Newly Certified Diver

[Sea Girl]

Well, not sure if I am doing this right...I am new to the Forums, as well as Diving. I am looking for some guidance from all of you experts out there. I have my PADI Open Ocean certification (San Carlos, Mexico), and I currently reside in Arizona (a lot of beach, just not much ocean...sure do miss California for that). Now I am looking to begin my adventure. I am thinking about going to Kona, Hawaii in July/August...and possibly to the Florida Keys (Key West) in November. I am trying to get a handle on the best plan of attack, based on location and time of year. Like I said... I'M NEW! I have my snorkle, mask and fins, but would really appreciate any feedback regarding suggested equipment. I figure that I would initially just rent the items I needed until I was able to determine what would be the best purchases for me to make. If anyone has a suggestion for places to stay in Kona (I called the Kona Magic Sands Resort - anyone familiar with it?), I would really appreciate any feedback.

I'm excited to join the underwater world, and am looking forward to hearing back.

Thank you in advance - Sea Girl

 

[dlndavid]

Hi there Sea Girl and welcome to SB. I used to live in AZ and always said the one big problem with AZ is it no gots an ocean. Anyway if you post this question in this forum you will get plenty of feedback I'm sure. Again welcome to SB.
Hawai’I O’hana
David

 

[Sea Girl]

Hi there Sea Girl and welcome to SB. I used to live in AZ and always said the one big problem with AZ is it no gots an ocean. Anyway if you post this question in this forum you will get plenty of feedback I'm sure. Again welcome to SB.
Hawai’I O’hana
David

Thank you for the response. By the way, what is your favorite Dive destinations? Have you been to Kona, Hawaii? If so, do you have a recommended Dive Shop? I spoke with Jessica at Big Island Divers (on padi.com as a 5-star), and got some great information. I'm thinkg about getting my Advanced Certification while I am there.

Take care,

Sea Girl

 

[dlndavid]

Thank you for the response. By the way, what is your favorite Dive destinations? Have you been to Kona, Hawaii? If so, do you have a recommended Dive Shop? I spoke with Jessica at Big Island Divers (on padi.com as a 5-star), and got some great information. I'm thinkg about getting my Advanced Certification while I am there.

Take care,

Sea Girl

So far my favorite Dive destination is the Cancun-Cozumel area. Plenty of good diving there, and the Cenotes are a must dive. I have only snorkeled in Kaua'i, (which got me into diving). I got my AOW my last trip to Cancun, it's a good way to get some diving combined with instruction. Ask lot's of questions in advance about what will be covered and hold them to it.
And what El Orans said about rental is a good way to go in the beginning, you don't have to carry a bunch of gear, just mask, snorkel (if you use one), fins and wetsuit (3 mil full or shorty for Hawai'i) is enough if even needed. Use this board to study up on gear, it's a great place for that.
Anyway have fun on the board and diving.
David

 

[alpenadiver]

Welcome to the board Sea Girl, I would keep renting for a while, and trying out different equipment.

As for favorite destinations? I haven't left the Great Lakes too many wrecks to explore, but maybe one of these days I'll get into some warmer water with all the colorful fish, and such. The only problem, I might not want to return to Northern Michigan.

Mike

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy and Welcome to SB! :glassez:

I know how you feel, about living in the desert. Its a minimum of 2 plane rides to good diving for me. ilot: I hope you can make LAX or San Diego in one flight, as the Channel Islands are great diving, and I've heard good things about beach and wreck diving along there.

Living on the desert and having to fly, tho, we are more likely to try different places. California and Florida divers seldom go anywhere else. I would suggest Key Largo, Marathon or Big Pine over Key West, tho, and I always plan my Keys trips for other than hurricane season: July thru October :280:

Be sure to check our New to Diving forum as well as the Arizona dive club forum....

enjoy, don

 

[MoonWrasse]

Well, not sure if I am doing this right...I am new to the Forums, as well as Diving. I am looking for some guidance from all of you experts out there. I have my PADI Open Ocean certification (San Carlos, Mexico), and I currently reside in Arizona (a lot of beach, just not much ocean...sure do miss California for that). Now I am looking to begin my adventure. I am thinking about going to Kona, Hawaii in July/August...and possibly to the Florida Keys (Key West) in November. I am trying to get a handle on the best plan of attack, based on location and time of year. Like I said... I'M NEW! I have my snorkle, mask and fins, but would really appreciate any feedback regarding suggested equipment. I figure that I would initially just rent the items I needed until I was able to determine what would be the best purchases for me to make. If anyone has a suggestion for places to stay in Kona (I called the Kona Magic Sands Resort - anyone familiar with it?), I would really appreciate any feedback.

I'm excited to join the underwater world, and am looking forward to hearing back.

Thank you in advance - Sea Girl

Buy a safety sausage, whistle or better Dive Alert type device, small light you can clip to your BCD. You may want to add a dive computer (you don't need to get a Suunto D9), dive knife.
BCD, SPG/reg I'd continue to rent until you figure out what kind of diving you want to do.

Oh, and having your own wetsuit is comfortable.

 

[water boy]

Welcome to the board.
I am also brand new to the board. I live in Hawaii and if you any questions about Kona Let me know. I dove Kona in March and was very impressed. I dove with Big Island Divers and was quite satisfied. You must do the Manta Dive!! Its a night dive with an average profile of 40 ft for 45 minutes. Big Island Divers took care of everything. Also be prepared to see some pretty incredible stuff. We dove just four days and saw Pilot whales, White Tip Reef Sharks, Oceanic White Tips, Manta rays, tons of Turtles and very healthy reef systems

I am not familiar with the Hotel you mentioned but if it is on Alii street it is a safe bet-Alii street is the main (pretty much the only) strip. Everything you need is there. We stayed at the Royal Kona Hotel and enjoyed it. They also have a fantastic luau.

As far as equipment is concerned it is a good idea to rent for a while until you know what you want and are comitted to the sport-wait until you can get good quality equipment. Skimping on life support equipment is never a great idea. As far as recommending equipment my wife used to dive with the Genisis Athena BC. She loved it and it took her five years to finally decide to try something different. She just recently purchased a Diva LX by Seaquest and LOVES IT. You may want to try one of these and see what you think. She actually purchased the Diva LX from Big Island Divers-they may let you try it out. Let me know if I can help with anything-especially on Hawaii. I live on Oahu but am getting to know the dive community on all the islands very well.

the W-W-Water boy

 

[redrover]

Aloha Sea Girl,

Welcome to ScubaBoard.

There is a lot of information here, opinions, discussions, rants and humor. Broad questions such as yours have been answered numerous times and the threads for them are pretty easy to pick out. Finding exactly what you’re looking for can be a bit daunting, check out the FAQ for help and navigation tools. I’ve learned a lot that I didn’t know I wanted to know by looking for something else, jus keep on a readin’. There are forums for locations (here is a link) http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=42 and gear is up that page. Start there and just start picking threads, you’ll get the hang of it. Enjoy!

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

Hello there Sea Girl, My name is Matt and I wanted to welcome you to the community. I think it’s the best board on the internet for divers. The people on here make it a really friendly place. It’s a great place to see what’s going on with divers. Just wanted to make you feel welcome! If you’d like to chat, please PM me.

Take care and Safe Diving.:azvatar:

Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!​