• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

How many SCUBA on here

Terryj

Terryj

DP Veteran
Joined
Nov 27, 2017
Messages
888
Reaction score
493
Location
The Peoples Socialist Republic of Oregon
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Independent
I started SCUBA diving while I was in Guam in 1990, there I got my Open Water, Advanced and Rescue Diver certifications. I logged many dives in the Western Pacific area, Guam, Palau, FSM Chuuk Lagoon and Samoa. The wreck diving in the Chuuk lagoon was incredible to say the least, I spent 5 days on Chuuk and dove most of those days. Palau was the best place I have dove, the water is pristine, visibility was 100+ feet. Altogether I spend about 6 years in the Western Pacific and South Pacific and logged in about 400 dives. I did dive Prince William Sound in Alaska, that was a dry suit dive and it was cold. I did get my PADI Master Scuba Diver in 1998, with specialties in Wreck diving, Search and Rescue, Night Diver, Underwater Navigator, Self-Reliant diver and Dry Suit diver. Today I don't dive any more, at 70 years old I figure I've dove all the places I had on my bucket list.
 
Wow, that's a pretty impressive list of accomplishments. I've been snorkeling for probably 40 years. I've been all over the Caribbean, Bahamas, Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, and both coasts. I've always wanted to try diving, but the pressure affects me as does a certain confidence. If I ever get certified, I'd probably feel more comfortable in a group, and probably at less than 25-30 feet. In fact, I really like snorkeling in 10-15 foot waters. I like being able to see the bottom, the surface, and all around me at the same time. haha
 
Terryj said:
I started SCUBA diving while I was in Guam in 1990, there I got my Open Water, Advanced and Rescue Diver certifications. I logged many dives in the Western Pacific area, Guam, Palau, FSM Chuuk Lagoon and Samoa. The wreck diving in the Chuuk lagoon was incredible to say the least, I spent 5 days on Chuuk and dove most of those days. Palau was the best place I have dove, the water is pristine, visibility was 100+ feet. Altogether I spend about 6 years in the Western Pacific and South Pacific and logged in about 400 dives. I did dive Prince William Sound in Alaska, that was a dry suit dive and it was cold. I did get my PADI Master Scuba Diver in 1998, with specialties in Wreck diving, Search and Rescue, Night Diver, Underwater Navigator, Self-Reliant diver and Dry Suit diver. Today I don't dive any more, at 70 years old I figure I've dove all the places I had on my bucket list.
Click to expand...

I've dove all over the world, Australia, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Hawaii, California, Mexico, Egypt, etc.

I miss it, can't wait to go out again. I tried to go to Chuuk, but stand-by on Air Mike...not easy, I could never find seats out of GUM...
 
beefheart said:
I've dove all over the world, Australia, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Hawaii, California, Mexico, Egypt, etc.

I miss it, can't wait to go out again. I tried to go to Chuuk, but stand-by on Air Mike...not easy, I could never find seats out of GUM...
Click to expand...

Chuuk Lagoon is a dive you'll never forget, just keep trying, while you're down that way you may as well dive the waters of Palau.
 
Terryj said:
Chuuk Lagoon is a dive you'll never forget, just keep trying, while you're down that way you may as well dive the waters of Palau.
Click to expand...

Yeah, back then, I could fly Air Mike for $25 as an airline standby, and I tried several times to put together a trip, going HNL-JON-MAJ-KWA-PNI-KSA-GUM-TKK. Oddly enough, all the flights out were good, but once you got to GUM, forget it, every thing was full coming home.

I almost got a job once on Kwajalein, but the timing wasn't right, would have had some great scuba weekends...
 
Ive got a PADI advanced diver cert, but havent done it in years. There was a time when I was diving every spot in Asia when I first started out as an expat, then just got bored with it.
 
PoS said:
Ive got a PADI advanced diver cert, but havent done it in years. There was a time when I was diving every spot in Asia when I first started out as an expat, then just got bored with it.
Click to expand...

I got bored with it from the get. One of my brothers was into it for awhile and tried to get me into it, but I would rather watch paint dry so I bailed early.
 
Drawdown said:
I got bored with it from the get. One of my brothers was into it for awhile and tried to get me into it, but I would rather watch paint dry so I bailed early.
Click to expand...

I was into it for years, I spent like 18 months just doing nothing but diving, but then every reef started to look the same, saw all the fishes I wanted to see, etc.
 
During a trip to Curcao, I did a ‘resort dive.’ I was early 30s then. After returning, I looked into taking a course. The dive shop had access to a high school pool and off i went. I purchased all the gear. I think I stopped at ‘advanced open water’ underwritten by PADI. The coast of North Carolina was semi-convenient, (six hour car ride.) There were some memorable dives and some not so. There were times that visibility was over 100’. You could see the wreck from the moment you entered the water. Only a very few looked anything like a ship due to time and war damage. Coasta Carolina is nick-named “the Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Like the OP, I am a bit old to continue.

There were times that I questioned the time involved preparing pitted against the time you actually diving. Most dives were between 80’ to 140’ . Not much time on the wreck; hanging below the boat for decompression is a drag as well.....
 
PADI certified in Hawaii 1994, Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue; Master Diver 1996, DMT 1998, and have been fortunate enough to dive all around the islands, the Red Sea, the Med, parts of the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico....I still have a few places on my bucket list to hit.
 
PoS said:
I was into it for years, I spent like 18 months just doing nothing but diving, but then every reef started to look the same, saw all the fishes I wanted to see, etc.
Click to expand...

Around here it is just lakes filled with catfish and old junk.
 
Rexedgar said:
During a trip to Curcao, I did a ‘resort dive.’ I was early 30s then. After returning, I looked into taking a course. The dive shop had access to a high school pool and off i went. I purchased all the gear. I think I stopped at ‘advanced open water’ underwritten by PADI. The coast of North Carolina was semi-convenient, (six hour car ride.) There were some memorable dives and some not so. There were times that visibility was over 100’. You could see the wreck from the moment you entered the water. Only a very few looked anything like a ship due to time and war damage. Coasta Carolina is nick-named “the Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Like the OP, I am a bit old to continue.

There were times that I questioned the time involved preparing pitted against the time you actually diving. Most dives were between 80’ to 140’ . Not much time on the wreck; hanging below the boat for decompression is a drag as well.....
Click to expand...

I hear you about the time getting ready to dive and the time spent diving, I guess it comes down to finding the best places to dive. There were times diving the South Pacific that were really boring, nothing to see but dead reefs, this was mainly in Guam. I dove the Blue Corner in Palau about 6 times, its a reef wall dive, there is no bottom to see just inky darkness below you. The nice thing about this dive is you never know what is going to show up to share your dive, some dives there would be Sea Turtles other times it would be Manta Rays and even Sharks, so it was an experience. Another dive was the German Channel in Palau, it is a drift dive through a man made channel that has now been taken over by nature, it seem that the marine life has figured out the short cut, so there is plenty of sea life to see. If you ever get the chance to dive Palau it is very much worth your effort.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom