Newbie Going to Abacos Bahamas this W/E, Any Last Minute Tips?

[mokujin22]

My girlfriend and I are going to Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, Bahamas this weekend. I've gone smorkeling a bunch, but never dived before. We are going to take a resort certification class and "get our feet" wet a bit. Besides that, we're planning on snorkeling a lot.

Do not have an U/W camera, but looking to rent one (with a strobe), possibly for the whole week. Will buy film up here where it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Does anyone know if shops will rent cameras with BYOF (bring your own film)? Any speed reccomendations?

Always brought one of those disposable jobs previously and come out with miserable pictures of Hawaii and the Keys. Not going to make the same mistake this time.

Any other tips for a newbie?

Thanks,
Tony

 

[maractwin]

Having only shot digital underwater, I can't offer too much advice on film. You should not expect to use the camera on scuba during the course or as an extremely new diver. There are a lot of things you need to do and pay attention to to dive safely. Adding a camera to that is a bad idea until you're really comfortable while diving.

If you like diving, please take a full open water scuba course. Do not assume you've learned everything you need from a one day course. Many divers (myself included) feel that these resort courses are quite dangerous, as they do not really teach you enough to be a safe diver.

If you're only using the camera while snorkeling, then the strobe isn't as important as you'll be in extremely shallow water where sunlight may well be enough.

-Mark

 

[mokujin22]

thanks, Mark,

i've always wanted to get into diving, but living in Maryland, do not get to the ocean often enough and wanted to make sure that we liked it before investing time and money in a local certification.

i figure that the diving will take 1-2 days, the rest of the time will be spent doing some snorkeling.

tony