Quote:
Originally Posted by houstonwhodat
But I don't dive locally. The water around here is like diving in a ditch.
If you can't see what's the use, it's not like you're commercial diving and getting paid for it.
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Local diving is not the reason that most people certify, but there is some real value to local diving. Most lakes and reservoirs will be cooler than the Caribbean and have limited visibility so there are some uncomfortable considerations but lakes and reservoirs are a great place to practice skills you already have and master new skills. Lakes and reservoirs don't typically have current or surge, they have an actual bottom to limit any uncontrolled descent, and they are a great place to practice navigation because you can't cheat. If you can become comfortable diving in lakes and reservoirs, you will have a much easier time in the Caribbean (or other dive destinations).
Local diving also becomes more interesting if you consider the historical importance of your local body of water. For instance, the nearest dive site to Albuquerque is a natural cold-water spring called the Blue Hole of Santa Rosa. On face value, you have a hole in the ground with cold water, about 8 fish and sometimes a few hundred crawfish. If you consider the history, you have a natural phenomenon that is more than 10,000 years old. One cave in a series of underground waterways. A place where dinosaurs came to drink. A place where Native Americans would have come for water; and Spanish conquistadors, and westward settlers and (most likely) even Billy the Kid.