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  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by CWSWine View Post
    We had just got a Cave Cert, dual sidemount tech cert with stages, and was scheduled to start Trimix training when I rolled up a 50 amp RV cord and bent over to pick it up, and the pop and could not stand up. Two surgeries later and a 50-pound restriction I sold my gear. Not so much not being able to carry the equipment but rescuing my dive buddy was a concern. I do miss it.

    Attachment 31331
    Sorry to hear about your injury. My son wants to get into cave diving. I have never done well in tight enclosures soI pass on that. I have a hard time getting under the RV LOL.

    Maybe we should be listening our certification levels?
    Tom, PADI Master Diver
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ynot4me2 View Post
    We use to do fresh water lakes and it doesn't compare by far. Everything is a grayish green. We don't bother anymore same with cold water. Boy do we ever get picky as we grow older. Lol

    Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

    I have been fresh water lake diving many many more times than in the ocean. I like Beaver Lake Arkansas.

    Maybe we should be listening our certification levels?
    Tom, PADI Master Diver
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by bertschb View Post
    I was certified in 1978. I've done a LOT of cold water spearfishing off the Oregon coast. It's all warm water diving now although I do still have my dry suit just in case. Can't wait for everything to open back up so we can resume dive trips. I was researching the Garmin Descent Mk2i when I came across this thread
    Maybe we should be listening our certification levels?
    Tom, PADI Master Diver
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

  4. #14
    Site Team Ynot4me2's Avatar
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    Advance Open Water. I wanted to go further but my dive partner (aka DW) isn't comfortable going below 55. She has open water.

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    Steph & Lise
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  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ynot4me2 View Post
    Advance Open Water. I wanted to go further but my dive partner (aka DW) isn't comfortable going below 55. She has open water.

    Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk
    Most of the colorful coral is above 60 feet anyway. Sunken ships are cool but I could never go inside, I don’t like enclosed confined spaces.
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

  6. #16
    Site Team Ynot4me2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TGlock24 View Post
    Most of the colorful coral is above 60 feet anyway. Sunken ships are cool but I could never go inside, I don’t like enclosed confined spaces.
    Yep that's why I didn't push her. Just glad to get wet and make some bubbles every once in a while.

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  7. #17
    Long Hauler bertschb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TGlock24 View Post
    Maybe we should be listing our certification levels?
    Interesting that you mention this. My perspective on certifications is different than most. I got my original OW certification from a scuba shop in Salem, OR which has long since closed. I'm rusty on the details as it's been a long time but it goes something like this....

    I was moving to Maui a year after I graduated from high school and wanted to get certified before I left. The dive class I was in was going to Hood Canal in Washington state for their check out dives. I didn't have time to go with them because I was leaving soon so my instructor offered to go with me to the Oregon Coast for my check out dive. I remember he chose Yaquina Bay which typically has horrible visibility and the day for my check out dive didn't disappoint. Horrible vis. Once in the water, we couldn't see each other. I was holding on to the back of his tank so I wouldn't lose him. We got to the bottom and he prompted me to remove and replace my mask. The instructor then called the dive after maybe 4 minutes? When we got top side he said "when you get to Maui, just do a couple dives and let me know how you do. I'll send your dive card once I hear from you". Huh??? Yeah, so that's how I got certified.

    Fast forward a few years and I decided to get an Advanced certification. Mostly because my dive buddies were doing it. Did all the class work. This time most of the folks in my class were going to Sechelt BC Canada for a cold water trip and my instructor (the dive shop owner) said I could do my Advanced check out dives while we were up there. I told him I wanted to enjoy the trip and didn't want to mess with finishing my training up there. He said it would be fine. On our first dive he and I paired up on a wreck dive. It ended up being a pretty deep dive (around 125'). Anyway, when we got to the boat, he handed me my Advanced card. When I gave him a curious stare, he said I did great and he could tell I was a good diver. He did have me do some compass work on a later dive but still...

    My take away from these experiences and from talking to some really experienced divers that I knew was advanced certifications are really not much more than a profit driver for the shops. After my experiences with two different instructors, the only other cert I got was Nitrox. That one was actually useful!

    In the end, the best training I ever got was from diving off the jetties and eventually my Zodiac RIB offshore in Oregon to get fish and crabs. Dark cold water, horrible visibility, strong currents, lots of entanglement threats, heavy reliance on underwater navigation, super heavy gear, etc. It makes warm water diving seem like slipping into a bathtub. The worst warm water dive I've ever had is 100X better than the best cold water dive I've had. I've got a lot of stories about my cold water diving adventures. Lost of harrowing experiences.

    I've been on dive trips with people that wanted everybody else to know about their certs. AOW, Rescue, Master Diver, etc. I wouldn't buddy up with some of them. Scary. Poor buoyancy control. Kicking up silt in swim throughs. Holding onto coral. Unfamiliar with setting up gear before a dive. Forgetting to turn air on. I was even on a trip with a "Master" diver on a live aboard boat around the Channel Islands that jumped in the water with his dry suit zipper wide open.

    So, no offense to anybody that has a wallet full of certifications. Just not my cup of tea.
    Last edited by bertschb; 12-26-2020 at 05:52 PM.
    Brian & Kellie
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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by D2Reid View Post
    We never made it out of the Atlantic and Caribbean, but then we never had to either.

    Our 27' Sport Craft lived in Port St. Lucie, FL so we dove off it from Ft. Peirce, FL to Key West. Sometimes on the west coast of FL.

    Attachment 31327

    We would take excursions for further underwater adventures, like "Diving with the Dolphins" in the Bahama's.

    Attachment 31328

    Then we got a little crazy, Nitrox, 120' dive, through a cave, in heavy current. Hole in the Wall just off Jupiter, FL. Here is Barbara describing her swim with the Goliath Grouper in the cave. She was so narced it was a hilarious. A little scary too, I had to drag her out of the cave, she kind of wanted to stay with her new grouper friends.

    Attachment 31329

    And of course I miss the fresh lobster.

    Attachment 31330

    When we retired and left Florida we packed a bunch of scuba equipment with us thinking we would enjoy fresh water lake diving in our travels, or perhaps Pacific Ocean diving. That didn't last long. Our first lake dive was Lake George in NY. Cold water, poor visibility, mucky, not the warm clear waters off the coast of FL for sure, yuck. Then when we got to the Pacific we only had to put our toes in the water to determine a dry suit would be needed, just couldn't go there.

    The 30-60 foot reefs off the east coast of Florida are world class. Plus, there are excellent RV accommodations. You can do a whole lot of excellent diving and enjoy the RV life.
    Sounds like nice adventures. I see you have a Harley. I am also a Harley man. I have a FatBoy and a new Limited.. Have fun in all your adventures.
    Tom
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

  9. #19
    Site Sponsor GeoffnCheri's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TGlock24 View Post
    I have been fresh water lake diving many many more times than in the ocean. I like Beaver Lake Arkansas.


    Tom, PADI Master Diver
    Original Dive cert was NASDS in 1980. Now a combination of NASDS and PADI OW, AOW, EAN, PPB and Rescue. After about 500 plus dives I stopped counting and never felt the need to pursue a card further for the sake of a card. The goal is still to try to average 150 plus dives per year. Beaver lake is the hometown mud hole and it keeps the skill sets up to date so when we travel to the Caribbean it makes 83 degrees and 80 to 100' viz spectacular. Have dove Beaver in water temps from 41 degrees to 85. One of my favorite dives at BL was a late spring dive with viz about 15'. Passed through the thermocline and right into a school of about 20 stripers. The multiple COE parks on the lake make this an enjoyable location.

    Glock 22, 23, 27, 42 and 45 regards.
    Geoff and Cheri
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  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeoffnCheri View Post
    Original Dive cert was NASDS in 1980. Now a combination of NASDS and PADI OW, AOW, EAN, PPB and Rescue. After about 500 plus dives I stopped counting and never felt the need to pursue a card further for the sake of a card. The goal is still to try to average 150 plus dives per year. Beaver lake is the hometown mud hole and it keeps the skill sets up to date so when we travel to the Caribbean it makes 83 degrees and 80 to 100' viz spectacular. Have dove Beaver in water temps from 41 degrees to 85. One of my favorite dives at BL was a late spring dive with viz about 15'. Passed through the thermocline and right into a school of about 20 stripers. The multiple COE parks on the lake make this an enjoyable location.

    Glock 22, 23, 27, 42 and 45 regards.
    Wow good experience. I also started out with a NASDS cert but their records all burned up in a fire. Lucky I still had my delaminated Card I could show to my PADI store owner and he certified me for NITROX so I had a card a dive shop would accept. After that I wanted to show my son how easy it is to advance. My goal was to get him to rescue diver so he can save my life someday if needed. I took him to Beaver Lake one weekend and the instructor put him through a few routines while I was working towards my Rescue cert. when we finished I gave him and advance learning packet and the instructor said fill this out and you will be an advance diver. How could he say no it was handed on his lap haft competed since he had already completed his water exercises (at my experience LOL).
    Tom PADI Master Diver
    Thomas & Makiko
    2021 GD2500RL

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