Any scuba divers out there?

[smfcpacfp]

So, you're a yooper! I swam in Lake Superior before....it can get a
bit cool.

We call it refreshing.

 

[Haoleguy]

I'm impressed that you have made up for lost time in the short 14 months and hitting several diverse locations. I personally liked Palau(aka Republic of Belau) with the change between marine lakes, archipelago reef environs, and the outer reef drop-offs that run along the Marianas trench. I was there in 1981 collecting marine organisms for research at the Univ's of Hawaii and Utah. I miss SCUBA diving but do snorkel when in warmer waters. I'm definitely not a cold water diver. I find that every dive location has something different to offer and one never gets tired if you stick to rotating variety. A trip I took to Johnston atoll, with military clearance, was interesting as large groups of invertebrate populations were missing but the table top corals were stunning as were the sharks and eels. We collected eels there for their concentration of ciguatera toxin....nasty buggers. Glad you found SCUBA latter in life....Enjoy!

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Just got my PADI cert about 8 months ago in Cozumel MX. Dove in Aruba about two months ago. Bad weather in Aruba, Cozumel was nice.

 

[Ken_CT]

Just got my PADI cert about 8 months ago in Cozumel MX. Dove in Aruba about two months ago. Bad weather in Aruba, Cozumel was nice.

You're supposed to start diving in dirty muddy lousy visability areas, you just dived two really nice places. Compared to those places most places will be disappointments. Seriously though , it's a great sport and there are many fine locations to dive. The worst part of diving is the expense to get to them. I see you are in Pa. In Bethlehem Pa there is an underwater theme park called Dutch Springs (Google it). They have a lot of sunken items to explore like a helicopter, airplane, school bus, fire truck, etc. There are underwater platforms and ropes leading to the items. Not a lot of color as it was a quarry now filled with fresh water, with depths to 100', but it is a nice place. You can camp there too. I attached a couple of diving pics some with an older camera, some with a not as old a camera. The turtle was on a night dive. My wive didn't feel like diving so I buddied up with a stranger. As I was diving I kept getting bumped into. When I turned to tell him to allow more space, I realize it was the turtle bumping me. One is my wife with a ramora, they attach themselves to sharks using the suction on top of their head. The shark was taken in Nassau. One piece of advice I give to new divers- if you are on a boat dive, find the person with the most expensive equipment and the most bells & whistles, especially if they are color co-ordinated.....then move to the other side of the boat. Trust the old timer with the beat up gear anyday.
Dive safe,
Ken