How to start for a KY Hillbilly

[Martin22]

Im an appalachian hillbilly from the mountains of east kentucky. I find scuba diving very interesting, and would love to get involved. Im guessing that there are probably scuba shops in Lexington, but I am not sure. I spent 3 years in Bowling Green, Kentucky as a student of WKU, and there was a shop down there. Unfortunately, I never had the 700 bucks on hand to take the class.

Now that I am back home and attending my final year of classes at Eastern Kentucky University, money is a little bit easier to come by, and I would like to get started ASAP. If anyone has any information on classes, costs, and what not, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.


Martin.
73's

kf4gzm

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I know of one dive shop in Lexington. New Horizons Diving Center can be contacted at (859)-277-1234. There may be other dive centers in Lextington too.

Before committing to go to Lexington, check with your university to see if they offer scuba courses there. Many universities even offer credit for completing a sanctioned scuba course.

 

[FastDen]

Hi Martin-
Greetings from a fellow Kentuckian (grew up in Georgetown, went to UK- go Big Blue!- although I live in New York City now).

Try the YMCAs in Richmond and, especially, Lexington. I did my initial training through the Y here in NYC, and they were excellent (and much less than $700- that's a lot!). And Drew's suggestion of checking with EKU and UK about scuba courses is a good one, too.

If the travel isn't a big issue, there are lots of options for training in Cincinnatti, too (do a Google search for shops, university classes and check with the Y in Richmond for Cincy Ys, too). There are a few other Kentuckians on this board as well, who put together local dive trips, and would probably be a much better source of advice than I am, since its been over 20 years since I lived in the state full time!

Good luck with your search!
FastDen :rainbow:

 

[ckharlan66]

Bengalsmgtsucks on this board owns a shop in Lexington called Innerspace Scuba adventures at 859-276-6165.

As Drew said there is also New Horizons and he gave excellent advice about checking to see if you could do it through EKU.

The $700 is alot higher than the current cost of Open Water Certification in Lexington so that will help you out some.

Good luck and Welcome to the board.

If you have any questions post them on the board the folks here are great to help.

You can send me a Private Message if you have any questions and I will give you my phone number so we can talk, but, I travel alot and may take awhile to respond. jbd on this board also lives in the area and would also be happy to answer any questions.

When you get certified let us know we dive locally quite often and would love to have you join us.

Chad

 

[jbd]

Martin22,

You have come to right place to get started in SCUBA. Pretty anything you want to know about SCUBA has been answered here or can be answered here. There's lots of knowledgeable people here.

Welcome to the boards and I hope to dive with you in the near future.

jbd

 

[Espinosa]

Originally posted by Martin22

Martin.
73's

kf4gzm

good to see a fellow HAM.

welcome,

scott

KD7LHK

 

[k4sdi]

KF4GZM and the group de K4SDI

Welcome aboard! It's always nice to have another KY hillbilly on board, even if you are from E KY.


73


Mark

 

[art.chick]

That's good advice, Martin! I am a Southern Illinois Hillbilly (family origins in the Ozarks) but dive like a po' kid. How? YMCA & used gear. Combine that with the annual sales at most LDSs, & you can have top-fight training & great gear. I got much of mine at a used gear table (old US Divers stuff turns up there often.) I try to get mid-week dive boats, & most of my dives are SHORE dives (which YMCA often teaches well.) Don't let poverty keep you out of your proper element!

 

[Martin22]

Thanks for the quick reply y'all. I will definitely look for any possible classes taught at EKU - makes me sorta glad I didnt chuck 700 bucks into a class in bowling green. Boy, them flat landers really ain't any count. (just ribbin ya K4SDI - even though I would take my east kentucky mountains over west kentucky corn rolled hills any day. lol. now that i think of it, aint a lot of difference between hoosierville and west kentucky lol. I have hoosier kin, so i can call it hoosierville... )

I wasn't really all that keen on spending 700 bucks on the class just to turn around and spend nearly a thousand on the equipment too. I understand that the equipment is expen$ive, but I don't plan on going all out either, yet... That was the bare minimum package too, the thousand bucks at least. phew, rich mans sport.

Anyhow, thanks again for the quick replies.

Martin
73's