Recommendation for active club

[RikRaeder]

I'll be moving back to the Bay Area soon (E. Bay) and was hoping to get a recommendation for an active local club. I'm just into tech so was hoping for a club that is active in both tech and rec (and also wreck). Have searched the net and found a couple, but was hoping for some word of mouth info too.
Thanks

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

There seems to be a lot of techie types (DIR) that frequent Monterey. A lot of them hang out on this board. Maybe hook up with them and go do some scooter dives in and around Point Lobos.

Maybe there is a tech club somewhere in the Bay area (BAUE?).
Ask Wallin's Dive Center in the south bay, maybe they know.

Good luck.

 

[RikRaeder]

Thanks for the input. Not looking for a strictly tech group (and not diehard DIR types), but would like to do a bit of that as well. Mainly just looking for an active group who gets in the water a lot.

 

[FishDiver]

I'll be moving back to the Bay Area soon (E. Bay) and was hoping to get a recommendation for an active local club. I'm just into tech so was hoping for a club that is active in both tech and rec (and also wreck). Have searched the net and found a couple, but was hoping for some word of mouth info too.
Thanks

Me, too.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I could also suggest going into any dive shop and picking up a copy of California Dive News. It's a free monthly dive news paper and has a complete dive club directory towards the back listing virtually every ligitimate dive club in California.

Also, around here (Northern California) it seems to me that with any tech diving activities all there is is DIR (GUE -UTD) style of tech.
I have not heard of or seen any old style TDI or similar tech divers in years. Not to say that there aren't any, It's just that I have been out of that scene for a long time and I think that style has faded out.

 

[Peter_C]

Thanks for the input. Not looking for a strictly tech group (and not diehard DIR types),

Careful how you present yourself to your possible future dive buddies. There happens to be a ton of people in the Monterey area that associate themselves with the term DIR. They are good people that I respect and would happily go diving with anytime.

Mainly just looking for an active group who gets in the water a lot.

I think you can find them here. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/norcal/338808-monterey-meet-greet-12-jun-2010-a.html

Here is a ton of info thanks to Chuck. Including a list of localish dive clubs.
http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/

 

[RikRaeder]

Thanks for the info, guys. Won't be back until mid August, but any information is appreciated. I didn't say anything bad about DIR, just that I am not DIR and wouldn't fit in with a diehard DIR type. Is that offensive?

 

[dannobee]

Although not a "group" per se, there are a few of us who do tech dives who don't associate ourselves with GUE. (For whatever reasons)

I could put you in the loop if you wish.

 

[RikRaeder]

Loop me, baby.
You aren't part of some strange, Satanic tech cult or something, are you?

 

[pacificgal]

LOL, no, Dan is good people.
I dive out of Silicon Valley Dive Club out of Diver Dan's. We have 2 club meetings on Wednesday nights for an hour, then we go out for mexican food and drinks after. They organize 1 shore dive and 1 boat dive per month, the boat dive is a charter and they offer discounted pricing for the club. There are also discounted classes available and trips to various other dive destinations. It's a good deal, and a decent sized club. We have a couple long-hosers, but I don't know if any of them are techies.