Any Scuba divers on here
26 February 2006, 11:12 PM
#32
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I'd have loved to do the Yongala James but I had to stop somewhere..
On Heron Island I did The coral grotto, Pams point, The bommies, Coral Cascades and Blue Hole,
On the main Reef I covered, Agincourt reef, Thetford reef, Miln reef, Hastings reef, Jeorgy's reef, Beaver reef, Norman reef and saxon reef to name just a few.....
Andy
On Heron Island I did The coral grotto, Pams point, The bommies, Coral Cascades and Blue Hole,
On the main Reef I covered, Agincourt reef, Thetford reef, Miln reef, Hastings reef, Jeorgy's reef, Beaver reef, Norman reef and saxon reef to name just a few.....
Andy
26 February 2006, 11:37 PM
#33
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I don't get how people can go so deep? I have done Scuba once in the Med and only went to 15 metres. The pressure was immense and couldn't have put up with going deeper. How do you cope? It wasn't how I had always seen Scuba either, no nice clown fish or sharks or anything flashy (obviously I knew this before I did it) just nasty looking cuttle fish and squid type things that gave me the right heebie geebies when they scooted past and the odd large grey/silvery fish swimming in and out of all the kelp.
I'd love to do Scuba somewhere where you see colourful fish and coral but the Med certainly wasn't my cup of tea.
I'd love to do Scuba somewhere where you see colourful fish and coral but the Med certainly wasn't my cup of tea.
Last edited by Bravo2zero_sps; 26 February 2006 at 11:44 PM.
26 February 2006, 11:57 PM
#34
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your body is 70% water, it's only the air in your body that needs to be equalised to that of the water pressure, those passages being your inner ear canal and sinuses, wiggling the jaw, blowing your nose with your fingers squeezed over it all help.
The greatest pressure change is at the shallowest depths, once your over that it gets easier to equalise from then on, over about 25m and your forget about it really.
I think you went diving in the wrong place though..
Mind you as Steve said earlier one of my favourite dives was one in Scotish water as well, the Rhondo or rhonda I cant remember lol, 50 odd metres to the bows and you've definitely forgotton all about equalising. especially if your breathing plain air down there, may as well be liquid vodka
Andy
The greatest pressure change is at the shallowest depths, once your over that it gets easier to equalise from then on, over about 25m and your forget about it really.
I think you went diving in the wrong place though..
Mind you as Steve said earlier one of my favourite dives was one in Scotish water as well, the Rhondo or rhonda I cant remember lol, 50 odd metres to the bows and you've definitely forgotton all about equalising. especially if your breathing plain air down there, may as well be liquid vodka
Andy
Last edited by Fuzz; 27 February 2006 at 01:05 AM.
27 February 2006, 09:31 AM
#35
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Make sure you use a well established reputable diving centre.
Many years ago in Tenerife I foolishly signed up for a try dive with this chap who operated from a small hut on the seafront. He marched me straight down to the sea and we put on all the gear and splashed around in the shallow waters for 30 minutes doing the basics of removing mask etc. I asked him afterwards what would be the next step as I was keen to learn more so he told me to come back the next day.
The following day we joined a group of at least a dozen other divers and a few intructors and all went a few miles offshore in a large inflatable. My instructor told the other people in his group to do their own thing as he had to stay close to me. I thought this was fantastic. We descended down the anchor rope of the boat and swam off. After about 30 minutes we had covered a lot of ground and I was surprised that we seemed to be going deeper and deeper. I was amazed when I saw the others in the group so far above us.
When we slowly ascended I was surprised how bad some of the so called experienced divers were at maintaining their bouyancy. Some shot up fast and had to be grabbed by the legs and pulled back down to the required stop levels.
On the boat on the way back to shore, everyone was writing up their logs recording depth, time, air left etc. Most of the group had stuck to around 15 - 20 metres but my instructor announced that we had reached 37m. The others instructors then asked how long I had been diving and I told them it was my first try dive! They went ballistic and I thought they were going to murder my instructor although at the time I had no idea why.
When I got ashore I felt very weak and tired and had to stop every few yards when walking back to meet my wife. She just thought I had done too much and let me rest for a few days.
It was only when I got home and spoke to experienced divers that I realised how close this instructor had come to killing me.
The following year in Tenerife, I tried to find this instructor again and asked in various decent dive shops. They knew all about him and told me he was now in jail for nearly killing novice divers! They told me "he took a novice to 20m on their first dive!". When I told them my story, they were amazed I'd survived and promised me that they would teach me properly and I would be in a swimming pool for the first few days learning all the basics in total safety.
I passed my Open Water PADI and loved it. I then did my advanced level when back in Jersey. Last year we went to Malta and my wife decided to learn as well and she loved it. Malta is great for diving with very clear warm water and lots of wrecks and caves for the more adventerous.
Its great fun but check out the instructors before you commit and learn slowly and don't try to go from novice to advanced in the shortest time. Be wary of so called dive masters that have done an intensive course and gone from novice to instructor in a few months. These were the ones who thought they knew it all but had no real experience.
Many years ago in Tenerife I foolishly signed up for a try dive with this chap who operated from a small hut on the seafront. He marched me straight down to the sea and we put on all the gear and splashed around in the shallow waters for 30 minutes doing the basics of removing mask etc. I asked him afterwards what would be the next step as I was keen to learn more so he told me to come back the next day.
The following day we joined a group of at least a dozen other divers and a few intructors and all went a few miles offshore in a large inflatable. My instructor told the other people in his group to do their own thing as he had to stay close to me. I thought this was fantastic. We descended down the anchor rope of the boat and swam off. After about 30 minutes we had covered a lot of ground and I was surprised that we seemed to be going deeper and deeper. I was amazed when I saw the others in the group so far above us.
When we slowly ascended I was surprised how bad some of the so called experienced divers were at maintaining their bouyancy. Some shot up fast and had to be grabbed by the legs and pulled back down to the required stop levels.
On the boat on the way back to shore, everyone was writing up their logs recording depth, time, air left etc. Most of the group had stuck to around 15 - 20 metres but my instructor announced that we had reached 37m. The others instructors then asked how long I had been diving and I told them it was my first try dive! They went ballistic and I thought they were going to murder my instructor although at the time I had no idea why.
When I got ashore I felt very weak and tired and had to stop every few yards when walking back to meet my wife. She just thought I had done too much and let me rest for a few days.
It was only when I got home and spoke to experienced divers that I realised how close this instructor had come to killing me.
The following year in Tenerife, I tried to find this instructor again and asked in various decent dive shops. They knew all about him and told me he was now in jail for nearly killing novice divers! They told me "he took a novice to 20m on their first dive!". When I told them my story, they were amazed I'd survived and promised me that they would teach me properly and I would be in a swimming pool for the first few days learning all the basics in total safety.
I passed my Open Water PADI and loved it. I then did my advanced level when back in Jersey. Last year we went to Malta and my wife decided to learn as well and she loved it. Malta is great for diving with very clear warm water and lots of wrecks and caves for the more adventerous.
Its great fun but check out the instructors before you commit and learn slowly and don't try to go from novice to advanced in the shortest time. Be wary of so called dive masters that have done an intensive course and gone from novice to instructor in a few months. These were the ones who thought they knew it all but had no real experience.
27 February 2006, 11:13 AM
#36
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Originally Posted by **************
I don't get how people can go so deep? I have done Scuba once in the Med and only went to 15 metres. The pressure was immense and couldn't have put up with going deeper. How do you cope?
15 meters is a pretty substancial depth, most life in the sea relies on light for life, so there's generally a lot to see within the first 10 meters at a good dive site, so not worth getting caught up too much on depth, unless you go wreck diving or similar.
If you are having problems equalising, go see your doctor, and explain you want to dive, but even using the techniques taught, you cant equalise. Dont force a decent whatever you do, you should be taught to go up slightly, then try going deeper again, you shouldnt be in a constant state of discomfort, as you can cause yourself serious damage.
Sounds like you had a bad dive site too, there are loads of rubbish operations out there running dives in dull settings, and they generally are just after a quick buck by introducing you to this "other" world, where as in reality, you'd be better off going snorkelling somewhere descent. There's quite a bit of info about on various sites, so worth researching, even if only a try dive.
27 February 2006, 11:20 AM
#37
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There is a problem with new divers and pristine dive sites though Bob, they don't mix too well if you know what I mean.
It probably isn't the best experience for the newly initiated to go to a dull part of a reef but better to learn what your doing than thrash around in coral abundant waters and "wreck" say a 300 year old mushroom Coral???
Maybe that's what they were doing, I'd certainly employ that technique for at least the first few dives until they got reasonable control of thier bouyancy.
Andy
It probably isn't the best experience for the newly initiated to go to a dull part of a reef but better to learn what your doing than thrash around in coral abundant waters and "wreck" say a 300 year old mushroom Coral???
Maybe that's what they were doing, I'd certainly employ that technique for at least the first few dives until they got reasonable control of thier bouyancy.
Andy
27 February 2006, 11:23 AM
#38
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It was a dive school at the hotel I was staying in in Majorca so no it wasn't a reputable school. We did some training in the swimming pool and then went out into the sea. 15m was my one and only dive so far and it was boring in terms of what we saw but I wanted to do it as it was my first oppotunity at it and something I had wanted to do for a very long time.
I don't remember lots of ear pain, more a case of pressure on my head generally. Thats when I was thinking how the hell do people go deeper than this. I think 15m was to the bottom as well and I didn't stay down there long because of all the kelp or whatever it was and didn't like not knowing what was in there
but still found the pressure a lot even at 5-10m.
I don't remember lots of ear pain, more a case of pressure on my head generally. Thats when I was thinking how the hell do people go deeper than this. I think 15m was to the bottom as well and I didn't stay down there long because of all the kelp or whatever it was and didn't like not knowing what was in there
but still found the pressure a lot even at 5-10m.
27 February 2006, 12:08 PM
#39
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Not a diver myself but can recommend this place for learning, run by a great team.
http://www.aquastars.co.uk/gallery/index.php
colin
http://www.aquastars.co.uk/gallery/index.php
colin
27 February 2006, 12:49 PM
#40
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Originally Posted by **************
It was a dive school at the hotel I was staying in in Majorca so no it wasn't a reputable school. We did some training in the swimming pool and then went out into the sea. 15m was my one and only dive so far and it was boring in terms of what we saw but I wanted to do it as it was my first oppotunity at it and something I had wanted to do for a very long time.
I don't remember lots of ear pain, more a case of pressure on my head generally. Thats when I was thinking how the hell do people go deeper than this. I think 15m was to the bottom as well and I didn't stay down there long because of all the kelp or whatever it was and didn't like not knowing what was in there but still found the pressure a lot even at 5-10m.
I don't remember lots of ear pain, more a case of pressure on my head generally. Thats when I was thinking how the hell do people go deeper than this. I think 15m was to the bottom as well and I didn't stay down there long because of all the kelp or whatever it was and didn't like not knowing what was in there
but still found the pressure a lot even at 5-10m.Simple rule, if you want a diving holiday I would stay well away from the med. The red sea is great but the likelihood of getting sick puts me off somewhat.
In my opinion to experience great warm water diving you need to go a bit further afield.
chop
27 February 2006, 04:49 PM
#41
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Nice pics Iwan, was going to ask if you did any diving out in Aus. Very Jealous.
Some really intelligent comments from both Iwan and Fuzz.
Im a BSAC sport diver. There is a lot of bitchiness between BSAC and PADI (Pay and die instantly as some snobs say
) but both have their place.
If you want to go holiday diving once a year, learn quickly here with PADI, and then go on hols and dont waste your hard earned messing around at 6m taking your mask on and off. The disadvantage with PADI is the cost, everything you do or any subsequent courses you do seem to cost a lot.
All the dive tour operators are very used to the PADI system and what your standard should be.
If you do plan on doing a lot of UK dving, BSAC club system is very good. The initial training before you get your ocean divers certificate is a little more comprehensive and i have to say i have dived with some holiday open water PADI divers in Hawaii whose standards were shocking. Basic stuff like Air monitoring being ignored.
When all said and done, whoever you dive with - If you dont freak out at the bottom of the cove when you cant see your hand in front of your face, diving abroard in 30M vis is a piece of pi$$.
Some really intelligent comments from both Iwan and Fuzz.
Im a BSAC sport diver. There is a lot of bitchiness between BSAC and PADI (Pay and die instantly as some snobs say
) but both have their place.If you want to go holiday diving once a year, learn quickly here with PADI, and then go on hols and dont waste your hard earned messing around at 6m taking your mask on and off. The disadvantage with PADI is the cost, everything you do or any subsequent courses you do seem to cost a lot.
All the dive tour operators are very used to the PADI system and what your standard should be.
If you do plan on doing a lot of UK dving, BSAC club system is very good. The initial training before you get your ocean divers certificate is a little more comprehensive and i have to say i have dived with some holiday open water PADI divers in Hawaii whose standards were shocking. Basic stuff like Air monitoring being ignored.
When all said and done, whoever you dive with - If you dont freak out at the bottom of the cove when you cant see your hand in front of your face, diving abroard in 30M vis is a piece of pi$$.
28 February 2006, 09:37 PM
#43
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farne islands off the northumerland coast is a real treat ov a site to dive and visibility is good dependibg on the seas b4 u dive and u can always see all the seals that swim near u
