Hi All,

The wife and I got open water certified last month. We went to the Florida Keys and had some amazing training dives.

We are based in central jersey and are wondering where we can do some local diving. We haven't purchased any dive gear yet, though we have our mask, snorkel and fins.

Any suggestions for a weekend dive that would be suitable to us beginners where we can rent equipment ?

Thanks in advance!

arorasa,

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on becoming a certified diver. First things first...as a new diver about to move forward into diving, say goodbye to your money. Once you have gotten over this hurdle, get wet in Dutch Springs for some experience. There are alot of shops that will rent you gear, and I believe that Dutch Springs now rents tanks (call and check). This is a great training facility that most (if not, all) of us use. Some people dive there more than anywhere else. I live in Central NJ, and its an hour door to door for me. Once you have a bunch of dives there, try some shore diving or shallow wreck diving.

There are alot of people here and other boards that will give you all the advice you need, but I'd recommend doing some advanced training at a local dive shop (my recommendation is the Scuba Connection in Hillsborough). Get your Advanced Open Water certification, and then add courses like peak performance buoyancy, wreck diving, search & recovery, etc...

Have fun!!!