New to Scuba and this forum

[Sprinter51m]

Morning

I am Jamie and found this forum when looking for the best options in women's diving suits. My husband and I decided to get open water certified after we dove in Fiji for the first time. It was amazing! We were certified last year in Lake Michigan off of Manitowoc, WI and have only dove once since then in Elkhart Lake WI. Water temps were from 60-70. This September, we are going to dive off of Myrtle Beach and next Feb are planning a trip to Belize.

Thanks,

Jamie

 

[tbone1004]

welcome welcome. Myrtle is an interesting place for shore diving and spear fishing. A bit farther north in NC is some of the worlds best wreck diving. Finding a well fitting exposure suit is certainly key and next to regulators is the most important part of your equipment configuration.

 

[Sprinter51m]

Thanks for the info/tip. I am a little unsure what to buy and what to rent. I have thought about a mask for sure....do you know anything of the prescription masks for those that wear contacts?

I've been to Greenville. We have friends that live in Vanceboro. Nice area

 

[tbone1004]

I have an Rx mask though I'm getting lasik here shortly. It depends on your diving conditions. If I dive with contacts I always make sure I have a spare set and my glasses in my dive bag. I prefer contacts because you can wear sunglasses easily out of the water if you don't have Rx sunglasses. If you do, then Rx lenses aren't expensive and can be put in certain masks at home.

As far as what to buy what to rent, it depends on your cash situation and how often you intent do dive. Plenty of threads on here and unfortunately it is very personal.
If you dive cold water often, then a well fitting exposure suit should be your first purchase, this can make or break your dive. Conversely, if you are diving between cold water in WI, and warm water in SC and Belize, wetsuit might not be the best choice.

Regs should be second since they're all basically the same, meaning you don't have to worry about what "fits". Breathing differences can only be detected by computers, and other than aesthetics and some other things you can't really go wrong. You will see a lot of favor for the HOG regs because they are best bang for buck. Apeks, Scubapro, Atomic etc are all beautiful but you pay for it. I dive Poseidons for back gas, and HOG for stages and deco, but that's personal preference.

BC next because those are very personal and there are very heated debates on here about which ones are best. Come Black Friday you will see companies like Cave Adventurers, Piranha Dive MFG, and DiveRightinScuba going ballistic on trying to undercut each other on gear which is a great time to buy.

If I were in your shoes, I would make the 3 hour trek to south Chicago where DiveRightinScuba is located. They are a great shop with fabulous gear and personnel. They are very experienced in deep cold lake diving and will not steer you wrong in gear selections, they also have prices that can justify making the trip down there.