Learning to scuba dive

The Black Flag Cafe is the place travelers come to share stories and advice. Moderated by Robert Young Pelton the author of The World's Most Dangerous Places.

Moderator: coldharvest

Learning to scuba dive

Postby suwon fish » Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:44 pm

rickshaw92 wrote:Whats your opinion of diving in the Red Sea? Easy Jet or one of the other cheapies outta LGW services Sharm and I am thinking of a 2 week dive trip. Worth it? I think the open water beginner course is 5 days and then you can go on week long tours.


Sharm El-Sheikh is definately one of the best dive locations in the world. No question. Would I recommend it to you? No.

One thing I have always found to be true is the foks that learn to dive in paradise (Phils, Malaysia, Sharm, Fiji, Thailand etc) are much poorer divers than folks who have learned to dive in an arduous environment. All the above locations offer swimming pool like conditions that don't prepare you for cold water, low viz, strong surge, currents and big waves at the surface. In addition, when you learn to dive in one of the best dive sites in the world it is hard to ever be satisfied again with a "normal" dive site. Add to this, resort dive sites are nearly always "factories" turning out as many divers as they can as quickly as they can...

As you are in the UK I recommend learning to dive in a quarry. Do it in the winter if you can, then progress to the North sea. Do it with a BSAC club or a PADI club that is willing to spend at least a month making you an entry level diver.

No shit, that is really what I recommend you do if you want to become an outstanding diver.

A final note. I have had many folks come to me that did cut price courses in paradise. For one reason or another their C-card never turned up. Why? Either they weren't really certified instructors (common as muck) or they decided to pocket the $60 they would have paid to PADI for your licence. Why not? 99.99% of folks aren't coming back anyway.

I am a dive evangelist. Learn to dive. Do it. It will change your life. But chose the hard route, it will reward you.
A day should not be praised until the Sun has set, a woman until she is burned, a sword until it's tested, ice until it's crossed or beer until it's drunk - Viking proverb
User avatar
suwon fish
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 305
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:05 am
Location: The Poor House

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby rdkll » Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:40 am

i agree with suwon fish .

still, diving the red sea now, without the usual hordes of tourists is very tempting.
rdkll
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:29 am
Location: bauhaus hammock

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby rickshaw92 » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:49 am

But chose the hard route


I love the hard route!

it will reward you


It always does.

Thank you for the information.
Im reallly fuclimg pissed but fespite that I can still hit a tarfet at 1000m plus. mayVRVe bnot tonight but it qint beyond the wit if man. Nowhammy.
User avatar
rickshaw92
Pikey Bastard
 
Posts: 9165
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2004 1:28 am
Location: Airport Inn trailer park

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby AztecDave » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:28 pm

Agree with learning to dive in a tougher place. But should be in the ocean. Quarries? You kidding? I got NAUI certified in '85 in San Diego. Ocean temp averages about 55 degrees. Visibity under 10 feet usually. Strong currents, etc. After diving there, any trobcpical/warm place is cush.
The real Army, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That's the army in which I should like to fight.”
― Jean Lartéguy
User avatar
AztecDave
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 963
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: Look behind you

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby suwon fish » Fri Mar 04, 2011 2:48 am

AztecDave wrote:Agree with learning to dive in a tougher place. But should be in the ocean. Quarries? You kidding? I got NAUI certified in '85 in San Diego. Ocean temp averages about 55 degrees. Visibity under 10 feet usually. Strong currents, etc. After diving there, any trobcpical/warm place is cush.


That sounds like perfect conditions to learn in AztecDave. I'll bet you could dive anywhere now and find something to enjoy and interest you. Sadly, IMHO the scuba industry has changed it's focus from making bold, excellent divers to making divers who are just good enough to get by in ideal conditions.

After rattling on about strong seas and big waves I do seem to have contradicted myself. I described my own entry into scuba diving. I did my first dives at Dosthill and Stoney Cove. Britain has a few inland centres of excellence for diving. For logging dives, they were much cheaper than boat dives on the coast. Also they all have a great safety record.

Twentysome years ago most of the British sub-aqua clubs would start you off in a quarry (after a month or two in the classroom and pool). I am hoping Rickshaw can find an old school sub-aqua club rather than a PADI (or even BSAC/NAUI) boutique that will take his money for a lightning fast course with no follow up, other than the next lightning fast course.

Also, British quarries are as cold as a nun's cunt which to my mind is ideal for a student. You get to do your first dives with a 5mm suit/semi-dry and substantial weight on your belt.

I have been away from British diving for too long to make a specific recommendation to Rickshaw. But I still think in Britain, quarries are the best route to the sea. I may be wrong.

Finally, none of the agencies are really different to each other anymore. They have all had to follow the PADI business model to survive, so you need to find the instructor/club that will take time with you rather than focusing on an agency that you think is better. RIP the old BSAC and NAUI, because they really were better back in the day.

Stoney Cove map and one of it's wrecks

Image

Image
A day should not be praised until the Sun has set, a woman until she is burned, a sword until it's tested, ice until it's crossed or beer until it's drunk - Viking proverb
User avatar
suwon fish
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 305
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:05 am
Location: The Poor House

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby AztecDave » Sun Mar 13, 2011 3:42 am

if there's ever one thing worth learning the hard way, it's diving. then you can safely dive anywhere. I took my cert course at SDSU as a PE class. Had 16 weeks of intensive training. not schooling, training. every week was 1 hour of classroom and 3 hrs of "lab" work. classroom had a midterm and a final. had to average at least 90% on both, and worst score could not be less than 80%. why the strict grading? because in diving, a "D" is death and an "F" is fatal. will always remember that. first 8 weeks lab was in the pool and then 8 weeks in the ocean. classroom covered bottom times, dive charts, physiology, oceanography, sea life, Red Cross live safer certification, you name it. 8 weeks in the pool was driven by Fred, a former Marine recon shooter. we did the exact same swim drills done down the street at Coronado by BUDS tadpoles. then 8 weeks in the freezing pacific. we hit the ocean in march. surface temp was 55. hit the thermocline at about 1 atmosphere & then it's 45. wearing a 1/4 inch wetsuit head to toe. again, same dive drills as BUDS. inflate your BC over 10 meters of water, dive down and grab a handfull of sand. whoever can do it is done for the day. only me and one other guy was able to. and he was on the swim team. course started with 16. 10 or 11 graduated & got our C cards. the rest got experience. it was certainly no "resort course." the school course there, and the head instructor. has such a good rep, at least in NAUI circles, that in 2005 i when was at south padre island, i went diving. only place there was a NAUI associated shop. showed the dive master my cert card. he saw SDSU and the instructors name and gave me an instant thumbs up. didn't ask me my dive history or nuthin. he had coincidentally come from NAUI conference and was roomies with this guy.
The real Army, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That's the army in which I should like to fight.”
― Jean Lartéguy
User avatar
AztecDave
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 963
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: Look behind you

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby JMont » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:35 pm

As an avid diver I have to agree with the others here, getting your experience in cold water is definitely worth it... Many more challenges that will make warm water diving a total cake walk. Murky conditions, coping with the added buoyancy issues of a dry suit, dealing with the cold, and being able to ascend/descend while only looking at your gauges are all invaluable skills to have. There are also a lot of really cool things to see in cold water environments, especially if you're in the UK... I gather Ireland has some awesome dive spots with a lot of marine life.
JMont
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:13 am
Location: Canada

Re: Learning to scuba dive

Postby rdkll » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:05 am

man, i just got an e-mail from sharm. they say it's like 20 years ago. definitely more fish than divers. dive spots for you alone , even some whale shark sightings. i think i'm booking a flight down there.

forget the quarries
rdkll
BFCus Regularus
 
Posts: 286
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:29 am
Location: bauhaus hammock


Return to Black Flag Cafe

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests