General Questions

steelbar

I have recently come back form Aus where i did the advanced open water cert and am hooked, and want to do more dives.
I am new to diving and dont have any equipment.
What options do i have to continue diving?
What order would you recommend buying the gear.( I know it wil take a while to get it all as of the cost)
I am in the south east area but have car and will travel
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Pawwed Rig

It's really up to you. It is so easy to rent gear fairly cheaply that there is no great urgency with buying your own. I went for the semi dry/wet suit first (for hygiene reasons:D), got hood, flippers, facemask, boots and knife (just coz it's cool). I dive about 5-6 times a year so never plan on buying tanks. My next purchase is a dive computer but will push off the BCD and octopus for a while because of the cost. There is often second hand gear available in buy and sell. I'm at roughly the same level as you ie finished the Adv Open water diving about a year ago. There are some great spots around Ireland for diving.

patto_chan

Congrats on getting into diving.
I'm sure people will tell you that diving in Ireland is very different to Oz.
It will be like learning all over again. That's what I found.
You have to get used to cold water, poor viz, currents etc. You should learn how to use a SMB (surface marker buoy) properly.
But once you've become adept at diving in local conditions you will be able to dive almost anywhere.

Consider joining a local club (CFT) or going our regularly with a dive shop to build up local experience.
What gear to buy first? I would say a mask that fits you right. Gloves, a hood (necessary for Irish waters), fins, SMB.
If you're serious about continuing diving then you should consider buying a dry suit (bite the bullet, a wet suit won't cut it in Ireland and a semi-dry is also a semi-wet), a BCD and a decent torch (nice to have in Irish waters). Also a computer.

You can buy all these in local dive shops but it should be said that online sellers in the UK are price competitive. Your choice.

Oilrig

Steelbar, find a club - cft.ie

As for kit, mask, fins & snorkel first.

You could start a thread on what brand etc and it would go on forever...

crabby

I agree a mask that stops water hitting your nose reliably and a snorkel that doesn't half drown you will take your confidence to a new level, so don't go cheap on them. About the suit well that depends on how sensitive your are i have drysuits and also a semidry but I'd go for the semidry as its much easier to handle.

steelbar

Thanks so much for all the info, its been really helpful.

OUt of interest, how often to you guys go diving?

Where are the best sites around?



Will probaly have to get myself an exposure suit, as Im 6'4'' and 18st,and would I reckon it would be hard to get one that fits every time i go diving.

Also, what other training courses would be good? Drift,nitrox,deep, wreck?

seadeuce

Check:

http://www.cft.ie/clubseast.htm


for clubs in your area.



Seadeuce

Einstein

or http://www.scuba.ie/centres/index.htm

this has other agencies aswell.

juvenal

Hi Steelbar,

I was in the same position as you. I'd never thought of diving until I travelled and got hooked! I was certified abroad, and when I came home I enquiried through CFT about clubs in my area. I contacted some of these about doing my crossover training so I'd be certified to CFT/CMAS standards, and after some debate I joined one.

I have to say they are a sound bunch, and the training in this particular club is very focused, yet relaxed. It's great to meet people locally who have being diving years, and getting used to the colder waters here in Ireland! Most people say that if you can dive here comfortably you can pretty much dive anywhere in the world.

Obviously joining a club you need to start to build your own equipment collection. There's loads of gear for sale through these clubs, and they're usually very good at giving you pointers on what to watch out for etc. As with any hobby you get a varied mix of people, the fanatic, the expert, the wannabe-expert, etc. You'll always have some oul' begrudgers ("I remember when there were 10 divers in Ireland and we could go about our business uninterrupted"), but for the most part they're very welcoming and want more people interested in the sport.

If you just want to dive casually, there are plenty of commercial places around Ireland, where you pay and get all the equipment supplied. I know a lad who has everything except a tank as he only might go out a few times a year, so it doesn't make sense to invest in everything.

I think a suit, and mask/snorkel/fins are the most important for now. Don't go mad and go out and buy all the gear at once! Build it up bit by bit, and listen to advice, as most of the lads/lassies are diving week in/week out so they know what works and what doesn't.

There's a lot of sales around this time of year, people have new stuff or aren't going back for the season for whatever reason.

My advice is, if you want to be a busy, social diver, join a club and your insurance, air fills and trips (for a small extra cost) are all covered, but as mentioned already you would be expected to have you own kit. If you just want to suss it out here then just do some dives with a dive centre where you can decide if you want to continue or not.

Scuba.ie

I'd agree with the above posts, clubs are very beneficial, but they are not the only option. I've been diving 10 years this September and only 2 of those years were with a club. I do between 40-100 dives a year and if I'm not doing that many in a given year I'm not paying club fees either. DAN Insurance is a given, but is quite cheap.
I am looking to join a club this year, but only because they do the kind of diving I want to do on a regular basis.