Most memorable Scuba Diving Experience?

[spidey07]

not a bunch of tasks like mask clearing and such

Had to clear my mask after another diver kicked off my mask by acting like a spaz.
In the pitch black night dive.
At 70 feet
And mask was free floating as it was off my head now.
And my light was malfunctioning.
And he kicked my reg out as well.


Thanks to training I quickly/blindly got the reg in my mouth, buddy used hand squeeze signals to let me know he was aware of the situation and to stay put. He handed fetched my mask and we continued the dive.

Not the coolest experience but a little hiccup on what was until then good dive. Man did I b!tch out annoying diver spaz though on the boat.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Yeah I'm PADI Advanced. But I haven't been on a dive in a long time because of school. I think I might try to kick it out somewhere for Spring Break this year though (after a refresher course perhaps).

I'll never forget when I saw a guy manage to NOT re-pressurize his mask until 60ft. The entire mask area on his face was a big, raised, incredibley painful bruise. He was perhaps one of the dumbest people I ever met.

 

[spidey07]

I'll never forget when I saw a guy manage to NOT re-pressurize his mask until 60ft

What? So he had all that pressure on his face and he didn't equalize his mask?

Heck sometimes I exhale through my mask without realizing it.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: spidey07

I'll never forget when I saw a guy manage to NOT re-pressurize his mask until 60ft

What? So he had all that pressure on his face and he didn't equalize his mask?

Heck sometimes I exhale through my mask without realizing it.

Yeah, I dunno if this guy was an idiot, or oblivious, or both. He sure was hating the results.

 

[MaxDepth]

I live for this stuff: check out my email

I never got my cert for Instructor, but I've been diving professionally for five years (PADI dive master). It's getting to the point though that universities who I oversee aquatic research with and commercial dive boats want me to have Instructor training.

I live in NC where we refer to our coast as the "graveyard of the Atlantic" because of all the wrecks both charted and uncharted out there. Belize is my favorite North, Central and South American dive spot (fed sharks there, too!). I used to say Cozumel but it has gotten way too touristy with the addition of 6 new pods (docking bays for cruise ships). The ships screws blast all the coral formations making it look a desert under there. I really can't tell the difference between Cozumel and Cancun now. Carlos 'n Charlie's isn't the best well known hidden bar anymore either.


One of the best times was being invited last year by the Mares Corporation to test their experiemental and top of the line dive equipment. I met their head of research who holds most of the patents on regulators that are made today. I got to dive three or four times a day, had breakfast, lunch and dinner - all of it paid for by them. Met some cool people from Italy (the company's headquarters) and around the US on that trip.


My best dive trip that made me feel all gushy inside is when we dove on the U-85 (out on the Outer Banks, NC). A couple who had recently gotten their advanced certs were diving this wreck for the first time. Short story: both got narked (nitrogen narcosis); she was "seeing blue angels" and he went nuts. My dive buddy got her to slowly ascend and recovered her nicely. Her husband panicked and try to fight me as well as trying to bolt for the surface. He almost tore my regulator out of my mouth as I was pulling him back down. I ended up taking his mask off, pinching his nose close, and turning him upside down to get us to slow our ascent. Both of my computer were screaming at our ascent and one went into lockout mode (where it won't reset and work again for 24 hours). I escaped having any symptoms of DCI and he appeared to be slighty disoriented but fine. Thank heavens it was the last day of diving, so I only lost the next dive instead of the whole next day. But I was still pissed even though I didn't show it.

I got a letter from both of them the following week. He had gone to DAN's hyberbaric chamber at Duke and the folks there told him what could have happened if I hadn't stopped him. As it was, he ended up with microbubbles in his hands but that went away after his treatments. He learned that I may have saved his life at the risk of injury or death on my part; and for that, he and his wife are extemely grateful. And should I ever buy house, I'm already approved at his bank!

nmcglennon: did you have your open water certification tests in Austin by the dam? I was down there two summers ago and the water was thick with algae. Yuck!

911paramedic: you live out west, right? Have you done any mine or cave diving? I've done cenotes but not sure about being cold, exploring flooded mines. (Although I have drysuits) Also, do you do search and rescue for your community/area becasue I'm guessing you are a paramedic too.

 

[spidey07]

got a letter from both of them the following week. He had gone to DAN's hyberbaric chamber at Duke and the folks there told him what could have happened if I hadn't stopped him. As it was, he ended up with microbubbles in his hands but that went away after his treatments. He learned that I may have saved his life at the risk of injury or death on my part; and for that, he and his wife are extemely grateful. And should I ever buy house, I'm already approved at his bank!

wow, scary stuff. Why the narcosis? Just too deep or too deep for too long? What was your depth and ascent? Just curious as I've always thought going up quick was a recipe for disaster.

 

[tigerwannabe]

my guess is that the poor guy went up from depth too fast he's lucky he wasn't hurt worse. as i recall my instructor saying, you can get narked even at 70 ft with regular air--just depends on the person.

 

[spidey07]

I've been to 130 and never had a problem. Not that I want to hang out for too long down there...suck too much air.

 

[MaxDepth]

narcosis can happen at any time and at almost any depth. I've experienced it myself but only as the first type, the euphoric feeling. It really is enjoyable if you can keep that little voice in the back of your mind to tell you when you really need to come up.

It happend around 95-100 ft depth. My buddy spotted her venting air from her alternate second stage, playing with the bubbles. When we got there he started freaking about how much air was left in his tank. He had 1200 still in the tank but he wrote on his slate that he was having trouble breathing and that he needed to go to the surface immediately.

But there were other factors I believe that added to it. The water was colder than the dives the day before. There was a strong current as well. He probably was fatigued by the day before and the colder water sometimes makes people very uncomfortable. The ascent was scary, we had gone from 80ft to surface in a matter of minutes with no deco stop.



For Calbear2000: Here are some scuba gear price ranges.
Budget / Moderate / High-End
Mask $25 $70 $150
Fins $65 $100 $200
Snorkel $15 $30 $75
Booties/Gloves $30 $80 $120
Wetsuit $120 $300 $550
BC $300 $450 $750
Regulator $225 $400 $1,600
Computer $300 $500 $1,300
Total $1,080 $1,930 $4,745

 

[UNCjigga]

My first time...off the shore of Freeport, Bahamas...

 

[calbear2000]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
narcosis can happen at any time and at almost any depth. I've experienced it myself but only as the first type, the euphoric feeling. It really is enjoyable if you can keep that little voice in the back of your mind to tell you when you really need to come up.

It happend around 95-100 ft depth. My buddy spotted her venting air from her alternate second stage, playing with the bubbles. When we got there he started freaking about how much air was left in his tank. He had 1200 still in the tank but he wrote on his slate that he was having trouble breathing and that he needed to go to the surface immediately.

But there were other factors I believe that added to it. The water was colder than the dives the day before. There was a strong current as well. He probably was fatigued by the day before and the colder water sometimes makes people very uncomfortable. The ascent was scary, we had gone from 80ft to surface in a matter of minutes with no deco stop.



For Calbear2000: Here are some scuba gear price ranges.
Budget / Moderate / High-End
Mask $25 $70 $150
Fins $65 $100 $200
Snorkel $15 $30 $75
Booties/Gloves $30 $80 $120
Wetsuit $120 $300 $550
BC $300 $450 $750
Regulator $225 $400 $1,600
Computer $300 $500 $1,300
Total $1,080 $1,930 $4,745

Thanks Maxdepth. Good info. I think I'll be renting the bottom 3 on your list. I have snorkel, mask, fins from my snorkeling stockpile, but I may have to upgrade those if scuba diving requires different types than the ones I have. I'll need to buy a wetsuit, unless they actually rent those out as well.

 

[MaxDepth]

yes any good store will rent out suits to you, usually on a daily or weekend rate. (about $8 a day)

and to be honest, a dive computer is neat to have and necessary if you going to dive with mixed gases (ex. Nitrox), but not necessary for occasional diving.

 

[911paramedic]

Originally posted by: MaxDepthBoth of my computer were screaming at our ascent and one went into lockout mode (where it won't reset and work again for 24 hours.

911paramedic: you live out west, right? Have you done any mine or cave diving? I've done cenotes but not sure about being cold, exploring flooded mines. (Although I have drysuits) Also, do you do search and rescue for your community/area becasue I'm guessing you are a paramedic too.

Computers shutting off like that is the most idiotic thing I have ever seen. They do it for liability reasons, but it sure does screw you over when you lose much needed information because they lock up.

No mine or cave diving, and our water is from 45-55 on average, so we use drysuits too. I use a one piece O'neil suit with a hooded vest, that seems to be the best. (1/4" of course) I was with the Sheriff's Dept. search and rescue team for a few years back in CA, and initiated our boat team. We did not do the dive recovery then, the FD had jurisdiction. I am in Vegas now so diving is minimal.

I am a MSDT with PADI (Put Another Dollar In), MSDT 84154. You sound like a good divemaster, that makes it so much better for we instructors when a good divemaster is around. Sort of like the military, the officers suck without good enlisted personnel. (I was enlisted Navy BTW)

I used to act as a divemaster for other instructors even though I was an instructor just because I like it so much. Being a divemaster is much more fun than instructing while in the water, but the classroom is better as an instructor. Have you thought about going to IDC?

 

[johninabq]

Number One:
Diving in Manila Bay, my dive buddy starts banging his knife against his tank. I spin around and see this small, slender snake between us. He tries to grab for it, when it slips out of his fingers and scoots away. Back at the boat, the divemaster chewed out my buddy for messing with a sea snake. They are one of the most poisonous snakes around.

Number Two:
Diving in St. Thomas, USVI. Took 5 days leave there. Dove everyday, sometimes 4 dives per day. The best experiences were:
- can you say NIGHT DIVE? Most awesome experience ever. All the predators come out at night.
- feeding the stingrays from my hand

Number Three:
Diving in the kelp beds in Monterey Bay. Having fun with an otter, when it bolts away. My same dive buddy from number one gets my attention. We slowly swim towards the edge of the kelp bed, when we see this huge shark swim right past. We waited a few seconds and it swam by again. That was enough for me. Later, the divemaster said it could have been a great white.

Damn, I miss scubadiving. It's been 5 years now. Still own all my own equipment. Just can't seem to part with it.

John

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: calbear2000
spidey,

Thanks again. Sounds like a lot of fun... look forward to trying it in Hawaii this summer.

You will *LOVE* thie diving in Hawaii. I went their about a year and a half ago and did 6 dives with my brother. They were all amazing. Reef dives and wreck diving are the best.

Dave

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic

I used to act as a divemaster for other instructors even though I was an instructor just because I like it so much. Being a divemaster is much more fun than instructing while in the water, but the classroom is better as an instructor. Have you thought about going to IDC?

Yeah, if I want to do research diving this summer the folks at Brown, Duke and Florida all want me to have an instructor cert; something for their insurance they're all telling me. And of course PADI is always telling me I need to move up. (or is that, pay up!) But right now I just barely had enough money to pay for my insurance this year (I'm currently unemployed) so no IDC until then. When I do though I have a course director in Raleigh, so I know I don't have to travel far and I'll take AI and Instructor as one class.

I really like helping classes, the two favorites are open water and Nitrox. I get two free bottles of Nitrox with that class. The open water is so much fun because of all the new people I meet and to see some really enjoy scuba. It's funny that some people look at the Dive Master as a higher rank than the instructor. Like I'm some sort of hero type or something. lol.

It's too bad that I just now know you live in Vegas. I was at DEMA last year. Maybe if you're still in the neighborhood and I'll get the chance to go this year - I'll buy you a cold brew!

For those who know , a joke:

A PADI and NAUI open water class share a dive boat one weekend. Well, the boat begins to take on water and it now looks like it cannot be saved. The captain calls to abandon ship.

The NAUI instructor says, "class, we have an unfortunate occurance. However, this will be the time to strengthen our diving knowledge by taking a compass heading of that island near by and snorkeling or diving to that island and have our emergency plans enacted."

The PADI instructor looks at his class and says, "class, if everybody has $65 on hand or a credit card ready, I'll teach you all wreck diving in a few minutes."

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth

Originally posted by: 911paramedic

I used to act as a divemaster for other instructors even though I was an instructor just because I like it so much. Being a divemaster is much more fun than instructing while in the water, but the classroom is better as an instructor. Have you thought about going to IDC?

Yeah, if I want to do research diving this summer the folks at Brown, Duke and Florida all want me to have an instructor cert; something for their insurance they're all telling me. And of course PADI is always telling me I need to move up. (or is that, pay up!) But right now I just barely had enough money to pay for my insurance this year (I'm currently unemployed) so no IDC until then. When I do though I have a course director in Raleigh, so I know I don't have to travel far and I'll take AI and Instructor as one class.

I really like helping classes, the two favorites are open water and Nitrox. I get two free bottles of Nitrox with that class. The open water is so much fun because of all the new people I meet and to see some really enjoy scuba. It's funny that some people look at the Dive Master as a higher rank than the instructor. Like I'm some sort of hero type or something. lol.

It's too bad that I just now know you live in Vegas. I was at DEMA last year. Maybe if you're still in the neighborhood and I'll get the chance to go this year - I'll buy you a cold brew!

For those who know , a joke:

A PADI and NAUI open water class share a dive boat one weekend. Well, the boat begins to take on water and it now looks like it cannot be saved. The captain calls to abandon ship.

The NAUI instructor says, "class, we have an unfortunate occurance. However, this will be the time to strengthen our diving knowledge by taking a compass heading of that island near by and snorkeling or diving to that island and have our emergency plans enacted."

The PADI instructor looks at his class and says, "class, if everybody has $65 on hand or a credit card ready, I'll teach you all wreck diving in a few minutes."

You're in Raleigh? Same here. I earned my PADI Open Water cert about 2 years ago and this year I'm really going to try and make the time to get my Advanced Cert. I love diving. I just wish I had more free time. By the way, which dive shop(s) do you recommend in Raleigh/Cary?

I'll probably start doing some practice dives up in Rollesville (the rock quary there) this spring. If you need a diving buddy, just drop me an e-mail.

Dave

 

[911paramedic]

The PADI instructor looks at his class and says, "class, if everybody has $65 on hand or a credit card ready, I'll teach you all wreck diving in a few minutes."

LMAO, so true.

 

[vi edit]

I'm going to have my first chance to dive this March in Antigua. I'm going to get the resort cert for shallow dives. I'm pumped beyond belief to do it. I love spending time under water and I think that it's going to be the start of a lifelong addiction.

Assuming I like it, I'm going to try and get certified over the next 12 months, and a year from this March have all the class time and certifications I need to do deeper, and longer dives.

Can't wait!