Scuba Diving :)

[Clare@InTouch]

I'm happily aching from my diving yesterday, having completed confined dives 4 & 5 and passed the written "exam". Just the two open water dives to go now, and I can't wait! Swimming around a pool pretending to be a shark is one thing, but being able to do it in the open water must be excellent

I think I've got the hang of my buoyancy too, so able to hang "Buddha-style" in the water!

[cojak]

[SimonMac]

I'm happily aching from my diving yesterday, having completed confined dives 4 & 5 and passed the written "exam". Just the two open water dives to go now, and I can't wait! Swimming around a pool pretending to be a shark is one thing, but being able to do it in the open water must be excellent

I think I've got the hang of my buoyancy too, so able to hang "Buddha-style" in the water!

[Smartie]

Recommendations

Gz on the progress and good luck in open water - I imagine it will be a bit nicer than the 4 degrees I had on my OW dives. It is a good idea to do training in the UK though - if you can dive here you can dive most places without issues. For your buoyancy, you'll find it improves quite a lot over your first 30 dives and then more slowly.

Recommendations:

Gear - most places you can hire stuff so it depends how much you want to dive really. If you've really got the bug then having your own set of gear makes sense financially - it's also nicer to dive in stuff you're used to and that you know has been maintained properly. Much of my gear I've had since I started about 15 years ago and it's done hundreds of dives.
I'd start with a mask - really important this fits. A dive computer is also really handy and is also backup dive log for you. Fins not so important but nice to have. BCD/Wing - good once you know what you prefer and have tried a few - important to get a good fit. Regs will last for ages if looked after and it's nice to know the thing giving you air has been looked after - mine are Apeks but Scubapro are also decent. A cheap shortie (wetsuit) for the pool is handy, other wetsuits according to where you'll dive - 3mm/5mm for warmer climes especially if you're an unusual shape where rental suits might not be a good fit. If you're diving in the UK then a well fitting dry suit is very important - O'Three are great but quite pricey, again depends how much you'll use it. Regular UK divers will also often buy tanks. A torch is handy, though you don't have to spend hundreds on an underwater lightsaber - the little LED ones are good enough for most situations. Oh, and safety equipment - a reel and SMB is always useful and not expensive, emergency strobes, a decent horn/whistle etc.

Training - if you're going the PADI route then do at least up to Rescue Diver which is their best course and well worth doing. The Advanced open water course isn't particularly great but it's needed to get a deeper cert (30m). Some of the optional components are useful though - I'd definitely go for the peak performance buoyancy one.

Places to dive - well there's loads of good stuff in the UK but I'll leave others to comment as I like the blue water ;-). Egypt is great because it has the best dives for the distance travelled - five hours or so flights. I know it's a bit iffy at the moment but I'm still off there in October to Marsa Shagra which incidentally is great for new divers as you can just go and dive when you like on an easy site. Sharm is nice but a bit busy for me these days - still you should go and dive Ras Mohammed and Tiran either from day boats or even better on a liveaboard. Other liveaboard sites like the Brothers are amazing and it's nice to dive on quieter sites. They also seem to have relaxed the 50 dives minimum for most liveaboards these days.

Further afield, if you end up in Oz, go to Townsville and dive the Yongala wreck - a completely amazing dive. Indonesia is also great, particularly for really odd creatures in the Lembeh Straits. Oh, and cavern diving in Mexico is pretty cool, though I'd recommend getting some experience in first - I did it between 15-20 dives and didn't really feel ready for it.

Apart from that, just enjoy it and remember diving rule no.1 - 'Always look good' ;-)

[Clare@InTouch]

Thanks Smartie, some great tips

My dive teacher said pretty much the same about kit, and she's had hers for nigh on 10 years too. Whilst I'm eager to get things I also want to be sure I'm getting the right stuff so it'll last me a good few years. I've been eyeing up a nice dive computer to start with, and looking for places to go try on a few masks. I have to resist the temptation to go and buy everything!

Cave diving is something I've thought of too, I saw a specific PADI speciality course that I might try if I get past the Rescue Diver stage. Someone else mentioned Mexico too, so I'll check the cavern diving out.

I'm hoping to get a fair bit of experience in the UK first, provided I don't freeze to death this weekend! My aim at the moment is to be good enough to join in on a dive to Lundy next year to swim with the seals.

[alreadypacked]

I bought an apartment in Sharm, so I could go diving.

We all know how that turned out