I have vowed to never try to make money at something I enjoy doing as recreation. I watched a commercial diver go down into the murky waters of the Mississippi River. His suit looked like crap, ripped-up beat up, and he told me that you can't see your hand in front of your face and that submerged telephone poles and trees could easily take you out. This re-enforced my conviction. Same with flying airplanes. It is great when you can choose when and where. YMMV. My favorite diving is in the Florida Keys. Key Largo is a big Swimming Pool with lots of shallow dives and doesn't cost an arm and a leg and you can drive there and.... and.... and.... LOL
Great philosophy. I just started doing lobster dives again after years of murky, miserable, cold, nasty dives chasing bugs and fighting off cudas and sharks. It ruined the dives for me, and I stopped for 7 years. Just started again, but in moderation. I no longer seek to fill up a 120QT cooler in one day.
That's why I never got my instructor cert. The shop I used to help out wanted me to get it in the worst way. I didn't want it to be a job. Of course I got into SAR work and it was pretty job like. Blackwater here in the delta too. Rip rap, re-bar, fishing lines, fun stuff.
I've only been to Key Largo once and it was okay, but most dives were canceled due to swells and weather. I'd like to go back one day. I was pleasantly surprised at the diving in West Palm, FL. Water is really clear, there's a couple of cool wrecks and tons of massive grouper, sharks, etc. I was down there for work earlier this year, so I took my scuba gear and didn't have a ton of expectation. There's a group down there called Walker's Dive Charters that I can't say enough about. One of the best dive operators I've ever used.
Oh, and as for those of you who let others rig your shit... YOU'RE NUTS. You'll only have an issue come up once and you'll never do it again. Even my wife double checks her gear after I set her up.
why are they pita? what do they do to make it a bitch to take the gear with you? chelle and i were planning (once the baby gets a little older) to do a cruise to a dive spot.
Small cabins, for one thing. You've gotta store that shit somewhere. I've tried putting it on the balcony. The problem is, there's fine saltwater spray that basically sandblasts everything. Second, if you try to dive through the ship, they have VERY limited availability. I'm talking 15 people total for ships with 3500 or more. Just not enough capacity, which leaves you to schedule it yourself (see #3 below). Thirdly, if you decide to go it on your own, trying to coordinate a dive operator with the time your ship docks can sometimes be tricky. The times you're given for being in port are kinda squishy. My last 2 cruises, we got into port up to an hour after we were told. Unless you have a dive operator that's really flexible, you can sometimes miss your trip. If you can make it work, it is cheaper to do it on your own, and you'll generally end up with a better dive trip. Dominica, Roatan (Honduras), and Aruba I did on my own and they ended up being better dive trips than I've taken through the ship(s). Aruba's trip wasn't as good as I was hoping, but it was because the dive operator was overcrowded. FWIW, Royal Caribbean's dive operation is a little better than Norwegian's, although neither are as good as doing your own thing if you can swing it.
As far as how I got into the business, I found a niche that was not being filled, strange combination of skills but it all works. I don't discuss it much in public because there are people with the 3 sets of skills needed and just haven't put the picture together. As far as working doing something enjoyable, well sometimes it is but mostly just work. I have to remind myself to look around and enjoy, but like yesterday sometimes when you sell your soul to the devil he may just collect. He didn't collect yesterday but left a calling card.
You're crazy if you think divers/racers/car enthusiasts/ skydivers/pilots haven't all thought about doing what they love for a living. We've all looked at it, and 99% of us aren't interested. Now, fess up. Calling card? What's the niche?
Master here. Was working on my dive master and changed my mind on going farther in that area. Lots of specialties like deep diver, wreck, etc. Been diving all over the place. Love Bonaire best of all.
I got certified in 1989, and occasionally helped my uncle, clean the bottoms of boats. I haven't scuba'd since 1990, I couldn't afford good gear at the time.
I'd love to get a Dive Master certification. I know I'd be good at it. PADI has prevented me from going any further though. It seems to be, to me, too commercial and too many frivolous requirements to get there... Like they're more interested in selling specialties than actually having good Dive Masters. I need to get Nitrox certified. I've been saying I'm going to do it, and I haven't done it yet.
That comment brought back memories. I used to use a dry suit when I was barefoot water skiing during the winter months. Who knew you could stay that dry over the majority of your body. It just took a little getting used too having the rubber seal squeezing around the neck area.
I learned to scuba dive on Little Cayman many years ago, and later got my advanced and rescue diver certs. This year my 16-year-old got his open water and I did the class with him. Looking forward to doing some more dives together.
Just got back from talking to the local fire dive team. I'm going to go in a shoot photos with my Nikonos during their training tomorrow, third time in ten years I've shot film. Gotta get a housing one of these days. It will be pea soup with algae where they're training. Should be fun.
If you have a go pro in the waterproof housing (same one I use for track) it works fine. I have had mine to 70 ft and others have had it past 200 with no problems. it shoots quite well under water too.
Yea, I've shot with a go pro underwater. Looks like shit compared to a nikonos 20mm wide angle lens, I can also control the focus and aperture on the Nikonos. I'll probably be shooting 12-18 inches away to decrease the crap between me and the divers in training I may put a go pro on for video.
