Unexpected Expenses

As it turns out, the SCUBA equipment available at SFS (School for Field Studies) is limited. In fact, all they have is tanks and weights! I found this out Monday morning. By Monday afternoon, I had spent almost $500 at the local dive shop.

There was no way in heck I'm moving to TCI and not diving. I managed to get a great deal on some used equipment. They had a $600 buoyancy compensator for $125, and an $800 set of regulators and gauges for $225. They're in good condition too. I snapped those up really quick. I had to buy fins new, but luckily there not too expensive.

A dive computer would have been really expensive, but fortunately I still qualify for a prodeal on Suunto products through REI. They make several nice ones, but I ordered one of the basic models - it's actually quite advanced compared to what was out when I was first dive certified 8 years ago. It hasn't arrived yet, but this is the stock photo of it (I got the black one).

In all, I'm getting extremely good deals on this equipment. I just didn't expect to have to purchase it all at once and so soon. In the end, it's worth it. How could I go to this place and not dive?! I've wanted to start diving again for a while, and now is my opportunity. Besides, I should be able to recoup most of my expenses down the road if I ever sell this gear.

The next feat was getting a replacement diver's card. I lost mine when my wallet was stolen in Paris years ago. Getting this was more difficult than you would probably think. I had none of the materials they asked required for verification - a copy of the old card, dive log book, name of the certifying instructor, name of certifying shop. But I was able to convince a very grumpy person at the NAUI offices to search their records. The new card is in the mail. Now I'll be able to take a refresher course here, before I leave.

The only obstacle that remains is finding people to dive with in South Caicos - it's not really the sort of activity you can safely do alone. This shouldn't be that difficult, but I really don't want to do it through a commercial outfit (they just charge too much). My hope is that enough of the staff (or even the students) at SFS will be into it, so that I can go frequently. I'll probably mostly be snorkling because I can do that solo while everybody else is working or in class.