Trying to Break Into Diving

[sq1309]

I was 20 when I got certified. 21 when I got my advanced certification. I recently was hanging out at the dive shop while they were teaching a class. The youngest person in the class couldn't have been more than 12-13 yrs old. The majority of the students were in their 20 s - 30's. Yes, his can be an expenssive sport, but it just depends on what you want to do with it. If you travel alot, you are not getting the full experience if you can't dive. Remember 3/4 of the Earth is covered in water. Seize the oppurtunity to see what most people will only experience on a plasma screen. Many all inclusive resorts include diving and equipment rental at no extra cost. If you go to these places, you are crazy not to be dive certified. Buy your mask, fins, and snorkel and go do it. You can always rent the rest of your equipment for a decent price until you can afford your own. I wouldn't waste money buying your own tanks at this point. Most of the time it doesn't cost much more to rent a tank than to fill one. Plus you won't have to worry about tank inspections and you aren't going to travel with your tanks anyways. When done responsibly, scuba is really a pretty safe sport. I've broken bones doing everything from rodeo to beach volleyball but never really injured myself while diving. Get to know the guys at your local dive shop. If they don't treat you right, move on to the next dive shop. Most of your dive shops are smaller, family owned type businesses and they will usually fight for your business. See if they will let you hang around the shop and help out in your spare time. This helps them by having an extra set of hands around and it helps you by getting to overhear the conversations about dive sites, equipment etc. Who knows, maybe they will throw a tank at you once in awhile and tell you to go check to pool with them. Free air is the best air!!! If you are here you are already convinced that you are going to be a diver so just do it. I promise it will be a decision you won't regret. Good luck

 

[fnfalman]

Gear rental is pretty cheap. For SoCal diving, a day's worth of rental runs around $50-70 depending on the shop. That fee includes wetsuit, BC, regulator, weight belt & a filled tank. You provide for mask/snorkel/gloves/booties/fins as part of your OW class anyway.

If you shore dive then it might cost a few extra bucks for car parking meter. If you boat dive then it costs a lot more.

You can buy used gear from a shop for much discount because the shops tend to phase out old gears after a while. They might not be pretty, but they'll do the job.

 

[TracysaCADiver]

--snip--
I was curious about why people always talk about diving partners.. Can you only go out in pairs of twos? Is it just not viable for a group of three to stick together effectively?

And I appreciate all these replies. I feel like part of the scuba family already!

From what I understand, because of the dangers of diving, you are encouraged to dive with a buddy. Many of the certification agencies encourage this in case something happens - you run out of air before you surface and need to use you're buddies air to get there, etc. Secondly, it's always good to have a second pair of eyes around - especially in the underwater environment - to look out for dangers that you might not be able to see and they can.

 

[belairbrian]

Iwas diving last weekend with 10 and 12 year olds. (Daughter and Son). He's been diving 2 years she certified last month.

I was 32 when I was certified. I wanted to since the first Jacques Cousteau show I saw. I was at Edwards AFB and they had a program there. Did my OW at little corona and Catalina. Your in a great area for shore diving. Track down the shore dives of California book.

I've been at this for 15 years now and still love it.

 

[vondo]

I was curious about why people always talk about diving partners.. Can you only go out in pairs of twos? Is it just not viable for a group of three to stick together effectively?

It's more difficult, I find, to dive in a triplet. It's now two people I have to keep track of; it takes more effort. But I'll do it. I'm a single diver so sometimes I'm the third tagging along with established buddies. What I don't do is dive as a foursome. That's not to say I won't dive with a group, but if there is a group and we stay together, great. But there is one person I am tasked with staying close to and checking on and the group is secondary.

Enjoy your classes.

 

[tracydr]

Where is San Pedro? Are you close to a military base? If you are, check out the military dive clubs. You may feel more at home. You're going to love diving. It's great for science geek , ex-military types!

 

[scubajim 1]

The certification dives are a blast! You will enjoy every aspect of your OW certification course. And I agree get friendly with the "old timers" some of us have been diving since before we had spgs and used a J valve on our tanks
Be willing to spend a fair amount on your gear, afterall your life and fun depend on it.
You don't need to buy everything at once and in fact you might want to rent for a while.

 

[fnfalman]

Paired buddies teams seem to work better than threes or fours. I don't mind doing threes if I know the people really well and they know how I dive. If not then it's pretty damn tiresome trying to keep the group together.

I gotta give lots of credits to instructors who conduct OW classes and have to keep an eye out for all of the ducklings at the same time. Or the dive master who has to lead a group of vacation divers.

 

[belairbrian]

Where is San Pedro? Are you close to a military base? If you are, check out the military dive clubs. You may feel more at home. You're going to love diving. It's great for science geek , ex-military types!

San Pedro is a harbor in LA. Whole row of dive boats when I lived in the area. I dove with the Antelope Valley Desert Divers up in Lancaster/ Palmdale.

Found a meeting notice in the paper and went to a meeting. I will admit to being apprehensive about going, I was a new diver and I figured these were all veterans. some were, others weren't. No one ever treated me any different, except for helping me learn. Took me on my first Boat Dive out of San Pedro. Told me how things worked so I didn't end up being the dork diver.

Only grief I ever took was winning the dive light raffle at the first meeting. New guy wins $40 light (1996 dollars). actually ended up winning something at every meeting. Kinda became a standing joke. If I didn't need it I gave it to someone that did or told them to draw again.

No doubt there are tribal type dive clubs, it's easy to not join and look for another. I also know LA has plenty of good groups.

 

[Griff..]

I'm 18 and I'm a Divemaster, you meet people alot older than you and seem to connect alot better than you would if you were just sat in the pub.. because you have the common interest of diving