Scuba diving in Melbourne

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

ray

2003-12-29 23:35:32 UTC

Just completed a PADI open water course in Moalboal Philippines and have
returned to Melbourne. I live on the Tullamarine side of Melbourne. Can
someone give me some direction as to what is the most affordable way to
continue diving?. I am willing to join a club. my hope is to have some fun
dives around Melbourne then possibbly go on to do the Advanced Certificate.
Cost will be a determining factor.

--

Ness

2003-12-31 08:28:08 UTC

Permalink

"ray" wrote...

Post by ray
Just completed a PADI open water course in Moalboal Philippines and have
returned to Melbourne. I live on the Tullamarine side of Melbourne. Can
someone give me some direction as to what is the most affordable way to
continue diving?. I am willing to join a club. my hope is to have some fun
dives around Melbourne then possibbly go on to do the Advanced

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.

To keep up with your regular diving, there's a few things you can do to
ensure you keep at it...
- Join a dive club (as you've already mentioned) - either find one at a shop
closeby to your home, or join another type of club - e.g. a uni dive club,
or the army dive club, etc
- Get your own dive gear - I know its an expensive task, buying gear, but
you can often get an entire set in the Trading Post which is relatively new
(1-2 years old) and has few dives on it, for less than 1/2 the price of new
gear. If you don't own your own gear, it makes diving more expensive as you
need to keep renting it, and you also never get the same gear twice, so
can't "get used to" stuff, you also don't know its service history and it
may not fit correctly. Even just using a different wetsuit can ruin a dive
if you're not weighted correctly and have to struggle to stay below 5m
- Go on weekends away, rather than just singular dive trips.... e.g. if you
wanted to do local Melbourne diving, and drive all the way to Portsea or
Queenscliffe just for 1 or 2 dives, it becomes expensive (both time and
cost-wise). However, if you go on a weekend trip it can often cost not much
more than a day trip.
- If you're going to dive locally, you will need a good semi dry or dry
suit - these are better to buy new as they will fit you better, and neoprene
loses its effectiveness eventually - don't scrimp and save on your thermal
protection in Melbourne!

Other than that, I'm not a Melbournite anymore so can't recommend any good
clubs. My best advice is to visit many shops, find one you "click" with, and
join their club. No matter how far from home they are, if you like the place
you'll enjoy diving with them.

Ness
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches?
A nervous wreck.

David Readman

2003-12-31 21:41:22 UTC

Permalink

I agree with Ness - you need to look at getting your own gear. I
started diving in August & looked at hiring gear. For the whole lot,
it was about $100 per day. Much better to buy your own. Second hand
does cut the costs. Along with Ness's suggestions, go to all the dive
shops, and ask if they are selling off their student gear. Many dive
shops do this annually. You can get some great bargains, the gear is
of reasonable quality and durable (they can't have stuff that fails on
students). It's a proven goer, as it would have been replaced under
warranty if there was trouble. I got my regs & BCD for $500 and bought
a dive computer (well, the whole console - computer, air guage &
compass) for $400. Compare these to new prices & there's no contest.

I don't think you have to spend a week-end in Portsea to get value out
of it. I drive there & back in a day (from Hawthorn) - the freeway
makes it easier.
Try some shore diving if you want to keep the costs down. You avoid
the $35-40 for a boat dive, you generally dive shallower, so dives can
easily go 80-90 minutes. Thats a lot of bottom time! Again, you will
find shore divers thru dive clubs & dive web sites. (try
http://diveoz.com.au )

Hope some of this is useful to you. See you in the bay, sometime!

PS. Ness is 100% correct about getting at least a semi-dry. I learnt
in Cairns & my first dive in Melbourne was quite an "experience"!

paul

2004-01-01 06:21:35 UTC

Permalink

if you are after new gear that is cheap try these guys www.scubasales.com.au
i bought some gear and saved plenty compared to what the shops wanted

Post by David Readman

I agree with Ness - you need to look at getting your own gear. I
started diving in August & looked at hiring gear. For the whole lot,
it was about $100 per day. Much better to buy your own. Second hand
does cut the costs. Along with Ness's suggestions, go to all the dive
shops, and ask if they are selling off their student gear. Many dive
shops do this annually. You can get some great bargains, the gear is
of reasonable quality and durable (they can't have stuff that fails on
students). It's a proven goer, as it would have been replaced under
warranty if there was trouble. I got my regs & BCD for $500 and bought
a dive computer (well, the whole console - computer, air guage &
compass) for $400. Compare these to new prices & there's no contest.
I don't think you have to spend a week-end in Portsea to get value out
of it. I drive there & back in a day (from Hawthorn) - the freeway
makes it easier.
Try some shore diving if you want to keep the costs down. You avoid
the $35-40 for a boat dive, you generally dive shallower, so dives can
easily go 80-90 minutes. Thats a lot of bottom time! Again, you will
find shore divers thru dive clubs & dive web sites. (try
http://diveoz.com.au )
Hope some of this is useful to you. See you in the bay, sometime!
PS. Ness is 100% correct about getting at least a semi-dry. I learnt
in Cairns & my first dive in Melbourne was quite an "experience"!

ray

2004-01-02 08:35:23 UTC

Permalink

Thankyou both for the information provided. Shore dives sound good until
i'm up and running.I will definately be looking to buy secondhand. I'm not
sure if there are any brands to stay away from but i may just purchase some
ex student gear. Would 5mm be warm enough for Melbourne or should i be
looking for 7mm.??
Secondly, i was interested to see that you mentioned uni and army diving
clubs. Victoria uni has a club but i believe that it is only for students
and their families???, the Army club sounds interesting but do you have to
be in the reserves???
Whilst o'seas a German guy mentioned he was a registered member of a club
( i think it was DAN) and this enabled him to dive at around half the normal
rate in Europe. He said i should see if there is anything like this in
Australia.
I don't mean to sound stingy but i'm 40 and have a young family to care for.

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.
--

Dread

2004-01-02 23:43:35 UTC

Permalink

Ray,

If you are looking for clubs, pick up a copy of "Divelog" which should
be free from any dive shop. Looking at a copy I have, you might want
to check out VSAG (Victorian Sub-Aqua Group). all the details are
here: http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~vsag/

Wetsuits. If you are talking standard wetsuits, I would say you need
thicker than 5, definately if you want to dive outside summer in the
bay. A 2 piece 7mm is quite warm, but the preferred option is a
semi-dry, which is generally 7mm on the torso at least. I have a 5mm
semi-dry that includes a titanium lining that reflects heat back
(Sonar Platinum). It works really well, only get cold at 35 metres.
I'm sure someone will point out a drysuit is even better, but they are
another step up the cost ladder.

BTW, a good cost/warmth compromise is a 6mm one-piece wetsuit (brand
is a Sealsuit). I know a dive shop that got a rack of them at
ludicrous cost (it was a commercial order that never got picked up.)
They are selling them at $250 last I checked. The place is called
Associated Divers in Clayton ( 03 9544 9002). Put a hot-top or rashie
vest underneath & it could do the job.

PS. I dive with AD (which is why I know what they have in the shop)
but I don't work for them :-)

Post by ray
Thankyou both for the information provided. Shore dives sound good until
i'm up and running.I will definately be looking to buy secondhand. I'm not
sure if there are any brands to stay away from but i may just purchase some
ex student gear. Would 5mm be warm enough for Melbourne or should i be
looking for 7mm.??
Secondly, i was interested to see that you mentioned uni and army diving
clubs. Victoria uni has a club but i believe that it is only for students
and their families???, the Army club sounds interesting but do you have to
be in the reserves???
Whilst o'seas a German guy mentioned he was a registered member of a club
( i think it was DAN) and this enabled him to dive at around half the normal
rate in Europe. He said i should see if there is anything like this in
Australia.
I don't mean to sound stingy but i'm 40 and have a young family to care for.

fun

Post by ray
dives around Melbourne then possibbly go on to do the Advanced

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.
--

Rob McIntyre

2004-01-03 11:40:16 UTC

Permalink

Post by ray
Thankyou both for the information provided. Shore dives sound good until
i'm up and running.I will definately be looking to buy secondhand. I'm not

Shore diving in Port Phillip bay is somewhat limited by the
shallowness of the whole bay. The best diving is around the heads
(down out of Portsea), but requires a boat trip.
There is some good shore diving around the coast, but very weather
dependant.

Post by ray
sure if there are any brands to stay away from but i may just purchase some
ex student gear. Would 5mm be warm enough for Melbourne or should i be
looking for 7mm.??

Melbourne water temperatures range between 13-22 degrees C, so it
depends upon your cold tollerence, and if you will dive all year
around. If you are diving in winter I would go for a 7mm wetsuit.
(many winter divers now use drysuits).

Post by ray
Secondly, i was interested to see that you mentioned uni and army diving
clubs. Victoria uni has a club but i believe that it is only for students
and their families???, the Army club sounds interesting but do you have to
be in the reserves???

Commercial dive clubs (attached to shops) tend to be worthwhile only
if you are using their other services often, like boat dives & gear
purchases.

Post by ray
Whilst o'seas a German guy mentioned he was a registered member of a club
( i think it was DAN) and this enabled him to dive at around half the normal
rate in Europe. He said i should see if there is anything like this in
Australia.

I would be interested in that too :-)
DAN is available in Australia, and is worth looking at, they provide a
good service, and an excellent bimonthly mag. But unfortunately not
diving at half price.

http://www.danseap.com.au/

Post by ray
I don't mean to sound stingy but i'm 40 and have a young family to care for.

fun

Post by ray
dives around Melbourne then possibbly go on to do the Advanced

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.

Rob.

rnf2

2004-01-03 20:42:04 UTC

Permalink

Post by Rob McIntyre

DAN (Divers Alert Network) is an insurance organisation, I suspect the
german was talking about another organisation if it was also DAN... maybe
Deutsh Aqua Nutalis or whatver in german can come out with as D A N as it's
initials....

rhys

Ness

2004-01-08 04:57:00 UTC

Permalink

Forgive me for piggybacking onto this message, but I'm not posting
from home at the moment...

Rob McIntyre wrote...

Post by Rob McIntyre

Ray, second hand can be good, and it can be bad, you need to be
careful, you can get stuck with some real lemons... you should take a
diving friend with you who knows about this stuff, or buy second hand
from a shop, but not from the trading post without being careful about
what you're getting... I'd hate to see you get stung! When I first
started diving I asked around, and found that a friend's husband used
to be an instructor, so I took him with me everytime I wanted to check
out second hand gear in Cash Converters or from the paper. Sometimes
you can find a whole package of gear from someone who doesn't dive
anymore that has not been used much - e.g. a friend of mine recently
bought regs, computer, BCD, wetsuit, fins, weightbelt for $800, the
gear was only 18 months old and had only been used 8 times... so keep
your eyes open for bargains like that!

Post by Rob McIntyre
Shore diving in Port Phillip bay is somewhat limited by the
shallowness of the whole bay.

Rob, you can say that again, last time I was in Melbourne we tried to
go skinny dipping in the bay... we must have walked out 300m or more
and water was still only up to our thighs! Most disappointing!!! :-)

Post by Rob McIntyre

Post by ray
Would 5mm be warm enough for Melbourne or should i be
looking for 7mm.??

Hmmmm.... cold is all relative... I really feel the cold, so a 5mm
would not be enough for me down there... in fact, when I was in
Melbourne last summer I was freezing cold and shivering every dive,
and I was in a 5mm semi-dry. If you only want to dive in summer then a
2-piece 5mm should be plentiful. But I'd recommend you hire a few to
try first, and see what you prefer... you may well hate the 2-piece
7mm feeling, it can be kinda claustrophobic to start with, and I could
never get used to it, so I got a drysuit so that I'd never have to
wear a 7mm wettie ever again! a one-piece 5mm semidry wetsuit should
cost you about $350-500 new, and a 2 piece 7mm about $600... if you
went to a wetsuit manufacturer you can get one made to fit and they
are often cheaper than commercial suits... even if they are more
expensive, if you have an odd shape (tall, wide, short, etc) they are
definately worth the added expense.

Post by Rob McIntyre

Don't quote me on this, but they might be open to anyone. A local uni
here will allow anyone who has ever recieved a degree from anywhere in
the world to join.
The Army club may or may not exist anymore, it did when I lived there
but I can't remember contact details. Search Google for "army
melbourne dive" or something like that.
The Police probably also have a club. Not sure if you have anything to
do with any of these organisations but they're common organisations
that have clubs - there are also many others. Totally agree with Rob
that commercial shops are only worthwhile if you're spending money in
the shop. Most shops local to me charge a $50/year fee to join their
dive club, which gives you a free sausage once a month, discount dive
gear and boat dives, but they don't provide any shore dives or
anything else free to members, and I'm a veggo so don't eat
sausages... so I haven't joined any of them!

Post by Rob McIntyre

Post by ray
I don't mean to sound stingy but i'm 40 and have a young family to care for.

You don't sound stingy, just like everyone new trying to get into
diving, you don't want to sell your firstborn just to blow bubbles
occasionally :-)

Ness

Rob McIntyre

2004-01-08 11:28:37 UTC

Permalink

Post by Ness
Totally agree with Rob
that commercial shops are only worthwhile if you're spending money in
the shop. Most shops local to me charge a $50/year fee to join their
dive club, which gives you a free sausage once a month, discount dive
gear and boat dives, but they don't provide any shore dives or
anything else free to members, and I'm a veggo so don't eat
sausages... so I haven't joined any of them!

Recently I have received a few emails from Diving Headquarters
about shore dives during the week (nights about 6:30pm).
They are also offering cheap gear hire for the night.
I have not tried one as my working hours have not matched, but
it would probably be worth enquiring about.

Rob.

ray

2004-01-06 08:03:00 UTC

Permalink

It must be a different organisation to DAN that he mentioned. I was getting
a bit of information overload at the time so it is my mistake.

Thankyou for all the information that has been provided. I intend to go and
see a dive shop in Essendon and Williamstown as they are the closest to
where I live.
Essendon is Vision Divers. Has anyone had any experience with these guys?
The shop is closed at present.

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.
--

Tim Hochgrebe

2004-01-08 05:02:56 UTC

Permalink

Post by ray
It must be a different organisation to DAN that he mentioned. I was getting
a bit of information overload at the time so it is my mistake.
Thankyou for all the information that has been provided. I intend to go and
see a dive shop in Essendon and Williamstown as they are the closest to
where I live.
Essendon is Vision Divers. Has anyone had any experience with these guys?
The shop is closed at present.

fun

Post by ray
dives around Melbourne then possibbly go on to do the Advanced

Certificate.

Post by ray
Cost will be a determining factor.

Check out the dive club section on http://www.underwater.com.au - a
dirct link for Melbourne Dive Clubs is here
http://www.underwater.com.au/dive_clubs.php/location/victoria

You should be able to find some more info on many of the dive shops in
Melbourne here http://www.underwater.com.au/dive_shops.php/location/melbourne_and_surrounds

hope that helps

Tim
underwater.com.au