GCullen94
Contributor
Well I just crossed the 200 dive mark last weekend and thought about all the advice I have been given. About what has worked and what hasn't, about what to do and what not to do and about how to advance my diving. Hopefully this thread leads to some useful information new divers can use and I'll break it down to before certification, after certification, and where to go next.
So first off before certification.
1. Research the dive center you plan to use- Look at different options, different programs, certification agencies and instructors. I didn't do this and wound up luckily at one of the best dive shops in the area but having a good first instructor is critical to your first impression on diving. I know for a fact however if I wound up choosing three other shops close by I would not likely still be diving.
2. Take your time in getting mask fins and snorkel. Take the time to find a good fitting mask and realize a good mask is not the most expensive and vice versa. Try on different styles as well as brands, framed and frameless, two lens and single lens. For me I prefer low profile and a single lens such as the Scubapro frameless and Hollis M4. Fins should be comfortable and functional. Split fins have a lack of power in current but they are easier to kick with while jet fins have tons of power but are stiff and ridged. Foot pocket size matters so try the fins on with your booties that you plan to buy. For example the Scubapro Jet fin is perfect with my wetsuit booties but are too narrow to work with my drysuit however my Hollis fins work well with my drysuit but are too wide to go with my wetsuit. I ditched my snorkel right after certification... Never looked back sense however they can be useful for some shore dives but don't waist a lot of money on one.
3. Don't fall for the sales pitch about buying your gear before certification. Save the bc, regs, wetsuit, computer ect until after you are certified and have had an opportunity to find what you like and don't like. If you find a good dive shop, this shouldn't be a problem.
After certification
1. DIVE. Get out and get wet, go diving and stay active. Try different boats, different gear set ups and different sites. Find what you like and what you don't like. A great way to do this is join a dive club or two. Most of these are free and are groups of divers that go out often, if the group is more interested in "debriefing" than diving, look for another group. Get to know boat captains and charter companies.
2. Start to get your own gear, find which setup works best for you. There is a HUGE debate on what to get first on BC/Regs/Computer. This heavily depends on what type of diving you do. If I had to do it all over again, I would get a cheep computer and a nice BC at the same time and rent regs till I found a company that I liked. There's a method to this madness. First off, you do not need a fancy 3 gas wireless computer... this is overkill. By the time you get to three gases you will be planning your dives on an actual computer and using a cheep bottom timer or something nice like a xen. You need a computer that can do nitrox and has a gauge mode... many of these can be found for around 230 or less. I have a "go big or go home" motto with computers/bottom timers. I LOVE my Diverite duo which was a cheep puck computer but it does everything I need it to in a recreational profile and also has a gauge mode. On the other end there is the liquivison and shearwater line. I would not go for anything in between as it is a waste of money. I wish someone told me this a while ago. I would get a BC because a lot of rental BC's are A. not good and B. not sized well, also the boat or company you're going with may run out of BC's in your size. I went with a backplate and wing system and haven't looked back. Most shops will tell you it's for technical only and the reason they are saying this is because often BP/W are cheeper than BC's and a hell of a lot more functional and streamlined. Regs can take a little while to find a set you like. HOG regs are great value, Apeks, Atomic and Scubapro regs are also really solid. I can honestly say there is NO reason for the anything above an the Apeks XTX 50 as it does everything brilliantly, Atomics can be expensive to maintain but are solid regs and the scubapro s600 and G260's with mark 25's are great.
3. Don't rush into AOW and other cert.. Get some in water experience and prefect the skills you have learned.
4. Just because someone is a "dive master" doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. All you need to be a dive master in some organizations is 60 dives. I was in the Keys one time and was doing a 2 hour long reef dive using doubles as a shake down dive before the deeper dives started... Before I jumped in the water I had a DM shut off my left post as the knob rotates the other way to the right hand post. He thought he was turning on my gas when in reality he was shutting it off.
Where to go next
1. Dive
2. Dive
3. Dive
Ok in all seriousness get out in the water, read about different organizations and decide what you want to do next as the opportunities underwater are endless. Look into the differences of PADI, NAUI, GUE, IANTD, ect ect. Re do your weight checks, a better way to do a weight check is at the end of a dive, go to 10 feet and purge your tank down to around 200 PSI. if you can still stay down comfortably you are too heavy. This is a better way to do a weight check than at the surface. Work on your trim in the water and becoming a better diver
Hope this helped
GC
So first off before certification.
1. Research the dive center you plan to use- Look at different options, different programs, certification agencies and instructors. I didn't do this and wound up luckily at one of the best dive shops in the area but having a good first instructor is critical to your first impression on diving. I know for a fact however if I wound up choosing three other shops close by I would not likely still be diving.
2. Take your time in getting mask fins and snorkel. Take the time to find a good fitting mask and realize a good mask is not the most expensive and vice versa. Try on different styles as well as brands, framed and frameless, two lens and single lens. For me I prefer low profile and a single lens such as the Scubapro frameless and Hollis M4. Fins should be comfortable and functional. Split fins have a lack of power in current but they are easier to kick with while jet fins have tons of power but are stiff and ridged. Foot pocket size matters so try the fins on with your booties that you plan to buy. For example the Scubapro Jet fin is perfect with my wetsuit booties but are too narrow to work with my drysuit however my Hollis fins work well with my drysuit but are too wide to go with my wetsuit. I ditched my snorkel right after certification... Never looked back sense however they can be useful for some shore dives but don't waist a lot of money on one.
3. Don't fall for the sales pitch about buying your gear before certification. Save the bc, regs, wetsuit, computer ect until after you are certified and have had an opportunity to find what you like and don't like. If you find a good dive shop, this shouldn't be a problem.
After certification
1. DIVE. Get out and get wet, go diving and stay active. Try different boats, different gear set ups and different sites. Find what you like and what you don't like. A great way to do this is join a dive club or two. Most of these are free and are groups of divers that go out often, if the group is more interested in "debriefing" than diving, look for another group. Get to know boat captains and charter companies.
2. Start to get your own gear, find which setup works best for you. There is a HUGE debate on what to get first on BC/Regs/Computer. This heavily depends on what type of diving you do. If I had to do it all over again, I would get a cheep computer and a nice BC at the same time and rent regs till I found a company that I liked. There's a method to this madness. First off, you do not need a fancy 3 gas wireless computer... this is overkill. By the time you get to three gases you will be planning your dives on an actual computer and using a cheep bottom timer or something nice like a xen. You need a computer that can do nitrox and has a gauge mode... many of these can be found for around 230 or less. I have a "go big or go home" motto with computers/bottom timers. I LOVE my Diverite duo which was a cheep puck computer but it does everything I need it to in a recreational profile and also has a gauge mode. On the other end there is the liquivison and shearwater line. I would not go for anything in between as it is a waste of money. I wish someone told me this a while ago. I would get a BC because a lot of rental BC's are A. not good and B. not sized well, also the boat or company you're going with may run out of BC's in your size. I went with a backplate and wing system and haven't looked back. Most shops will tell you it's for technical only and the reason they are saying this is because often BP/W are cheeper than BC's and a hell of a lot more functional and streamlined. Regs can take a little while to find a set you like. HOG regs are great value, Apeks, Atomic and Scubapro regs are also really solid. I can honestly say there is NO reason for the anything above an the Apeks XTX 50 as it does everything brilliantly, Atomics can be expensive to maintain but are solid regs and the scubapro s600 and G260's with mark 25's are great.
3. Don't rush into AOW and other cert.. Get some in water experience and prefect the skills you have learned.
4. Just because someone is a "dive master" doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. All you need to be a dive master in some organizations is 60 dives. I was in the Keys one time and was doing a 2 hour long reef dive using doubles as a shake down dive before the deeper dives started... Before I jumped in the water I had a DM shut off my left post as the knob rotates the other way to the right hand post. He thought he was turning on my gas when in reality he was shutting it off.
Where to go next
1. Dive
2. Dive
3. Dive
Ok in all seriousness get out in the water, read about different organizations and decide what you want to do next as the opportunities underwater are endless. Look into the differences of PADI, NAUI, GUE, IANTD, ect ect. Re do your weight checks, a better way to do a weight check is at the end of a dive, go to 10 feet and purge your tank down to around 200 PSI. if you can still stay down comfortably you are too heavy. This is a better way to do a weight check than at the surface. Work on your trim in the water and becoming a better diver
Hope this helped
GC
