What's the most unpopular benign/non-polarizing opinion you hold re: diving?

[FinnMom]

Thanks for the tips. I add Red Sea to my bucket list.

BTW I'll be in Saudi Arabia for work related visit and planning to dive in Yanbu / Jeddah area (Red Sea side of Saudi Arabia) sometime in October. Is that a good timing, to be in Red Sea in October?

That's a fabulous time!

Chart

• FinnMom
• Oct 5, 2017

Red sea - Sites and species seen at different times of year. Copied from a Finnish dive shop's...

 

[Kharon]

Dove not Dived

My pet peeve - that people constantly badger me about diving Air and how if I do a LOB Nitrox will make me feel fresh, rejuvenated, energised, my hair will be silky and my wrinkles will instantly disappear.

I love people who post I MUST get Nitrox certified before I do a LOB.

The last 4 LOBs I've done I've been the only air diver - the next 4 I will be the only air diver.

I'm Nitrox certified and have never used it. On Bonaire I could have all the free Nitrox I want. No thanks. Why? It's a PITA. 1st you have to calibrate the analizer, then test the tank, then log it in. 2nd you have to not only monitor N but also O2 (over multiple dives) and watch MOD.

I just want to grab my tanks and jump in the water. I've never had a problem with SI, NDL, etc. doing 5 dives a day. Nitrox - no thanks.

There's no need to dive salt water when I've got more than enough wrecks within a day's drive (or a bit more).

If I want to look at rusted crap I can drive over to the local junk yard. Absolutely no interest in wrecks.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I've never had a problem with SI, NDL, etc. doing 5 dives a day. Nitrox - no thanks.

Maybe I'm just using the wrong computer?

 

[Steve_C]

. I've never had a problem with SI, NDL, etc. doing 5 dives a day. Nitrox - no thanks.

Depends on your diving and air consumption. Dive shallow and/or suck air and no obvious benefit of Nitrox. Myself, on ocean dives I hit NDL all the time when on 32%. Dives would be a lot shorter on air.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I hear you! While I'm not quite bored of Mantas, I'm bored stiff of lining up and hooking in to see sharks. I used to love diving with sharks but Many of the dives in The Maldives have pretty much cured me.

I was fairly disappointed with the Maldives, but it may have been because I was on a liveaboard where the majority of the people on board only wanted to do channel dives. Hooking into a reef in high current to watch sharks and rays is fun for a dive or two, but after the first few dives I was pretty underwhelmed by it. Hopefully the place has more than that to offer ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm Nitrox certified and have never used it. On Bonaire I could have all the free Nitrox I want. No thanks. Why? It's a PITA. 1st you have to calibrate the analizer, then test the tank, then log it in. 2nd you have to not only monitor N but also O2 (over multiple dives) and watch MOD.

I just want to grab my tanks and jump in the water. I've never had a problem with SI, NDL, etc. doing 5 dives a day. Nitrox - no thanks.

Nitrox is like garlic ... if one person's using it, their partner should be too. Been on too many dives where I had to wait several minutes in the shallows until my dive buddy cleared deco because he was on air, while I was on nitrox. PITA.

If I want to look at rusted crap I can drive over to the local junk yard. Absolutely no interest in wrecks.

Whatever floats your boat ... but not all wrecks are rusted crap ... sometimes they look more like a reef ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was fairly disappointed with the Maldives, but it may have been because I was on a liveaboard where the majority of the people on board only wanted to do channel dives. Hooking into a reef in high current to watch sharks and rays is fun for a dive or two, but after the first few dives I was pretty underwhelmed by it. Hopefully the place has more than that to offer ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

It does, but it's hard to get to the good stuff when the whole group's hooked in looking at hundreds of sharks. Anyway, there are a number of itineraries to choose from.

 

[Brian Khan18]

I actually think you don’t have to be a good swimmer to be a scuba diver!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I actually think you don’t have to be a good swimmer to be a scuba diver!

You don't, actually. The benefit of swimming has more to do with developing a comfort level in the water (partly the mental/emotional aspect), which is a requisite to developing good diving habits ...

... Bob (Grateful diver)

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

heck, just stand on the swim platform and.... (okay, that's a guy thing)...

I mean, it doesn't... you know... have to just be a guy thing.

And my benign, yet not polarizing opinion is that I actually may enjoy familiar dives without much to see more than the crazy ones that you tell stories about for years. I'm too lazy to meditate these days, so a nice dive in a local lake, with mediocre visibility, no current, and barely anything to see outside of beer bottles, golf balls, and mud often leaves me feeling better than those mind-blowingly incredible dives where you feel like you're an astronaut on some alien planet.

I love just sitting at 40 feet, a couple feet off a silty bottom, and (mindfully!) zoning out. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, just floating along and enjoying the sound of my bubbles.

I compare it to going to a Mass in Latin; you have some things you need to do (cross yourself, sit, kneel, etc vs. check your gas, depth, tweak buoyancy, etc), but they're largely automatic, and the words are just pleasant noise (like the bubbles and breathing). And yes, I understand the irony that this specific analogy may be a little more polarizing, but it lends itself to my benign opinion. It's not that I don't like "wow" dives and appreciate them, I just really like the boring ones with no obligations outside of being underwater and staying off the bottom.