New to Seattle

[SharkyPui]

Hello everyone,

I learnt to dive a few years ago, and loved it so much that all I've done since then for my vacations is go on dive trips. I have about 400 dives, and have visited Palau, Sipadan, Cocos, Galapagos, Red Sea, Socorro, the Caribbean.. all amazing dive destinations, but all warm water. I am looking to graduate to cold water diving. I am not dry suit certified yet, and am not sure how and where to begin. Should I buy a dry suit first, get certified? Or should I rent and just practice, and not care about getting certified? Any suggestions and recommendations on how to proceed would be much appreciated.

Also, since I am new to the area, I would love to make some new dive buddies.

Looking forward to hearing from the group.

[GearHead]

Welcome!

A dry suit orientation class (basically a night in a pool) will get you to the point of being able to rent or buy a suit, then ease into diving with someone who can be a mentor. Dry suits are semi-complex pieces of equipment, not just due to the inlet and exhaust valves, but also managing the air bubble and overall buoyancy. Once you get used to the feeling of diving in a space suit, you love the warmth.

[SharkyPui]

Thank you GearHead. Would you have any recommendations for dive shops around Seattle where I can do an orientation class? Any inputs would be very helpful.

[LCF]

Where are you in the region? There are quite a few shops that rent dry suits, and could do an orientation. Silent World in Bellevue rents Fusions, which can be a very good choice for a first suit. Bubbles Below in Woodinville has DUI suits. I'm not sure what else is out there.

[Penopolypants]

Welcome to the board, and to the PNW!

If you buy a suit new from a shop it most likely will come with a free ore reduced cost orientation or certification from the shop. An orientation means that you've been taught how to use the suit, with a certification you get a card. So, if you want an official certification (which means you can rent a suit later if needed) then make sure you clarify that with whatever shop or instructor you go with.

Plenty of people over the years have simply bought a suit and gotten someone to show them the ropes - it's not that complicated, and you're an experienced diver, which helps. However, that would ultimately depend on the skill and comfort level of your buddy...skill so that they can show you, and comfort level so that they can deal with whatever poo hits the oscillating device should it occur.

I personally think it's fairly inexpensive in terms of time and money for the professional instruction, but YMMV. We are fortunate to have a plethora of excellent instructors in the area.

[johndo88]

I would consider any of the following. In no particular order:
Underwater Sports- 5 locations: Northgate, Edmonds, Bellevue, Federal Way, Tacoma.
Lighthouse - 3 locations: Lynwood, Lake City, Tacoma.
5th Dimension, West Seattle.
Bubbles Below, Woodinville.
Silent World, Bellevue
Bellevue Divers, Bellevue.
Tacoma Scuba, Tacoma.
There are more that I can't think of right now.

[SharkyPui]

LCF, thank you for the suggestion. Since more than one of you have mentioned Silent World at Bellevue, I will give them a try.

I live in the downtown area, and do not own a car. I guess I could rent one out for a day and check them out. Thanks again!

[SharkyPui]

Thank you for the welcome and the recommendation, Penopolypants. Yes, I think I will take everyones advice and begin with an orientation session, and a certification. And then look out for an experienced buddy.Any tips on how to find someone who would be patient (I am a slow learner), and willing to educate? Do you have any meet ups planned in the area? Please keep me in the loop if you do. The thing is, I am Indian, and mostly travel for work, so dont really have anyone in my social circle who is remotely interested in diving. I meet some great folks on my dive trips, but dont really have any dive buddies. Getting to know someone in the area, and diving regularly with them would be awesome!

[SharkyPui]

Thanks johndo88. I live in the downtown area, but am familiar with Bellevue. I will try out Silent World in Bellevue.

[Penopolypants]

Underwater Sports is on Aurora and might be easier for you to access from downtown without a vehicle - I believe Metro has a rapid line bus that goes up that way.

We have weekly dives around the Sound (keep your eye on the dive planning forum to see what's up each week) as well as plenty of people who are willing to help others out with skills (including myself, please don't hesitate to drop me a PM!).

[LCF]

I know actually quite a number of Indian folks around here who dive -- we just worked with a student from southern India.

The local dive clubs are great places to arrange a buddy for a relative novice. A lot of them have Meet up sites (I know Moss Bay and Emerald Sea do) that list the dives that are planned. GUE-Seattle has a monthly dive at Alki set up to mentor newer divers, and I believe that is generally announced here. Or you can just post here when you want to go diving and ask if somebody else is available to dive with a novice. A lot of people here are perfectly happy to go diving with new divers.