Pacific Northwest Scuba Diving

My son is now an official Open Water Scuba Diver...We had great fun together...but oh, it WAS cold...and the viz on our Open Water dive 3 & 4...was 5 feet...I kid you not! Going down to 35 feet we could not see the top...or the bottom...and could BARELY see each other! Talk about good practice for keeping your buddy CLOSE!! Then there was the kelp on the bottom so he had to do all of his excercises while keeping his buoyancy...AND, since he is a big guy (6 foot 3 inches) and just shy of 300 pounds...his equipment was not the best. Because of the 7 mil suits...I had to wear 30 POUNDS of extra weights...he had to wear 54 POUNDS of extra weights AND he only had a 60 pound weight lift BCD!! Divers..."feel" hitting 30 feet with 54 extra pounds!!! So a few more pictures...This was taken on the confined water dives about 16 feet deep...but again nothing really great because there really was not good viz! The best news is that we perservered...and he is certified! I have been told by quite a few people that if you can scuba dive up here in the Northwest...you can suba dive ANYWHERE...now I know why!! I really am hoping to get him and perhaps my two daughters as well to Roatan this year...cruising year...and have some real diving and fun!! I am suppose to be teaching one of my girlfriends and another of her friends in a couple of weeks here too...After I tell them what diving in Puget Sound (Hood Canal) is like, we will see if they will want to meet me in Roatan as well!So, while the Pacific Northwest is still my all time favorite for summer weather above the waterline...I have not yet been convinced that below the waterline is worth the TREMENDOUS effort...but stay tuned...I have not given up either!