Scuba Diving

[Stevewc]

Are there divers among the retirees?
I haven't done any diving in the past several years but noticed the big ship (Vandenberg in the News) being sunk in the Florida Keys. That should be a great dive site in a year or two.
Maybe that can be another fun thing to do in retirement.
Steve

Vidio of sinking today:http://fla-keys.com/

http://fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=7410

 

[donheff]

I dove all the time in the 70s and early 80s but then got sidetracked by windsurfing. I still do a few dives every couple of years when I get an opportunity. It is a fun sport and easy to take up at "our" age if you are healthy. Here is a shot of one of my favorite dives

 

[Sarah in SC]

Certified years ago, it was how DH and I met. Haven't done it in years, but we do snorkel whenever we go someplace good. Still have a good bit of the gear, though, and will probably take it back up if we get another sailboat and go cruising.

After that creepy Open Water movie, though, I'll probably want a waterproof PLB with me, just in case!

 

[jimnjana]

My wife and I are planning to return to scuba diving after stopping about 4 yrs or so. My favorite diving trip was a blackbeard diving cruise. We had our most memorable dives on that trip (Shark Dive & Night Turtle Dive). Her favorite dive trip was cozumel about 10 yrs ago. We will be starting off with some Coastal Florida trips and perhaps some spring dives as well. Hopefully my ears cooperate...

Jim

 

[Sarah in SC]

Jim, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your sig line! Thanks very much!

 

[jimnjana]

Jim, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your sig line! Thanks very much!

Sarah,

I'm glad you like it, So far 6+ months as a DRINKER and can honestly say I wish I had started earlier.

Jim

 

[ScooterGuy]

Former diver ...

Went bubbling from about 1964 to 1967 in San Diego, CA. Several trips to the Los Coronados Islands, and off the cliffs at Ocean Beach, as well as Catalina. Equipped myself at the Diving Locker, in PAcific Beach.

Didn't like spearfishing, so I took up UW photography, using one of the original Nikonos 35mm cameras ... trailing a strip of flashbulbs: some of them would suddenly implode at 60+ ft.

I had a choice, though, and opted for a Ph.D. in a research applied science field, which resulted in giving away all my gear, including the camera. Other than dumping a few canoes and kayaks (and sinking a big sailboat), I haven't been under the surface since.

I had some of the first single-hose units. Now, in the last 6 years, I've seen a disposable UW camera, good to 15'. The gear I routinely used then would be considered less than minimal, now. Sigh.....

 

[W2R]

Like Sarah, I used to dive quite a bit back in my 20's, was a safety diver for a NAUI instructor, and eventually married my dive partner. I love diving! But I haven't really had a dive partner since my divorce, plus I am no longer located in Hawaii where diving is so easy and spectacular.

Here are some photos of yours truly diving in about 60 feet of water (if my memory is correct - - I didn't bother to check my old dive logs) at Makua, Hawaii, taken in 1974 with our Nikonos:

 

[ziggy29]

Sarah,

I'm glad you like it, So far 6+ months as a DRINKER and can honestly say I wish I had started earlier.

A similar one I've heard is "THINKER" -- "Two Healthy Incomes, No Kids, Early Retirement."

 

[donheff]

Sounds like everybody had a Nikonos. If you look carefully you can see the front of one in this old shot of me about to head out on a wreck in Door County Wisconsin around 1974.

Here is the wreck (the Louisiana):

 

[ER_Hopeful]

I just got NAUI certified recently but have dove maybe a dozen times with a friend of mine before that. I'll be doing mostly beach dives along the SoCal coast(PV, Laguna, etc) or hop over to Catalina once in a while. I also enjoy diving/snorkeling the La Jolla Cove in San Diego as well. I'm sure I'll dive Hawaii someday(hopefully next year) when I finally have the 'gut' to spend some of our savings on a family trip. Yeah, I know, FIRE vs. enjoying life now.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Great photos of the old school dive gear, y'all! Neat stuff. I still have my PADI card and remember proudly the day they took the photo for it--just barely 18 years old, sunburned, and golly-gee-whiz happy. Good times.

 

[Nords]

I just got NAUI certified recently but have dove maybe a dozen times with a friend of mine before that. I'll be doing mostly beach dives along the SoCal coast(PV, Laguna, etc) or hop over to Catalina once in a while. I also enjoy diving/snorkeling the La Jolla Cove in San Diego as well. I'm sure I'll dive Hawaii someday(hopefully next year) when I finally have the 'gut' to spend some of our savings on a family trip. Yeah, I know, FIRE vs. enjoying life now.

Believe it or not, I think the diving in Monterey Bay is way better than Oahu. Lots more interesting growths and critters and much more accessible from a beach dive.

Of course there's that little problem up north with freezing your assets off.

 

[clifp]

Wow I absolutely hated diving in Monterey it is where I learn and after my first warm diving experience, I said I never do it again. I hated wetsuits, bad visibility, and the annoying Kelp bed. Only cool think about Monterey is you have a much better chance of seeing seals.

You have a very slim chance of seeing Monk Seals in Hawaii though a friend just saw one while snorkeling.

 

[Stevewc]

It is good to see there are some divers in the group.
When I first posted this it was a little slow taking off.
I began to think I had brought up a very unpopular hobby.
In my younger days I spent every vacation hour I could snorkeling or diving.
I even had salt water aquariums and would catch my own fish and invertebrates for my tanks. The two hobbies went together great. I enjoyed searching for all my critters and keeping them alive and well until I could get home with them.
Great fun in the water and on the hunt for something new,
Steve

 

[freebird5825]

Believe it or not, I think the diving in Monterey Bay is way better than Oahu. Lots more interesting growths and critters and much more accessible from a beach dive.

Of course there's that little problem up north with freezing your assets off.

For those with the proper brass...
What's so great about diving in Ontario?
Lake Ontario is crystal clear near shore, but as the article states...it's #@*% cold.
The War of 1812 left behind a lot of shipwrecks, especially in the Oswego area in the SE corner of the lake.

I've never done scuba. I've surface snorkeled on cruises and take my mask with me in local lake swims. I tried snuba in Aruba in 25' of water, as one of 4 persons sharing a tank afloat. I felt very claustrophobic and didn't like the way the regulator worked. So I surface snorkeled and watched the guys doing their thing down below.

I did see some poor guy sitting in a chair down below. I wondered how long he'd been there?
So like the good mermaid I am, I rescued him.

 

[Nords]

You have a very slim chance of seeing Monk Seals in Hawaii though a friend just saw one while snorkeling.

They've been hauling out a lot at White Plains in Kalealoa. I used to see them just once or twice a year while surfing but now I'm seeing them almost every visit.

One of them cruised through the swimming area enroute their favorite patch of sand. The seal was sneaking up behind the swimmers and then bumping past them, leaving quite a trail of [-]excrement[/-] excitement in their wake...

 

[Maurice]

Are there divers among the retirees?
I haven't done any diving in the past several years but noticed the big ship (Vandenberg in the News) being sunk in the Florida Keys. That should be a great dive site in a year or two.
Maybe that can be another fun thing to do in retirement.
Steve

Great news!


I used to dive the Bibb and the Duane in the same general area when I lived in Miami in the early 90s.

Its been about that long since I dove.


I agree its a great hobby for a health ER type.

 

[ER_Hopeful]

The seal was sneaking up behind the swimmers and then bumping past them, leaving quite a trail of [-]excrement[/-] excitement in their wake...

that's [-]excrement[/-] excitement by the seals, I presume.

 

[Arif]

DW sent me to Portobello, Panama for my birthday. We had a great time with a bunch of retirees.

 

[lets-retire]

I used to love diving, until I got the bends one time. I went down a few times after that none were too pleasant then my dive partner left and the wife had issues and couldn't dive so I haven't gone down in over 13 years.