Is diving right for me?

[TheAlphaMag]

Howdy folks! I'm a moderator on another very large forum (about the same size as this), and have been a member of forums for years, so I did you all a favor and used the mysterious search button.

I love the ocean (I pretty much live on it in the summer). I'm from South of Boston (not southboston), and am currently a junior in Highschool, studying Marine Biology as my science lab.

My teacher is a great guy, and is an actual Marine biologist. He's also a Scuba instructor on the weekends! First day of school this year, he asked if anyone was interested in becomming certified. Hell yeah!

I've been doing bits and pieces of research on scuba equipment and the like, and had some help from members of www.paintballforum.com, one of which is an avid diver and pointed me here to these forums.

Well, since I'm a moderator on paintballforum.com, you can guess that I like paintball. I love it. It is my life. I work at a paintball field. I dream about paintball. I wear paintball shirts. I can't get enough of it.

And while I love it so much, my wallet doesn't always permit. A day of play, even with my own equipment can cost up to, and beyond $100. My marker is like a woman. Every day it asks me to buy new upgrades for it. So far I've dropped at least $1000 into it.

If anyone can appreciate the funding problems a 16 year old might have, now is the time to do so.

So, back to scuba, I started to rant...

I understand a full setup will run me around 1000 bucks. Seeing as I want to save for a car, I dont know if I can fit SCUBA into my agenda.

I was wondering if I could get any motivation/suggestion from all you guys. I'm really torn and don't know what to do. I'm sure my teacher will probably get me a good deal at getting certified, and might even be able to get me a hookup on some gear (i havent really spoken to him about it yet).

Thanks in advance!

-Sam

 

[skybird]

Sam,
Let me first say " You're 16?" YOu write VERY well. Sounds like you have a very full life. All I can say about Diving, is that from the type of person it sounds like you are...you will be as addicted to diving as you are to paintball. It will certainly be a plus for your chosen career. But I warn you again, It WILL be an addiction.

SkyBird

 

[Doc]

Don't look at it as if it were a material aquisition issue.

I learned to dive long before I could afford equipment. You can do that gradually and when it reaches the "strike" price. It doesn't have to be new to make you a diver.

Adequate, and in some cases quite superior gear is available for rent.

Mask Flippers Schnorkel... you bet. But the rest can wait.

Get certified now. It may change your perceptions on may different levels. Paintball may become passe... it certainly will be when you become a Gyrene. SCUBA will never become boring.

 

[TheAlphaMag]

Thanks for the compliment! I guess I'm in one of my "better" typing "moods" :05:

Another issue I think I might have is just finding a nice place to dive. Boston doesn't relaly have the most... exotic.. waters around. Actually its quite polluted (the sewage system can mix with the runoff water, and raw water used to be dumped right into the water).

My uncle is a traveling guy in the off season(also runs a taxi boat during season), and normally makes a trip to the Florida Keys starting anytime from September to October, and who knows when he comes back. My brother also works and goes on these annual southern migrations with him.

My bro has expressed an interest in getting certified (he has a friend that often dives out of Key Largo) to me before, so I was thinking perhaps we could go through the certification process togethor.


Its funny, in the car the other day my mother made a comment on how I always pick the most expensive sports. Can't wait until I'm old enough to make a few skydives

EDIT: Roatan, You're probably right. I was the same way when I got into paintball. I wasn't too sure if it was right for me, and never imagined myself sitting in a dark basement at my workbench trying to squeeze a few more balls per second out of my mag, or spend thousands of pounds of compressed air on tunign bolts. And now nothing else matters.

I do think I'm going to go ahead and buy a nice snorkel and mask (for the pool and beach anyways). I KNOW I'll get good use out of those.

As far as fins go, someone on my home forums brought up a good point to me about expensive "speed" fins. Divign isnt about speed. The last thing I'll say to myself is "hey I wish I could be going faster".

I understand theres a direct relationship to fin quality and the amount of force I'll have to exert to get around. In other words, a good pair of fins will probably provide more thrust with less force. But thats just an assumption.

Thanks!

 

[PerroneFord]

I understand a full setup will run me around 1000 bucks. Seeing as I want to save for a car, I dont know if I can fit SCUBA into my agenda.

I was wondering if I could get any motivation/suggestion from all you guys. I'm really torn and don't know what to do. I'm sure my teacher will probably get me a good deal at getting certified, and might even be able to get me a hookup on some gear (i havent really spoken to him about it yet).
-Sam

Though this won't be what you want to hear, I say wait. SCUBA is a lot of fun, but cheap it is not. The only way you'd get started for $1k is if you buy used gear or cheap gear, or maybe both. You're in boston. Which means you'll be diving dry. Budget $800-$1200 for a drysuit. Mask, fins, snorkel, and your class will set you back $300-$500. If you want to buy your own breathing equipment (regulators) you're looking at $250 for basic ones to $500 for a nice set.

If you don't have a car yet, you won't even have a way to get all this heavy stuff to where you need to go. My advice is to let the SCUBA go for now.

 

[cuddlefish]

...but that is what life is all about. I love motorcycles (street and dirt), diving, travelling, sailing...all expensive. I think you would love diving. You can start a certification class with only the very basic gear. Don't let worries about money get in the way of your adventure. Also, don't worry about not having a lot of diving opportunities where you live. Concentrate on how fun it is to learn to dive. Then dream about future dive vacations, future gear purchases and all those other wonderful things. When I started diving I was in college and worked in an icecream shop (obviously NO money). And now I have travelled the world diving and have nice gear. If I had worried about all these future expenses I may never have started the sport in the first place. Good luck and have fun.

 

[TheAlphaMag]

Though this won't be what you want to hear, I say wait. SCUBA is a lot of fun, but cheap it is not. The only way you'd get started for $1k is if you buy used gear or cheap gear, or maybe both. You're in boston. Which means you'll be diving dry. Budget $800-$1200 for a drysuit. Mask, fins, snorkel, and your class will set you back $300-$500. If you want to buy your own breathing equipment (regulators) you're looking at $250 for basic ones to $500 for a nice set.

If you don't have a car yet, you won't even have a way to get all this heavy stuff to where you need to go. My advice is to let the SCUBA go for now.

Thats actually EXACTLY the reply I was wanting to hear. I will most definetly take that into consideration, and its appreciated.

Would it really be necessary to have a drysuit? I know in the winter and spring its a different story, but I dont expect that the water is much colder then 50 Degrees, and my limited research has told me that a 7mm drysuit is just about goo down to 50 degrees.

Is that right?

Thanks so much!

I do think I should get certified, however... Like I said, I expect my teacher to be able to hook me up with some gear.

I've actually been looking into getting a C80 tank far far before I even got interested in scuba. I can fill my 68 cubic inch 4500PSI tank from a 3k SCUBA at home.

Do certifications last forever?

 

[MSilvia]

Another issue I think I might have is just finding a nice place to dive. Boston doesn't relaly have the most... exotic.. waters around. Actually its quite polluted (the sewage system can mix with the runoff water, and raw water used to be dumped right into the water).

You might be suprised. I live in Quincy, and some of my favorite diving in the world is off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We have lots of shipwrecks, great shore diving, good hunting (and inexpensive recreational lobster permits), fun marine life (diving with harbor seals is a great time), and a number of active clubs, including the Boston Sea Rovers, who put on a yearly exposition at Copley, and one at the New England Aquarium that's also very active locally. Let's just say there are plenty of opportunities for local diving.

As for the cost of equipment, consider South Shore Divers in Weymouth. It's close to home, and after completing a certification with them, they'll give you a lifelong gear rental card that entitles you to a two day rental for $25 + air fills. I got mine from them years ago though, so you might want to check and see if they still do it. If they do, it gives you the opportunity to dive and try out different kinds of gear, which will help you make informed purchases one piece at a time if and when you find you're diving frequently enough to warrant the expense.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Since you already have most of the gear required to rob a bank, get out there and do it.........money problems solved, now just run fast. I think I see red and blue lights behind you.

 

[MSilvia]

You're in boston. Which means you'll be diving dry.

No, it doesn't.

I dove in local waters in a 7mm wetsuit for many happy years before I ever considered a drysuit. When I finally got one, it was because I wanted redundant bouyancy for deco dives, not because I was cold.