ThePir8
Guest
Hey guys and girls, greetings from Melbourne.
My brother got me into diving. He was a dive master and traveller who went all around the world. I wanted to dive for about 3 years before I finally got my CC.
I learnt to dive in 1993 at Sharm El Sheik in the Red Sea. After finishing the course and doing a couple of dives at Sail Rock in Thailand I effectively hung up my fins. My ex-partner was not into diving and had other plans for the $$$.
Fifteen long years later and I've got a new partner - one who loves adventure. We planned to go to Saba to visit the Orang Utans and she mentioned to me out of the blue that there was a place called Sipadan that ranked as one of the best dive sites in the world. We had a look, found Kapalai dive resort and I was on a mission!
Back in February my partner couldn't even swim, let alone contemplate scuba diving. She wouldn't even put her head under the water in the bath!
She was keen to give it a go though so off we headed to the local pool with a mask, snorkel, fins and butterflies in the stomach. First I got her used to putting her head under in the shallow end so she could just stand up if she panicked. First stage - all good. Then we moved onto snorkel work, half mask floods, etc. But she still couldn't swim and no amount of balancing on a fit ball showing her how to do breast stroke seemed to work.
Then, a brainwave. She could do freestyle legs no problem, and breast stroke arms as well. So we invented a new swimming technique I have labelled 'ugly but effective'. She's still not convinced she can swim but hey, its the opposite of drowning so it must be swimming right?
Once she could do the required 200m swim and 10 minutes floating she was off. She passed her PADI OW in March, and we headed off to Sipadan in April. The diving there is a breeze - gear carried onto the boat, they help you on with it, you roll off the boat, dive, get fed, dive some more - ad infinitum!
Well, the bug has definitely bitten us both. We're now AOW and Nitrox certified and have dived in Melbourne all winter. Our dive shop had a big deal on complete packages that suit us down to the ground. The BCD's are rear inflation so I guess they're as close to a wing as a BC can get - no bulky wraparound bladder to restrict movement which is nice.
Being Melbourne divers, and both fairly novice we opted for 7mm wetsuits rather than drysuits - based on cost and expertise. Drysuits may come later but we've both done 30m dives through winter in 9 degree water with no major cold issues. Gloves and hood are mandatory though
The Melbourne diving is definitely harder work than resort diving, but the rewards are richer too. Planning a dive to see a WWI submarine and then doing it without an instructor or divemaster looking over your shoulder really makes you feel like you're getting somewhere. We're still very new to the sport and learning every time. I guess you never stop learning.
As well as the shore and boat diving we've done in Melbourne we also spent 4 nights in Jervis Bay, NSW on a liveaboard - 11 dives in 3 days on Nitrox was the way to go. Minimal fatigue. There were so many of us diving on nitrox that the boat ran out of O2!!
We've got a wreck course booked in for early March and then its off to the HMAS Canberra for some wreck penetration dives. Should be truly spectacular going on the youtube footage so far.
My brother got me into diving. He was a dive master and traveller who went all around the world. I wanted to dive for about 3 years before I finally got my CC.
I learnt to dive in 1993 at Sharm El Sheik in the Red Sea. After finishing the course and doing a couple of dives at Sail Rock in Thailand I effectively hung up my fins. My ex-partner was not into diving and had other plans for the $$$.
Fifteen long years later and I've got a new partner - one who loves adventure. We planned to go to Saba to visit the Orang Utans and she mentioned to me out of the blue that there was a place called Sipadan that ranked as one of the best dive sites in the world. We had a look, found Kapalai dive resort and I was on a mission!
Back in February my partner couldn't even swim, let alone contemplate scuba diving. She wouldn't even put her head under the water in the bath!
She was keen to give it a go though so off we headed to the local pool with a mask, snorkel, fins and butterflies in the stomach. First I got her used to putting her head under in the shallow end so she could just stand up if she panicked. First stage - all good. Then we moved onto snorkel work, half mask floods, etc. But she still couldn't swim and no amount of balancing on a fit ball showing her how to do breast stroke seemed to work.Then, a brainwave. She could do freestyle legs no problem, and breast stroke arms as well. So we invented a new swimming technique I have labelled 'ugly but effective'. She's still not convinced she can swim but hey, its the opposite of drowning so it must be swimming right?
Once she could do the required 200m swim and 10 minutes floating she was off. She passed her PADI OW in March, and we headed off to Sipadan in April. The diving there is a breeze - gear carried onto the boat, they help you on with it, you roll off the boat, dive, get fed, dive some more - ad infinitum!
Well, the bug has definitely bitten us both. We're now AOW and Nitrox certified and have dived in Melbourne all winter. Our dive shop had a big deal on complete packages that suit us down to the ground. The BCD's are rear inflation so I guess they're as close to a wing as a BC can get - no bulky wraparound bladder to restrict movement which is nice.
Being Melbourne divers, and both fairly novice we opted for 7mm wetsuits rather than drysuits - based on cost and expertise. Drysuits may come later but we've both done 30m dives through winter in 9 degree water with no major cold issues. Gloves and hood are mandatory though
The Melbourne diving is definitely harder work than resort diving, but the rewards are richer too. Planning a dive to see a WWI submarine and then doing it without an instructor or divemaster looking over your shoulder really makes you feel like you're getting somewhere. We're still very new to the sport and learning every time. I guess you never stop learning.
As well as the shore and boat diving we've done in Melbourne we also spent 4 nights in Jervis Bay, NSW on a liveaboard - 11 dives in 3 days on Nitrox was the way to go. Minimal fatigue. There were so many of us diving on nitrox that the boat ran out of O2!!
We've got a wreck course booked in for early March and then its off to the HMAS Canberra for some wreck penetration dives. Should be truly spectacular going on the youtube footage so far.
