New Diver, New to the Forums

[John Bamber]

Hello ScubaBoard!

Starting my Open Water certification on Saturday, very excited to do so! Any tips/tricks/suggestions for a newbie diver?

My name's John, from NJ but live in Austin, TX for work. I love taking cruises, so want to get into diving to make use of opportunities to dive and take pictures underwater in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean. I maintain a blog and YouTube channel posting content about many things, including cruises and soon Scuba diving!

Looking forward to meeting you all.

 

[GreggS]

Welcome to SB, John. Just relax, pay attention, and have fun during OW cert. Then get a few dives under you belt and get your AOW and nitrox certs. Where you go with it from there is up to you.

But above all, dive.

 

[drrich2]

You are within a 4-hour drive of Freeport, TX, from which I believe departs the Fling to the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank. Not a trip for newbies from what I've read/been told, but for when you're more seasoned, an option you'll want to keep in mind. Especially since you don't have to buy airfare to get there, so weather-related cancellations shouldn't be a big a risk for you.

From Alert Dive Online:
-----Flower Garden Banks.
-----Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Texas.

From Undercurrent's free access articles:
-----M/V Fling, Flower Gardens, Texas.

Richard.

 

[gypsyjim]

Welcome.

 

[northernone]

Welcome!

Dive often.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[txgoose]

You have a great-ish site right there in Austin. Windy Point. I say great-ish in that is it an excellent site to work on skills, but vis can range from 2' to 30'. When it is 2' it is more "ish" than great. Usually more in the 12-16' range. But lots of things to find for navigation skills. Plenty of depth for training that needs that. Decent local fish. It won't even get on the radar compared to your cruise diving but it is great for skills work.

Welcome, and have fun!

 

[cmrangel]

Welcome. +1 on what GreggS said. Relax, learn, dive dive dive.

 

[PaloPinto]

Get some experience diving in lake travis, preferably with an experienced buddy. If you train in Lake Travis you won't have any troubles with the conditions in the Caribbean.

 

[Odepro]

Welcome and I am a newbie too

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida.....good luck with your class and enjoy the blue underwater world.