Where was your first OW dive?

[Marebythesea]

...was in one of my most favorite places, the Florida Keys --Marathon to be exact. Gotta love those reefs, wrecks and warm water!

 

[Diver0001]

VanGirl once bubbled...
My first OW dives were at Deep Cove in North Van, BC. We ended up in the cove because there was a wind warning at the preferred coastal sites. While we saw a few "creatures of the deep"...it was ++ cold & pretty murky as me 'n my buddy were still working out the kinks on our neutral buoyancy with our BCD / drysuit combos and ended up stirring up the bottom quite a bit. LOL Still, a great time! and the best perk of all was that there were heated, public change rooms and showers!! Whee!!! I just stood under the shower in all my gear for a good 5 minutes..Bliss as the outside temp was at least 0' celsius. Brrr.... :cold:

I made many dives there in the late 80's. It's still on my list of favorite places to night-dive. i don't remember change rooms, though. I do remember the quiet, the big sky at night and a lot of seals. I once made a dive there with ice forming on the surface. I don't know the water temp because it was before the computer era but I do know that it was -10C when I had to take off my wetsuit (yes you heard that right) to change. I couldn't feel my feet for 1/2 hour.

R..

 

[phulme]

Mine was in Guardalavacca, Cuba this autumn. Great people to dive with, warm clear water and a fascinating reef / waterlife.

I learned to dive (PADI OW) just so I could try it out on holiday and now I'm hooked! I'm gearing up to be able to dive in the UK so i can build my skills and enjoy it on future vacations.

Probably go back next year.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

My first OW dives were at Seacrest Park, just across Elliott Bay from downtown Seattle. It just blew me away that there could be so much sea life right in the middle of a major metropolitan area.

I still go there regularly, and delight in taking new divers and out-of-towners there. The views are great ... both above and below the surface. It was there I had my first encounter with a six-gill shark, watched the hatching of giant pacific octopus, and have fairly frequent interactions with harbor seals.

Last year we almost had a really cool wreck to dive there ... but alas, they pulled the plane out of the water before it could sink to the bottom ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[HockeyPuck]

My OW Checkout dives were in Lake Skaneateles, (Skaneateles, NY). Water temp was about 48-50, viz about 5 feet. We were in drysuits (they combined the OW course with a drysuit specialty), and I think the reason for bad viz was that none of us really had our buoyancy under control.

Second day, we were a bit better at keeping out of the muck, and vis was about 10-15 feet. Saw some "artifacts" that had been put down there a while ago for students to find ... sunken rowboat, toilet, mannequin, mirror ... fun stuff.

 

[lanun]

did my first OW at San Carlos Beach, Monterey California a.k.a. Breakwater. temp 54F, 2FT wave (looked like 5FT to me ut: ). there was swell, and surge, and about two hundered million tons of kelp . got into the waist high water on my third try (first try torpedoed by in-coming divers, 2nd try tipped sideways)

my wife did hers there a year later. no waves :upset:

 

[Polpessa]

My first ever dive was in the Meditteranean, off Sardinia in Italy. We had no pool, just started in a shallow bay.

The instructor--get this--forgot his mask and luckily was able to borrow one off a passerby snorkeller!!!

I haven't returned but I'd like to...beautiful beaches and clear water and italian food and ice cream when you get out!

 

[mogwai]

My first ever dive was in Corfu Greece about 19 years ago. You may find it strange that i am only now qualified as off aout 2 months ago. Did a few try dives over the years but only decided to get qualified recently. My first OW dive was in Loch Fyne, place called the Tea Rooms, in Scotland (sea loch). Loved it, beat any dive i had had abroad before that. My brother in law is now starting his ow course and i am hoping to go there with him to watch him being trained if possible. Wasn't so long ago i was there as am only 21 dives into my diving, but will still be nice to go and dive it again.

 

[ColdH20diving]

Did my open water at Mike's beach resort in Hoodsport, Wa. Had a miserable time, I was cold and couldn't wait to get through with the dives. It was my first and last time wearing a wet suit. I've been diving dry since and dive year around in the PNW.

 

[jsdiveguy]

Did my OW dives in St. Croix. The OW dives were all pretty tame but the first dive I did after getting certified was Cane Bay wall. To put it mildly, it was AWESOME. It's a beach dive and the swim out to the wall in no way prepares you for what you're about to see. We hit the wall at a point where it goes sheer vertical to, I'm told, 3000 ft. You're swimming along at about 30' just above the sand and all of the sudden it just drops away. You're looking into the deep blue abyss with the wall going down as far as you could see. I distinctly remember saying "WOW" into my reg.

I hung there looking down for at least a minute. I was forever hooked.