NorCal Newbie

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DButton90

Registered
Messages
17
Reaction score
20
Location
Redding, CA
# of dives
25 - 49
I've been lurking around the site for nearly a year now and figured it was a good time to surface. Not sure how much I'll contribute, but I'll continue to soak up the knowledge, experiences, and stories!

I was recently certified this summer after looking for a new outdoor hobby. I hate the heat and grew up in lovely Northern California where summers love to get well into the triple digits and figured the best escape was to find some water. So far I have around 30 dives under my belt and all of them have been in fresh water lakes or rivers. Hopefully I'll be able to experience some warm water and more than 20 feet of visibility in the near future!

Experiences seem to differ for everyone here and it amazes me how black and white some views can be. My LDS is amazing and ordered me a full set of new gear right after certification. I read a lot about trying equipment out before you use them, but I'm impatient and wanted my own stuff. I had my LDS order everything up based on my goals and haven't had a single complaint with my gear. I'm sure tastes will change as I gain more experience, so I probably wont be complacent forever. I also could have saved myself a ton of money by searching for deals and pricing individual pieces rather than what my LDS swears by as the "best" brand in SCUBA, but the support of the local shop has paid out in dividends when in need of assistance or expertise.

The other debate that has always interested me is the stigma surrounding solo diving. My first dive out of certification was done solo in a river. This was out of town where my family goes on vacation so I had to rent a bcd from the local LDS since mine was on order. The first question the owner asked was whether or not I was going with anyone and was adamant that I was sure to have a buddy. As someone who has grown up solo alpine climbing, solo rock climbing, and solo just about everything I had no problem jumping straight into solo diving. Most of my dives have been with buddies and I fully enjoy it, but diving for crawdads to feed fish after a day of stressful work isn't something that most people want to do. In the scheme of things my ignorance probably eliminates a lot of concerns, but it also helps you identify and apply limits. It's amazing what behaviors I have observed underwater when people dive with others.

To be fair, I didn't get into diving with an intent to break into a social circle or meet new friends. My desire was strictly focused on picking up a new hobby to enjoy and have fun while playing in the outdoors. Looking forward to meeting new people on Scubaboard and possibly on location sometime in the future! Thanks for taking the time to read my longer than average intro with the intent to give you a little background of who I am!
 
Welcome to the Board. Are you close enough to make ocean diving (shore/boat) an option?
My very first dive was solo. I was told I could easily find a buddy at Vortex Spring on the FL panhandle and this appeared to me not to be the case. Everyone was buddied up or in groups, and as an absolute newbie, I didn't feel like just horning in. And, I knew it was a "harmless" pond really, with normal depths of 20-30 feet. All went well. All of my ocean dives were then with a buddy (my first and only steady one, until he moved). After he moved, I was at 75 dives and began mostly diving solo. I didn't take the Solo course (not available anywhere around here). I mostly limit my solo diving to 30' and only rarely break that rule. I can CESA from that depth. Entanglement of course is the big thing to steer clear of. If I were to regularly deep solo dive I would take the course, use my pony bottle, other redundancies, etc. Otherwise, it's with a buddy. Everyone sets their own risk tolerance.
Anyway, you may want to join the Solo sub forum (in the Tech. section unless they moved it). It's always interesting to read all the threads where soloists and buddyists bump heads.
Yes interesting things can happen when divers buddy up. Good and bad. It is nice to have someone to talk about the dive after it's done. For me, location makes soloing much more attractive, and I don't have to concern myself with someone else's safety and dive objectives. We look to move within a year to where buddying will be a lot easier. I look then to do more deep shore dives.
 
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plenty of solo divers around, just be aware of the few places that require you to have a buddy like pt lobos
 
Redding huh, me too...I'm a DM up here, I was probably on your class. In fact, I'm pretty sure I know who you are, I'll shoot you a PM :wink:.
-Nichole
 
If you want to try some vigorous and exciting ocean diving give the North Coast a try. That’s the coastline starting in Marin county and going all the way up to the Oregon border. Most of the diving being in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Monterey is great but it’s wilder up here and less people. No rules either unlike Pt. Lobos. It might even be closer.
I’m not going to go into the whole buddy/solo thing, but for your first several ocean dives you might want to reconsider your position. A lot can happen in the ocean, especially in Norcal.
BTW, welcome to the board, always good to see another Norcaler.
 
Welcome to the Board. Are you close enough to make ocean diving (shore/boat) an option?
My very first dive was solo. I was told I could easily find a buddy at Vortex Spring on the FL panhandle and this appeared to me not to be the case. Everyone was buddied up or in groups, and as an absolute newbie, I didn't feel like just horning in. And, I knew it was a "harmless" pond really, with normal depths of 20-30 feet. All went well. All of my ocean dives were then with a buddy (my first and only steady one, until he moved). After he moved, I was at 75 dives and began mostly diving solo. I didn't take the Solo course (not available anywhere around here). I mostly limit my solo diving to 30' and only rarely break that rule. I can CESA from that depth. Entanglement of course is the big thing to steer clear of. If I were to regularly deep solo dive I would take the course, use my pony bottle, other redundancies, etc. Otherwise, it's with a buddy. Everyone sets their own risk tolerance.
Anyway, you may want to join the Solo sub forum (in the Tech. section unless they moved it). It's always interesting to read all the threads where soloists and buddyists bump heads.
Yes interesting things can happen when divers buddy up. Good and bad. It is nice to have someone to talk about the dive after it's done. For me, location makes soloing much more attractive, and I don't have to concern myself with someone else's safety and dive objectives. We look to move within a year to where buddying will be a lot easier. I look then to do more deep shore dives.

My perspective on solo diving seems to coincide with the rules you have set in place as well. You're not going to find me trying to set some sort of depth record or push any sort of boundary while out alone. Monterey is a good 5 hours away, which I have heard is the closest good ocean diving. I'll make my way down there in the near future to check it out and will make sure I have a buddy due to the limitations @runsongas mentioned.

If you want to try some vigorous and exciting ocean diving give the North Coast a try. That’s the coastline starting in Marin county and going all the way up to the Oregon border. Most of the diving being in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Monterey is great but it’s wilder up here and less people. No rules either unlike Pt. Lobos. It might even be closer.
I’m not going to go into the whole buddy/solo thing, but for your first several ocean dives you might want to reconsider your position. A lot can happen in the ocean, especially in Norcal.
BTW, welcome to the board, always good to see another Norcaler.

Eric, are you ever in the Crescent City area or know of anyone in that area who dives the ocean around there? I regularly head over there as my family has property on the ocean that we frequently visit. I brought my gear the last time I was out there and quickly realized it wasn't the safest idea to just jump into those waters alone. I'm not a pure soloist by any means and will gladly enlist some expertise in unknown areas!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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