Calling all scuba diver's

[BrianO]

WoooHoo

Our own Scuba Forum http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

How many Scuba Divers we got on the BB ?

Anyone planning Hols this year to get some diving in ?

Anyone wanna recommend locations, divespots ?



Anything Scuba related lets hear it ! http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif



Brian

[kevin ling]

sound ,s great m8 count me in maldives is unbeatable for fish , coral took a bit of a hammering due to recent sea temp rise but is recovering now ,visability is usualy about 45mtrs beaten only by the red sea which is crystal clear year round . if your into softies go for the red sea , sipadan of of borneo is reputed to be stunning . if your into wrecks either scapa flow in scottland for those who dont mind the cold . or truck lagoon . http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Alpha]

Im a diver and I have been for about 9 years now. Going to the red sea in 7 weeks or so. Cant wait. Need some inspiration for new tank structures http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Hope a mod dont close this thread http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

Alpha

[bunglehaze]

does PADI learner with one local dive certificate for mexico count??

look forward to seeing some nice places.

cheers
leigh http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Alpha]

Went to the Red Sea the year b4 last. Cant describe it.

They take all "new" divers on a shakedown to make sure ur competant. They apologise to experienced divers as they say its not very good.

I got into water and I hadnt submerged and I could see Emporer Angels, Regal Angels, several large clams, and numerous soft corals. a non believer but I was in heaven.

They were right tho the rest of the diving was sureal from a reefer perspective. if u want it its there.

Last dive was sad, but I saw a glimpse of white about 20 m out from reef wall at about 6m deep. Swam out to cruise with a 3m manta ray. Jsut as I got close i noticed it was dwarfed (and I mean dwarfed) by a 6m whale shark, cruising the krill.

Was a once in a lifetime experience i can tell you

Fantastic guys give it a go

Alpha

[Cudders]

How do you get into it then? Always fancied a go but not many reefs to learn on in Leeds!

Mark.

[bunglehaze]

Hi mark IIRC there is a great Padi training centre in leeds, you have to do a lot of classroom type learning of things like hand signals then a few sessions in a swimming pool to get used to recovering the regulator and guages and then a couple of dives in the clear(murky) and tropical(freezing) british isles, and no you dont skin dive - they give you a dry suit! or you can opt to finish the course by doing your dives in a foreign country if you are holidaying somewhere that you can do it. After that you are Padi certified and can dive where and when you see fit! costs about £250IIRC.

hope this helps
leigh http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Haydn]

Hi

I suppose I'm the madman here- I dive all year round in this country as well as overseas. I'm a BSAC dive leader, club instructor (I teach scuba) and I'm nitrox trained. I have done about 400-500 dives rangeing from 6 meters to 55 meters, from Red Sea to North Sea plus lots in fresh water in winter (about 3-4 degrees C. http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif )

Mark there are two ways to start diving depending on whether you want to 'holiday' dive or dive in this country all year round. If you just want to holiday dive book a holiday in the Red Sea or Med with a dive specialist tour company and do a PADI basic course. It's usually 5 days, you get to do 10ish training dives, and with luck you get the basic PADI qualification.

If you want to dive all year round in this country, you can still do a PADI course but I suggest you join a BSAC branch the trainings usually free (once you join the Branch and BSAC) and when you are qualified for open water you have other club members to dive with. You can find your local branch on the BSAC web site (www.bsac.com)

Thanks to DOH for this section I hope it gets lots of attention.

Haydn

[kenneth_halley]

Hi ya
Well I have been diving over 10 years- though largely given up over here now- been there done that- fed up getting out my scratcher at 0600 on a Sunday for a 30 minute guddle in Loch Fyne at 4 degs C! Plus have a dodgy knee and the dry suit aggrovates it.
I am BSAC Advanced Diver and Open Water Instructor- plus Adv Nitrox.

Dived
Mexico-
Cozumel: Excellent viz- nice drop offs- lots of big stuff- but lacks variety- mainly sponges and stuff- huge Morays
Cancun- Good viz- flat- lots of drift dives- pleasant enough.

Red Sea: Done a lot of RS diving.
Shore diving down Sinai was especially nice- some good dives - hard to get to from a boat- though this was a few years back and a lot of "safari camps" there now.

Did not think much of diving off shore round Hurghada- quite a lot of damage

Done the Northern Red Sea twice in Live aboards- Done my best dive ever there- Night Dive on the Thistlegorm- an unforgetable experience- Turtles sleeping in the cabins!

Last year did the Southern Red Sea down to near the Sudan Border on the Coral Queen- quite a few sharks, not the big drop offs of Northern end but some huge hard coral reefs. Brain corals the size of houses! Quite impressive- few wrecks though.

Malta- not bad- over rated in my opinion but viz nice- my trips there were a bit spoilt by circumstances- first time- had a leg op the week before going and could not dive http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
2nd time- had sinus trouble and had to stop cos me ears were killing me
3rd time got a few dives in but got a bad niggle in my shoulder- probably caused by going to 63metres (!http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif though never became apprent until we did a rather bumpy dive off Gozo- bit like being in a washing machine- probably tipped me over the edge- though my buddy got a spinal!- He never knew until we had returned home!

Lanzarote- some big pelagics out there, quite liked the diving but one of the dive sites was near a sewer outlet- found out after the dive- and ended up in Newcastle Royal Infirmary for 2 days on a drip!

Menrorca- some nice dives there are some good deep ones but you need to be ready for some long deco if you want to spend a while on them.

And of course here- Scapa (brilliant) Sound of Mull- can be excellent too- Islay- Western isles- some great viz. The Clyde is good- but not for the faint hearted- very dark- similarily but more so the Forth- but a lot of good wrecks if you know where to look. Only place never really dived is Shetland- but its so weather dependent you need the luck to be with you

[Andy Hipkiss]

Haydn,


Taking this way off topic but is it easy to transfer from PADI to BSAC. *I have AOW+ and Enhanced Air (apparently we're not supposed to call it nitrox http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ) *& prolly go from my Rescue Diver in March. *I would prefer to continue with BSAC (safer divers IMO and more importantly, IME) but I don't really fancy spending hundreds requalifying within another organisation. *PADI , pay and dive as it may be , is internationally recognised, if only with a certain amount of humour.

And oh, if there's ever a chance to get wet in Stoney of a weekend , could you give me a shout please.

[Rabbit]

Wife looked into me doing a course here (I think she must of been ill or summut). Was planning to give it a go if my general poor fitness level allowed......

....however in the paper last week, the local diving school had their second death in the same quarrey http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cry.gif so I am rethinking

[Cudders]

Thanks guys for all the info.

Looks like a might give it a go. To see a reef in the flesh is my real aim but want to get started before jetting off.

Mark.

[Cam]

Hi all,

I too am a diver. Trained with BSAC many moons ago but recently retrained with PADI with my wife in Sharm El Shiek. I have dived many times around my home on the Isle of Wight which has some stunning scenery when the conditions are good.

I have also dived off Brisbane at a location known as Tangalooma, which is basically an artifical reef made up of ship wrecks, busses etc. excellent for fish. Best diving was in the Red Sea especially Ras Mohamad and other sites around the Sinai peninsular. Corals were stunning ans was the fish life. Highly recommended http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Cam.

[Haydn]

Hi Andy

Yes- we have a number of PADI divers in our club who have swapped, we just have to re-train them properly http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif. (Only joking PADI divers). I was trying to give Mark the 5 minute answer!!!

I'm down at Stony most Sundays, I only live half hour away and my club does a lot of OW training there- if you fancy getting wet give me a call.

Haydn

[Hismit]

I've scuba'd once...got my qualification in the Caymans. It's a long story but my brother won a competition, the prize was a diving holiday for two in Grand Cayman including the training and qualification (which we did in two days!http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif and a weeks free diving, full board in a swanky hotel 100 yards from the warmest sea ever. I'm sure it's easier doing your open water training in 78 degree, crystal clear water.

Highlights, Stingray City, handfeeding hundreds of tame stingrays and a moray or two on a sandbar a mile from shore. Nightdive through caves seeing bioluminescent trumpet corals six feet tall. Nightdive on a wreck and watching fish lay their eggs on twisted rusty iron girders.

Getting stuck in a tunnel and having to take my tanks off and pass them through to my buddy then wriggle through the gap...still gives me the sweats remembering it.

Swimming with a shoal of barracuda. Seeing a shoal of what looked like eight foot sardines. Swimming with a turtle, seeing an octopus.

The snorkling was A1 too.

Apart from the diving the Caymans are a tad boring, very expensive and way too hot for me at mid day but fishing off the rocks at sunset was a blast. Also, surprisingly good beer from the islands own brewery. 'Stingray' beer, what else?

I may go again one day, probably the red sea...my brother took it up big time and has dived all over the world since, mind you, he hasn't got three kids and a reef tank to support.

http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[spottydog]

PADI Rescue Diver with about 150 dives most in the UK although I'm too much of a wimp to dive in the UK during the winter. Abroad only dived the Red Sea and Tobago but tooking forward to diving Sydney and the GBR when we head over to Australia in a couple of months.

My recommendations for the UK are:
Lundy & the Farne Islands - the seals are great fun to play with.
Manacles, Cornwall & Pembrokershire, Wales - wonderful soft corals and fish.

Unlike many PADI Divers I am a member of a mainly PADI club which dives in the UK.

[philworrall]

Hi reefer,
What a great idea having a divers page.

I am a PADI master instructor and have over 3100 hours logged most under the Caribbean ocean but also Maldives, various med sites and the Red sea.

I had my own dive shop for over 5 years in St. Lucia but returned cos my wife missed the rain.


http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif

Ho Hum

Anyone want any advice let me know and I will see what I can do to help


Cheers http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[diver]

As name suggests i'm another diver. Mostly in the Red Sea, but also Grand Caymen and Ternerife. Planning a trip to Bonaire next year to Captain Dons where you can basically just grab a tank and go, sounds like bliss. Got into marines as there was too long between diving hols!

[Hismit]

I'd been a fishkeeper for years (since I was ten) but it was DEFINITELY diving a coral reef that tipped me into marine fishkeeping. Up till then I'd never though it was possible. Afterwards I just had to have my own little slice of the ocean.

http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[split66]

HI all, me and my wife have just(last week)got back from the Red Sea where we did our PADI advanced open water. The diving was fantastic. We were only going to do the course and an extra days diving, Yeah Right!! All days spent in the sea, each one beeter than the last. Bank balance now buggered http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Ras Mohammed was superb. The Thistlegorm was our first wreck dive and was awesome, but the best dive by a long shot was Jackson reef off Tiran. The drop off and especially the upper coral garden is just stunning. Big turtles munching on brocoli coral, Tuna and Jacks cruising in the blue. The number of fish is endless.
Great idea to have this forum.
Alan

[Mrs H]

I'm a diver too :-) Got my advanced last August http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif. We are planning to go to the Red sea in March, wish it was tommorrow http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif.

[bullfrog]

yep I dive too
Stoney cove is my local puddle but i can't get any enthusiasim for it this month to cold ! any way going to the Alps sking in a few weeks no doubt on our return planning our diving holiday we be next on the agenda

[Andy Hipkiss]

Bullfrog,

Ah you big wimp .... look on the bright side ... the water temp is higher than the air temp so it like having a warm bath *http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

Yeah ok , so the first meter of descent feels like someone is taking a baseball bat to your forehead, but that's fun apparently http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif * I'm afraid I tend to agree with you but sometimes I get the urge to be stupid and put on my drysuit.

Phil,

Jesus, ony 3100 hours ... I'm merely about 2950 behind you ... give me another 30 years and I'll have caught you up http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Haydn]

Great ... I'll give you a shout. Thanks http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Mrs H]

Split66 saw a tiger shark at Jackson's reef last August. Well the rest of the group did, I had my eyes firmly shut. Mainly because Mr H and Matt Beaman had told me all week that shark's love yellow fins and guess what colour my fins are http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Did you see the turtle that comes out posing for the diving boats. He floats on his back having his photo taken http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Fiddlercrab1]

Hi All,

Parents took me diving to the Maldives for my eighteenth birthday and I have been hooked ever since. Trained in Marine Biology at University and my final year was spent on the Isle of Man - some great dives although I didin't do much. Basking Sharks in the summer though - saw a few of them. Then went to work off the coast of Southern Tanzania studying the biodiversity of the coral reefs that had been damaged by bleaching and dynamite fishing after the civil war in Mozambique. Have dived in Malawi, Mozambique, Zanzibar (amazing saw a tiger shark too!http://www.ultimatereef.com/ibv3/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif, Lots in Tanzania, Great White diving in South Africa - never saw anything though :o(. Then over to Canada where I taught Marine Biology at the Vancouver Aquarium - lots of fun, nearly got the opportunity to dive with six gilled sharks but had to come home. Then clocked dives in new Zealand and over to the great barrier ( a bit dissapointing to be honest). Now in London until the end of the year and have fallen into the Reef keeping game - loving it though - my only bit of Marine Biology here!
Off around the world in April and greatful for any diving advice for Fiji.

Cheers

David

[keith]

Hi,

Unlike Hismit I started my first reef tank and this inspired me to go diving to see for myself.

There was a programme on underwater archaeology on the tele the other night and one of the comments about the leader was that he was having difficulty getting out of the water now he was 60. It made me laugh because I did not start diving til I was 60!

Because of my age I thought it would be a good idea to give up smoking before learning to dive so I can now say that diving is good for my health.

I took the Padi Open Water and Advanced courses back to back at Sharm but now much prefer to dive the southern Red Sea where, so far, it is less crowded and the reefs are fantastic. As I hate hotels I have found a site where I can live in a tent on the beach and this has the added advantage of not being subject to a singles supplement! The diving here, at Marsa Shagra is all shore based but further south there is a rib based operation.

I dived at Sulawesi a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was out of season and on a couple of trips I was the only diver on the only dive boat on the reefs.

Last October I dived off the Florida Keys and although it was vastly different from the Red Sea was equally enjoyable. Not more than 20 metres though.

War threats permitting I hope to return to my favourite tent on the beach later this year.