Hello all,
I have been an intermittent reader of ScubaBoard over the past few years, and a less than intermittent participant. The focus of the SoCal group seems to be primarily farther South than Santa Barbara and I don't lack resources or opportunites for diving. Therefore, participation on SB was not that high on my list of things competing for my time.
So why re-introduce myself? I was reading yesterday and noticed that Rick was appointed as the Local Guide to the Ventura-Santa Barbara area. I pmed Rick for two reasons. It sounded like an effort of SB to venture a bit farther North and include the Santa Barbara area. I know the area reasonably well and have contacts into local dive clubs as well as a local dive store (I work through one of the LDSs as an instructor). Therefore, I believe I can be a local resource for Rick if hes looking for information or contacts. But, to be honest, Im also seeing a potential benefit for my students.
Too many times I found that newly certified divers dont continue because they lack information on local diving or access to dive buddies. Different attempts to keep my students involved, such as keeping my dive schedule online for my students, were only marginally successful. 99% of my diving is training related and not very interesting for newly certified divers to tag along despite an open invitation to all to tag along whenever they feel like it. So I took a different approach and on January 31st I opened up a web site that, hopefully, over the next few months will grow into a comprehensive database on diving in the Santa Barbara area, as well as a way to connect with the local diving community.
When I saw the note on Rick becoming a Local Guide I decided to make another effort to becoming part of SB in an attempt to see if Santa Barbara can get a little stronger representation on this board. Hopefully there can be some cross pollination between the two sites. My main reason for setting up a separate one is that it is more focused geographically which, I presume, is more beneficial to my students.
The site I started is www.sbdiving.com and it is in its beginning stages. In the end I hope it can be a useful resource for my students and other divers in the area, as well as divers who are thinking of visiting the Santa Barbara area. I have many promises from people to contribute information. Well see how it goes.
Have a look at the site if youre interested. I hope that, in due time, itll grow into something that will sound inviting to come visit Santa Barbara for some diving. As SB ventures a little bit farther North (hopefully I can be part of that connection which is why I'm posting this here) my students will find another resource to get going in their new sport, connect up with more people than locals and find more opportunities to go diving. Hopefully Ill also find some time to join a Wrinkles Dive or Mo2vation Dive soon. Its always easier to make contacts in person. Anyway, to make a short story long, I'll make a new effort to get going on SB and hope it'll be beneficial in both directions.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Jacek
I have been an intermittent reader of ScubaBoard over the past few years, and a less than intermittent participant. The focus of the SoCal group seems to be primarily farther South than Santa Barbara and I don't lack resources or opportunites for diving. Therefore, participation on SB was not that high on my list of things competing for my time.
So why re-introduce myself? I was reading yesterday and noticed that Rick was appointed as the Local Guide to the Ventura-Santa Barbara area. I pmed Rick for two reasons. It sounded like an effort of SB to venture a bit farther North and include the Santa Barbara area. I know the area reasonably well and have contacts into local dive clubs as well as a local dive store (I work through one of the LDSs as an instructor). Therefore, I believe I can be a local resource for Rick if hes looking for information or contacts. But, to be honest, Im also seeing a potential benefit for my students.
Too many times I found that newly certified divers dont continue because they lack information on local diving or access to dive buddies. Different attempts to keep my students involved, such as keeping my dive schedule online for my students, were only marginally successful. 99% of my diving is training related and not very interesting for newly certified divers to tag along despite an open invitation to all to tag along whenever they feel like it. So I took a different approach and on January 31st I opened up a web site that, hopefully, over the next few months will grow into a comprehensive database on diving in the Santa Barbara area, as well as a way to connect with the local diving community.
When I saw the note on Rick becoming a Local Guide I decided to make another effort to becoming part of SB in an attempt to see if Santa Barbara can get a little stronger representation on this board. Hopefully there can be some cross pollination between the two sites. My main reason for setting up a separate one is that it is more focused geographically which, I presume, is more beneficial to my students.
The site I started is www.sbdiving.com and it is in its beginning stages. In the end I hope it can be a useful resource for my students and other divers in the area, as well as divers who are thinking of visiting the Santa Barbara area. I have many promises from people to contribute information. Well see how it goes.
Have a look at the site if youre interested. I hope that, in due time, itll grow into something that will sound inviting to come visit Santa Barbara for some diving. As SB ventures a little bit farther North (hopefully I can be part of that connection which is why I'm posting this here) my students will find another resource to get going in their new sport, connect up with more people than locals and find more opportunities to go diving. Hopefully Ill also find some time to join a Wrinkles Dive or Mo2vation Dive soon. Its always easier to make contacts in person. Anyway, to make a short story long, I'll make a new effort to get going on SB and hope it'll be beneficial in both directions.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Jacek
I think scheduled events as well as information and discriptions of the local dive sites is what we need. 
