Gearing up for Scuba

Night before last I went to Equinox Dive to purchase everything I will need for my Open Water Diver class that starts this Sunday. Ryan at Equinox took me through the store and explained exactly what I'd need. I'd already read the "Go Dive" book and had a decent idea of what I was looking for from cruising the net. One thing I can say; Scuba is definitely an expensive hobby. In the end I purchased mask, snorkel, boots, fins, and a 7/5mm wetsuit. I bought the good stuff based on the assumption that I'll enjoy diving more if I buy the good stuff in the beginning. Ryan showed me some great dive computers and regulators but I think for now I'll be renting those pieces of equipment.

My class starts on Sunday and I'm excited. Tom, the OW instructor, gave me a call last night to make sure everything was in order and give me the details on where and when to show up. The only potentially disappointing thing is that the dive shop may not have enough equipment in on Sunday to allow the students to dive. If so, we'll be doing snorkeling the first night. Until Sunday I’m just browsing Scuba sites and hoping that this is going to be as cool as I think it is.

Once I’m OW certified I think it’ll be time to visit Dave and Susan, my friends down in Fort Lauderdale. They are both OW certified and it’d be a great opportunity to go down and hang out with them. The only concern there is that I’ll have little experience at that point and I’ve heard that some of the dive outfits may want you to have more experience before you go out with them. Ryan from Equinox told me that he knows some great places down in Florida so I’ll be asking for his recommendations based on my skill level and experience when the time comes.