Intro

[bdpalace]

Got OW certified about two and a half years ago with my wife on our anniversary after I returned from Iraq. We live in KY so our diving opportunities are limited to vacations. We've dived several times in Hawaii and Florida and did a couple in the DR. Needless to say, all of our vacations are oriented to diving now. Looking to head back to Maui this summer to get AOW certified but also considering an online Nitrox course. I'll search the boards to get a feel for our options. Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for such an informative forum.

John


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[drrich2]

Welcome aboard. I'm in southwestern KY (Hopkinsville). Hopkinsville has Pennyroyal Blue Springs Resort, a quarry with an onsite dive shop, that's a major regional draw for scuba training and people wishing to get some diving in. A big site with both a large fairly shallow plateau with a lot of underwater attractions (I tend to dive maybe close to 20 feet here), yet much deeper diving close at hand (some parts around 120 - 130 feet, I think; I've gotten down around 100 without heading out looking for the deepest), so you often have 2 thermoclines and the option to dive cold water (bottom around mid.-40's) or warm (top 15 - 20 feet in summer).

There's a Facebook page for the Kentucky Piranha Patrol; I think more of the members are from more northern parts of the state, but seem to have a strong sense of community from what I can tell. One of their members, tstorm on this forum, is an instructor operating out of the Owensboro area.

Where did you dive in Florida? One of my best budget dive trips was diving with Rainbow Reef Dive Center out of Key Largo. The next year I dove with Jupiter Dive Center out of Jupiter, Fl, during the Goliath grouper aggregation. I've yet to hit the other Keys, West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Pompano/Ft. Lauderdale, Miami or Blue Heron Bridge, so I imagine Florida could keep somebody busy for quite awhile.

Richard.

 

[bdpalace]

Hey Richard. Thanks for the warm welcome and quick reply.

We dove with Scuba-do in Key Largo a couple of years ago in the John Pennycamp marine reserve and would highly recommend them. We also dove with Abyss on Marathon Key which was mediocre diving but very nice service.

Our best experience was a shark encounter dive with Jim Abernethy Scuba Adventures out of West Palm Beach last year. However, our return trip (not a shark dive) was not so fantastic due to strong currents and not a lot of marine life.

We checked out Blue Heron as well, but did not see all we could due to being unfamiliar with the site. We will definitely return and do some more exploring there. The only downside is the crowd.. it's good diving and everyone knows it so there is a lot of traffic.

Check out my YouTube page to get an idea of some of those dives.

Http://www.youtube.com/user/bdpalace

John



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[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Welcome to the board and thank you for your service! I know of quite a few active divers in Kentucky, for an inland location there seems to be a pretty good community there. An online Nitrox course would be a good idea to further your training and keep your mindset on safe diving while the weather keeps you above water. Be sure to join us on the great lakes for some wreck diving this summer!