New Diver in NW Georgia

[Lorenzoid]

Welcome from another Georgian! At least here in GA, one advantage we have is so many direct flights to tropical island locations.

It will take him as long to drive from Rock Spring to Atlanta as it will to fly from Atlanta to Nassau. But yes, at least we have a number of nonstop Caribbean options. Chattanooga is obviously his airport.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

Welcome to the forums! I'm in Knoxville and there are 2 quarries for diving between Knoxville and Chattanooga: Philadelphia Quarry (in Philadelphia, TN) and Loch Low Minn (in Athens, TN). I tend to prefer Philadelphia Quarry, and they have reasonable rental prices should you need to rent tanks or other gear (they have it all there, including wetsuits).

Quarries are definitely not the Caribbean, but they are helpful for those of us not near the coast in getting more comfortable in the water and improving buoyancy and air consumption, practicing with DSMBs, etc.

Have fun in PCB. The viz there is usually not nearly as good as the Bahamas, but if you can get past the viz there can be good things to see, both small and big (such as Goliath Groupers).

Isn't Philadelphia the one you stick your entry fee in an envelope and shove it into a hole in the barn wall? Unless I'm mistaken, the last time I was there, at least, that was the case and nobody was even on site, much less having rental gear or air... Maybe I was there on a "non staffed" day.

 

[Rob9876]

It will take him as long to drive from Rock Spring to Atlanta as it will to fly from Atlanta to Nassau. But yes, at least we have a number of nonstop Caribbean options. Chattanooga is obviously his airport.

I'm in Knoxville, and we still end up driving to Atlanta for about 45% of our Caribbean trips -- especially when 4 of us are flying, it's just a lot cheaper than Knoxville or Chattanooga flights usually (but occasionally we find good deals from Knoxville or Chattanooga). We also drive to Nashville for about 45% of our Caribbean trips (so only 10% or less from more local airports).

 

[Rob9876]

Isn't Philadelphia the one you stick your entry fee in an envelope and shove it into a hole in the barn wall? Unless I'm mistaken, the last time I was there, at least, that was the case and nobody was even on site, much less having rental gear or air... Maybe I was there on a "non staffed" day.

That's never been my experience at Philly Quarry, though I have mainly (perhaps only?) been there on weekends, there has always been someone (usually the owner and/or his wife) there, and they have tanks ready and full equipment rentals at reasonable prices.

Edit: they are also usually pretty quick to reply through their Facebook page -- so you can ask them about tanks, gear, conditions, etc. in advance.