Hello....& diving in Georgia, USA and in Scotland

[WebbCMH]

Just registered and wanted to say that this looks like a great Divers forum.
I have dived in a few locations over the years including Hawaii, South of France, Portofino - Italy, Perth-Western Australia, and more recently in Malta, Tunisia & this Christmas in Florianopolis-Brazil.

I am about to sign up for an Advanced Open Water Divers Course from PADI and am planning to do the theory part here in the UK and the diving on the coast of Georgia, USA as I will be in Atlanta for a few days in May. I have looked into going to the PADI centre on St. Simon Island, GA and was wondering if anyone out there had experienced diving there or if any one would recommend any place in particular on the Georgia coast.

Also can anyone recommend a good wreck diving location and dive centre in Scotland for later on this year......

Look forward to any replies.......

 

[mundial]

welcome mate :wave
enjoy the forum n the people here
its a multy-state forum were you can find
users from europe asia australia africa and america
i am eyal from the medeterrian sea israel

 

[Alison]

Hi WebbCHM
Welcome, Dont really know much about Scotland, Im sure Ben Gowland will help you out there, he's a realy knowledgable guy from behind Hadrians wall
Scapa Flow is pretty cool, I went up there years ago with our SAC for a weeks holiday, lacking somewhat if your a party animal but brilliant diving

 

[Ben Gowland]

Yes Alison, I'm sitting at the PC with a claymore in my hand.... :t

WebbCHM - Scottish diving can be the best in the UK - whereabouts will you be?

 

[paddythefrog]

Interesting! I have a bunch of French divers looking to organise a weekend of scuba in Scotland so I'd love to hear about any suggestions too please. Anywhere that's easy to get to

 

[Alison]

Had a quick scan and found a couple of sites http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/places/coastal/index.php
http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/wrecks/index.php
heres a list of BSAC clubs you could try and get a spare boat place with (many are happy to do this if there is space) http://www.bsac.com/about/branches.htm

 

[WebbCMH]

Thanks for the response Alison - I've also heard that Scarpa Flow is one of the best.

Ben - I can be wherever I need to be for good diving in Scotland - me and one or two diving mates will travel up by bike sometime this summer - more likely in late August/early September but won't know exactly when for a couple more months. Whereabouts are you located?

I wouldn't mind doing a Nitrox training course while I'm up there in Scotland if that's a possibility......

 

[Ben Gowland]

There are plenty of SCUBA training places based around Oban.

I live in Aberdeen - but there are much better places to go diving in Scotland than here!

 

[WebbCMH]

I think Oban would be our best bet as we would like to make it a long weekend trip rather than a 4 day bike ride to and from Scarpa Flow. Oban is a 540 mile trip each way (whereas Scarpa Flow is 750 miles each way) which we can do in a day if we put our minds to it. I once did a 650 mile ride in a day a couple of years ago so it should be possible.

Any particular dive sites/wrecks you might recommend in Oban?

I'll look into Oban dive schools and see what comes up.

Thanks for your advice.....

 

[Ben Gowland]

You mean motorbike? YOu'd be breaking the 24 hour record other wise!

Puffin-divers in Oban. Quite commercial, but customer focussed. There's quite a few wrecks that they will take you to SCUBA dive. Free/spearing - not the best place to go.

 

[WebbCMH]

Actually it's an electric bike........just kidding :ko

I found the Puffin Dive Centre on the web this afternoon - looks like that'll be the one....I'll contact them later on in the year when the trip is more definite.

In the meantime I'm planning my Georgia Dive trip in late May/earlyJune.

Kind Regards

 

[delfin_1]

Cheers, from one newbie to another

 

[WebbCMH]

Cheers to you as well - whereabouts you from in NY - I lived on the upper east side for 3 years in the 90's - didn't do any diving there but caught a 25lb Sea Bass boat fishing on the East River in front of the UN building. I also took part with some friends in the New York Poker Run Powerboat event in 1998 which was fun....

 

[delfin_1]

25 lbs?! Wow, and I here I was, thinking there was NO sealife anywhere near that river, that is amazing. If you have any pics, feel free to post 'em! I'm originally from nyc, and also try to spend as much time as I can in Ecuador, still have a bit of family there. I live in the Upper East also! Not far from where you were, on 80th, it's not bad, but I'd rather be on the West Coast I think...

Out of the places you've dived, which is your favorite, if you have one? I was introduced to diving in Hawaii, on the Big Island, which I hope to visit again in March. The other places you mention sound beautifully exotic! Good luck with your cert here in the States, and your Scotland trip. I've never been diving anywhere that cold, can you or anyone else share any experiences?

One love.

-W

 

[WebbCMH]

The east river has apparently been cleaned up over the last 15 years - the fish I caught was given by the skipper to a restauranteur - so I assume life still exists and it's edible in the east river. I'll try and dig out the photograph of me with the fish an send it to you.

Best diving site is hard to decide - Hawaii was great but I was only 15 and probably the thrill of being uderwater was as exiting as the scenery - we dived on the North Shore around a lot of cave formations. Of my recent diving I can say tha Tunisia was better than Malta - Malta has too many dive schools and not enough dive sites - if it wasn't so crowded it would have been better but not much of great interest in the way of Fish. North Tunisian coast got us close to some very large Grouper which was fun and on the East Tunisian coast we saw rays and dived around some marble slabs which had probably been part of a shipwreck from Ancient times.....

Florianopolis was good - dived in a marine reserve - not very deep but full of Turtles, Sea Snakes and lots of fish - visibility was not great but it wasn't dreadful either.

Scotland will probably see me getting into a dry suit for the first time so it will add a new dimension to my diving and either there or in MAy in Georgia I hope to try out some Nitrox diving.......

However I assume that there is some pretty good diving in Ecuador......?

 

[delfin_1]

Florianopolis was good - dived in a marine reserve - not very deep but full of Turtles, Sea Snakes and lots of fish - visibility was not great but it wasn't dreadful either.

I think I might've swam in the other direction if I'd seen sea snakes in unclear water hehe Are they poisonous? Tunisia sounds sweet though, especially the ruins.

However I assume that there is some pretty good diving in Ecuador......?

I assume so as well! I've only been diving for two years or so now, with ~25 dives to my credit. I've been lucky enough to see a few incredible places since then, with my AOW Cert in the Phillipines probably the highlight. But sadly, I've never been diving in the motherland. Though I go as often as I can, somehow I get caught up in seeing old relatives and partying... But this June hopefully, that'll change - my wife's never been, so I'm taking her! And though she'll be all about the Andes, (she's a mountain kinda gal, wouldn't you know it...) maybe I'll convince her to come on a dive cruise or two as well. Hey, I wonder what diving in a volcanic lake is like?? There are a lot of them in Ecuador, and all of my expierences have been salt water... I'll have to check out some of the other threads and see what people have said... Will Scotland diving be in salt or fresh?

 

[kaycampbell]

hi. diving wrecks in scotland my fav! puffin in oban will take u up sound of mull and scappa scuba will do u good deal in scappa flow for the wrecks there! have done these places many many times..hispania a great wreck in the sound!happy diving, have swapped cold diving for a little heat just now!what takes u to georgia?kay