Your Experience with Scuba Diving?

[rajesh447]

A very interesting activity, adventure scuba diving. Share your experience when you have done it first time.

 

[Mustard Dave]

With four mates in Tenerife. We were given the kit, shown how to clear our masks, purge our regs and equalise. We were then told to press that to go up and that to go down before one instructor took five complete novices in open water. It was only when I did it properly a few years later that I realised how irresponsible this cowboy outfit was.

 

[motorref]

One on One with Melinda from Grand Bahama Scuba (Grand Bahamas Scuba - Meet Fred Riger); I had such a blast and was so comfortable with Melinda and Fred that I took both daughters there to get certified - you can't do any better!

KL

 

[JamesK]

My first time was a pool during my OW class. I fell in love with diving before I even started diving. My ex girlfriends father was a cave diver who shared his experiences with me. I knew right then I had to do it. So we went to another friend who was a cave diver and instructor and I got started. The first time underwater in the pool I felt as if I had been missing the coolest activity ever and knew I had to continue. It was a huge rush for me, and by the end of the LONG multi tank pool day when I was in trim and swimming around I felt at home.

 

[jewelofnile69]

My first time was actually a pretty scary experience while I was in the service. I was visiting an ex-boyfriend who had taken a permanent change of station to Hawaii and I was still stationed in Texas. He had been certified for some time by this point. I took a 2-week trip out there and he set it up so that I would take (what I now no) was likely a discover scuba class. I was only in a pool for maybe 1 hour before we went out and did a 30-ish foot dive. It started storming (thunder and lightening) when we were getting ready to get in the water and I was already "done" at that point as I was pretty sure I was going to be struck by lightening (which of course I wasn't). I had a hard time clearing my ears and I didn't feel that anyone cared that I needed to take my time (BF included) and then I saw what I thought was a shark and started to panic. I remember my mask flooding and starting to bolt to the surface and luckily someone slowed my ascent (still don't remember if it was the BF or the DM). Needless to say I was pissed off the rest of the vacation. Luckily there was only 3 days left. Also needless to say that the relationship didn't last a week after I returned.

It's amazing the difference between that and when I actually went to get certified. That first trip was, I believe, in 2002. I got certified in 2008 and the experience (and my instructor) was amazing. I'm so glad I got over that first experience and went and got it!

 

[3D diver]

Birthday party in a neighbor's pool when I was 7 or 8. My Dad brought his dive gear and all us kids got to swim around the pool on SCUBA.

 

[Rich Keller]

My cousin wanted to earn a boy scout merit badge for diving and wanted someone to go with him, already being a water rat I was his best choice. We bought tanks, regs and a book on how to use them. Not being the patent type I did not read the whole thing before I was ready to get going. I must have missed the part about buoyancy but did manage to swim to the bottom and find just the right size rock to hold onto during that first dive. That made for an interesting learning curve but I am still diving 43 years later.

 

[00wabbit]

My first time was in Cancun doing a discover scuba class. I did about an hour in the pool learning the basics. My wife tried too but couldn't get comfortable so she skipped the open water dive. Then that afternoon I got on a boat and headed out to dive. Max depth was 30ft, but it was open ocean so I was a bit nervous. All I really remember was following the fins of the instructor in front of me. After that dive I didn't find it too fun because I was nervous. I didn't really think much more about diving. The next year we went to Cozumel and we spent the day at a beach club south of Cozumel palace. They had scuba diving and discover scuba there so I thought I would give it another try on a whim. This time it was just me and the instructor. I had my digital camera in a housing and he saw that so he picked out things for me to shoot. I saw eels, lobster, octopus, large tarpin. We even did a swim through of a fairly big overhang. It was amazing. We ended up going back to that beach club later in our trip and I did the same discover dive again. I was hooked. I told my wife next time we gear near warm water I want to be certified.

Last summer we were going on a cruise with her family so I got certified in a quarry in PA. It was cold and dark but I suffered through so I could get certified. After certification I went back to the quarry a couple of times before my trip. I began to like the cold dark water. I never though I would. Now I live in Indiana and dive a drysuit and keep diving year round. I have been diving every month since I got certified no mater the temperature.

As long as I'm underwater and I'm still breathing I am happy.

 

[oldschoolto]

I was 15 and had a paper route... On Fridays I'd go house to house getting the money for the weeks papers.... Mrs Jones always answered the door in a robe... This day was really hot and she only held a small white cotton shirt in front of herself ... She said the money was in the upstairs bedroom... :bonk:OH, I'm sorry.... That was a different first time

I bought a old steel 72 with a aqua-lung double hose at a yard sale for 30 bucks, Went home and got my mask and fins.. Walk down to the end of the street and jumped in to Great South bay on long island ny... I was 12...

Jim...

 

[NAM001]

15 yo in late 60's, i bought my healthways gear from mongomery wards, To impatient to wait for warm weather, I cut a hole in the ice and made my first dive. Mike Nelson made me do it.