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Who Scuba's?

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GILLSKI
Posts: 1250 - Karma: 361
Im taking the courses to get my basic open water scuba certification and it got me thinking who on ns scubas?

Tell some stories and stuff to get my pumped on spending so much damn money
Jan 4 2011 9:50PM
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Mr.Fister
Posts: 526 - Karma: 10
i do.
just make sure you go all the time.
and travel to the tropics.
Jan 4 2011 9:53PM
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DERS.
Posts: 6299 - Karma: 1,293
i do. rescue diver certified. its the shit
Jan 4 2011 9:58PM
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GILLSKI
Posts: 1250 - Karma: 361
how deep into your pockets did you go for all your own equipment?
Jan 4 2011 9:59PM
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EAST~COAST
Posts: 1017 - Karma: 91
just got back from the caribbean and i took a dive, it's a totally different unexplored world under the water that i lovee
Jan 4 2011 10:00PM
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ElbridgeGerry
Posts: 5902 - Karma: -27
Got my junior open water certified when I was 10, have my regular open water certified now. I dive when I go to my Dad's which is every summer(cept this one that passed). Probably 10 dives a summer, since I was 10..so 70 dives?


Maybe I should start keeping my log book...
Jan 4 2011 10:10PM
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Kangbang
Posts: 14211 - Karma: 423
i would like to some time in my life. it seems super fun.
Jan 4 2011 10:11PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
just got back from Hawaii and got my advanced open water and nitrox specialty
Jan 4 2011 10:15PM
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ElbridgeGerry
Posts: 5902 - Karma: -27
Is there really anything to see that deep? I've been to 130-140 and it's pretty dull without a flashlight. What the fuck do you look at at like 250 feet?
Jan 4 2011 10:17PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
i think you mixed up nitrox with tri-mix. nitrox just gives you a longer deco limit time when diving around 100 ft. there is a limit to the depth you can go depending on the % of oxygen.
Jan 4 2011 10:49PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
i don't but i realllllllllly want to it looks so cool. i've only gone snorkeling in the Bahamas and Caribbean but it was cool. in the bahamas, i went out like 100 or so feet from the shore and it's like 15 feet deep, crystal clear. then the floor just drops at a vertical and you can't see the bottom, saw some big silhouettes out there. 
Jan 4 2011 10:53PM
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TeamJones
Posts: 629 - Karma: 12
"Sitting" neutrally buoyant underwater is one of the coolest feelings in the world. I don't dive as much as I would like to, but I am certified.
Jan 4 2011 10:57PM
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Candy
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 176
I got my PADI certification when I was 13, been diving ever since. Story time:

When I was finishing my certification, there's a drill you have to do where you are underwater where you fill your goggles up with water, then blow it all out the bottom again all while you are underwater. So I was in Catalina doing a dive, and i filled my goggles up with water, and my air shut off. I couldn't see or breath for like 45 seconds, I was about to grab my instructors emergency air (the octopus), and my air randomly turned back on again. This was all about 30 feet down.

Another story, I almost got hit by a sail boat, same trip.

Last story, I stepped on an Angel Shark, it swam away. It was cool. Different trip, but also Catalina.
Jan 4 2011 10:59PM
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PeeDuBzz
Posts: 1010 - Karma: 134
Open water  certified... nothing compares to it breathing underwater and in tropics the things yuou see... so sick
Jan 4 2011 10:59PM
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ElbridgeGerry
Posts: 5902 - Karma: -27
Oh truuu say.

Can you tell I'm a little rusty?
Jan 4 2011 11:02PM
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YourBoyBlue
Posts: 213 - Karma: 10
I do!
Coolest place I've gone is definitely Redang, which is basically off the coast of Borneo, in Malaysia. There were clownfish there in the sea anenomes, which weren't toxic to humans, and when you scooped one out, it would stay in your hand even if you moved it around. It was awesome
Jan 4 2011 11:04PM
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Slowbro
Posts: 3673 - Karma: 19,038
I do, just got certified in hawaii it was super easy and the dives were pretty great too
Jan 4 2011 11:06PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
haha no problem, they all sound similar anyways.

I'm also hoping to get my rescue diver soon as well. i am going to Bahamas at the end of march for a week on a live-aboard. should be good


to include my story:
i was diving last year in march in the Bahamas and it was my first night dive i have done. so we are down there for 30 min or so all i see are some lobster and sting rays, nothing to interesting. so were going back to the boat since someone was low on air. we were flashing our lights around us then i caught this massive shadow in the corner of my eye. turn towards it and a 12ft hammerhead just swims right in front of us, maybe 6 ft away.i felt the adrenaline kick in and thinking this is the sickest thing that i have ever seen!

Jan 4 2011 11:20PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
night dives must be kind of scary. sounds cool though. i want to dive in some wrecks of pirate ships or something, walk around on deck underwater.
Jan 4 2011 11:32PM
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tripnip
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 482
funny you ask im in one right now
Jan 4 2011 11:40PM
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pomme-de-terre
Posts: 3915 - Karma: 703
i start my course sometime this may. pretty excited. im kinda scared though, im doing it with my dad, its gonna be fun because we live on the water.
Jan 4 2011 11:46PM
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KrazyistKarl
Posts: 1725 - Karma: 599
this is on my list for next summer, after ice diving this winter!

im currently advanced open water certified with 20 some dives, mostly fresh water aside from 4 dives in Hawaii.

gotta love spear fishing! except i find it almost better with just fins and a mask as scuba makes quite a bit of noise for most freshwater fish.
My story is the first time i spear a fished. swimming along under water seeing a few fish but never being close enough, then i see a monster, i aim and squeeze the trigger, the gun kicks back and in an instant the spear tears through the fishes flesh. The fish attempts to dart away but is held back by the spear and cord. By this time im feeling pretty sorry for the guy so i surface, grab him with my left hand,spear gun in the right and bring the gun down to its head in one swift blow, the fish tenses in my hand before going limp. my first kill. now its the only way i fish :)
Jan 5 2011 12:11AM
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DopeDiecuts
Posts: 494 - Karma: 38
Same here.

Coolest thing I've ever seen was a medium sized octopus chasing a lobster on a dive in the Florida Keys. I live in Ontario so lots of wreck diving which isn't my favourite, I've been in 45 degree water and stuff.
Jan 5 2011 1:15AM
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OldGreg
Posts: 8 - Karma: 26
i practiced dub corks while diving and swam with a giant turtle
Jan 5 2011 1:49AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
I'm a CMAS 3 star diver, equivalent of a padi advanced diver, i'm currently around 290 dives, i mainly dive in the cold murky waters in holland where tidal currents can be vicious.

So far the most tropical water i've been in was the atlantic ocean in Bretagne, France...

I'm currently pursuing to become an instructor.

I'm also beginning with underwater photography which isn't easy in the dutch waters where visibility rarely exceeds 10ft ....

here are some pictures i shot .....

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^^"blauwtipje" sea-slug, Janolus Cristatus
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idem as above
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^^aurelia aurita jellyfish
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^^Lobster
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^^Northsea crab/edible crab, cancer pagarus
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^^soft corral in Bretagne (FRA)
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^^My father resurfacing towards our boat
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^^suction feet on a starfish
etc.....

all were made with an external flash and lamp because of the low visibility ...


Jan 5 2011 5:57AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
^^i bet 90%of you guys dive in crystal clear water, but no shit, where i dive, the water is cold, 10ft vis if you're lucky and you have current, so i know the pics arent excellent, but for those circumstances i think i did ok :)
Jan 5 2011 5:59AM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
I've been PADI certified since I was 12 years old. I have my Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Deep Diver, Wreck Diver, Boat Diver, Rescue Diver, etc. certifications. My old man is an instructor, so that helps.

To the guy above me - I've had the pleasure of diving the Keys and also Belize, but a lot of my diving is also done in black water. I live on the Mississippi River, and we run a side business doing search, rescue, and recovery, so I know aaaaallllllll about diving in 45 degree water with 3 inches of visibility. You basically dive with your hands...not your eyes.

Scuba Diving is the shit. I think the deepest I've hit is about 135 feet. It's an adrenaline rush for sure.
Jan 5 2011 10:15AM
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RubberSoul
Posts: 11249 - Karma: 14,642
it's fucking badass and easy, do it up for sure. the ocean's a huge fucking mystery and we're so out of our element down there it's amazing all the animals and shit.

my first dive last trip, first thing that happened was i started following a slow but gracefully swimming sea turtle who nicely gave me a tour of the reef
Jan 5 2011 1:15PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
haha yeah bwoi!
i remember my first dive in holland, i couldn't even read my manometer/pressure gauge :D
Jan 5 2011 1:30PM
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maximiliaan
Posts: 7710 - Karma: 2,849
i remember my first dive in holland aswell.... know what i mean? ;)
Jan 5 2011 1:31PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
yes yes, i think i know what you mean.... ;)
Jan 5 2011 1:34PM
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airic
Posts: 720 - Karma: 16
I dive here in the Gulf Islands of BC. I have only been during the summer, with pretty bad visibility due to all of the algae etc... I learned with a dry suit, so I am really keen on diving here in the winter when the visibility is way better. Anyone dive this area in the winter?

My only advice is REMEMBER TO NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH; it is surprisingly easy to forget this during a stressful situation.
During my first dive I had an uncontrolled ascent where I shot up like a rocket, and it was amazing how fast the air in my lungs expanded (luckily I remembered to blow bubbles). 
Jan 5 2011 1:35PM
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snowdon
Posts: 2480 - Karma: 391
I do, I got certified when I was a teenager in Hawaii. It's awesome, I love it. I've only ever done simple straightforward stuff, but it's really fun. My favorite wreck is the RMS Rhone in the BVI, this ship that got caught up in a hurricane in 1867. Tons of people died when it sank, and my dad swears he saw a human femur bone there once after a storm.

There's also a cool airplane wreck in the BVI that I love. You can swim inside the plane, and it's so bizarre to see something so familiar to you in a totally different environment. Fish swimming in and out of the cockpit and such. Also, according to my dad, I was on that same plane when I was a baby. (No idea if that's true, but it's kinda cool if it is. I'll take his word for it.)

I haven't done a night dive yet, I want to, but the whole not being able to see much except for where you point your light deal kinda freaks me out a bit. Don't want a shark sneaking up behind me and being like SURPRISE hah. I've heard great things about night dives though, maybe I'll have the balls to do it next time.
Jan 5 2011 1:36PM
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ElbridgeGerry
Posts: 5902 - Karma: -27
I helped out my friend's dad with his salvage company. I've only ever dived once up here in Haliburton and it was to recover a sled. Some idiot tried to cross water during the winter, sled sank and he almost drowned. We got it out during like May. So shitty, like diving in a swamp..no fucking visibility.
Jan 5 2011 2:58PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
All of our recoveries are done in black water, too. It does suck for visibility, but we charge a hefty fee for doing it. That's what pays for diving in good conditions.

Here are some photos from a few dives in Key Largo, FL back in May. Disclaimer - these photos were shot with a cheap 35mm underwater camera, so sorry they aren't professional quality shots.

HUGE sea turtle on the USS Duane:

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Cool Reef:

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An eel hiding - he was about 3-4 feet long I think:

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The stars & stripes still flying proud:

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My old man exiting the hull of a ship - I think this was the Duane as well.

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Nurse shark chillin' on the deck:

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Another shot of the turtle:

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Fucker tried to make out with me:

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A little too close for comfort. His snapper is too damn big to be this close to me over 100 feet below the surface. The last thing I needed was for him to chomp my hose for my regulator.

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Jan 5 2011 3:55PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
cool pics dude, it's not easy to shoot good pictures at such depths without an external flash, i like how the turtle tried to "make out" with you :)
Jan 5 2011 4:01PM
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Barefootin_Fiend
Posts: 7618 - Karma: 4,727
thanks dude! this camera actually had a small flash, but it wasn't anything fancy. It was basically just a point and click in a waterproof case. It's only like a $100 camera with the case. Now a days you can get a pretty dope digital with flash and everything for about $500. I'm definitely investing in one before my next trip. But yeah, at depths like that you lose a lot of your reds without a good flash, so coloring is really an issue.

The turtle actually kind of spooked me when he came up to me like that. The captain said that he usually isn't really very personable, so to have him swim up soooo close to my face like that was cool. I just didn't know how he was going to react to me and was kind of worried that he might chomp my air supply. I would have obviously been able to use someone's spare to maintain a controlled ascent and keep from bendin', but who wants to fuck with that, ya know?
Jan 5 2011 4:12PM
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OHIO
Posts: 414 - Karma: 706
i scuba dove in a pool once that was it it was fun
Jan 5 2011 4:36PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
haha, yeah, but turtles are generaly harmless :)

if you do opt to get a bigger camera, make sure to get an external flash, not just a stronger flash....

the whole point of an external flash is to be able to light from an angle so dust particles don't reflect the flashlight into the lense....


this is the nr1 rule to making good images at great depth :)

definately read a bit about it before getting your camera, it's quite easy if you start with a base and know what you're doing !

NS divers united !
Jan 5 2011 4:38PM
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dmc12380
Posts: 3545 - Karma: 792
Jan 5 2011 4:41PM
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Barf.
Posts: 1188 - Karma: 123
I just got certified through SSI a few weeks ago in 46 degree water. Needless to say I signed up for a drysuit specialty class soon after.
Jan 5 2011 4:59PM
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apcaipse
Posts: 2168 - Karma: 25
Catalina! My grandpa basically lives there. I go every 5 years to see my family on my mom's side, it's super sick. We just chill at the beach for about 8 hours a day. I'm going in the summer of '11, if you're going, over the summer, PM me.
Jan 5 2011 5:16PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
where did you spear fish?

when i was in Bahamas last year they said you were only allowed to spearfish when free diving, not allowing you to spear fish while diving with air as it is considered "assisted" Is this rule only considered in Bahamas?

but when diving we were allowed to grab as many conch as we could and swim them over to right underneath the boat and once finished with the dive we would free dive to get them.
Jan 5 2011 6:53PM
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KrazyistKarl
Posts: 1725 - Karma: 599
just up here in canada. iv only spear fished once with gear and found it too loud, the rest just good ol fins and a mask
Jan 5 2011 6:59PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
nice! where in canada do you dive? i used to live in ontario and dived tobermory a couple times, very clear water but extremely cold waters
Jan 5 2011 7:03PM
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DopeDiecuts
Posts: 494 - Karma: 38
I'm gonna crowd this thread with pictures but whatever, here are some I've taken.


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Jan 5 2011 10:55PM
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Kopacz
Posts: 295 - Karma: 67
very nice shots. what camera did you use?
Jan 5 2011 10:59PM
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Candy
Posts: 1051 - Karma: 176
Nice man! Yeah I'll have to remember to shoot you a PM this summer if I end up going again. It's always a super fun time.
Jan 6 2011 3:53AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
where were those taken brah ?
Jan 6 2011 4:19AM
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sereguy
Posts: 134 - Karma: 20
Rescue, Advanced, and dry suit lol cert. Go with PADI. Diving is one of the coolest things ever man, hit me up if you got anyquestions
Jan 6 2011 4:55AM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
haha, not tryin to put you down, but PADI courses kinda have a bad rep...

not the courses themselves, but the whole structure, the courses are very good, but basically they don't require any experience, just money....

to prove my point, i'm a CMAS certified 3star diver and my dad is the owner of a CMAS diving school, last year we had a PADI instructor join our club, here's some of the mindblowing stuff that occured:
he only had 15dives (while i'm a mere 3-star with almost 300 dives)
on his first dive he jumped in with 4pound of lead short so he had to carry a brick all the way,
his 200bar 15liter was empty within 30minutes (while on a similar dive i could last 1,5-2hours with my 12l...
he used a computer but didn't know shit about decomp tables, he didn't even carry them with him,
he had no double setup (which is required in cold water since your first stage can freeze up, so you must be able to close that valve and still breathe through the backup)
he needed help putting on his fins, he crawled over the bottom, i don't think i saw him use the inflator once,
compasses weren't necessary, his natural orientation was good enough (ended up half a mile from where we entered)
on the parking lot while rigging his gear, he left his bottle unattended, it fell, hit a rock and one of the valves opened, scary shit, but he was lucky, a 200bar tank is basically a bomb if it breaks....
his goggles would fog up like crazy, i doubt he was able to read his instruments

on one occasion i was diving with him on 20m (60ft ?) suddenly i lost him, so i perform the lost buddy procedure (dunno how its called in english) i look around, bang my tank, i ascend several feet, look around again, still no bubbles, so i perform a controlled ascend, i do my safety stop on 3m (10ft?)
i surface and there he is chilling, asking me where i was :D the guy apperently got disoriented underwater and decided to take a look on the surface, ascending without any stops and not finding it necessary to warn his buddy (he was actually the dive leader, imagine he had done the same with a beginner...)

and other crazy stuff, i could go on and on ....

so long story short, padi is great if you wanna learn it quick, but remember that there's no substitute for experience.
In our club we refer to PADI as Pay And Dive Immediately :)

that being said, the other way around has also happened, we had a padi rescue diver in our club who worked for the fire brigade and had over 500 dives, damn impressive guy, he could plan a dive and dive it exactly as planned, 30min dive in murky water, predicting to go this deep, stay that long, see this, this and this, current going that way, entering here, surfacing there, and bam, he did it like he said ...

so i dunno about the US, but if you're seriously into diving as a hobby and not just a pass-time on vacation, look into CMAS or the US equivalent where you're actually "trained" not just educated/certified ...

Jan 6 2011 6:16AM
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