They've added SCUBA to this section! Divers roll call!

[scubacamper]

Also glad to see SCUBA now listed...obviously by my handle. I've been diving since the Navy taught me back in 1985. My DW and I were both NAUI AI's but since the DD's came along we dropped the AI status and the 40 or 50 dives a year went to one or two. I'm also a 6 year (not consecutive) Past Pres of the local NAS JAX Skin & Scuba Diving Club so I know a little about diving. There's a recent post called "Approved" where our new President has now gotten approval to combine camping with diving and our first trip will be coming up in either late March or early April at one of the springs at a FL SP. This way grandma, the dog and the kids can come along and enjoy themselves while the rest of us are in the water. Oh and our springs down here are GREAT for us Cave Divers, especially in the winter months when the water is 68 but the air temp is 40.

If you want to know more about diving here in FL or brush up on diving in general you can check out our website for more info...www.nasjaxscubadivers.org

 

[driftin by]

Landlocked Rescue Diver checking in form BEAUTIFUL Colorado. DW and I were certified in 2003 in Ohio and earned every bit of it diving in cold and murky quarries but loved every minute. Dived internationally in Bonaire, Mexico mainland, just about every site in Cozumel and even the Niagara River above the Falls in Ontario, Canada. Been in just about every mud hole in Texas and now some reservoirs in Colorado. Cozumel feels like home with old friends and familiar haunts but we left our hearts are in Bonaire.

We welcomed our daughter to this world in 2005 and drug her around with us yielding 7 passport stamps in her first 2 years of life. But in the last couple of years, she has grown tires of our diving routine on vacation- eat, dive, drink, sleep, repeat! So we started planning vacations around her interests- Disney, camping, snowboarding, fishing and soon to be canoeing. All, with the exception of Disney, suites us just fine living in Colorado.

She will be 10 in 18 months but who's counting?) and has demonstrated and fine respect of risk and consequence and a keen interest in diving and will begin certification then and join us diving. We've talked about taking dive trips with our PUP to Santa Rosa, NM and Homestead Crater in Utah. Also considering a trip to the west coast to dive the Channel Islands but with so much family in the area it may not warrant dragging the PUP out there.

I was shocked to see this forum while visiting to get information on canoes. Glad it's here.

 

[ChocoChock01]

When u wAnt to dive the Channel Islands let me know and I can hook u up

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[Hoomi]

There is some great diving in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, that is within reasonable driving distance of the U.S. Border. Taking trailers down through Sonora now is a bit more troublesome, as the Checkpoint where we get our Visas now insists on a lot of paperwork for any trailers or recreational type vehicles taken into Mexico. This includes ATV's, quads, boats, and camping trailers.

Alas, we're not making the spring trip to dive down in Mexico, but hoping it won't be too long until we're able to get back underwater.

 

[scubacamper]

Hoomi,

A friend of mine goes to the Sea of Cortez to dive with the Great Whites every year for the last few years and this year is no different. One day the DW and I want to go.

Doc

 

[Camp-N-Nuts]

Hoomi,
A friend of mine goes to the Sea of Cortez to dive with the Great Whites every year...

Are you sure you don't mean the Humpbacks?

 

[scubacamper]

Nope he dives off the Solomar for Great Whites. Oh he has done the humpbacks as well but his adrenaline rush is the Great Whites. They're baited in and the divers get into these cages (as if that would help).

 

[Hoomi]

One of my friends did the Great White Shark dive off Isla Guadalupe a few years ago, and got some awesome video. They had 5 or 6 identifiable individual Great Whites come in, and while the shallow dives were in a cage, the deeper dives were on more of a platform. He said if the sharks had wanted to get them, the platform would have done little to stop them.

We did the "Big Fish Encounter" in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji, four years ago, when we were over there for our 30th Anniversary. Incredible dive, with nurse sharks, lemon sharks, bull sharks, a 14' tiger shark, and one lone reef shark in the distance at the end of one of the two dives. There were also a couple of very large sea bass or groupers present on the second dive.

No cage on the Big Fish Encounter. They have a cable strung along a ridge on the reef down about 80' deep, and we just knelt there, holding onto the cable so we didn't have to worry about buoyancy or drifting at all. The tiger shark was one of the best highlights of the whole trip.

Our video of the shark dive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTCqyLwRzAA

 

[scubacamper]

Hoomi,

Incredible video...my wife and I want to do the Shark Dive. Here in FL we've done Live-Aboards where we've been part of shark feedings off Bimini and I've even pet several different types of sharks while in the Bahamas but diving with the Great Whites and the Whale Shark diving off Belize is the other trip we want to do.

 

[Hoomi]

One of my wife's "bucket list" dives is with whale sharks. I'm hoping someday to have wild dolphins show up while we're diving.

 

[jbarz73]

I got certified in 1993. My last dive was in 1995. I'm waiting until all 3 sons are old enough to get their Jr cert. Then I'm springing for the whole family to get certified.

 

[scubacamper]

jbarz,

Since the DD's were born we dive very little, before we dove 50+ dives a year but as they get older and they now snorkel, we're in the water more. usually with our club one of us dives while the other watches the kids. When we camp and take the gear we usually have friends that will allows us to take a few minutes while the girls are busy playing, to get wet, at least one dive.

Hoomi,

The best way to have the experience with the dolphins is on a Live-Aboard. Before the girls we did one every summer and it never failed to allow us to dive with them. One pod we dove with had a mother and baby and no matter what we did mom always stayed between us and the baby. At one point my DW was on one side and I made my way to the other side but another female dolphin came in as buffer, how interesting. The usual encounter we have had was with Spotted Dolphin in and around the Bahamas. Good luck though, once you do it you'll ALWAYS remember it.

Doc

 

[Hoomi]

Came close one time in the Sea of Cortez. We were on the Zodiak, heading to one of the remote sites, and came upon a large pod of the long-nosed common dolphins. We tried to snorkel with them, but they were moving too fast for us to manage. It was still very cool to see them that close.

 

[ChocoChock01]

I had interesting Dolphin experience snorkeling in the Caicos Islands. A local dolphin
Would play w you for hours!! He would swim around us and near the beach he would come and goose the women only. The locals knew (don't remember his name) and would tell the women not to be afraid.

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[scubacamper]

When my DW was newly pregnant with our first and we didn't want to jinx the situation after about 6 tries (IVF) we were at a business function for her work and one of the side trips was to play at the "Dolphin Encounter" in Cancun but she couldn't participate. It seems the Dolphins pick up on human women who are pregnant (even when they don't think they are) and have issues with those women in the water. Needless to say I had a GREAT TIME riding them and participating in their training. One of her co-workers knows that she and I are avid divers so she put the puzzle pieces together and asked very descreatly later at dinner, which we confirmed but that not even our parents knew. She said there had to be a DRASTIC reason my DW didn't get into the water with the dolphins and her being pregnant seemed the ONLY logical answer.

Hey I had fun.

 

[campfamily3]

We were certified in 2004, but became parents in 2007. We'll get back to it soon--the kiddo is pretty interested!

 

[indynigil]

My wife and I dive, but never have while camping. Hoping to break that trend this year with a couple of great lakes trips.

 

[ChocoChock01]

Got 2 of the 3 adult children out on their first 3 dives on Sunday off Anacapa Island , Channel Islands.
They will finish up their certification in Sept.

 

[scubacamper]

Our club is planning another Camp n Dive trip over Columbus Day weekend in Oct. We wanted to do the keys this year but school started the first week of Aug for faculty and so as the main organizer for our group i had to go back to work earlier this year....oh well.

 

[ChocoChock01]

How do you pack for both a camping trip and scuba trip? Especially if you want to bring an inflatable.