How many of you SCUBA

[SoCal326]

[theLBC]

got my NAUI certification in 1987.
mostly dove locally (diver's cove, catalina, or wherever there were bugs at night).
would have enjoyed warmer water diving more, just for the visibility more than comfort. drift diving is cool, because your air lasts so much longer when you aren't doing any work.

these days i am getting muscle cramps so i haven't been diving.

[cal3gunner]

I went free diving this past weekend at La Jolla Cove.

I've spearfished a few times off Pt Loma. If you want great diving you have to go to the islands off SoCal.

I've dove every island off SoCal and each one is different and way better than any beach dive I've done off the mainland of CA.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

Got certified in 1996, Became a Divemaster for a local dive shop.

Took our students out to catalina every other week for their open
water training.

I also used to go on the shark research dives aboard the Pacific Explorer with Yehuda goldman out of San Pedro. Diving with and tagging sharks.

But I have not been in the water in years. Got bored with it, I am not having a good time diving unless I am working or trying to accomplish some kind of mission. I was saving up for Commercial diving school back in the day but then family life got in the way.

[theLBC]

Got certified in 1996, Became a Divemaster for a local dive shop.

Took our students out to catalina every other week for their open
water training.

I also used to go on the shark research dives aboard the Pacific Explorer with Yehuda goldman out of San Pedro. Diving with and tagging sharks.

But I have not been in the water in years. Got bored with it, I am not having a good time diving unless I am working or trying to accomplish some kind of mission. I was saving up for Commercial diving school back in the day but then family life got in the way.

one of my buddies was a welder (mostly navy ships). he made bank once he had a few years on the job.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

one of my buddies was a welder (mostly navy ships). he made bank once he had a few years on the job.

Yep, I was working on the inland drilling rigs at the time, diving every weekend and saving up to go to the school in seattle. 10 grand I think it was. Would have been great for a young me but I would not have the nerve for it these days.

[Divehobo]

Taught scuba for about ten years. Mostly at Bamboo Reef in Rohnert Park and SF but also at Ocean Odyssey in Santa Cruz and a small stint with Splash Aquatics in Santa Clara. Kids came along and sadly I've been out of the water for about 15 years. Someday, Ill get the kids certified and get back in.

Loved Halloween dives on the Peace with Sal and Tom.

[diveRN]

I've been underwater all over the Pacific, the Florida Keys, and once in the Red Sea, but I spent most of my time diving out of Monterey, either teaching or as boat crew. Did a lot of hunting on the California coast from free diving for abalone in Manchester to halibut hunting in Moss Landing and taking bugs from the northern Channel Islands. I worked numerous salvage jobs lifting boats off the bottom of the foothill lakes and consulted with various boat ops in Florida and California to help them refine their emergency plans.

My dream for a long time was to work as an instructor somewhere in Micronesia, but 9/11 changed that. Gave up diving professionally shortly after my son was born in 2004. These days, it's all for pleasure and usually twice a year. Most Caribbean destinations are only 2 - 4 hours from here and relatively cheap to get to, so that's where we tend to go. In August, my family is going to spend a week diving the middle Keys out of Marathon.

[Henry Shooter]

Started diving Guam when I got stationed there. Got hooked, a lot of easy diving there. Got stationed Oahu Good diving but not as good as Guam.

Have dove a lot of places. Liked the Puget sound area the most, a lot of critters there.

Became an instructor. Certified a few people. Crowning achievement was that I had 3 people follow me and became Instructors also.

Dream was to go to Costa Rica and set up a dive shop / hotel bar restaurant doing small groups.

Life happens.

[SoCal326]

I went free diving this past weekend at La Jolla Cove.

I've spearfished a few times off Pt Loma. If you want great diving you have to go to the islands off SoCal.

I've dove every island off SoCal and each one is different and way better than any beach dive I've done off the mainland of CA.

Ya, I need to get up north. I'm assuming you're talking about Channel islands/Catalina. Id also like to do the Coronados just south of the border but its a long day doing that dive out of San Diego. Lots of people do it and i hear there are lots of playful seals down there.

[SoCal326]

Got bored with it, I am not having a good time diving unless I am working or trying to accomplish some kind of mission.

Ya I get that. I got to that point at the end of this past summer but I'm getting in the water again and enjoying it. I've been considering getting an under water metal detector to keep it interesting but I already spend enough on guns/optics/ammo.

[Den60]

Two NAUI certifications for me, both in the late 80s but haven't dove in years.

[hermosabeach]

Certified during college
Ran a dive program in college
Worked in a dive shop in college

Fun times.
Messed up an eardrum and not much diving now....


California’s Kelp is a lot of work vs warm water diving but the Forrest’s are fun and hold a lot of game.

Turks and Caicos has some nature preserves that are better than diving in an aquarium.

Most poor countries overfish and the diving where it’s poor or their are a lot of tourists is generally bad

Breakwater in Monterey was one of my favorite dives up north.

[cal3gunner]

Ya, I need to get up north. I'm assuming you're talking about Channel islands/Catalina. Id also like to do the Coronados just south of the border but its a long day doing that dive out of San Diego. Lots of people do it and i hear there are lots of playful seals down there.

Yes, the Channel Islands. I spent my first year after college working on a dive boat diving all the Channel Islands and the other off SoCal. It's worth the money to do a live aboard multi day trip.

I've dove up and down the east coast of Australia from the Great Barrier Reef down to Sydney. Did the Great White Shark diving on the South Island New Zealand and the Poor Knights Islands off the North Island New Zealand. Did the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu. Did the Bull shark diving in Fiji. The Blue Hole and a lot of coral diving in Belize. Dove off the keys in Florida. Free diving in Cuba and Dominican Republic. The manta ray dives in Hawaii.

With all that diving I still think spearfishing in the kelp on the Channel Islands is one of the top dives for adventure that doesn't break the bank.

Now I'm thinking about all this and getting the idea I need another dive trip

[randomBytes]

I started SCUBA diving at 16 (I guess that was mid '70s)
on deeper dives had a lot of trouble equalizing pressure and end up with nose bleed - this was in southern Australia - plenty of sharks to worry about ;-)
I still have my 11mm wet suit which I've not attempted to don in 20 years