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Im in Lexington Ky board out of my mind with no tank to look at.So i figured I would get certified diving.Hopefully will be on thr reefs soon!!!!Anyone here into diving?Looking to find some dive buddies

I dive but we are in NH... the club is also based out of NH. So if you come by this way - I am sure we can hook you up.

Hey, there is no saltwater in KY - just a great basketball team...LOL

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The Zoo Pirate - I will leave no rock unturned.
140g Oceanic Tank with 45g Sump/Fuge and EuroReef RC-135, Outer Orbit 2 x 250MH x 4 T5s.

LPS, SPS, Clams, Ricordia and Zoanthid reef.


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I also dive. Diving is what got my wife and I to start a reef tank. Now I'm trying to make my tank automated enough to be left in my parents care (feeding only) so we can go on a dive trip again. Didn't quite think that one through when we got started with the tank. Maybe by this time next year.

Anyway, good luck on your certification. Where are you getting it, meaning where will your checkout dives be? Hopefully someplace warm.

When you get out on the reef you're going to love it. I catch lobster off of Beverly, MA in the summer to stay current in my skills but what I really like is UW photography. Here a few of my galleries. I hope they give you something to look forward to.

Bonaire - Oct '06

Dragon2115/Diving/Bonaire 10_2006 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Bonaire is a great place for new divers to get things figured out. It's really easy and inexpensive diving because you don't need a boat to dive 90% of the sites. The whole place is geared to shore diving so you can dive when you want, where you want 24/7. All of the hotels on the water have their own dock that you can dive from and the reef is only 50 - 150 feet from shore 95% of the time. That means you're not slave to boat schedules and you won't get stuck with more advanced divers that might not be happy being with a new diver that's getting things sorted out. Boat diving is still available as are DM's and guides for anyone that doesn't feel comfortable diving without one yet. I highly recommend it as a first dive trip after certification.



Nassau - Feb '06

Dragon2115/Diving/Nassau 02_2006 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Another cool thing to experience is a shark feed with Stuart Cove's in Nassau, Bahamas. You get to dive with Grey Caribbean Reef sharks as they're being fed by a handler. Lots of neat shallow wrecks to dive there as well. Most of them were intentionally sunk as movie props. The quality of the pictures in this gallery isn't that good. This is before I bought my own camera. I rented a camera and flash for the trip from a local dive shop. They're not bad, just not as good as I'd like.



Portsmouth, NH - Aug '07

Dragon2115/Diving/Seal Dive 25Aug2007 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

And last but not least. Local diving can be fun too, albeit cold. I see you'r "location" says Tilton, NH so I hope you'll be returning from KY at some point. These were taken last summer at Duck Island in the Isles of Shoals off of Portsmouth, NH. There's a lot of backscatter because the encounter we had with this particular Harbor Seal was over-the-top. This guy was really in play mode and as a result we stirred things up pretty badly. This dive is a blast and I plan to do it again this summer if possible. It's shallow (< 30') and sheltered so it's perfect for divers of any skill level. If anyone is interested lmk and if we have enough people I'll look into setting up a charter.

Enjoy and have fun.

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The goal of life is not to reach the end looking good in a well preserved body but rather to come skidding in sideways, totally used up, completely spent, loudly proclaiming... WOW, what a ride!!!

Cobra I AM NOT A KENTUCKIAN !!!!!

Nice pictures.... how was Bonaire... I am going to fly there in a week for a day and was woundering how the diving was... how about the top side ?

__________________

www.TheAquariumClassifieds.com
For the Fresh and Saltwater Hobbyist
A New England Reef Builders Sponsor

The Zoo Pirate - I will leave no rock unturned.
140g Oceanic Tank with 45g Sump/Fuge and EuroReef RC-135, Outer Orbit 2 x 250MH x 4 T5s.

LPS, SPS, Clams, Ricordia and Zoanthid reef.


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·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. >((((º> <<ºº>>

have you ever been here ?loll no im from tilton nh im just down here for work right now and decided i would get certified at UK.Where do you dive in nh? I was looking on dive winnipesaukes site and lookes like there alot to dive there but also got mixed reviews on it.anyways I will have to check it out when i get certified because my boat is docked on winnipesauke

LOL - how was I supposed to know that...
--- you spelled bored (board) in your previous thread... LMAO

__________________

www.TheAquariumClassifieds.com
For the Fresh and Saltwater Hobbyist
A New England Reef Builders Sponsor

The Zoo Pirate - I will leave no rock unturned.
140g Oceanic Tank with 45g Sump/Fuge and EuroReef RC-135, Outer Orbit 2 x 250MH x 4 T5s.

LPS, SPS, Clams, Ricordia and Zoanthid reef.


.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. >((((º> <<ºº>>

thanks dragon those are great pics thanks for sharing those with everyone!!I havent decided where my checkout dive is going to be yet trying to set up where i can have some fun in the sun!!!!!!!!Those pics of the shark feeding are incredible I looked online about those dives and cant wait to swim with sharks!!!Also I would love to go on a dive with you in portsmouth if you dont mind a neebie swimming along !hopefully we can get enought people for a charter.

ya youll have to excuse me im not to smart ya see!!!!!!! lol

Thank you, glad you liked them. And you're certainly welcome to dive with me in Portsmouth. That's a really easy dive and if you're lucky enough to be there on a day when the seals are in the mood to interact with you it's incredible. Although I should warn you that seals can bite. Usually it's just a nip as they try to tug at you. They play like puppies and have very sharp teeth like puupies too. But the potential is there and you need to be aware that you're dealing with an animal that out weighs you and can out swim you in the blink of an eye. So whatever they decide to do, you are not going to stop them from doing it.

The mixed reviews on Winnipesaukee is because like 90% of fresh water lakes and ponds the bottom is covered with dead leaves from the surrounding trees and other debris. This makes it very dark. It's also pretty cold once you get down below 20 feet or so. I spent a lot of time on snorkeling Winnipesaukee when I was a kid and would like to look into doing a couple of dives there sometime.

The shark dive is definitely something to do once. It can get a little boring because you watch. It is very cool to get bumped by sharks swimming past you though. And for a measly $1200 you too can feed the sharks. They have a shark handler program where they teach you how to feed them which culminates in you being the handler on the last dive. They video tape it all that happy stuff for you.

I'm trying to convince Lisa to go to Tiger Beach in the Bahamas to dive with Tiger sharks. This is a substantially more risky dive where these are not "trained" sharks and I can understand her hesitation. These guys aren't like 6'-9' Reef Sharks. These bad boys can reach 19 feet and aren't afraid of anything.

Bonaire is a blast, if you're a diver. If you're not then go to Aruba or Curacao. There isn't much night life above the water on Bonaire. It's a sleepy island, for now, that has only one traffic light on the entire island, and that's just there as an advertising thing for the resteraunt it's in front of, Pasa Bon Pizza. Which is excellent btw.

Of course that's why you should be night diving so you can see how much things change between the day shift and the night. Very cool stuff.

The diving there is as easy as it gets. Sixty or so dive sites on the main island and another 20 or 30 on Klein Bonaire which is a small sandy island about a mile off the west coast of the main island. All but a handful of the sites on the main island are accessable from shore. When we went we did four boat dives because they came with the package. The rest were all from the back of the rental pickup truck. It's awesome, you just load up fresh tanks from the hotels' tank farm, load your gear, drive down the shoreline until you find a site you like, and in you go. What makes the islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, or The ABC's) unique is that the reef is right there next to the shore. At most the drop off is only 150 yards from shore which is an easy surface swim. There's no current to speak of at any of the sites except for the ones near the northern and southern tips of the island. When you become more experienced you can try East side diving. This should be done with extreme caution and only when accompanied by a qualified guide. The currents and wave action on that side are nothing to be fooled with. But the wildlife you'll see on that side is worth it if you're up to it. That's where I took the picture of the really big turtle.

I had a chance to try out a rebreather in a pool last summer and I want one!!! It is so cool to be almost totally silent in the water. The owner told me that fish don't care that you're there when you use one. (Blowing bubbles is a sign of aggression in marine mammals.) Which makes them perfect for photographers trying to get close to their subject. Now if I can just find $12k I don't need for anything else I'll be all set.

__________________
The goal of life is not to reach the end looking good in a well preserved body but rather to come skidding in sideways, totally used up, completely spent, loudly proclaiming... WOW, what a ride!!!

How old do you have to be to get certified? Is my 9 year old daughter too young?

One more year Sherri. But it comes with restrictions. From the PADI website:

How old do I have to be to become a certified diver?
You must be at least ten years old (this may vary in some countries) to receive a Junior Open Water Diver certification. Ten and eleven-year-old Junior Open Water Divers must dive with a certified parent, guardian or PADI Professional and are eligible to dive to a maximum depth of 12 metres/40 feet. Twelve to fourteen-year-old must dive with a certified adult. At age fifteen, the diver may upgrade to a regular Open Water Diver certification without further training.

__________________
The goal of life is not to reach the end looking good in a well preserved body but rather to come skidding in sideways, totally used up, completely spent, loudly proclaiming... WOW, what a ride!!!

Thanks! We will plan accordingly. We will all get certified together.