Divers? Anyone else?
Discussion
lets see if this works:
http://www.facebook.com/v/10150572909805332
These are my final dives at Dahab to get the OW...
Excuse the FB linky but I couldn't upload to youtube as its longer than 10 mins. might have an issue with privacy but if you would like to see drop me a PM and I can add to FB so you can watch.
this is the OHs AOW pics that they took:
http://www.facebook.com/v/10150572909805332
These are my final dives at Dahab to get the OW...
Excuse the FB linky but I couldn't upload to youtube as its longer than 10 mins. might have an issue with privacy but if you would like to see drop me a PM and I can add to FB so you can watch.
this is the OHs AOW pics that they took:
Jamie VTS said:
Some lovely pictures there guys, my girlfriend has her divemaster and works full time in a dive centre in reading and this weekend i finaly gave in and completed my OW at Wraysbury (6degrees this weekend) I absaloutley loved it! We have booked to go to Egypt already!
Where in Egypt are you going?Im off for a nile cruise in April finishing at the red sea, hopefully I can sneak off to Dahab and get a quick few dives whilst we are there.
Du1point8 said:
Where in Egypt are you going?
Im off for a nile cruise in April finishing at the red sea, hopefully I can sneak off to Dahab and get a quick few dives whilst we are there.
We are going to Marsa Shagra http://www.marsa-shagra.org/ She has been quite a few times and rates it very highly.Im off for a nile cruise in April finishing at the red sea, hopefully I can sneak off to Dahab and get a quick few dives whilst we are there.
Jamie VTS said:
Du1point8 said:
Where in Egypt are you going?
Im off for a nile cruise in April finishing at the red sea, hopefully I can sneak off to Dahab and get a quick few dives whilst we are there.
We are going to Marsa Shagra http://www.marsa-shagra.org/ She has been quite a few times and rates it very highly.Im off for a nile cruise in April finishing at the red sea, hopefully I can sneak off to Dahab and get a quick few dives whilst we are there.
Du1point8 said:
Best thing I like is that my OH is actually in Egypt working, so I get 25%-33% off most rates as she is classed as living in Egypt (for another 4 months), so she books everything using local discount
Thats cool I am also very fortunate that as she works at a dive centre I can get all my kit and around 30% discount, Has there ever been a pistonhead Dive?I did my Padi OW/AOW when I was about 13-14, Started my DM at 18 but life got in the way and never managed to finish it, Now pushing 30 lord knows how many dives, My younger brother has just got his instructor cert and thinking we need to go start a little school on an Island somewhere.
Misses did her AOW year before last in Dahab and she loved it, looking forward to lots of lovely diving in Thailand later this year (wouldnt let me book the honeymoon in the Galapagos) and wondering if I can get her to agree to dive the Bikini Atol for the next big trip away.
Misses did her AOW year before last in Dahab and she loved it, looking forward to lots of lovely diving in Thailand later this year (wouldnt let me book the honeymoon in the Galapagos) and wondering if I can get her to agree to dive the Bikini Atol for the next big trip away.
Some footage of our Malta trip last year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVIjycRrrso
I only saw this video yesterday and there must be loads more footage. The bloke that filmed it used a HD camcorder in an underwater housing - it is an awesome looking bit of kit.
I only saw this video yesterday and there must be loads more footage. The bloke that filmed it used a HD camcorder in an underwater housing - it is an awesome looking bit of kit.
stevensdrs said:
Sitting on the bottom eating Mars Bars and drinking Irn Bru was fun too.
How the fook do you do that? Scuba diving is not for me. I did a taster dive in the dominican republic about 10 years ago.
Me and about 6 other complete noobs on a boat after an hour in the swimming pool. The dive leader takes me down to the sea be (about 3-4m down). Leaves me there, on my own. I s
t my pants as he goes back up for the next victim, brings them down plonks em next to me and repeats until we are all stood at the bottom ready to go. It was good fun and everything but I got the impression safety wasn't there 1st priority. If someone panics or loses there reg/whatever and the dive leader has fooked off to fetch someone else you'r a bit stuffed, even at 3-4meteres depth.It makes much more sense in a warmer climate too. I used to know a lad that did it a lot in this country and tales of days in the van to jump in the north sea didn't turn me on at all.
dave_s13 said:
stevensdrs said:
Sitting on the bottom eating Mars Bars and drinking Irn Bru was fun too.
How the fook do you do that? Scuba diving is not for me. I did a taster dive in the dominican republic about 10 years ago.
Me and about 6 other complete noobs on a boat after an hour in the swimming pool. The dive leader takes me down to the sea be (about 3-4m down). Leaves me there, on my own. I s
t my pants as he goes back up for the next victim, brings them down plonks em next to me and repeats until we are all stood at the bottom ready to go. It was good fun and everything but I got the impression safety wasn't there 1st priority. If someone panics or loses there reg/whatever and the dive leader has fooked off to fetch someone else you'r a bit stuffed, even at 3-4meteres depth.It makes much more sense in a warmer climate too. I used to know a lad that did it a lot in this country and tales of days in the van to jump in the north sea didn't turn me on at all.
On the OW course you are taught to check and double check everything and not do something that feels wrong or pushes the limits of your abilities/equipment.
So if you follow the rules and remember your training its extremely safe and many accidents are from risk takers or those forgetting training. for example in the UK there are millions of dives a year, on average mid teens/early twenties die whilst diving, many are explainable and are due to risk or actual health of the person.
I would say you had a very bad experience with your first dive, there should have been a lot more qualified divers there with you, even going so far as saying you should have had a buddy each and not just a DM.
I myself will never dive in the UK, it has no appeal to me, however Im lucky to be able to jump on a flight and go diving in some very nice locations and not all are expensive, to get the OW qualification it cost circa 500-600 but that included 7 days in red sea, OW exam, flights, hotel and all food/drink. In the Uk its circa 400-500 just to do it locally.
I would recommend giving it another go.
Du1point8 said:
diving is as safe as you want to make it.
On the OW course you are taught to check and double check everything and not do something that feels wrong or pushes the limits of your abilities/equipment.
So if you follow the rules and remember your training its extremely safe and many accidents are from risk takers or those forgetting training. for example in the UK there are millions of dives a year, on average mid teens/early twenties die whilst diving, many are explainable and are due to risk or actual health of the person.
I would say you had a very bad experience with your first dive, there should have been a lot more qualified divers there with you, even going so far as saying you should have had a buddy each and not just a DM.
I myself will never dive in the UK, it has no appeal to me, however Im lucky to be able to jump on a flight and go diving in some very nice locations and not all are expensive, to get the OW qualification it cost circa 500-600 but that included 7 days in red sea, OW exam, flights, hotel and all food/drink. In the Uk its circa 400-500 just to do it locally.
I would recommend giving it another go.
I agree entirely. It's something I would have another go at but like you say, not in the UK.On the OW course you are taught to check and double check everything and not do something that feels wrong or pushes the limits of your abilities/equipment.
So if you follow the rules and remember your training its extremely safe and many accidents are from risk takers or those forgetting training. for example in the UK there are millions of dives a year, on average mid teens/early twenties die whilst diving, many are explainable and are due to risk or actual health of the person.
I would say you had a very bad experience with your first dive, there should have been a lot more qualified divers there with you, even going so far as saying you should have had a buddy each and not just a DM.
I myself will never dive in the UK, it has no appeal to me, however Im lucky to be able to jump on a flight and go diving in some very nice locations and not all are expensive, to get the OW qualification it cost circa 500-600 but that included 7 days in red sea, OW exam, flights, hotel and all food/drink. In the Uk its circa 400-500 just to do it locally.
I would recommend giving it another go.
Given I live in Leeds options for diving are limited to say the least and I'm not arsed enough about it to make the effort. I'd rather fack off for the day on my motorbike......which is far more dangerous.
dave_s13 said:
Du1point8 said:
diving is as safe as you want to make it.
On the OW course you are taught to check and double check everything and not do something that feels wrong or pushes the limits of your abilities/equipment.
So if you follow the rules and remember your training its extremely safe and many accidents are from risk takers or those forgetting training. for example in the UK there are millions of dives a year, on average mid teens/early twenties die whilst diving, many are explainable and are due to risk or actual health of the person.
I would say you had a very bad experience with your first dive, there should have been a lot more qualified divers there with you, even going so far as saying you should have had a buddy each and not just a DM.
I myself will never dive in the UK, it has no appeal to me, however Im lucky to be able to jump on a flight and go diving in some very nice locations and not all are expensive, to get the OW qualification it cost circa 500-600 but that included 7 days in red sea, OW exam, flights, hotel and all food/drink. In the Uk its circa 400-500 just to do it locally.
I would recommend giving it another go.
I agree entirely. It's something I would have another go at but like you say, not in the UK.On the OW course you are taught to check and double check everything and not do something that feels wrong or pushes the limits of your abilities/equipment.
So if you follow the rules and remember your training its extremely safe and many accidents are from risk takers or those forgetting training. for example in the UK there are millions of dives a year, on average mid teens/early twenties die whilst diving, many are explainable and are due to risk or actual health of the person.
I would say you had a very bad experience with your first dive, there should have been a lot more qualified divers there with you, even going so far as saying you should have had a buddy each and not just a DM.
I myself will never dive in the UK, it has no appeal to me, however Im lucky to be able to jump on a flight and go diving in some very nice locations and not all are expensive, to get the OW qualification it cost circa 500-600 but that included 7 days in red sea, OW exam, flights, hotel and all food/drink. In the Uk its circa 400-500 just to do it locally.
I would recommend giving it another go.
Given I live in Leeds options for diving are limited to say the least and I'm not arsed enough about it to make the effort. I'd rather fack off for the day on my motorbike......which is far more dangerous.
I have had a couple of amusing experiences when first going on the scuba experience course... I got as giddy as a kid in a sweet shop and just had to see everything, the DM buddy at the time had to hang on to my tank for dear life as I just dragged him along, I was taking everything in with him in tow hanging on and not even needing to use his flippers... OH who was with another buddy couldn't keep up for the 45 minutes I was doing this and laughed when I complained of a bit of drag whilst swimming as I didn't even notice the DM hanging on, It was like he had his own human sea scooter.
Though I did end up in a large school of barracuda (12-15 inches long) with them just circling me, wondering if they could take me on as I was watching in amazement safe in the knowledge that I was just too big a target, floating there in the middle of the school, I made my mind up there and then to get the certs so I could go and do it all again.
I have calmed down now and can make a 45 min dive last 50-55mins and still have quite a lot in the tanks left.
dave_s13 said:
Given I live in Leeds options for diving are limited to say the least.
Probably the most popular UK diving forum is called Yorkshire Divers. There's more than you think in the UK. Some may not appreciate jumping in cold quarries but there is plenty to do in the UK. There are plenty of inland dive sites in the UK with facilities such as food, drink, toilets, changing rooms, air fills, equipment sales etc. and these are used for most training. Stoney Cove isn't to much of a trek from Leeds and it is full of stuff to explore.http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/uk_england_inla...
There is plenty to do in the sea - seals in the Farnes, The James Egan Layne, the M2 submarine and other wrecks on the south coast, the German battleships at Scapa Flow and plenty of interesting (and tasty
) marine life.Way back in 1967 I taught myself to dive from a book at the age of 17, did a lot diving in the UK and the Med, a couple of years later I did a commercial course including proper hard hat and oxygen rebreathers, (weird wartime stuff), and then worked in the Southern North Sea on the Gas Rigs.
After I got married I got into testing equipment and worked in a dive shop for a while before starting my own business in the building industry. I carried on diving and water ski-ing but after we had kids I drifted out of diving as a sport and in my mid thirties got seriously into windsurfing which became a family thing, my son became a pro on the world tour and I used to organize UK competitions.
After our son died in 2004 we started doing yachting holidays in the Med and Caribbean and I managed to get my scared of the fishes and water wife into snorkelling. Over our 2009 New Years Eve dinner table a mate whos a keen diver helped me talk her into trying diving in a local pool, she actually liked it more than snorkelling so we did the Padi Open Water course here in the UK and went to Dahab to do our referral dives in May 2010.
Last year we went to Marsa Alam for a week in May, which was excellent for both diving and windsurfing, we got six dives in and my wife is getting more and more comfortable under water. For me the kits changed quite a bit but its just like coming home again and I have sometimes wondered why I originally stopped but life changes so move on.
Next Friday were off to Soma Bay near Hurghada for 11 days, apparently another good spot for both windsurfing and diving. Well celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary while there and to really please my wife well find some time to go to Luxor for a dose of tombs and temples as well. The wifes the underwater photographer so Ill try to post some of her shots when we get back.
I do have a very clear cut idea of what I want out of diving now though and the Red Sea or the Caribbean tick all the boxes, warm clear water, (had enough of the cold dark stuff in the North Sea), not bothered about going too deep, (got the 200 ft tee shirt back in the day and theres way more life near the surface anyway), oh and no liveaboards, we like nice hotels. One day though it might be nice to scratch the Truk Lagoon and Great Barrier Reef itch that I used to have forty years ago.
After I got married I got into testing equipment and worked in a dive shop for a while before starting my own business in the building industry. I carried on diving and water ski-ing but after we had kids I drifted out of diving as a sport and in my mid thirties got seriously into windsurfing which became a family thing, my son became a pro on the world tour and I used to organize UK competitions.
After our son died in 2004 we started doing yachting holidays in the Med and Caribbean and I managed to get my scared of the fishes and water wife into snorkelling. Over our 2009 New Years Eve dinner table a mate whos a keen diver helped me talk her into trying diving in a local pool, she actually liked it more than snorkelling so we did the Padi Open Water course here in the UK and went to Dahab to do our referral dives in May 2010.
Last year we went to Marsa Alam for a week in May, which was excellent for both diving and windsurfing, we got six dives in and my wife is getting more and more comfortable under water. For me the kits changed quite a bit but its just like coming home again and I have sometimes wondered why I originally stopped but life changes so move on.
Next Friday were off to Soma Bay near Hurghada for 11 days, apparently another good spot for both windsurfing and diving. Well celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary while there and to really please my wife well find some time to go to Luxor for a dose of tombs and temples as well. The wifes the underwater photographer so Ill try to post some of her shots when we get back.
I do have a very clear cut idea of what I want out of diving now though and the Red Sea or the Caribbean tick all the boxes, warm clear water, (had enough of the cold dark stuff in the North Sea), not bothered about going too deep, (got the 200 ft tee shirt back in the day and theres way more life near the surface anyway), oh and no liveaboards, we like nice hotels. One day though it might be nice to scratch the Truk Lagoon and Great Barrier Reef itch that I used to have forty years ago.
Arrived at the Palme Royale Hotel, Soma Bay on Friday evening. Yesterday we checked the place out, I did a bit of windsurfing and we booked up for diving. Did our first two boat dives today, just five of us down, max 18 mts and super clear water but a bit chilly for me in my shorty, my wife was fine in her new 5mm suit though.
The first dive wound around five tall narrow pillars, lots of life but the highlight was when we did our safety stop at one of the pillars, we were looking into an open ended cave full of small glassfish, with the sunlight coming through from the back it was absolutely beautiful.
The second dive was a cruise along the side of a large reef, the highlights were watching a small octopus swim across the sandy bottom from rock to rock changing shape and colour every time he landed, we also had a 2 metre long moray swim past us no more than a metre away and saw a bunch of fair sized tuna.
The hotel is superb, all inclusive with five different restaurants, Lebanese last night, Italian booked for tonight and we had Greek for lunch. It's a windsurfing day tomorrow with more diving booked for Tuesday and a trip to Luxor on Wednesday.
The first dive wound around five tall narrow pillars, lots of life but the highlight was when we did our safety stop at one of the pillars, we were looking into an open ended cave full of small glassfish, with the sunlight coming through from the back it was absolutely beautiful.
The second dive was a cruise along the side of a large reef, the highlights were watching a small octopus swim across the sandy bottom from rock to rock changing shape and colour every time he landed, we also had a 2 metre long moray swim past us no more than a metre away and saw a bunch of fair sized tuna.
The hotel is superb, all inclusive with five different restaurants, Lebanese last night, Italian booked for tonight and we had Greek for lunch. It's a windsurfing day tomorrow with more diving booked for Tuesday and a trip to Luxor on Wednesday.
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff