SRC Member tigershark Posted September 27, 2002 SRC Member Share Posted September 27, 2002 Hi, after going into marine tank.... i'm deeply attracted in marine life and thinking to get a diving licence.... just an open sea diving licence will do. Can anyone recomend me 1 which is reliable and cheap? economy very bad now and have to spend money wisely , the cheapest i can find is $380 per course.... including 2 day 1 night diving in pulau aw.... Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Tang Posted September 27, 2002 Share Posted September 27, 2002 I took my basic with 51 Scuba... greg's a good teacher. We went to Dayang, next to Pulau Aur. I took my advanced inclusive of night dives with my uncle-in-law who is a Dive Instructor at Kota Kinabalu. Try to find a buddy to go with you... at least you can count on each other to buddy with u/w... rather than a complete stranger.. who in my experience can be a real blessing or real pain (depending on the character with the guts and brains to learn and practise what he/she learnt).... your life will depend on it.... of course... if you get a babe to be your dive buddy, it will be a good opp for you to give her remedial lessons... heh! Kenna one gorilla with peanut brain and scared of the water and totally 'gabra'.... you will have one hell of a bad experience! Unless you turn out to be the gorilla to your dive buddy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member tigershark Posted September 29, 2002 Author SRC Member Share Posted September 29, 2002 hahaha... you really a joker.... but i intend to ask a girl along... a 27 yrs old taiwanese who is married but husband in Europe for 6 months liao.... she is the one who chio me for diving course.... my problem now is where to find cheap and good course..... so no worries that my partner turn out to be gorilla.... just worried that i might turn into wolf if she seduce me.... Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 Tigershark; Personally, I will not advise you to cut your budget and go for the cheapest one. Reasons are : 1) Diving is a sports that requires proper education. It can become a dangerous sport if not taught well. Seen the recent two diving accidents? 2) With proper education, you can become a better diver and enjoy the sport. Without the dedication of a good instructor, you risk your life plus that of your buddy. I can go in depth with you, let me know if you need any more help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member tigershark Posted October 2, 2002 Author SRC Member Share Posted October 2, 2002 i got a collogue who is having a advance open sea diving licence... last time he work in a ship yard as a diver... to check the condition of bottom of the ship.... so for guildiance... i think he could guide me... in fact, he advise me to take the cheapest course and get a open sea diving licence first... good or not never mind, he could teach me slowly.... btw, he also need another partner to rent equipment, so he keep rushing me to get my licence, so what do you think? should i listen to him? or pay more? Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Well, personally I will not advise to go for the cheapest. There are few things that you should ask when u walk into a dive shop. 1) Is Padi Manual given to you or just on rental 2) Are there any hidden cost such as equipment rental 3) Destination 4) Instructor to student ratio A PADI Manual is a book on the dos and don'ts of diving. It is a guide book that can come in handy when u have not dive for a long time. You can use it as reference. Some dive shop will charge you $300 for the course. But that is not the end of it, when u are about to pay, they will pop the question if you have your own diving equipments. If not, they will charge you extra money for it. The three most common dive destination, Aur, Tioman and Dayang. Each has their own pricing. So check with them your destination and the resort you are staying at. In Tioman, there are different grades of resort. And since you are going with a girl, ask them if they have twin sharing rooms Last but not least, the instructor to student ration. Recommended ratio is 1:4. The smaller the group, the more attention will be given to you, hence u learn better. My personal experience is to go for a good open water course and learn well, especially if you plan to be a frequent diver. Let me know, I can give you more advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 clownie Just wondering , have you done any local dives recently? How is the water condition? Is the vis still bad? My last local dive was last year, I was bring down 1st timers. The vis was real bad after 1.5m everything was pitch black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member tigershark Posted October 4, 2002 Author SRC Member Share Posted October 4, 2002 hmm.... i think i will ask the diving company all the question first.... equipment, manual, student ratio, star rating, and open sea diving destination that you guys mention.... Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robe Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 Tiger, Go for a good dive schol in the beginning as diving can be risky sport if you do not have the proper training. When I started diving back in the late 80's I was very gung ho and have even tried diving with an air hose clenched between my teeth all the way down to 90 ft but I became wiser and went for a PADI course. Open water then advance diving course and at one time had a full set of equipment from wetsuit to tank. Try to get a good instructor and no short cuts. Once youre certified go and dive.......and dive and dive.......the best experience you'll ever have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Tang Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 Hey Robe! So you're a diver too! Heh! Guys, it's true what Robe says... diving is a serious sport. You need to be in good health. Secondly, you need to have a good brain, as you have to always alert and expect the worst to happen so you can react quickly and save not just youself but your buddies underwater. I used to be pretty gung-ho myself... my wife and friends always complain that I only buddy with my camera! Once I nearly ran out of air because I was so insistent on chasing fish and became excited ie. consume more air... luckily I located my friends in time and ascended together... I literally took the very last drop of air molecue from my tank as I broke the surface. Whew! Go with a good school. Take the lessons seriously. Refresh yourself with the theories. Talk to your buddies and remind them of the procedues. Once more of us get certification, we can organise a SRC dive trip one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robe Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 Best of all make sure you don't suffer from any medical conditions. go for a full med check if you are not sure. Over the last few years a lot of divers got killed all because they never knew their limits or don't bother to check with the locals with regards to the dive site conditions and peculiarities. Remember the Shaw's scion grand daughter and a few days ago another incident in Malaysia. There are many cases of divers going missing because of overconfidence. You need at least 30-40 dives to be called proficient enough. Professionals clocks more than a hundred dives. That's in a year.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member tigershark Posted October 5, 2002 Author SRC Member Share Posted October 5, 2002 no problkem with my health, go for checkup every yr.... but me heavy smoker.... stamina quite poor.... must built up a better stamina.... going to swim 2 times a week from next week onwards.... at the same time, improve my sight strength....... long time never seen bikini babes already :D:D Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 Local waters? Aint worth my time. My fish tank has better vis! Tigershark, take your time to go look for diving schools. Go read about the local diving industry at http://www.finsonline.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 Local waters? Aint worth my time. My fish tank has better vis! Tigershark, take your time to go look for diving schools. Go read about the local diving industry at http://www.finsonline.com I sure know that fish tank has better vis that the waters around our islands. That is why I have not been diving in Sisters' or Hantu for almost a year. BTW where do you normally go diving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Tang Posted October 7, 2002 Share Posted October 7, 2002 I heard that the visibility around P. Hantu is like only 1.5m?! You can barely see beyond your hand!! I heard that in our waters, the coral species is comparable to many good dive sites.... just that due to reclamation going on in the nearby islands.. all those silt contributes to the poor viz... and may one day choke out all coral species. Didn't you read about how the corals around Singapore spawn recently? I think it was at the beginning of the year or something... it was reported in the Straits Times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 During normal season, u can usually catch me over at Tioman, Aur and Dayang. Ocassionally over at Perhentian. But I will be heading to Thailand year end for my IDC examinations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 I heard that the visibility around P. Hantu is like only 1.5m?! You can barely see beyond your hand!! I heard that in our waters, the coral species is comparable to many good dive sites.... just that due to reclamation going on in the nearby islands.. all those silt contributes to the poor viz... and may one day choke out all coral species. Didn't you read about how the corals around Singapore spawn recently? I think it was at the beginning of the year or something... it was reported in the Straits Times! True. Our local waters has lottsa of macro organism not found in the rest of the asia. I have seen great pictures of them but it requires lottsa patience for u to find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member tigershark Posted October 9, 2002 Author SRC Member Share Posted October 9, 2002 I heard that the visibility around P. Hantu is like only 1.5m?! You can barely see beyond your hand!! I heard that in our waters, the coral species is comparable to many good dive sites.... just that due to reclamation going on in the nearby islands.. all those silt contributes to the poor viz... and may one day choke out all coral species. Didn't you read about how the corals around Singapore spawn recently? I think it was at the beginning of the year or something... it was reported in the Straits Times! so sad to hear that, last time (2yrs ago) i went to tioman for snorkling.... saw most of the coral dead or dying already... water still quite clear... wonder hows those coral now... i dive in around 7 feet without any equipment to catch a sea cucumber... the presure really hurt my ear drum when i came out immeadiate from the water when i cannot hold my breath anymore.... really dangerous.... i think i'll joint the course on Nov.... i know it is not a good time to dive at this timing but thgis is the only period i'm available, or else i have to wait until next yr July.... Quote Want to know more about my tank? Follow here!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownie Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 i think i'll joint the course on Nov.... i know it is not a good time to dive at this timing but thgis is the only period i'm available, or else i have to wait until next yr July.... I hope u do not suffer from motion sickness. Do more preparation/research work on who to dive with. Just in case u are not aware of it, there has been two diving accidents recently. So be really careful when u dive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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