Greetings from Long Island!

Hello all,

Just wanted to introduce myself to the group. A former lifeguard and swim instructor, who was always about the water, finally decided on my honeymoon in Hawaii (it was supposed to be in Bora Bora but the airline went on strike) to try scuba. Obviously, 8 years later, I am still "Finding Nemo."

I eventually made it to Bora Bora the following year for my first anniversary and went shark diving in Moorea (no cage) and was certified (my wife says certifiable!) Another favorite dive was at Disney World's Living Seas in what they call "Dive Quest". It was fun toying with the people eating in the restaurant.

This is one great sport, but also one gear and money intensive one, unlike my other which is marathon running. As you can tell from my name 'fooddude', I am interested in food from the nutrition side (I'm a registered dietitian) as well as a certified personal trainer (I don't use much air, usally outlasting my instructors and divemasters- it's my best scuba skill). I plan on taking my AOW later thsi summer and then continue on towards divemaster. I want to be the best diver I can be.

Thanks for listening, maybe I'll see you in the 'Lost City of Atlantis'.

FD

Hello Fooddude, welcome to our dive hangout. Please jump right into our conversations and feel free to start your own. We have a great group here and we love new members.

Do you do any local diving or are you mostly a vacation diver?

Ace

Welcome FD,

I hear Tahiti is nice diving but expensive.

Welcome FD,

You've come to the right place. It could be argued that we are all "certifiable". But life is more fun around the edges than it is in the middle anyway.

Yes, it takes a few bucks to feed this obsession. But it's all in the mindset. I look at it this way: 100 US dollars equals 1 "scuba buck". If I can go to the dive shop and only spend a couple of scuba bucks, it doesn't hurt as much.

Dive safe, dive often.

Mountain Dog

Nice to meet you. If Thailand is in your future plans, it would be great to find a few nemos with you (I know one site where we have five different kinds of resident anemonefish you might like to do a "treasure hunt" at).

Q (An Andaman Mermaid)

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Originally Posted by Mountain Dog

I look at it this way: 100 US dollars equals 1 "scuba buck".
Mountain Dog

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I'm going to remember that one! (The only problem is that here it's not as neat.... 3,400 Thai Baht = 1 Scuba Buck????)

G'day and welcome aboard Fooddude.

Matt

I am a local diver. I dive on vacation because, who doesn't, but I love the fact that I live on an island, and that means lots of water. Plenty to see here in the northeast; lots of wrecks, lots of fish, lots of mud, you know, the good stuff:)

FD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quero

I'm going to remember that one! (The only problem is that here it's not as neat.... 3,400 Thai Baht = 1 Scuba Buck????)

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Q-

Make it neat. If you round it up to, say, 5,000 Thai Baht equals 1 Scuba Baht, it's even better!

Mountain Dog

Hey fooddude, welcome aboard.

How did you get to do the Disney Worlds Living Seas - Dive Quest? I've heard about that before and would love to do something like as well - like you said, toying with the restaurant customers - and would be soooo much fun..... :D

Yes welcome.

I did the epcot dive this past Feb. It was a Blast!! Even bought the video.

I made phone reservations in advance
(about two weeks then)
Check out www.epcotdivequest.com
It will have all the answers you need.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fooddude

I am a local diver. I dive on vacation because, who doesn't, but I love the fact that I live on an island, and that means lots of water. Plenty to see here in the northeast; lots of wrecks, lots of fish, lots of mud, you know, the good stuff:)

FD

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Awesome! I know you have some great wrecks in your area. I do a lot of my diving off South Jersey, so we have similar conditions. Of course I go on dive vacations as well, but I dive more off vacation than on.

Ace

Thanks for the link DaddyH2O, I'll check that out!