep on my bathing suit. I walked a half a mile down the beach recovering equipment. Boy, those were the days!
Paladin
Contributor
I am finding this discussion of how to get started in minimalist diving mildly humorous. No offense, guys, but what you call "minimalist" diving is just plain, ordinary diving to old farts like me. It's all I've ever known. Heck, I never even owned, much less used, a BC (or a wet suit) until this past summer and I still have never used an octopus rig. Give me a DA Aqua-Master and a tank with a J valve, an old-style oval mask, capillary depth gauge, dive watch and all rubber full foot fins and I'm in hog heaven. Even when diving my old Aquarius, the only addition is an SPG if I'm using my AL80 with a k valve (and that's gonna change as soon as I empty the AL80 and swap the K for one of my Js).
I'm tickled pink that some of you younger guys are getting interested in learning the skills that guys like me have always taken for granted and never really considered all that special or unusual. I believe it will make you into better divers and your level on self-confidence and self-satisfaction will increase dramatically. I'm glad that at least some of you Johnny-Come-Latelys will be carrying on the old ways after us old geezers are all gone.
I'm tickled pink that some of you younger guys are getting interested in learning the skills that guys like me have always taken for granted and never really considered all that special or unusual. I believe it will make you into better divers and your level on self-confidence and self-satisfaction will increase dramatically. I'm glad that at least some of you Johnny-Come-Latelys will be carrying on the old ways after us old geezers are all gone.
Similar threads
