Bogie
Contributor
Just do it. Dive dive dive.
New diver lost in the arguments
- Thread starter jstamets
- Start date
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Glad you had a great time! Thanks for posting your experiences.
Watching a Goliath Grouper is like watching a Volkswagon Beetle move through the water. Very inspiring. If you are going back, think about coming in June for the Scubaboard Invade the Keys event. We'd all love to meet you. Details here: Invade the Keys - ScubaBoard
OP
jstamets
Contributor
Well-l-l-l . . .Since you didn't ask to move this to the "New to Diving" forum, that does make you fair game . . . :blinking:
DON'T DO IT! These are conditions beyond your wildest experiences! The water is WARM, and SOFT . . . . And you can SEEEE forever! OMG, you will SO ruin yourself for diving anywhere other than the south!
Furthermore, the people . . . . they are all kinds of friendly and helpful and considerate . . . You won't understand their southern, welcoming culture, you'll feel so "out of water" compared to the frozen north . . .
John, please -- don't go down there unless you are prepared to deal with the immediate and pervasive ADDICTION to diving warm.
Jax,
Warm Water Wuss . . . :kiss2:
Oh, I so wish! The water was 62 - 68 degrees f and we hit a thermal cline on Fingers (guessing it was colder bay water leaving) - quite chilly. Air temps mid sixties for first day. Thankfully it warmed up bit. Awesome diving though, even if on the chilly side. 3mil and gloves - 5 would have been a bit more comfortable.
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- I'm a Fish!
cool thread to read through, welcome to the club!
TeriLeonard
Registered
My advice is to dive, dive, dive
Every dive you do will help to refine your techniques and become more comfortable in the water. A great way to bring your confidence level up is to take a diving vacation with your family. Go diving with a dive guide and put ten to fifteen dives under your belt in a 1-2 week period of time. You will be amazed at how you improve with the practice and repetition.
Every dive you do will help to refine your techniques and become more comfortable in the water. A great way to bring your confidence level up is to take a diving vacation with your family. Go diving with a dive guide and put ten to fifteen dives under your belt in a 1-2 week period of time. You will be amazed at how you improve with the practice and repetition.Royce
Registered
I had no idea groupers got that big... Then again, I haven't completed my 1st dive yet. I'm just finishing up my class and will do my checkout in Ft. Lauderdale the first week in May.
Wow, that's a great picture! I'd love to swim around with a fish as big as I am.
jstamets, this thread is really fun to read. Please keep us posted on your further diving career -- I'm looking forward to reading about it.
jstamets, this thread is really fun to read. Please keep us posted on your further diving career -- I'm looking forward to reading about it.
Royce
Registered
I found the picture on wikipedia when I searched for Goliath Grouper
I had no idea groupers got that big... Then again, I haven't completed my 1st dive yet. I'm just finishing up my class and will do my checkout in Ft. Lauderdale the first week in May.
Mmmm, diving with big fish. Reminds me of the Great Barrier Reef on a liveaboard and going to Cod Hole, where we dived with Potato Cod (a type of grouper). One of many great great reasons to dive.
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Wantonmien
Contributor
jstamets,
Your OW taught you the basics of how to dive, your AOW taught you how to dive in more varied situations and to demonstrate some skills, but they didn't teach you the 'experience' that you need to become confident and to actually deal with real life situations that will occur as you log more dives and 'things' happen.
Similar to yourself I went through the OW, and jumped straight into getting the AOW, but even when getting certified, and now, consider myself a novice as I've not logged enough dives or experienced all the situations that do and will occur during dives.
To date, I've had my regulator ripped out of my mouth by the erratic arm of a woman during a night dive, I've had my mask strap break at 30m in a strong current, I've lost a 2kg weight from my intergrated BCD so unexpectedly losing my negative buoyancy, I've felt nervous on deep dives and other such scenarios, but I remembered how to deal with situations, and slowly but surely the experience and confidence is rising.
My advise to you would be remember you've been taught 'how to dive and what to do in some types of unexpected situations' - but remember that right now you remain a novice and you need to get out there and dive with groups and individuals so you can continue to learn, and get real experience not just official theory.
Safe diving
Cheers
Your OW taught you the basics of how to dive, your AOW taught you how to dive in more varied situations and to demonstrate some skills, but they didn't teach you the 'experience' that you need to become confident and to actually deal with real life situations that will occur as you log more dives and 'things' happen.
Similar to yourself I went through the OW, and jumped straight into getting the AOW, but even when getting certified, and now, consider myself a novice as I've not logged enough dives or experienced all the situations that do and will occur during dives.
To date, I've had my regulator ripped out of my mouth by the erratic arm of a woman during a night dive, I've had my mask strap break at 30m in a strong current, I've lost a 2kg weight from my intergrated BCD so unexpectedly losing my negative buoyancy, I've felt nervous on deep dives and other such scenarios, but I remembered how to deal with situations, and slowly but surely the experience and confidence is rising.
My advise to you would be remember you've been taught 'how to dive and what to do in some types of unexpected situations' - but remember that right now you remain a novice and you need to get out there and dive with groups and individuals so you can continue to learn, and get real experience not just official theory.
Safe diving
Cheers
