Underwater Housing and a new Diver

kelpdiver wrote:

I would absolutely recommend the backplate route, with or without the camera. It reduces drag and (stuff) in front of the body and if you integrate the weight into it, avoid the problems with weight belts.

I was thinking of getting the XDeep Ghost/Zen, but I am not sure yet whether I am actually paying a premium for a good lighter weight solution or just for the sex factor and marketing. Need to look at them closer. I was also thinking of getting a piston reg so I can do the maintenance on my own. Not to save money, I doubt I'd end up doing that, just to make sure it's done right. Integrated vs weight belt is a big debate.

However, as new diver, stick to the 36-45lb wings over the minimalist 20lb ones. With the latter, your rig may not float without you in it at the beginning of a dive (full tank). You should have excess lift to prevent getting into a small situation that can snowball.

Yes this is something that many people have told me and I am looking at what I can get.

So I was thinking of investing in Nitrox as the next course. I always thought the PADI underwater course was more of a gimmick, designed for non photographers to

Take the nitrox class. Dive time is expensive (100-400$/dive for traveling) and nitrox is remarkably cheap at increasing it. It's extremely limiting to do 4-5 dives per day on air.

And when feasible, with an instructor/shop you like, the rescue class. That one is more about avoiding a disaster than recovering from it. Key knowledge for the UW photographer, who tends to become a solo or SOB (same ocean buddy) diver.

You might find a good photographer instructor who also issues this padi badge, but more likely, garbage. Put another [hundred] dollar in. Go instead to a resort that focuses on photography, or a trip organizer that does.

Nitrox will definitely help a lot. We tend to get 3/4 long weekends at work here every year. I can usually plan things in a manner that I can take an additional day or two off. If I can plan a diving trip (closest would be the Andamans/Lakshadweep/Thailand) off a cheap flight ticket, it would be nice to get 3.5 days of 3 dives a day. I can see Nitrox definitely helping me in that scenario.