soon to be a diver!

[Cartman89]

Well I'm looking forward to getting certified this july by PADI. I live in Missouri so I will be diving in the lakes. I have went scuba diving before when I lived in florida and was being teached by NAUI but I was 13 that time and failed the test. I still have all the books and I was looking back at them this year and I can't believe I failed that test!! It looks so easy now. Well anyways I'm looking forward to it.
I live by Table Rock lake which can get to be over 600ft deep! I was wondering how deep can a diver go?

[Gina]

Good luck with your certification! I would love to do that some day. We actually have a place about 1/4 mile down the road that teaches Scuba Diving.

[billyr98]

Congrats and Welcome to RS

[Cougra]

Good luck with your cert! It's definately something that's worth getting! My biggest regret is not being able to dive more often, as I really miss it!

[cracker]

http://www.thescubaguide.com/mailbag/qa012.aspx
The info sounds about right to me.
One site I found states the record deep water dive with standard scuba was 308 meters, thats 1000 ft! Also commercial and navy divers with specialized equipment , can reach depths of 500 meters. The record free dive is 136 meters Thats around 450ft.

[Cartman89]

Yeah I have this feeling that the equipment is going to cost me more than my aquarium lol.

[Cartman89]

Yeah I have this feeling that the equipment is going to cost me more than my aquarium lol.

[Witfull]

the experience,,,,priceless~

[Cougra]

Originally Posted by Cartman89

Yeah I have this feeling that the equipment is going to cost me more than my aquarium lol.

If you invest in quality equipment the first time around, it will last a long time so you don't need to keep sinking nearly as much money into it like you do with aquariums.

Make sure you ask a lot of questions before you buy anything and explain to the shops the types of diving you want to do the MOST of and OCCASSIONALLY. I know that I plan on diving in some pretty cold water in Northern Ontario so I need equipment that is more specialized for coldwater diving as opposed to equipment for tropical diving (a little less expensive because of different seals required.) For me a dry suit or heavy 7mm wetsuit would be a good investment however someone who dives mostly in the south would only need a hotskin or 2-3mm wetsuit.

After having dove in colder water (~45F to 60F bottom temperatures), diving in Florida was a real treat and I would have definately overheated if I used my dive equipment for up here!

[mungus]

Originally Posted by cracker

http://www.thescubaguide.com/mailbag/qa012.aspx
The info sounds about right to me.
One site I found states the record deep water dive with standard scuba was 308 meters, thats 1000 ft! Also commercial and navy divers with specialized equipment , can reach depths of 500 meters. The record free dive is 136 meters Thats around 450ft.

The 1000 ft on standard scuba is a buch of bull. The oxygen in the mix would have long but killed you before you reached that depth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity

BTW your Open Water cert is good to 40'. Advanced cert 100'. Deep diver cert 120'. Beyond that you will need a technical diving cert. You would be using a tri mix or heliox at that depth. I am a MSDT.

Brian

[mungus]

BTW Good luck with your cert and happy diving.

Brian

[Cartman89]

Thanks for all the advice,info, welcoming,ect. I have one question though, lets say I get certified and I want to take my friend out scuba diving but she doesn't have a licenses is it ok if she went scuba diving with someone that does have a licenses?

[Cartman89]

OMG! 3 DAYS????!! PADI will certifie you in only 3 days! WHat the hell? How much training is that? WHen I was with NAUI that lasted like 2 weeks maybe a little more, aw I dont remember but it was long. There must only be PADI in Missouri cause that's all I see around here. Oh well at least if I get the bends or another diseases I can sue them lol.

[Cougra]

The three day course is an intensive program that should have at least 6 hours per day (4 class room and 2 pool). After you are done the three day training you still need to go for your openwater dives. When you sign up for the intensive three day course they expect you to do a lot of reading/learning on your own BEFORE going into the class room! It'll go over everything that you would go over in a less intensive courses and you'll still need to preform the same on the tests in order to pass the certification.

One thing that you should do before signing up to a program is to meet the instructor and see if you can talk to anyone who's been certified by the person to see how they felt with the instructor. I and my three other classmates found out the hard way that not all instructors are created equally. Our instructor was very verbally abusive if you answered something wrong or asked for something to be explained further. All four of us ended up walking out of the middle of the second class with him and demanded our course fees back or some sort of compensation for the horrible instructor they gave us. In the end they gave us a discount on the openwater tests and a new instructor that normally only taught dive advanced specialty courses and dive masters.

The point of all this rambling is that you do NOT want to feel intimidated or uncertain about your instructor or material when you are learning to dive! This information could mean the difference between life and death.

Oh well at least if I get the bends or another diseases I can sue them lol.

Sorry, but if you do get the bends, sueing someone will be the last thing on your mind, and I don't think that you would win that case as dive safety is YOUR responsibility! It is up to YOU to ensure that you know what you are doing.

I have one question though, lets say I get certified and I want to take my friend out scuba diving but she doesn't have a licenses is it ok if she went scuba diving with someone that does have a licenses?

PADI and NAUI are dive certifications, not licensing. ANYONE can dive, you DON"T need a certification to do as you are taking your life into your own hands and there is nothing any police force could charge you with (as they could if you required a licence). However becoming certified means that you will be able to get your tanks filled at a dive shop or on a dive boat. Should you go on a dive trip, the dive masters ask to see your certifications to ensure that you know what you are doing and they wont be liable if something happens to you.

[lcstorc]

Nice post Cougra.
Safety first is the most important rule. Personally that is why I never went diving. I didn't want to make the effort to do it right so I never did it.
Suing somebody doen't help if you are not around to sue.
Peace
Lynn