New To CHUM

[dutch]

Hi Starfish. As this group love to travel, you might just find a buddy for the Oz trip here... Anyway, welcome to the group and be sure and try to get by one of the meetings!

 

[VanessaArrrr]

I have a trip planned at the end of June to dive the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea on the Spirt of Freedom. Anyone have advice/tips/stories on GBR diving?

I hope you enjoy GBR and the Coral Sea as much as I did. Welcome Starfish, I hope to get a chance to dive with you soon.

VanessaArrrr

 

[scubagirl]

Nice to meet you Starfish. I am jealous, that trip is on my bucket list. Can't wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[Jen Jen]

Hi! New to CHUM, but not new to diving. Found this club through DiveBuddy. Native Houstonian, been diving since 1993, but there was a 7 year break in there while I went back to school (which meant no money or time! :/), but I'm back full force for the last few years -- gifted myself trips to Bonaire and Cozumel for graduation! Many of my "old" diving friends moved or quit diving during that break, so I'm really looking forward to meeting more local divers!
Thanks!
Jen

 

[ReefHound]

You're in the right place! Just jump right in, the water's warm, I swear. We have a meeting coming up next week. Hope to see you there!

 

[Heidi Ho]

Welcome!

If you want to get wet this weekend, several of us are going to the Blue Lagoon on Saturday. You're welcome to join us.....

 

[Jen Jen]

Planning on it! Thanks!

 

[dutch]

Welcome Jen. From your signature line, I can tell you will do fine with this bunch.

 

[Heidi Ho]

Planning on it! Thanks!

Great...we'll be on Main Beach at shelter #5 around 9:30-10 am. See you then!

 

[wholloway6]

Hello. I am new to both chum and scuba diving, long time Houston resident (26 years). Went once a few years back while in Playa Del Carmen and loved it. Never had the time/money/motivation/..... till recently. Planning to get my certification next month with my brother and figure it would be great to find a good group of people to dive with and learn from. Little about me.... Single father of two, work full time STRANGE hours (12 hour rotating shifts), easy going just looking to start a fun new hobby. Look forward to possibly coming to a meeting or dive event after I get my cert.

 

[VanessaArrrr]

Welcome to CHUM wholloway6. We are glad you are here and we are looking forward to diving with you after your certification. Come by the monthly meeting if you can or visit one of our events (not all involve diving) while you are waiting on your cert. CHUM has divers of all experience levels and we all love to discuss diving (that is because our non-diving family and friends are tired of hearing about it)

See you soon,

VanessaArrr

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

I just moved from Belgium to Houston and was looking for a fun club to go diving ;-)
I am diving since 7 years and would like to explore the area , any suggestions ?

thx,

Tom

 

[ReefHound]

Nice to meet you last night. My advice is keep coming out to our meetings and social events and check our calendar. We do lots of stuff that you can dive new places and learn new places

 

[dutch]

Hoi Tom. Welkom. Dit is een uitstekende groep. Geniet daar van!

 

[melOH]

Hey There!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Melissa and I got my PADI open water cert in April. I also recently got my Nitrox cert and I've been diving as much as possible before my honeymoon in September to Bonaire and Curacao. Can't wait! I'm really excited that I found CHUM and I'm looking forward to meeting you guys!

 

[GWNDWN]

Welcome to CHUM Mel. This crowd will keep you in the water plenty. If you can, swing by the meeting this Thursday at the Stags Head Pub so we can all say hello....starts about 730 but swing by whenever you can.

 

[dutch]

Hi Mel, you definitely need to get into the meeting ASAP. The sooner you fall into the fold, the more opportunities will be available for diving.

 

[Heidi Ho]

Welcome! and yes, do try to come by Stag's Head this Thursday. We're always going somewhere or doing something.....

 

[nwscubamom]

Hello, my name is Janna and I'm a dive addict.

Unfortunately I don't live anywhere close to you guys (I'm up in Washington State) and envy your warm water (although Pacific NW cold water rocks!). I started learning how to ID fish shortly after learning to dive 12 years ago. I was so excited to tell my family and friends what I was seeing, but didn't know the names of any of the fish or inverts!

So I got myself an underwater camera (film, back then) and started snapping photos. And then would come home and try to make heads or tails out of my blurry shots of fish rear-ends. I'm sure you can relate to that!

And I loved it! Was introduced to REEF by an instructor/trip leader on my first dive trip to Bonaire, back in 2000. We learned the fish before the trip, and then did our first surveys on the trip. Back in those days we did our surveys on paper scantron forms. It was like taking an SAT! ARGH! (Now data submission is super easy and quick - it's online and you just click away. Takes maybe 5-10 min.)

I was REEF's Volunteer of the Year back in 2003, and in 2010 I was hired on as REEF's Outreach Coordinator. Most of the REEF staff is in Key Largo, FL, but I work out of my home office here on the west coast.

Anyway, I am excited to see CHUM become a REEF Field Station and love your ideas and enthusiasm! Feel free to ask me any questions about REEF or fish-watching. I must warn you though, I am not a fish ID expert for the fish in your area, sorry to say. But, I do have friends...and it looks like there are a few of you who can totally rock the fish ID thing too....

O-fish-ally yours,
- Janna

 

[dutch]

Welcome to the CHUM family Janna! You should really try to get to Houston one day, maybe when flying on that Caribbean vacation, and make a stop by one of the club events. One of our members used to live in Seattle and dive the PNW lots. She actually says she misses the drysuit and cold water...