wife may be interested in diving

I am certified and my wife is thinking about it. Is there a good
place in Maryland where she can try SCUBA out, we are in the
gaithersburg, north potomac area.

allan wrote

>I am certified and my wife is thinking about it. Is there a good place in
>Maryland where she can try SCUBA out, we are in the
> gaithersburg, north potomac area.

I have to say that, if I wanted my wife to like diving, I'd find something a
lot warmer, with a lot better visibility, than anything you're likely to
find nearby. Take her to Grand Cayman and let her learn where the coral and
the fish are bright and colorful.

Lee

On Jan 31, 5:13 pm, "Lee Bell" <pleebe...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> >I am certified and my wife is thinking about it. Is there a good place in
> >Maryland where she can try SCUBA out, we are in the
> > gaithersburg, north potomac area.
>
> I have to say that, if I wanted my wife to like diving, I'd find something a
> lot warmer, with a lot better visibility, than anything you're likely to
> find nearby. Take her to Grand Cayman and let her learn where the coral and
> the fish are bright and colorful.

Why spend the money to stay in Grand Cayman to sit in a classroom?
It's better to learn locally in Maryland, then do the certification
dives in a tropical locale if she's going to be a WWW. On the other
hand, maybe she'll want to dive locally, in which case it's almost
necessary to get certified locally. Even if she ends up a WWW, she'll
end up a better diver if she survives the local dives.

Also, the best of Grand Cayman is "bottomless" wall diving, something
not recommended for a beginner still working out the kinks in her
buoyancy.

If he's thinking about a Discover Scuba type dive (yes, I know it's
PADI), then it would be better to go warm. If she's not sure, she
might not want spend the time and money to go through the full
certification class. And besides, it would be warm.

On 31 Jan 2007 17:51:03 -0800, "Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com>
wrote:

>On Jan 31, 5:13 pm, "Lee Bell" <pleebe...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> >I am certified and my wife is thinking about it. Is there a good place in
>> >Maryland where she can try SCUBA out, we are in the
>> > gaithersburg, north potomac area.
>>
>> I have to say that, if I wanted my wife to like diving, I'd find something a
>> lot warmer, with a lot better visibility, than anything you're likely to
>> find nearby. Take her to Grand Cayman and let her learn where the coral and
>> the fish are bright and colorful.
>
>Why spend the money to stay in Grand Cayman to sit in a classroom?
>It's better to learn locally in Maryland, then do the certification
>dives in a tropical locale if she's going to be a WWW. On the other
>hand, maybe she'll want to dive locally, in which case it's almost
>necessary to get certified locally. Even if she ends up a WWW, she'll
>end up a better diver if she survives the local dives.
>
>Also, the best of Grand Cayman is "bottomless" wall diving, something
>not recommended for a beginner still working out the kinks in her
>buoyancy.

On Jan 31, 7:28 pm, Robert Dickson <rhd...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> If he's thinking about a Discover Scuba type dive (yes, I know it's
> PADI), then it would be better to go warm. If she's not sure, she
> might not want spend the time and money to go through the full
> certification class. And besides, it would be warm.

A warm pool can also be a place to find out whether one likes the
feeling of breathing underwater. Good dive shops should offer a
"Discover Scuba" in their pools to potentially interested customers.

Discover dives aren't limited to PADI. But they can be dangerous,
especially outside the auspices of the U.S. legal liability system

"Greg Mossman" <mossman@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:1170301256.420079.184620@j27g2000cwj.googlegr oups.com...
> On Jan 31, 7:28 pm, Robert Dickson <rhd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> If he's thinking about a Discover Scuba type dive (yes, I know it's
>> PADI), then it would be better to go warm. If she's not sure, she
>> might not want spend the time and money to go through the full
>> certification class. And besides, it would be warm.
>
> A warm pool can also be a place to find out whether one likes the
> feeling of breathing underwater. Good dive shops should offer a
> "Discover Scuba" in their pools to potentially interested customers.
>
> Discover dives aren't limited to PADI. But they can be dangerous,
> especially outside the auspices of the U.S. legal liability system

IMVHO a discover scuba dive should be done somewhere where there is
something interesting to look at because that take the new divers thoughts
away from the idea of breathing underwater to a certain extent. I agree with
your previous comments that going away to a resort to learn diving is a
waste of time sitting on the land when you could be wet blowing bubbles.
Admittedly I have great diving close so I am bias

BTW I'm not sure how the US legal system makes Discover dives safer

Greg Mossman wrote

> Why spend the money to stay in Grand Cayman to sit in a classroom?
> It's better to learn locally in Maryland, then do the certification
> dives in a tropical locale if she's going to be a WWW. On the other
> hand, maybe she'll want to dive locally, in which case it's almost
> necessary to get certified locally. Even if she ends up a WWW, she'll
> end up a better diver if she survives the local dives.

Because it's not polite to keep saying "bring her to Florida."

> Also, the best of Grand Cayman is "bottomless" wall diving, something
> not recommended for a beginner still working out the kinks in her
> buoyancy.

The best for you and me is wall diving. Grand Cayman has some wonderful
shallow reef diving that can be done quite economically from shore.

Lee

On Jan 31, 9:42 pm, "Lee Bell" <pleebe...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Greg Mossman wrote
>
> > Why spend the money to stay in Grand Cayman to sit in a classroom?
> > It's better to learn locally in Maryland, then do the certification
> > dives in a tropical locale if she's going to be a WWW. On the other
> > hand, maybe she'll want to dive locally, in which case it's almost
> > necessary to get certified locally. Even if she ends up a WWW, she'll
> > end up a better diver if she survives the local dives.
>
> Because it's not polite to keep saying "bring her to Florida."
>
> > Also, the best of Grand Cayman is "bottomless" wall diving, something
> > not recommended for a beginner still working out the kinks in her
> > buoyancy.
>
> The best for you and me is wall diving. Grand Cayman has some wonderful
> shallow reef diving that can be done quite economically from shore.

It's not that wonderful. There's better and more economical shore
diving in Roatan or Bonaire (and Curacao?). Or stick with boat dives
in the Keys.

Greg Mossman wrote

>> The best for you and me is wall diving. Grand Cayman has some wonderful
>> shallow reef diving that can be done quite economically from shore.

> It's not that wonderful. There's better and more economical shore
> diving in Roatan or Bonaire (and Curacao?). Or stick with boat dives
> in the Keys.

I guess opinions differ. Some of my favorite dives of all times, where
night shore dives around Devil's Grotto.

Lee

On Feb 1, 9:04 am, "Lee Bell" <pleebe...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> >> The best for you and me is wall diving. Grand Cayman has some wonderful
> >> shallow reef diving that can be done quite economically from shore.
> > It's not that wonderful. There's better and more economical shore
> > diving in Roatan or Bonaire (and Curacao?). Or stick with boat dives
> > in the Keys.
>
> I guess opinions differ. Some of my favorite dives of all times, where
> night shore dives around Devil's Grotto.

I never dove there at night, so I wouldn't know. Day dives are
interesting there with all the swimthroughs and the tarpons that start
lurking around in the afternoon , but the coral is almost all dead and
the fish life scanty. The reef is a bit healthier up at the turtle
farm, but that's a "mini wall" with no swimthrough opportunities. At
Cobalt Coast, there's a gently sloping hill that they call a wall.
Its growth is healthier yet, but the terrain is boring and I still
wouldn't call it a wonderful dive, at least when compared to the
diving I've done on the north wall.