I know we have many SCUBA divers of all education levels on these forums. So, how about a thread of favorite dive spots, pictures, equipment etc.
I’m a PADI MSDT with a few thousand dives. Favorite dive ever is either a hand shark feeding dive in the Bahamas which was 110% adrenalin or my next dive.
Several thousand dives? Holy shit.
I’m on my way to become a SSI Master Diver. Hopefully this summer I’ll do the few dives needed to break the 100 dives mark as well as the remaining specialty courses.
I’ve been snorkeling and spear fishing since I was a kid. I’ve been diving in the Adriatic and several other Mediterranean countries.
One of my best dives was on the wreck of a torpedoed WWI battleship Szent Istvan. Unfortunately, the pictures are on my other computer 
I’m a PADI AI. Don’t think I could pick off one absolutely favourite dive, but highlights are: being surounded by a shoal of 300+ yellowfin jacks on the Roatan Banks, Honduras; a sweet crytal clear dive off the West coast of Ireland, Achill Island test driving my new dry suit (just one of those dives where everything went perfectly!!!); a solo 52m bounce in Cozumel last summer - just me, my bubbles and a spotted eagle ray 
Dive season starts again here in a month or so… I miss getting wet
Galapagos Islands.
Sharks (hammerheads have to be the coolest), rays, penguins sea turtles, bat fish… just to name some of the sea life.
I’m a divemaster, but I haven’t been in a couple of years. I have been wanting to schedule a trip.
[quote]loppar wrote:
Several thousand dives? Holy shit.
([/quote]
Seriously, thats awesome. I hope to have that many dives one day.
Anyway, http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1030466&pageNo=0 Thats a thread from a while back with pictures from Puerto Rico and Kauai, Hawaii.
I’m currently open water certified and just got my nitrox cert a few weeks back. I just started a thread “3 weeks on a boat…” about a dive vacation I’m taking this summer. I’m going to be taking AOW and rescue certs as well as a few specialty certs. I’m fuckin pumped!
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
loppar wrote:
Several thousand dives? Holy shit.
Seriously, thats awesome. I hope to have that many dives one day.
[/quote]
It’s really not that impressive. 4-6 dives a day, 5-7 days a week for a couple years teaching in big mud hole lakes or diving in reclaimed golf pond water for golf balls. Only have maybe 150-200 dives in exotic locations or even in water with more than 3 feet of visiblity.
[quote]duece wrote:
It’s really not that impressive. 4-6 dives a day, 5-7 days a week for a couple years teaching in big mud hole lakes or diving in reclaimed golf pond water for golf balls. Only have maybe 150-200 dives in exotic locations or even in water with more than 3 feet of visiblity.[/quote]
Well, yeah, I guess so. What air mixture do you normally breathe diving 4-6 times a day?
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
duece wrote:
Well, yeah, I guess so. What air mixture do you normally breathe diving 4-6 times a day?[/quote]
Regular air. Many of those dives are less than 30 feet with adequate surface intervals. I do like EAN 32 because I am less fatigued at the end of the week. Doing the golf ball diving I would often be between 10-25 feet for 30-40 minutes. Surface to dump the golf balls and take a 30 min SI to rest a little. So in that situation, regular air is just fine. On dive vacations with multi dives over multi days I prefer a higher O2 mix such as the EAN 32 allowing for shorter SI’s and maybe get in the hot tub a little sooner.
[quote]g’em wrote:
a solo 52m bounce in Cozumel last summer - just me, my bubbles and a spotted eagle ray
([/quote]
52 meters(170 ft.)solo? That sounds like fun. Not something I would really brag about to too many people unless of course you are properly trained.
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
. I just started a thread “3 weeks on a boat…” about a dive vacation I’m taking this summer. I’m going to be taking AOW and rescue certs as well as a few specialty certs. I’m fuckin pumped!
[/quote]
That is actually where I got the idea for this thread. There is usually 1-2 SCUBA threads a year on this site. AOW is cool but Rescue is an absolute blast.
[quote]duece wrote:
52 meters(170 ft.)solo? That sounds like fun. Not something I would really brag about to too many people unless of course you are properly trained. [/quote]
In her original post, she said she was an assistant instructor. I’d imagine she’s done enough diving and certs to know what she’s doing. That, and well, she’s still alive. 
G’em, was that a 170ft down and right back up, or back up to a more managable depth? What was your deco like?
whoops wrong kind of diving.
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
duece wrote:
52 meters(170 ft.)solo? That sounds like fun. Not something I would really brag about to too many people unless of course you are properly trained.
In her original post, she said she was an assistant instructor. I’d imagine she’s done enough diving and certs to know what she’s doing. That, and well, she’s still alive.
G’em, was that a 170ft down and right back up, or back up to a more managable depth? What was your deco like?[/quote]
I’m not even going to try to speak for her because I have no idea what the circumstances were. I am simply stating that it is a full atmosphere deeper than accepted recreational limits. It is considered safe only on trimix or with other technical training and considerations. She did say it was a bounce dive and one could possibly do that 100 times without getting bent. However, I’ll let you figure out how many breaths one can get out of a single 120 at that depth. I have also rescued a guy that got a type II hit with a max depth of less than 80 feet. DCS is very unpredictable and some risks aren’t worth taking.
How I miss the water. I am a Padi Rescue cert. Was working on my dive master when I started powerlifting – unfortunately only enough funds for one of the two. And since I dont like to lake dive, lifting it is.
Anyway, my favorite has to be Hurgada – the Red Sea. Never seen water that matches it, not even close. I think I could drop off the face of the earth and move there. It would be heaven.
I miss getting wet as well G’em
[quote]duece wrote:
I’m not even going to try to speak for her because I have no idea what the circumstances were. I am simply stating that it is a full atmosphere deeper than accepted recreational limits. It is considered safe only on trimix or with other technical training and considerations. She did say it was a bounce dive and one could possibly do that 100 times without getting bent. However, I’ll let you figure out how many breaths one can get out of a single 120 at that depth. I have also rescued a guy that got a type II hit with a max depth of less than 80 feet. DCS is very unpredictable and some risks aren’t worth taking.[/quote]
In no way was I condoning her move, but hey, you know what they say about taking risks.
Anyway, yeah, just wanted to clarify that.
[quote]duece wrote:
rrjc5488 wrote:
duece wrote:
52 meters(170 ft.)solo? That sounds like fun. Not something I would really brag about to too many people unless of course you are properly trained.
In her original post, she said she was an assistant instructor. I’d imagine she’s done enough diving and certs to know what she’s doing. That, and well, she’s still alive.
G’em, was that a 170ft down and right back up, or back up to a more managable depth? What was your deco like?
I’m not even going to try to speak for her because I have no idea what the circumstances were. I am simply stating that it is a full atmosphere deeper than accepted recreational limits. It is considered safe only on trimix or with other technical training and considerations. She did say it was a bounce dive and one could possibly do that 100 times without getting bent. However, I’ll let you figure out how many breaths one can get out of a single 120 at that depth. I have also rescued a guy that got a type II hit with a max depth of less than 80 feet. DCS is very unpredictable and some risks aren’t worth taking.[/quote]
rrjc a “bounce” is literally just that - drop, hit a depth and start making your way back up in a nice slow controlled fashion. Not something I advise for the inexperienced but as you say, I have enough experience under my (weight) belt to know what I was doing! I only did the bounce solo, but there was a group of four others (MSI, OWSI x2 and an Advanced!!) in the water with me. Dropped in, got to 20m (66ft) I signalled to the MSI to let him know what I was doing, down to 52 (170) along a reef wall then slowly back up to about 30m (98ft) for ten minutes or so, up to 20, then 15 and cruised along at that depth for the duration of the dive, so no prescribed deco as such. Because I was literally only at that depth for a couple of breaths it wasn’t needed- it takes a little while for nitrogen to saturate your tissues. It was done at the end of 12 days’ of pretty intensive diving but my computer saw nothing wrong with it
deuce I see what you’re saying, and I’m not saying what I did was the most responsible thing in the world, but I knew the risks and covered myself for them! There’s a big difference in how I dive for fun and how I dive with students. I know 40m is the recretional limit but let’s be honest, that’s conservative at the best of times. Its not until you hit 60m that you’re really concerned with oxygen toxicity- before that depth trimix is really unnecessary. As you said, DCS is unpredictable, and sure, it could have happened. But I was dive fit and within the limits of the computer (and I’m v easy on air!!). I’ve bounced deeper in similar conditions a few times with a buddy so I knew what to expect. Honestly? I’d do it again in a flash given half the chance!
Hey guys, Im just open water, used to live in cancun so i did my certification there, best water to do it(besides red sea and australia).
Whilst living there saw a sharkwhale,plenty of rays,dolphins,bonitos and lots of sea turtles, my wife its advance and wants to do the rescue. couple of times we been in turkey and the water is also nice.
dont have a lot of experience but we love it!!.
G’em
Did you do the bounce on a single tank?
If so, stupid! What would you have done if you got a “free-flow”?
Dives like that without a “bail-out” is a no-no!
Do you have any tech-diving training? I don’t think so.
AI or not, tech diving is a different ballgame with different dangers. Would you allow a DSD to do a 30m (100 foot) wreckdive? NO, well, the same principles apply for you! Stay within your training and experience, you’ll live longer!
Claes
PADI: IDC Staff
CMAS: 4* Instructor
SDI/TDI: IT
PSA: IT
In Depth: IT
[quote]Mr. Moose wrote:
G’em
Did you do the bounce on a single tank?
If so, stupid! What would you have done if you got a “free-flow”?
Dives like that without a “bail-out” is a no-no!
Do you have any tech-diving training? I don’t think so.
AI or not, tech diving is a different ballgame with different dangers. Would you allow a DSD to do a 30m (100 foot) wreckdive? NO, well, the same principles apply for you! Stay within your training and experience, you’ll live longer!
Claes
PADI: IDC Staff
CMAS: 4* Instructor
SDI/TDI: IT
PSA: IT
In Depth: IT[/quote]
yep, single 12L 232 tank. If I had a free-flow? Sure it’d be crap, but I can still breath off it, I’ve done it before - diving in 7 or 8 degree C water free-flows are something you learn to live with.
The bounce was done at the beginning of the dive with a full tank. The drop took me about a minute, ascending was slower but controlled and at no time was I pushing my deco limits. I was fully aware of what I was doing, knew the risks, and knew the dangers. I don’t need to be a tech-head to know that.
I hardly think bringing a DSD to a 30m wreck and what I did are in any way comparable - for one the only life I put at (minimal) risk was my own, not a student’s. I was on a reef I’d dived half a dozen times in the preceeding days, I knew the lay of the land, I was relaxed and under no stress. The conditions were ideal, vis was 20m+.
I’m used to a lot worse and I felt comfortable in the conditions. In essence I was within my training and experience - I spent years learning and diving in conditions a hell of a lot harder than that.
You may be IDC staff, but please do not call me stupid. If you train your AI’s and OWSI’s half as well as my IDC instructor taught me you’re doing a good job.
I did my first 9 dives on Kho Tao Thailand in October last year. It was awesome, I might go back and do my dive master next year.
Best dive was the night dive.