My equipment

I will begin with this, Scuba Diving is not a cheap hobby when you first start. Most of the gear that you will buy will be slightly pricey, but you can expect it to last quite awhile. There are many ways to cut down the cost of buying your own gear, some examples: Craigslist, a nautical flea market (yes, those are a thing), Amazon, a friend that is selling her/his gear, or buying new/used in bulk. Now these are not the only options, there are plenty of other ways to find great deals on equipment.

When I first decided to start scuba diving my boyfriend immediately told me to start collecting my own gear. Renting is fine if you are still unsure this is for you, but over time it begins getting expensive. For me to rent all of the equipment would cost me around $40 and the rentals last 24 hours, this price is not bad for a few dives, but keep in mind after awhile this does add up and fast.

Here is the break down of my gear and the cost to give you a rough estimate of what to expect.

BC or BCD (Buoyancy Control Device)

This fancy piece of equipment helps stabilize you while you are underwater, I was able to find mine at a nautical flea market for $60. Pink is not my favorite color, if I had a choice it would be Orange, but the price was great and it was very hard to pass up.

Regulator

This bit here controls the air flow from your tank to your mouth, it also lets you know how much pressure, or air, you have left in your tank. I would say the most important bit in your setup. I was very lucky in finding this piece, my boyfriends good friend was selling her for a great deal $320, again couldn't pass it up!

Fins, Mask, and Snorkel

This set here was very expensive, I decided to buy this new. The fins cost around $115 and the boots around $60 so a total of $175. The mask and snorkel I already owned from previous water activities.









The items with no pictures

My wet suit, this helps me stay nice and toasty underwater. 
Your thinking, Crystal you live in South Florida the water is always beautiful! Well your right, but when you are scuba diving you are fully submerged in water and your core temperature has to burn lots of energy to keep you warm. I would always recommend some type of wet suit, for protection and comfort. Cost me around $50

Weights, these help you sink underwater. Guess what you float in salt water! 
These I will have to admit I steal from my boyfriend...sooo I guess I can say $FREE.99

Miscellaneous Items
I have purchased many of smaller items ranging from $10 to $30, a watch, an inflatable tube, mask band, etc.

I currently do not own a tank, this is the last piece of equipment I need.

As you can see this is not a cheap hobby, I have spent around $700 - $800 grabbing all my gear but let me tell you it is well worth it. I will be able to use this gear for many dives to come and the experience to me is well worth the price.

Dive #3

Lauderdale By The Sea

March 29th 2015

Bottom Time: 43 minutes
Location: Lauderdale By The Sea, Florida 
Surface Interval: n/a
Notes:
Great dive, saw plenty of marine life! The water temperature was around 75 degrees, I was wearing a 5 ml and stayed very comfortable. The weights were about 15 lbs and I was able to sink and stay down later on in the dive. There was a slight current, more noticeable the shallower you got. 

The beginning of my Scuba Diving experience

The thought of scuba diving has always interested me along with terrified me. What if something happened while I was 50+ feet underwater? What if something got me?! Then I began dating my current boyfriend, and who would of guessed he is a certified scuba instructor. When he began bringing up his love of scuba diving my heart would begin to race and my palms would get sweaty, the thought of him asking me to plummet underwater with who knows what, and me breathing was dependent on tanks on my back scared the S*** out of me! I manage to divert the subject plenty of times, then he began telling me his entire family is into scuba diving!! S***.

Eventually the dreaded question came up, "Crystal I haven't managed to ask you, would you be interested in learning to scuba dive?" It hit me like a ton of bricks, I felt my heart racing, sweat was starting to bead in different places and before I could stop myself, word vomit "Yeah! Sounds like a ton of fun!".......................................... S***. I was locked into it, luckily my two roommates, Stacey and Kelly, both wanted to learn. So with that began out diving adventure!

The first day was filled with anxiety, thoughts raced through my head and all I wanted to do was run away, but I already paid for the class and began buying gear. We met up, all 10 of us, introduced ourselves and began listening to my boyfriend talk about the different gear and what we would be needing for the class.

The first couple of dives are pool dives to show you the ropes and get you familiar with the gear. So the big day was here, I would be putting on my BC attaching the regulator and getting under the water! When I first got strapped in I nearly fell over, the weight of all the equipment on is around 50lbs, very heavy. With all of it on I slow crawled into the water and bobbed around for a bit, after a detailed briefing from my boyfriend on how to breath underwater and the correct technique he gave the signal and everyone around me began diving underwater. I hesitated maybe for a minuet or two then eventually gave in put the regulator in my mouth and began my decent.

The first breath underwater was the most amazing feeling I have yet to experience. I was able to be fulling submerged underwater and breath! From there I was hooked and wanted more, now don't get me know all the fears I started out with were/are still there but the experience of being underwater was so great I wanted, I needed, to work past it.

After the dive we packed up and headed home, I began talking to my boyfriend about the dive and decided I would do whatever it took to work past my anxiety. He listened to my fears and worries, no judgement, he reassured me those are natural feelings but if I wanted to keep learning how to scuba dive he would be there to help me.

I am currently not certified, I have one more open water dive left but the adventure so far has been an amazing one!

Dive #2

Blue Heron Bridge

March 15th 2015

Bottom Time: 75 minutes
Location: West Palm Beach, Florida 
Surface Interval: 55 minutes
Notes:

We went out to Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach, another shore dive. The structure there is a bridge so there are many pillars with fish hiding between them. The current was slightly strong because the tide was coming in, we hid behind a pillar until it passed. Dept was between 10-20ft. Water was about 73 degrees wore my 5ml wet suit, stayed warm. Had trouble at the end of the dive sinking, I was wearing 10lb weights.

Dive #1

Deerfield Ledges

March 8th 2015

Bottom Time: 30 minutes
Location: Deerfield Beach, Florida
Surface Interval: n/a 
Notes:

First open water dive, swam out to 100 yards +/- to look for 2-4ft ledges. Unable to find ledges because sand has covered them up, maybe in a few months current will wash sand away, might revisit site. Water was between 70 to 75 degrees and depth was around 15-20ft, wearing 5ml wet suit stayed very comfortable.