any scuba divers here

[mike johnston]

Are there any divers here, and if so where are your favorite dive spots

Thanks Mike

[mike holden]

the simple reply is: "anywhere its wet" but I think you are looking for the exotic places, yes?
Utila is very nice. Grand Turk is good. Belize is fair to wonderful depending on the site.
Mike

BTW, my avatar was taken on Grand Turk

[Brian Vaughn]

Bahamas were nice, some of the rock quarries have been interesting, but I've heard great things about Thailand.

[glenn bradley]

The Caribbean spoiled me. Hawaii and Cancun were just OK.

[Belinda Barfield]

Thanks for starting this thread, Mike. I don't get to dive much anymore but I'm hope to make up for lost time in the near future, so I'm interested in site recommendations also. Anyone have any thoughts on the Dominican Republic. A friend has an apartment there (he lives here) and I can stay at place for free!:D

[Mike McCann]

There are so many different places to dive. It depends on what you are looking for. Big stuff Galapagos Islands. Easy diving aruba bahamas. shore diving bonaire.
Hawaii is a great place also. Muck diving jersey shore. macro photo diving thailand.

Just depends

Wreck diving the off the coast of north carolina.

[Baxter Gamble]

Just retuned from diving in the Cook Islands. Beautiful, warm, and great people.

[Larry Frank]

I learned to dive a little over a year ago in Florida with my son. I have dived a number of the springs in Central Florida and really enjoyed them. The water is so clear. I had never heard of the springs and caves in Florida before and have been amazed at the number of them. I have given some thought to getting qualified for cave diving but not certain that I have the nerve for that. I have also dived off Miami on a reef and wreck and on a reef in Key West. With good conditions, diving on a reef anywhere is a real thrill.

[Joe Chritz]

We are planning a cruise to Grand Cayman and the Bahama's hopefully this fall. That has to be 1000% better than recovery diving in Michigan spring time water. Visibility here is measured in inches.

Joe

[mike johnston]

We just got back from St Lucia, first time there. It was great. Going to Cozumel at the end of May (birthday present to myself) and Belize, next feb. Would love to squeeze a short trip between may & feb, something close, maybe the keys. Dream spots would be Fiji, Marshall Islands, Tonga, maybe Red Sea, But they're all so far away & expensive.

[Lee Koepke]

I used to spear fish off Sebastian Inlet in florida.

I have dove springs / caverns in central florida, several random reefs in the keys, but thats about it. My favorite was spearfishing, nothing .. NOTHING beats a fresh sea bass or grouper straight from the live well to the grill. Its one of the few things I really miss from my days of youth ....

[Ruhi Arslan]

Are there any divers here, and if so where are your favorite dive spots

Nearest body of water is my most favorite spot. I like fresh water diving so depending where I lived, I found the nearby lakes my favorites. If and when I traveled for diving, Belize (yes, that included Blue Hole as well) became my most favorite, particularly Ambergris Cay. Again, wonderful but not as hospitable as it used to be area once was Red Sea. Amazing diving but mostly pushing the envelope for "rec diving". Kelps of the coat of San Diego was our favorite when we lived in San Diego. I found Florida Springs (fresh water) very entertaining.

[David Peterson MN]

I have enjoyed diving all over the Caribbean but I would say that Cozumel has been my favorite overall. I have gotten into underwater photography(no fancy equipment) and have taken some memorable photos on my dives there. I am also partial to the iron ore pits near Crosby, MN. Good visibility and lots of fish! I shot a great photo there around 5 years ago of a turtle looking nose to nose with a small mouth bass. They then "fought" over the territory.

[Bill Leonard]

As a PADI Master Instructor I was fortunate to have a dive shop in Athens, Greece for three years back in the late 70's. The Aegean is ( or was) incredibly clear. I had the opportunity to assist on a 4th century AD roman ship recovery, incredible experience. I always enjoy Pennecamp in Florida as well as the many springs in Florida. Midwest quarries to the Red Sea, it doesn't matter, so long as you do it safely.

[Ruhi Arslan]

I had the opportunity to assist on a 4th century AD roman ship recovery, incredible experience.

Yassi Ada???

I know some folks from Texas A&M and Smithsonian who excavated one in Bodrum in late 80s.

[Bill Cunningham]

I don't think I have ever dove in warm water in my life. Especially sea water.. Usually found myself at the mouth of a river flowing into the Bay of Fundy in mid winter, with fresh mixing with below freezing salt. Kinda like working in half setup Jello.. I'm 64 now, hopefully just once before it all over, I will be able to sink down into waarrrm water and look at the pretty fish.. This is me, taken back in the 80's on a barge completing a welding job.. And ya, I used to be able to stuff all that hair in a Superlite as well..
187866:p

[Joe Angrisani]

Nearest body of water is my most favorite spot. I like fresh water diving so depending where I lived, I found the nearby lakes my favorites.....

Ruhi.... You should come out to Colorado this summer and join our club for it's annual dive/cleanup at Turquoise Lake outside Leadville. The surface is about 9,800' above sea level. You get to do altitude adjustments on your dive calculations!

[Scott Flamm]

I am headed to Belize in 2 weeks, any suggestion for dive/snorkel locals?

[Ruhi Arslan]

Ruhi.... You should come out to Colorado this summer and join our club for it's annual dive/cleanup at Turquoise Lake outside Leadville. [B]

- Where are you heading with all that diving stuff, Cancun???
- No, Colorado...
- Huhh??? :confused:

Lake looks gorgeous. What kind of cleanup is needed there or is it like "snipe hunting" equivalent diving event? We used to have cleanup events at the springs at Zilker Park in Austin. Some sort of vegetation was taking over and consuming all the oxygen in the water apparently if not kept in order.


I am headed to Belize in 2 weeks, any suggestion for dive/snorkel locals?
I always went with group of people. We would go to one of the islands, rent boats for the day or two or three and go out. I suggest you try to dive the Blue Hole, depending on your experience level. It is beyond "recreational" limits if it means anything to you. It is a day trip to go out there.
During one of my Belize trips, I found a pair of Japanese divers who were lost left by their dive boat out in the ocean. Boat was searching for them on the wrong side of the current and have not alerted anyone yet. They have been on the surface for over four hours already. :mad:

[Joe Angrisani]

.....Lake looks gorgeous. What kind of cleanup is needed there or is it like "snipe hunting" equivalent diving event?.....

Mostly beer cans from the campground area. Bozos. :mad:

[Jay Maiers]

I learned to dive a little over a year ago in Florida with my son. I have dived a number of the springs in Central Florida and really enjoyed them. The water is so clear. I had never heard of the springs and caves in Florida before and have been amazed at the number of them. I have given some thought to getting qualified for cave diving but not certain that I have the nerve for that. I have also dived off Miami on a reef and wreck and on a reef in Key West. With good conditions, diving on a reef anywhere is a real thrill.

At the very least you should think about getting a cavern diving certification. My wife and I are intro-to-cave certified and love hitting the springs in Florida. Our last dive trip was a long time ago, but we're hoping to get down there some time this fall.


We just got back from St Lucia, first time there. It was great. Going to Cozumel at the end of May (birthday present to myself) and Belize, next feb. Would love to squeeze a short trip between may & feb, something close, maybe the keys. Dream spots would be Fiji, Marshall Islands, Tonga, maybe Red Sea, But they're all so far away & expensive.
Read up on diving the Cenotes. Some of them are so open that they don't requre cavern or cave certification. We dove a few cenotes near Playa del Carmen and Akumal that were beautiful (assuming you like that sort of diving :) ).

[Jake Helmboldt]

Mike, check out Palancar and San Francisco at the southern tip of Cozumel. They were great drift dives (14 years ago). Probably still a good dive.

[mike johnston]

Since first posting this, (in 2011) we got back yesterday from Roatan. It was are 18th or 19th trip since being certified in 2011. in three weeks the Philippines then in March Little Cayman. We've been to St Lucia, Belize, The keys a few times, Bonaire 3 times, Cozumel 6 or 7 times, Socorro liveaboard, Fiji, (great shark dive) and probably a couple of others I can't think of right now, but the trip I'm really excited about is in July to Papua New Guinea on a liveaboard. I still love woodworking but must admit when I'm daydreaming it's mostly about diving. I have about 300 dives and the local shop would like me to become an instructor, but I think I think Dive Master is just fine. If anyone is ever looking to fill out a trip give me a call. It would be neat to talk woodworking on a dive trip.

[Roger Feeley]

Fiji was the prettiest by far. The service was wonderful and staying was cheap. One bit of advice. If you pay to get to the South Pacific, make sure you stay a while. We went for a week. Should have stayed three.

The Caribbean is great but failing. There is a LOT of bleaching. We went to Bonaire and the coral was all white.

Another thing we found by accident was that there can be some wonderful spots that aren't big enough for a guided dive. We were at the Bitter End Yacht Club and we rented a boat for the day. They wouldn't let us take the boat out ourselves without being checked out so we grudgingly paid $50 for a 'captain'. The captain turned out to be a guy named Buck who piloted the resort's excursions and had lived in the British Virgin Islands all his life. He sat in back and directed us while we drove the boat to places he knew. They were far and away better than any of the dive sites. The sea life was much more abundant and colorful but the sites just weren't large enough for a dozen divers. We spent the day going from site to site and taking down GPS coordinates. The next day, we had the boat on our own and spent it going back to those spots for some great snorkeling.

[Charles McKinley]

My certification dives were at Bainbridge Sportsman's Club near Harrisburg, PA. They have all kinds of stuff in the old quarry like a Cement truck, an airplane, and several boats.

Sightings of Wally the three eyed fish from the Simpson's have been reported! (It is just down the road from Three mile Island.)

I have heard that Lake Erie has several nice wrecks to dive but haven't been there yet.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Fiji was the prettiest by far. The service was wonderful and staying was cheap. One bit of advice. If you pay to get to the South Pacific, make sure you stay a while. We went for a week. Should have stayed three.

The Caribbean is great but failing. There is a LOT of bleaching. We went to Bonaire and the coral was all white.

Another thing we found by accident was that there can be some wonderful spots that aren't big enough for a guided dive. We were at the Bitter End Yacht Club and we rented a boat for the day. They wouldn't let us take the boat out ourselves without being checked out so we grudgingly paid $50 for a 'captain'. The captain turned out to be a guy named Buck who piloted the resort's excursions and had lived in the British Virgin Islands all his life. He sat in back and directed us while we drove the boat to places he knew. They were far and away better than any of the dive sites. The sea life was much more abundant and colorful but the sites just weren't large enough for a dozen divers. We spent the day going from site to site and taking down GPS coordinates. The next day, we had the boat on our own and spent it going back to those spots for some great snorkeling.

Glad you enjoyed my back yard! I am glad they take the masses (cruise ship passengers) to the same spots so they can destroy just one small area. I am also happy you got to see some good local spots. We did have a bleaching about five years ago. The water was like bath water, and the higher heat caused bleaching. The coral has recovered but the elkhorns were hard hit.

I do a lot of treasure hunting but when not doing that I prefer free diving. I like to mess with the tourists by swimming past them at 40 feet, no tanks, and swim down to a crevasse and out of sight, then surface behind a rock where they can't see me.

One favorite spot in St. Thomas is the wreck of a DC3 that went down about 7 years ago. I knew the pilots well (they survived) and I actually watched the plane take off the day it crashed!

[Greg Peterson]

This American Life just did a segment on Bushman's Cave. Fascinating, sad story.

Episode is Good Guys, I think it is the last segment. (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/)

Here's a thread about the incident the diver talks about in the TAL segment. (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/83634-tragedy-bushmans-cave-boesmansgat.html)

I am not a diver. I found the story on TAL fascinating and then this thread showed up. Thought you divers might find the story interesting.