I have to hold my breath every day.
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I don't know if the certification ever expires, but I was certified 20 years ago or so.

If you're doing your open water dive in the midwest, don't expect a very interesting dive because most of the waters in our area have very poor visibility. If you get a chance to go back to a place like the Caymans, it's a fantastic experience.

I always wanted to dive the Bon Terre lead mines (in the SE corner of MO), but I never got around to it. That seems like it would be pretty interesting.
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I was certified back in 1980 as I wanted to be an oceanographer. Sadly there was no money to be made in that profession so I went in another direction.

I haven't dove in close to 20 years.

Yes, you should be very sad you didn't dive in the Caymans as I did twice. Best ever and that includes diving the Great Barrier Reef, Haiti, Cozumel, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, and New Jersey wrecks
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Open water will be at beaver lake. Visibility ranges 15-30 feet.
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That's better than a lot of places. It will be worlds different when you do it in the clear water of places like scho63 mentioned.
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never been certified just done the local SCUBA thing at the resort with the 1 hour training up to 40 meters a couple times.

Dove in Cozumel and went to 48 meters and dove in Jamaica and cant remember the exact depth. Something like 38.

Love it and plan to go every chance I get. Should probably get certified.
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Sounds fun. I've gone snorkeling in the Pacific out of Mexico and it was exhilarating. Absolutely loved it wish I could do it again but now I'd be afraid my COPD would set off aspirations and that would be the end of me. So I'ma gonna pass on SCUBA but it is something I think would be fun.


Snorkeling is cool as fuck in the Ocean I've seen fish I never new existed.
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I have snorkeled and dove in Mexico, Jamaica, and just snorkeled in Costa Rica, the Bahamas and Hawaii.

Coolest shit out of that I have ever done is snorkel Sharks Cove at North Shore Oahu Hawaii. Absolutely incredible. We went once and went back, then went again, then went again. Totally lost in another world for hours and hours at a time.

I now want to go dive Sharks Cove.
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You went down over 150 feet with little training but a few hours of cert dives at a resort?

These depths are normally not where causally divers go :-)
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I think it may have been feet not meters now that you say that. Im not good with metric conversions. :-)
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Congratulations.
If you ever hit the Caymans again hook up with Living the Dream Divers. Best operation we have ever used. Our daughter was certified last spring and we took her to Cayman for her 21st birthday in September 'so she could dive with Mom n Dad' as a birthday present. They (Living the Dream) are a top notch operation - every day was better diving than the day before, they even had a birthday cake on board for her on our last day, her birthday. They are exactly as advertised on the website - treat you like they have know you forever - setup your equipment, and put it on you as you sit on the rear of the boat, then take if off and change tanks after surfacing. They take care of any issues you have with equipment, and are entertaining during the surface intervals. They will also pick you up at your condo and drop you off when the day is done.
Wife and I were certified back around '80 (open water in a gravel pit:-)). got deep diver, night diver, navigation diver, drift diver and naturally, our advanced certifications. Took 'Dive Trips' to Cozumel, Cayman, Cayman Brac. Our own dive trips to St Thomas, St Maarten, Saba, Cayman, then Cayman again. Living the Dream was far and away the best bunch of folks we had ever used.

Good luck and plan your dive then dive the plan.

JP
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That sounds cool as fuck :-)


Sharks are just misunderstood creatures, the salt in the sea is from tears of sharks that just want a hug.




Wish I could do some more snorkeling it's absolute blast
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Did you dive Tarpon Alley in Cayman? It was a large coral head with fingers at around 60 feet and then in the shoots that went down another forty were HUNDREDS of giant 30-60 pound tarpon just slowing moving back and forth as the current passed in between the shoots and fingers.

It was something I will never forget.
I also have a great picture I took of a nurse shark, a turtle and a giant 250 lb+ grouper at the anchor when we go to the bottom at around 80 feet.

Clearest water I ever dove.
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Certified in '89.
Got to dive the Wall off the back beach at Gitmo. Water depth drops from 60 feet to 12,000 feet (2,000 fathoms by the chart), straight down.

Found God with a regulator in my mouth at 110 feet.
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