I see we've had a bunch of new members lately. Why don't you take the time and introduce yourselves, tell others about your diving, or just say "hello". Its a great way to get your feet wet on the forum.

I'll start off with I'am a padi master instructor, I have been an instructor since march 1987. Ihave worked for afew shops, but now I teach for myself.
I also head the point pleasant first aid dive team. Before that I was the head of the berkeley township underwater seach and rescue unit.
I started diving in 1966, got my open water card in 1967 and been diving ever since. I have dove alot of places, great lakes, the islands,just about every state on the east coast, and I still love diving in new jersey the best!
Good vis,bad vis, doesn't matter I'am diving!

Spider, thanks for taking the lead on this one. I'll follow you.

I'm a PADI Divemaster with The Scuba Connection in Hillsborough, NJ. I'd like to say that I was a lot more active with them, but I've had more schedule changes than a newborn's had diaper changes. This makes it kind of difficult, and that doesn't include the four kids. I used to live in the shop or at Dutch, but real life is keeping me away from my second family.

I started diving in College in 1985 (Roger Williams College then, now is Roger Williams University), and did my checkout dive at 2nd beach in Newport, RI. I lived on Block Island in the summer of 87 and did about 50 dives, but all (except for one) were for $$$ picking up stuff rich folks dropped from their moored boats or from the docks. I also did prop work, zinc changes, boat cleaning, or mooring recovery. This was just a "part time" job, but I made more $$ doing this than my regular job. It paid to be friends with the harbor masters. All it took was a case of beer each week to make sure they called me first when a boat owner needed a diver.

I came back to NJ when the summer ended and got a "real job". I took a 13 year break from diving until I went to Turks & Caicos on a family vacation. I couldn't find my c-card, and the shop I was certified in was out of business. I didn't even know what agency certified me. I ended up taking the whole course over again in T&C (I was the only student, so it was accelerated to say the least). I came back to NJ from my vacation and wanted to continue diving. I met up with the owner of a now defunct dive shop who took me under his wing. He gave me my first taste of NJ diving from the dive boat Seeker. My first dive was on the wreck of the Mohawk and I fell in love with NJ diving. I've never looked back. The shop I was with closed, and then I found The Scuba Connection. I wish I found them first, but hind sight is 20/20.

Now I do as much diving as I can, but its tough with the work schedule and kids. My dive buddies easily beat me in the number of dives they do in a "season" (sorry Rob, some divers actually have a start and end each year). I live vicariously through the dive reports of my cohorts and partners in crime. Thats one of the reasons I began this site. I love diving, but can't always dive.

I've dove in NJ, NY, MA, PA, RI, NC, SC, FL, Canada (St. Lawrence Seaway and Lake Ontario), The Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Cayman Islands and Roatan Honduras. I enjoy underwater photography, hunting, and wreck diving. I retire in five years, and expect to dive a whole lot more when I'm not tied to my work.

Hey Mike and Spider, Im Nick live in PA. Recently became Naui Dive Master. I started diving in Ft, Lauderdale in 92 and dove whenever I could get equipment. I worked on the docks at Bahia Mar Beach Resort. I ended up diving for a few months without certification. Shortly after, I moved back to PA. Got married and sometime in 2002 got the itch to get certified. So far I have been diving Fl. Keys, Bonaire, Okanowa. But mostly Dutch, or on the Stingray. There were some caverns in Japan there Awsome. I have an older version Reefmaster 3.1 mp camera that takes decent pics in clear water. No so good in Jersey. However, I did get one good one of a Monk fish.
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showp ... hoto=75548

Hey,
I've been diving for 15 or so years. I love wreck diving and mostly dive in NJ and NY. I did once dive in Grand cayman but that was my honeymoon. I'll do anything from beach to deep as long as its interesting. I have also rewed on a few boats

Hey all, I'm Jay, I was born in Puerto Rico and have been in and around the water since I was very little snorkling our local reefs. I can remember putting a mask on when I was like 4 or 5 and sticking my face in the sand right on the edge of the beach..hahahaha

I was certified in 97 in Texas and have been diving every since. I have to admit that up until now I have been a fair weather diver and usually dive in Florida or in the tropics. Since my recent return from a tour of duty in Iraq I have been preparing to dive here in Jersey. I've bought a dry suit and picked up most of the things that make Jersey diving unique. Looking foward to learning from some of the veteran Jersey divers during this years dive season (although most say there is no season here)... Later

Hello Gang,

My name is Jim. I'm 49 and just got my OW Cert last year so I guess I'm very green compared to everyone else who has posted so far. I live in Franklin, NJ (Sussex County) and so far my diving has been limited to Dutch Springs but I hope to get my advanced cert this year and possibly do some Jersey Ocean diving.

My 16yr old daughter also go her OW Cert with me and ended up getting a job at the Dive Shop we used, she lives in Easton, PA and works at Lehigh Valley Dive. I'm so jealous, lol

This year I bought a season pass to Dutch so I hope to get lots of practice in.

Welcome to the forum Jim, we're glad to have you. There are a bunch of great people here, so feel free to make some contacts for buddies. Feel free to post anything here. We're an equal opportunity forum

Mike

Hi Mike,

I'm looking forward to meeting some NJ divers and hopefully develop some friendships and possible dive buddies.

Best wishes,
Jim

Welcome Jim,I can hardly wait to get my daughters certified.

Hi Wreckless,

Thanks for taking the time to say hello. How old are your daughters? My oldest turns 16 in two weeks and loves diving. She works at Lehigh Valley Dive in PA. My 11 yrd old daughter has no interest in diving, oh well, we'll see if she changes her mind when she gets older.

I'm trying to convince my wife to get certified this year, she keeps going back and forth on her decision. And last but not least I have a 7 yr old son who wants to get certified and doesn't like the fact he has to wait 3 more years, lol.

Good luck with your daughters.

Jim

Hi everyone! I started diving 7 years ago while studying abroad in Australia. I didn't think it would be an addiction then, but here I am now, teaching and diving just about every weekend.
I teach with The Scuba Connection in Hillsborough NJ. I can't say I have a favorite kind of diving; I've been diving in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Caribbean... and loved all of it, from warm, colorful reefs to cold water and wrecks.
My personal goal this year is to further my own training, and to return to Florida. But I'm also looking to expand my horizons in teaching. At some point I'll have to grow gills!

Yo dawgs,

I'm Jesse Thomas and I'm 32 years old. As my username suggests, I'm Deaf as a doorknob. But I can chat with my buds underwater, so I got one up on y'all.

I took the NAUI course at my University 2 years ago. My certification dives were in that filled-up quarry in Pennslvania.... in December! It was like 20 degrees and snowing. But it was a cool experience, though. I didn't have the chance to dive again until I went to Thailand last summer. I dived in the Ko Phangan area and it was awesome. I did like 5 dives in 3 days. Now I'm hooked. I dream of starting a Diving Tour business someday that can cater to not only hearing people but also to Deaf divers. It'd be cool if Deaf people could go to the Keys or the Carribbean and have a ASL (American Sign Language) user as their divemaster. We'd be able to literally sit in a circle 50 feet underwater and discuss the upcoming presidental elections.

I'll be home in Philly this summer so I had the idea of making some connections with the NJ diving community and perhaps finding some work for extra money (I returned to college 3 years ago and am suddenly a poor college student again, at least til May 2009) or instruction and begin moving up in my certification, pad my diving log, get experience, etc. If any of y'all have any ideas, holla at me. I can be reached at findjct@tmail.com.

Hope to hook up with some of you divers this summer. My deaf friend who lives on the Main Line near Philly is a PADI divemaster, by the way. We could come up to Jersey and dive with yall, perhaps.

Well thats it for now. Peace,

Jesse

Yo Jesse,
Welcome, you definitely do have the one up on everyone that doesn't know ASL. Like you said you can chat up a storm with your friends underwater while we have to use crude hand signals..hahaha we must look rediculous...hahaha Well you can definitely find people to get out and do some diving in these parts. Since you haven't done any diving around here you might want to start by familiarizing yourself with Jersey diving a bit. It's a little different than going to nice resorts and diving in warm clear water but it's fun as well. Certainly ask any questions you may have. There are some different topic areas on this forum explore and you might find some questions already asked. Also there is a site www.njscuba.net that has a lot of info on Jersey diving. I'll probably be getting out to Dutch springs in early may to get some training dives in with a dry suit that I bought. So be on the lookout for the dates here and you can meet up with us there. Take care and dive safe

Jay

Jesse,

WELCOME....oh sorry. Welcome. I'd love to meet you and do some diving at Dutch this spring and summer. Even more, I think its fantastic using sign language to communicate underwater. Thats one advantage that I never thought of. I have a few signals for a few things that happen underwater, but they are not appropriate here since kids can see it (like when I foul up my wreck reel, or someone silts up the bottom). Anyway, welcome to the board, feel free to ask questions or post ideas. I'm heading to Dutch in early May to dive with Jay (Couped), so if you are in the mood, let me know and I'll post the date. It will probably be a weekday, since he and I both work shift work.

Regards,
Mike