Northwest Dive Club

I am PADI certified, only 4 open water dives all in thailand. I don't own gear but am looking to buy and start diving here in the freezing cold NW waters Any advice on how to do this cheaply would be most appreciated!

Craigslist, and get any used regs you acquire serviced by a dive shop before using.

Dive with people that have gear to loan so you can get an idea on what you want, so you don't buy twice.

If you see anything you are looking to buy on Craigslist you can run it by here real quick to get some opinions. Dive gear goes up for sale in the PNW pretty often after people find out ...meh, cold water diving, not for me

Hi Cowpunch! We also have a gear classified section that may be helpful too:

http://nwdiveclub.com/viewforum.php?f=45

I will second Rick's advice to try as much as you can before you buy, many of us are happy to loan out gear, and will give you advice (ad nauseam ) if you need it.

Do try to avoid the "I'll buy something cheap and upgrade later" mentality if you can, it's expensive and frustrating in the long run.

And I know they're not cheap, but a dry suit is really going to make a huge difference in your comfort level here.

Welcome to the board! Where in the region are you located?

Welcome! I also got my first OW certification in Thailand. What a beautiful place to learn Scuba! The first thing I did after returning here was take a drysuit orientation.
I will also add to the "Buy once, cry once" recommendations. The good news is that the most comfortable and versatile rig is not the most expensive. Many of us moved to a stainless steel backplate with a simple harness and wing after initially spending more money on what was supposed to be a fancy full-featured jacket style BCD. Take a look at what your fellow divers are using, especially the ones who have been diving here for at least a couple years.


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Welcome to the club!

Come on in... the water's nice if you're wearing a drysuit!

Penopolypants wrote:
Welcome to the board! Where in the region are you located?

I'm in Edmonds just on the border of Shoreline/lynwood. Sounds like the first thing I should do right now is to get out there and do a drysuit class, as I'll get to try some more gear and probably need a drysuit out here anyway. Any recommendations as to where I should sign up to take such a class/rent gear?

Well, you're just a hop, skip & jump from the Edmonds Underwater Park, where many of us like to dive. It's right next to the ferry, and there's an Underwater Sports dive shop just down the street.
There are many other shops and places to dive, those are just the ones nearest to you.
It might also help to know what size you are in case someone had gear they could lend.

I'm 6'1" tall 160 lbs if I eat a lot the night before. My feet are size 10 1/2 or 11 US. So I think I'm a size Large for a suit. Should I just go down to the underwater park to find out when people meet up or is there a regular schedule posted somewhere?

As I happens, this very forum has a wealth of information about weekly dive meets. Check out the Dive Planning section. Bubbles & Suds just finished a dive at Edmonds and are currently enjoying the Suds portion of the evening at Rory's.


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