My wife and I finished all our classroom work, tests and confined water dives last weekend. We will go on our 4 open water dives March 21, 22. Can't believe we had a blast just diving in a 14' pool. If nothing else our swimming and snorkeling skills are much better. Any suggestions on a first trip to take. Obviously want to go somewhere with good coral/fish to see. Would love to see big colonies of acros/brains/montis.
When I was in Texas from 1985 to 1988 I did the PADI Basic & Advanced. Mainly went with friends out to the rigs in the gulf & once to the Flower Gardens. Flower Gardens was neat but the average dive depth was below 60' and stay time is an issue. I went with group from work once in 1987 to Belize. Great experience - The bulk of the diving was relatively shallow and stay time was just about unlimited. I thought I heard Norman say he ran a dive shop at one time and he might be a good source of information.
my favorite place was Bonaire. Not much above water but an easy gentle sloping wall down to 90' max. Additionally its out of the hurricane zone so you can plan a fall trip with blowout. Cozumel was second favorite. St Lucia was probably 3rd fav. Bahamas was thin. Jamacia was poor. Florida is like Bahamas. The pacific side of mexico has much bigger fish and different corals than the Caribbean but was physically more difficult. Bonaire is physically easy for your first dive.
thanks guys. Dwayne, by physically harder do you mean current or something else? Looking to try a trip in late summer somewhere.
Here's a few pics from our open water certification dives this weekend. Done at Vortex Springs, Fl. Water was a balmy 66 degrees.
This is dropping in to the hole (50 feet) where the caves start and coming back up. I was laying on a ledge about 25 feet deep. Last one is Lisa doing her CESA skill.
Roatan, Cayman Islands, Bonnaire all beautiful corals. Bonnaire is very easy diving as you can just walk out to the reefs without having to take a boat. Very good shore diving. Roatan you have to take a boat. Cayman some shore diving but mostly boat diving when we went. I really miss diving.
Going underwater scares me. The only fish & coral I want to see are in living rooms! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We're probably going to either Cozumel or Little Cayman in July or August. May make a couple of lake dives this summer.
I stayed in Cozumel for a week very nice if you can get a decent resort.. We went into town one day, it's decent as well but it's Mexico. All inclusive resorts are the way to go if your staying for any length of time
When we go in June, we are going to stay at Iberostar. I'm not sure what dive resort we are diving with.
Well, we leave a week from today for our trip to Cozumel. One question. How much additonal weight will I need for the differnce between fresh and salt water? I am perfect with 8 lbs wearing a 3mm shorty which is what I plan to wear on my trip. I was thinking of adding 2 pounds to each of the weight pockets in the rear of my BC by the tank. This will increase me to 12 lbs. Is that enough or do I need to add two 3lb weights to those pockets?
