New diver(s) in Beaverton

[violamama]

Hi all!
I just finished my OW & nitrox PADI certs in Florida (referral from an LDS here) and am now back to reality in Oregon.

My husband has been certified since the mid-90's but had not gone out since then until we went together on this trip. (He did the refresher course just before we went, and did Nitrox along with me.)

We're considering GUE training, but are trying to figure out the budget we want to spend on all of this and how to pace ourselves with skill acquisition. The drysuits are a bit pricey, and having never used one I want to rent a couple to try them out before committing to one brand. We also have two kids under age 10 and that complicates the dive schedule a tad.

Looking forward to browsing the forums for advice and meeting some of you all in person! We've become addicted to the scubaboards forums (mostly lurking), which is where we heard about you. I'm really hoping to get out somewhere local within the next few months.

Nice meeting you.

[WylerBear]

Welcome to the board! There is a large contingent of Oregon divers here so you won't have any trouble finding people to dive with and /or carpool with whether you want to do weekday or weekend dives. I'm sure you'll get lots of advice but the main thing is to not rush into big purchases. You'll find many people willing to let you try out equipment and as you said, you can rent until you find something you know you're going to like.
There are periodic club dives organized thru this forum as well as informal mostly weekly dives at Cove 2, Mulkiteo, and the south Sound. Also a few of the dive shops here sponsor monthly shore and boat dives. A good way to meet people and work on your skills with others around willing to help you.
Again welcome! Hope to see you at a dive soon.

[violamama]

Thank you!

We're planning to see if we can cultivate some local dive friends who might be willing to give a bit of a drysuit tutorial and loan of a suit to try it out. We have friends in Seattle, so we might see if we can arrange a trip or two up to join in with you all sometime soon.

Does anybody know how much renting a drysuit typically runs? Is it possible to rent one, read a lot about how to use them, and have a weekend rental (maybe starting out in a pool) be worth it?

Thanks again.

[Penopolypants]

Welcome to the board! It's been years since I rented a dry suit, but it was around $60 or so per day, which adds up quickly. Most shops won't rent a suit without a dry suit certification. The good news is that a certification should be relatively inexpensive.

Many manufacturers do "dry suit days" where you can try out their different suits. DUI and Whites are two that come to mind.

Good luck!

[spatman]

Underwater Works in Tigard rents dry suits, but I don't know the price offhand. The one time I needed to rent a suit, they did require a drysuit cert card.

What size suits are you looking for?

[WylerBear]

Why not just take a drysuit class? That way you'll have a chance to do a couple of dives with an instructor and try out at least one type of drysuit. I teach the PADI drysuit class but I'm laid up with a broken leg right now. But I'm sure you will have no trouble finding someone to teach you. The course includes 2 open water dives and usually one pool session in addition to the classroom portion. You'll learn all you need to know about drysuits (and then some) and then you'll be good to go for diving more comfortably in our cold water.

[selkie]

Welcome to the NWDC.

[thechadmiller]

I took my drysuit cert class at Underwater Works and it was very worth it. Lots of things I wouldn't have learned easily only on my own.

[violamama]

Thanks, all!

Thanks, Spatman, I happened to call Underwater Works today and found out, like you said, that you can rent if you take their drysuit orientation which is only like $65 or something. Not sure how different that is from the cert class, but I think it's where we'll start.

We don't know our sizes yet because we haven't tried anything on, and aren't even really sure yet how they should fit or which features we're going to want.

Can't wait to get all that sorted so we can start to discover some of the sites here.

[RenaB]

I believe that all the shops down here required at least some sort of class (cerfication), or orientation before they hand you a suit. The class I am taking is integrated into my OW class for an extra $100. That hundred is given back when ever you buy a suit from them. It is required to rent from them, or a certification of drysuit diving. The rentals I have seen just about everywhere down here run closer to $100 per day. I figure if you are going to rent more than 12 times a year you could feasibly be in the water enough to justify owning your own (especially used). You will get multiple different

[Josh777]

I am new to this board but have been a local PDX diver since 2007. I bought my first two dry suits used for pretty little. Paid 300 for my first 400 for my second and even got my daughter a dry suit when she was 12 that looked brand new for 150.00 this gives you the opportunity to see what you like without spending 1000's on something that doesn't work for you. Try the Newport DUI demo day and you can try all in their line up and get a feel for what type of suit you like.neoprene tri laminate shell suit etc.
I know thunder reef in Vancouver rents suits for 75.00 or at least did
I live on the west side of hillsboro so I am not far from you and always looking for new people to go diving with.

[deepbludvr]

I second the suggestion to take a dry suit class and get a cert. The class will give you some good initial time in a suit and that is important, and it will give you the flexibility to rent a suit from any shop. When I took the class we were able to dive two different suits that were both shells. As you look for suits be sure to explore the various options along with different price points. The DUI demo day is great option too, just don't get scared off by their prices!