GatorDiver
Guest
Hey all,
I'm new to the sport and fired up about it. I convinced my wife to sign up with me for the PADI OW course after taking her to Curacao and doing a resort course there. We dove most every day and, despite her initial fears, she loved it. I would impress upon all of you the value of surprising your wife (it might even work with husbands) with a trip to the Caribbean. She was so excited to go, and when I told her the resort course was included she felt obligated to give it a try. Once she overcame the anxiety, she loved it and now I will have a dive buddy with me almost all the time. For all you married guys out there, resort courses rule!
Regarding new equipment, I've already taken the plunge and just want to point out to other newbies to keep their eyes open on the internet. Utilizing Rodale's scuba review info, my local dive shop, Ebay and some search engines, I've put together what I think is a decent set of stuff for a decent price. I got an IDI Paragon BC, IDI spirit/flowby regulator, IDI secondary and IDI gauge, Mares Volo fins, an AquaLung Quartz2 Mask (that fits perfectly), and boots and a shorty wetsuit for a total of less than $800.00, all brand new. I went superdiscount for the boots and wetsuit online through Seadog Sports, found a package deal for the IDI stuff through a scuba shop in Miami having a sale (after checking out Rodale's), found an internet deal on the fins(!), and paid full retail for the mask at my local dive shop to ensure a good fit. I bought my wife a similar set-up for about $50 less, getting her Aeris Velocity fins ( scuba review tester'choice/best buy). The way I look at it, now I'm free to gradually replace, upgrade or add to my set-up at my practical and financial leisure, but I'm not out the $2000 per each of us the dive shop people were telling me it was going to cost. =-)
I'm also supporting the dive shop. I'm paying about $400 total for both our PADI courses, bought the masks from them, and am signing up for a local dive trip they are offering. Who says you can't have it all?
Hank
I'm new to the sport and fired up about it. I convinced my wife to sign up with me for the PADI OW course after taking her to Curacao and doing a resort course there. We dove most every day and, despite her initial fears, she loved it. I would impress upon all of you the value of surprising your wife (it might even work with husbands) with a trip to the Caribbean. She was so excited to go, and when I told her the resort course was included she felt obligated to give it a try. Once she overcame the anxiety, she loved it and now I will have a dive buddy with me almost all the time. For all you married guys out there, resort courses rule!
Regarding new equipment, I've already taken the plunge and just want to point out to other newbies to keep their eyes open on the internet. Utilizing Rodale's scuba review info, my local dive shop, Ebay and some search engines, I've put together what I think is a decent set of stuff for a decent price. I got an IDI Paragon BC, IDI spirit/flowby regulator, IDI secondary and IDI gauge, Mares Volo fins, an AquaLung Quartz2 Mask (that fits perfectly), and boots and a shorty wetsuit for a total of less than $800.00, all brand new. I went superdiscount for the boots and wetsuit online through Seadog Sports, found a package deal for the IDI stuff through a scuba shop in Miami having a sale (after checking out Rodale's), found an internet deal on the fins(!), and paid full retail for the mask at my local dive shop to ensure a good fit. I bought my wife a similar set-up for about $50 less, getting her Aeris Velocity fins ( scuba review tester'choice/best buy). The way I look at it, now I'm free to gradually replace, upgrade or add to my set-up at my practical and financial leisure, but I'm not out the $2000 per each of us the dive shop people were telling me it was going to cost. =-)
I'm also supporting the dive shop. I'm paying about $400 total for both our PADI courses, bought the masks from them, and am signing up for a local dive trip they are offering. Who says you can't have it all?
Hank