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Old 01-19-2013, 04:16 AM   #1
jbsluvsscuba
 
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Planning on diving the USA

Hello to all you campers and RV'ers out there. My wife and I just bought our first RV. A Forest River Georgetown 280DS. Needless to say we are rather excited about seeing the US. We have an older (13 1/2) female Keeshond dog (Angel) who is our little girl. The three of us are looking forward to traveling around the US and visiting as many dive sites that we can i while taking in the beauty of our great country!

I am a Master Scuba Diver Instructor and have logged over 2,500 dives. My wife also dives and we have enjoyed diving throughout the Caribbean. One of the periodicals that I subscribe to is called Diver Training Magazine ( Diving USA). On DT Mag's website they have a page of links for all of the dive sites around the country. I would like to eventually hit them all. Lakes, Rivers, Quarries, and of course the Pacific Ocean (I dive in the Atlantic and Caribbean all the time)

We'll start off slowly as I am still working full time as a Commercial General Contractor here in New York. As time allows and I approach retirement in the next five or so years we will venture further from our East Coast home base. If there are any readers of this post that have some sites that they think are worthy to visit please reply, I would love to hear about them! As we advance through the list, I'll try to share as many stories as possible. We look forward to experiencing new places and meeting a lot of new found friends.
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Old 01-19-2013, 07:11 AM   #2
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Cool pics. I'm PADI certified but have not dove in several years. Unfortunately I've had limited experience all with crappy visibilites. MT Tom in CT-yuck. LI Sound-pathetic. Candlewood Lake in CT-6 ft of visibility on a good day. I've dove off Puerto Rico several years ago. It was a shallow shore dive but fun. My wet dream dive is Truk Island Lagoon to do some wreck stuff. Maybe one day.
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Old 01-19-2013, 06:20 PM   #3
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Back at you RnS

Thanks for looking RnS. We just gotta get you back for a refresher and then back in the drink. Say, there's nothing wrong with parts of the sound. I do some shallow bottle dives out of Great Neck and Port Washington this time of year. We pull up all kinds of antique glass, etc. As for as the south shore of Long Island goes there are dozens of wrecks that you can dive. Some are at a reasonable depth (50'-65') for your level of training, but you'd be amazed at some of the great stuff that is right here within an hour or two from where you live. Truk is on most of my dive buddies bucket list though. You just have to allow an extra 3-4 days to get there and get back!

Keep an eye out for me I'll keep you posted on how I make out with my domestic dive plan!

This is picture of how my "Wifey" tolerates me.......
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Old 01-20-2013, 09:51 AM   #4
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That's perfect! I wish mine was my dive buddy, but she freaked out when we first started. Breathing underwater was too un-natural for her to handle. I love it. The LI Sound diving I've done was on the CT side and wasn't impressed at all. I imagine if\when I go for my wreck diving cert, I'll be in the Sound. There's a rock quarry in PA that has no marine life due to a high mineral content I believe that my Dive Instructor had been using as a deep water dive training area that sounded cool too. Ahh..one day. Have fun , safe travels and enjoy!
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Old 01-20-2013, 05:50 PM   #5
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Smile Dutch Springs

RnS

The name of the quarry that you were referring to is Dutch Springs in Bethlehem PA. I visit and instruct some classes there year. It's a fun place! Say I am trying to start a group going on this FRF site for scuba and RV folks. Check it out maybe we can get a group thing going with RV and scuba over to Dutch!


BTW the fish population has been picking up there in the past few years due to the zebra mussels. They are filtering some of the minerals out and making the viz and water quality more conducive to fish breeding.

Dutch Springs - Aquatic Life

Back in April of 2007 we were ready to sink the Hell Fire plane you see me walking away from. It's resting at 60'

In the picture of the lake you will see a raft out in the middle. Below that is the helicopter.

Dutch Springs - Image, Submerged Helicopter

Enjoy and thanks for the interest!
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Old 01-22-2013, 09:10 AM   #6
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When I 1st saw this thread title, I thought it was a misprint (diving for driving), so I checked it out so I could PM the OP in case he wanted me to correct the title. Glad I checked out the thread.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jbsluvsscuba View Post
I am a Master Scuba Diver Instructor and have logged over 2,500 dives.
Wow, that is a lot of dives. I have been diving for almost 30 years, and just got my 500th in recently on my 60th birthday.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbsluvsscuba View Post
Truk is on most of my dive buddies bucket list though. You just have to allow an extra 3-4 days to get there and get back!
Yeah, it takes a while to get there. I did this trip in 2007, and I figure we traveled about 36 hours each way, but it is a little hard to figure out exactly because of the time changes.

But it is well worth it !! Truk Lagoon (Chuuk) has been 1 of the best trips that I have done. We did 1 week in Chuuk, and 1 week on a live-a-board around the Rock Islands of Palau. I was looking more forward to the Palau part of the trip, but I enjoyed the Chuuk part of the trip more.....not that Palau wasn't good, but I just really got into the history of Operation Hailstorm, and how it helped turn the tide of the war in that part of the Pacific. Every artillery shell I saw underwater could have meant dozens of our soldiers lives saved.

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Old 01-22-2013, 09:17 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jbsluvsscuba View Post
This is picture of how my "Wifey" tolerates me.......
Yeah, I have a tolerating wife also.....she even let me go to Chuuk without her. Regretfully, she had a business trip during that time, plus she is not big on ship wrecks or live-a-boards.

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Old 01-23-2013, 07:30 AM   #8
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If you make it to North Florida don't miss the springs. The bride and I spent a month diving as many springs as possible while camping in a pop-up many years ago. If your not cave certified then try Ginnie Springs and dive the caveran at night with a bunch of friends. We would go in and wait, turn off our lights and then shake, break and cut open a few chem-lights and let the colors swirl. Imagine being weightless and having all the colors. Oh by the way...I wouldn't ask if it's ok to night dive, but it's always easier to gain forgiveness than ever to gain permission. Have fun.

As far as the caribbean goes...we lived on the east end of Puerto Rico for six years and had the finest diving available just off our doorstep. Try the islands of Culebra or the south shore of Vieques. Could read the boat numbers from 110 feet.
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:05 PM   #9
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Well if you are going to dive and take the RV then in my opinion Florida has to be a hot spot destination. Florida has more first magnitude springs than any other state in the union due to its limestone karst topography. If you look at a map follow the St. Johns River north out of Orlando and you will see a ton of springs some a just great snorkel trips others a divers paradise. Check the Suwannee River Springs and again a ton of them. Many are in State Parks with excellent camping. Then you have the Florida Keys and while the Keys are not the Bahamas or Turks and Cacos or the Caymens, the last time I checked taking a 28 foot camper across the ocean is a bit hard (lol). I do not dive and often wish I took the time to do so. I have been to every reef from Carysfort west to Looe Key in the Keys that one can snorkel. When we return to our native state it is to go boating first and camping second. We have a 2 week trip planned for John Pennekamp State Park in June. We tow our Roo and our boat and take a few kayaks too. Pennekamp is ok as a campground goes but we are not there for the camping, we are there for the water. I have been to the Abacos and Exumas and the water in the Exumas is spectacular.
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Old 01-29-2013, 05:12 PM   #10
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Wow, what a thread....I don't dive since I ruptured an infected ear drum I did know about on my open water cert but can appreciate the bucket list. I have one for skiing (PSIA Level 3 Certified 36 yrs) so can relate although ski areas are not conducive to camping in parking lots!
love to read about people following a dream!!!
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