Well hello there

[gvnwst]

Greetings, ScubaBoard!

I am Gavin, a university student in the midwest United States (Indiana, specifically. Nothing but small lakes to dive, here ). I found this place a few weeks ago while doing BC research and plan to stick around.

I help run a SCUBA club at my school, through which I got OW/AAD (SDI) certified during my freshman year, and now my job is teaching all the newcomers what I've learned over the last few years! Hopefully I'll be able to pass on what I learn here, too. Next in line is getting club-owned drysuits because it's freaking cold here.

Short introduction, now excuse me while I get back to the World Cup.

 

[Triker]

Welcome! I'm also in Indiana--the southwestern section. I regularly dive around the area and make some weekend trips to spots with a hundred or so miles. Let me know if you're ever looking to do some dives!

 

[gvnwst]

Where at? I'm right around Terre Haute.
Have you been to PennyRoyal dive park in (Hopkinsville?) KY, bychance? I was considering making a trip down there for some people to do some certs, but I've never been/don't know how it is.

 

[Triker]

I'm about 65 miles south of you (20 minutes east of Vincennes). I bet we use the same dive shop. I was certified in Brazil.

I just got back from Pennyroyal a few weeks ago. Did my drysuit and full face mask certs. Fun Time led the trip.

My dive buddy and I hope make at least two trips there this year and if the conditions are good might make more. We are planning to go to Gilboa in July. We've not been to Mermet (just north of Paducah) yet this year but I hope to go soon. I think they probably have the best attractions and facilities but the visibility at Pennyroyal can't be beat especially later in the season.

Here is a video from last year's October trip: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yg4MhJrY9Y

I would highly recommend you visit both Pennyroyal and Mermet. It is worth the drive. Both are excellent especially if you can do a weekday trip. That nearly assures you will have the place to yourself, or at least close.

 

[drrich2]

Here's a thread with a little more Pennyroyal Blue Springs Resort info.

They have a web page and a Facebook page. Good place to train, and a lot of area shops/instructors come here for that purpose.

Richard.

 

[Subcooled]

Welcome to the forum.

Hey, you have caves there (ENVY).

 

[gvnwst]

Triker--Fun Time SCUBA, indeed. When'd you get certified? Jim's fantastic for the club stuff, willing to work with large groups of annoying college kids.
I've never actually heard of Gilboa, the interwebs says it's in Ohio? I might have to look into that, if I can't get a trip to Kankakee or Pennyroyal worked out. We did a trip to Florida this last spring, school money, but not sure we can pull that off years in a row.

drrich--thanks for that! I'm hoping to run some rescue/advanced/deep/other specialty classes there, it does look good. Where in SW Kentucky do you live? (My home is just east of Glasgow, in Metcalfe County)

Subcooled, you can have the caves. Maybe it's because I've only two dozen dives-ish, but cave diving is one of those things I think I can live without. Wrecks...I dove the Spiegel Grove in Key Largo last April, might have gotten hooked.

 

[Triker]

Triker--Fun Time SCUBA, indeed. When'd you get certified? Jim's fantastic for the club stuff, willing to work with large groups of annoying college kids.
I've never actually heard of Gilboa, the interwebs says it's in Ohio? I might have to look into that, if I can't get a trip to Kankakee or Pennyroyal worked out. We did a trip to Florida this last spring, school money, but not sure we can pull that off years in a row.

I was certified July 2013. Yes, Gilboa is in Ohio. I think it is around a four hour trip from Terre Haute so definitely a place you would want to stay overnight to make it worth the eight hours on the road.

 

[drrich2]

drrich--thanks for that! I'm hoping to run some rescue/advanced/deep/other specialty classes there, it does look good. Where in SW Kentucky do you live? (My home is just east of Glasgow, in Metcalfe County)

I live around Hopkinsville, which is the town Pennyroyal Blue Springs Resort is located in. I drive past the entrance road on my way to work most mornings. When I solo dive there, I like to go to the end of the pavilion covered picnic tables, sit on a ledge to finish gearing up, drop down the vertical wall to around 50 feet deep, head to my right and drop down around 90 to 100 feet, 'chill' in the roughly 45 degree water at the bottom for a bit, come back up to a flat area with a white van and old fire truck as I head back, then finally rise up to the wide, flat roughly 20 foot+ deep plain where most of the attractions are (e.g.: school bus, boats, RV), and mill around till my air runs down and I'm ready to call it a day.

If you can make it during the week, you'll likely get a picnic table, which is handy, and without OW & other classes the viz. will be better due to silt stirred up. Weekends, those tables get grabbed up fairly fast.

Richard.

 

[gvnwst]

drrich2, thanks for the suggestions! Getting a club trip there during the week would be hard, unless we did it over a break... thankfully we have an equipment trailer (as does the dive shop we go with) and we can bring a folding table for gear.