New diver. Hey Everyone!

[Pepper_the_rat]

Hey, I thought I'd introduce myself on the local board. I live in the Bay Area (Peninsula) and I just got certified in May. I'm looking for dive buddies who don't mind enthusiastic beginners. I mainly want to shore dive around the Monterey area. So far I've done Breakwater and Coral St. I have some weekdays free too sometimes.

I'm getting as much of my own gear as I can, piece by piece, but in the mean time I'm still renting some of it. Any tips on good rental rates would be appreciated!

Amy

 

[Hepcat62]

You'll find that a lot of us are more than willing to dive with beginners, especially when they're enthusiastic.

What is your schedule like for the next few weeks? When are you interested in diving?

 

[Ben_ca]

What's cool about diving with new diver is that you get to relive those amazing first moments when you were wide eyed and enthusiastic yourself no matter what the conditions are...

I can't help but smile when I overhear new divers say "Wow did you see that tube anemone?"

 

[knowone]

Hold off on the tube anenome's and you'll find someone with
a bunch of their other extra gear you may be able to borrow

 

[Pepper_the_rat]

My schedule is pretty random in the next two months. I guess I could go Monday 8/1. I'd love to go next Sunday (8/7) and Monday (8/8) if possible. I can go anytime Mon-Fri during the last two weeks of August (22nd - 9/2).

 

[norbs007]

Welcome to the forums!

If you're able I can go next Saturday the 6th, let me know.

 

[Pepper_the_rat]

No, unfortunately I don't have ANY free Saturdays until 9/24. That has put a wrench in a lot of potential diving plans.

 

[Brewone0to]

Hold off on the tube anenome's and you'll find someone with
a bunch of their other extra gear you may be able to borrow

This is a good idea to follow.
It will give you a chance to try out gear without having to purchase it first.

This should also allow you to buy better quality or more specific items for whatever type diving
you decide to do, and it is easier to afford when you aren't in a rush to buy everything all at once.

Many divers have various gear around from upgrades and unsatisfied purchases.
I have personally loaned out or outright gave away enough gear to fully outfit 2 or 3 divers.

Dive safe

 

[Pepper_the_rat]

This is a good idea to follow.
It will give you a chance to try out gear without having to purchase it first.

This should also allow you to buy better quality or more specific items for whatever type diving
you decide to do, and it is easier to afford when you aren't in a rush to buy everything all at once.

Many divers have various gear around from upgrades and unsatisfied purchases.
I have personally loaned out or outright gave away enough gear to fully outfit 2 or 3 divers.

Dive safe

Good to know. I bought all my own stuff that counts as "clothes" because I wanted to make sure my wetsuit really fit, and I found one of those Pinnacle closeouts. I haven't bought anything like the BCD, reg, weights, or accessories, just because I have no idea what I'm looking at. I'm not worried about losing interest in diving at any point, since I'll always need to do some aspect of it once I start grad school. I'm more concerned about getting something that veteran divers know is crappy/unreliable/uncomfortable.

 

[Guy Alcala]

This is a good idea to follow.
It will give you a chance to try out gear without having to purchase it first.

This should also allow you to buy better quality or more specific items for whatever type diving
you decide to do, and it is easier to afford when you aren't in a rush to buy everything all at once.

Many divers have various gear around from upgrades and unsatisfied purchases.
I have personally loaned out or outright gave away enough gear to fully outfit 2 or 3 divers.

Dive safe

Excellent advice. And I recommend renting the widest variety of gear you can for the stuff you can't borrow, even though it means you'll wait longer to buy and have to rent from different shops. The OP says she's going to be doing this professionally, so she might as well buy gear once that really suits her needs, and she can only know what those are with time. Luckily, at least for major items there's very little gear that's crap; that gets weeded out fast by word of mouth if not lawsuits. But there's an awful lot of gear, much of it minor, that's unnecessary clutter, designed to entice new divers (Oh, look! Wouldn't that be cool!), and which often results in them resembling Christmas trees.

Another thing you can do. Once you know what you want to buy and why, figure out just how many weekends of diving it will cost you to recoop the avoided rental price for each piece, and buy equipment from quickest payback to slowest if there's a choice between the two. Of course, if you can afford to buy everything at once, go for it.

Guy