Divers? Anyone else?

[Lady Muck]

Afraid it is not near a seam. I was hoping to avoid having to pay for a patch if it can be done easily myself. Someone suggested what I was talking about but I was nervous in case I made it worse.

Maybe ill pop to my local dive shop and ask them for a quote.

[Ganglandboss]

Proximity to a seam is a bad thing. If it is not near a seam, it should be easier to repair with a patch.

[themanwithnoname]

Talk to rubberman.

http://www.rubberman.co.uk/

Super fast, great quality work.

(I'm not affiliated, just a happy customer)

Who is your suit made by? I have a few contacts in the industry whi might be able to help.

[honest_delboy]

Dived the Zenobia on Tuesday, quite limited on my OW ticket but still had a swim through the bridge, saw the lift boat station and prop. It's huge, you look at the picture on the wall before you go in but it looks different when you're down there and everything is on its side. Busy boat/site but not too bad as it was end of season, I think I was the only one not diving with nitrox. 24deg in the water so quite pleasant.

[Ganglandboss]

Good stuff! Who took you out to it?

[honest_delboy]

In the end the holiday was a real last minute thing so we asked the Thomson rep to hook us up with their local contacts which was Taba Divers. We got a lift on the Queen Zenobia, which was nice and big and stable, the food was fantastic. Next holiday i'll try and plan it a bit better.

[honest_delboy]

I have the chance to do this over xmas:

http://www.dive.is/Diving_Iceland.php?page=Silfra

Has anyone on here done this? I'm guessing it's pretty cold...

[Boro]

I could do with some help on a new Scuba Tray we're developing but I could do with some advice on how best to achieve a mount for attaching things like lights, etc.

At the moment, the top of each handle has a standard 1/4" female tripod thread. Are there lighting systems in place that utlise that connection type or any adapters that will work?

Here's a quick picture of it so far...

[Ganglandboss]

Boro said:

I could do with some help on a new Scuba Tray we're developing but I could do with some advice on how best to achieve a mount for attaching things like lights, etc.

At the moment, the top of each handle has a standard 1/4" female tripod thread. Are there lighting systems in place that utlise that connection type or any adapters that will work?

Here's a quick picture of it so far...

It may be worth having a word with Brett at www.divelife.co.uk. They are a retailer in Manchester but they do a lot of business online. Brett is very keen on photography so you may get a bit of advice and a possible outlet for your kit.

[Boro]

Thanks, I'll give him a call tomorrow :-)

[MrsThatcher]

Any PHers having a new years day dip?

Going to my local lake. For the past couple of years it's been an ovethead environment I.e broken ice to get in. Doesn't look cold enough this year.

Happy new year!

[Ganglandboss]

The thought of diving on New Year's Day fills me with dread with the hangover I plan on having! The O2 bottle might be coming out though!

[Du1point8]

MrsThatcher said:

Any PHers having a new years day dip?

Going to my local lake. For the past couple of years it's been an ovethead environment I.e broken ice to get in. Doesn't look cold enough this year.

Happy new year!

Thought about sauna and then having a dip in the lake afterwards straight from the sauna, but the thought of having to break all the ice first meant it didnt happen as I was too lazy to do so... too much food at xmas to blame.

[MrsThatcher]

No ice to beak just lots and lots of rain!

Just a 60 min dip in the lake today. In zero viz and 5 degrees. Lovely!

[themanwithnoname]

sounds nice and tropical.

did a nice 80 minutes in Capernwray a couple of weeks ago. Had the place to ourselves, save for some guys doing a sidemount course.

Time to start planning some warm water and boats I think.

[m3jappa]

Just come across this thread and may as well ask for some advice/ reassurance.

I was lucky enough to go to the maldives last year and will likely be doing our honeymoon in fiji this year. The reason I went/ will go to these places is my interest in reefs and coral (mainly acropora which is used to successfully keep).

However we don't dive, the stuff I'm interested in is in the shallow water and can be seen easily with snorkeling or free diving down a bit (which is loved so much!).

Part of me is thinking what a waste, going to these places and not diving, I mean it's not every day you go somewhere like that.

I really want to dive, I really really want to do this shark dive in fiji where you can see tigers, bulls etc. however , I am scared, I'm not sure why and I'm not sure what I'm scared of, perhaps it just the thought of breathing underwater through a tank and being worried things will break and I'll die a painful death

I understand we can do a course here to get us started and actually get properly certified out there? Should I do this? Should I even do it? My fiancé is also scared but she will give it a go if I do it. I'm almost totally convinced I'll love it but just a bit apprehensive tbh.

[themanwithnoname]

m3jappa said:

Just come across this thread and may as well ask for some advice/ reassurance.

I was lucky enough to go to the maldives last year and will likely be doing our honeymoon in fiji this year. The reason I went/ will go to these places is my interest in reefs and coral (mainly acropora which is used to successfully keep).

However we don't dive, the stuff I'm interested in is in the shallow water and can be seen easily with snorkeling or free diving down a bit (which is loved so much!).

Part of me is thinking what a waste, going to these places and not diving, I mean it's not every day you go somewhere like that.

I really want to dive, I really really want to do this shark dive in fiji where you can see tigers, bulls etc. however , I am scared, I'm not sure why and I'm not sure what I'm scared of, perhaps it just the thought of breathing underwater through a tank and being worried things will break and I'll die a painful death

I understand we can do a course here to get us started and actually get properly certified out there? Should I do this? Should I even do it? My fiancé is also scared but she will give it a go if I do it. I'm almost totally convinced I'll love it but just a bit apprehensive tbh.

How about doing a DSD (discover scuba diving) at a local pool, with a local school.

They'll kit you up and you'll stand in the shallow end, then kneel down and put your face in the water, and get a feel for breathing from a regulator before doing a couple of simple skills and having a swim around the pool. You can stand/kneel up again and be out of the water in a second or two and its very small groups with an instructor and divemasters to keep pro to student ratios nice and tight. If you get on well with this there are a few options, however, unless you think you'll dive in the UK (and there is a lot of great stuff to see here).

What I reckon would suit would be a referral course, where you do all the classroom and pool sessions here, and the Open Water dives when you get to somewhere warm and pleasant with some vis.

There is also the option for a full Open water course, in the UK I would pair this with a drysuit cert, simply because 7/8 months of the year a wetsuit is only for the bravest idiots (IMO) the cost is a little higher but does mean you will be able to use a drysuit wherever you are should you want to, and when you go on holiday, you will have a shiny cert to play with and no classes/qualifying dives when you get out there.

If you're ok and happy with swimming and snorkeling, there is no reason you couldn't dive, and if you're anything like me, one good lungful of air taken from the reg and you'll be hooked, all fears and concerns out the window. Fortunately it was a friend running the DSD for me and let me play until I was down to reserve gas (about 2 hours for a newbie on a 12l cylinder in <2m. Biggest problem I had was my mask leaking from grinning so much. Ended up as the poster boy for the school as a result of that.

Also, you lucky bd! I'd love to go play in Fiji and the Maldives!

If you're interested I can probably put you in touch with some localish groups (if your profile website is near home)

[m3jappa]

themanwithnoname said:

How about doing a DSD (discover scuba diving) at a local pool, with a local school.

They'll kit you up and you'll stand in the shallow end, then kneel down and put your face in the water, and get a feel for breathing from a regulator before doing a couple of simple skills and having a swim around the pool. You can stand/kneel up again and be out of the water in a second or two and its very small groups with an instructor and divemasters to keep pro to student ratios nice and tight. If you get on well with this there are a few options, however, unless you think you'll dive in the UK (and there is a lot of great stuff to see here).

What I reckon would suit would be a referral course, where you do all the classroom and pool sessions here, and the Open Water dives when you get to somewhere warm and pleasant with some vis.

There is also the option for a full Open water course, in the UK I would pair this with a drysuit cert, simply because 7/8 months of the year a wetsuit is only for the bravest idiots (IMO) the cost is a little higher but does mean you will be able to use a drysuit wherever you are should you want to, and when you go on holiday, you will have a shiny cert to play with and no classes/qualifying dives when you get out there.

If you're ok and happy with swimming and snorkeling, there is no reason you couldn't dive, and if you're anything like me, one good lungful of air taken from the reg and you'll be hooked, all fears and concerns out the window. Fortunately it was a friend running the DSD for me and let me play until I was down to reserve gas (about 2 hours for a newbie on a 12l cylinder in <2m. Biggest problem I had was my mask leaking from grinning so much. Ended up as the poster boy for the school as a result of that.

Also, you lucky bd! I'd love to go play in Fiji and the Maldives!

If you're interested I can probably put you in touch with some localish groups (if your profile website is near home)

Thank you very much for the advice, it really is appreciated and makes sense.

I do feel pretty comfortable in the water and evidently I'm not a bad swimmer, in the maldives I reckon I snorkelled for about 5 hours a day quite easily, I just can't take enough in, I will say when I'm at a drop off I am a bit scared but not enough to stop, the feeling is amazing and what's in the water is mind blowing tbh. I also realised the dangers and when currents got too strong I knew that something had to be done.
Two things that really stick out in my mind were 1. Swimming with a whale shark, it was almost life changing and almost surreal to see something like that in the wild. 2. I was snorkelling one day and just stopped at the surface for a float about, I was looking out to the deep water hoping I'd see something when all of a sudden I noticed something flashing different colours in front of me, no exaggeration I reckon it was a maximum of 2-3mm long and it was changing colours, purple, red, blue, green it was unreal, I don't know what the hell it was, perhaps some baby squid? But to be in the ocean and see something that tiny blew me away as much as the whale shark! It shot off like some alien craft

I think doing as much here will be our best bet and yes I'm in Essex so any recommendations would be gratefully received

We are very lucky to go to these places, oh has a good job and we have no kids, I think fiji will be the last exotic destination (honeymoon) for a few years as it's now time to start thing about kids (good or bad I don't know yet ) that said I do want to go to the Red Sea as it appears there's still some suburb reefs there, looking at vids on youtube they look better than what I saw in the maldives in any case.

[Nosh]

Good thread!

Did my OWD with the Mrs in Sept and for our holiday in the Maldives we did our AOWD and Nitrox!

Got a Cressi Giotto dive computer for Xmas and now looking at regulator sets.....

Here are a couple of pics and a vid from the Maldives...





Vid....



Nosh

Edited by Nosh on Friday 3rd January 19:04

Edited by Nosh on Friday 3rd January 19:06

[R TOY]

Heading out to Cancun (Playa del Carmen) for 3 days and then up to Belize, Roatan Honduras, Costa Maya before heading back to Cozumel with a day in each. (yeh, I know lifes a bh )
Hoping to be able to arrange diving on some of these days. (rather not book thro the tour co' )
Anyone have any recommendations, experiences for diving around this area, good dive centres etc.

May have to limit myself to 2 days , maybe 3 at a real push !

Thanks Dave.