Anyone else really nervous in the beginning?

[nldunn]

I think other people have already said this, but being nervous isn't a bad thing in my opinion (unless, of course, it keeps you out of the water).

I've been diving for almost 15 years with a resurgence over the last 5 years as I decided to go down the tech/cave diving path. 5 years later, and a couple hundred dives (most of those in caves or overhead environments with deco), I still get a little nervous before almost every dive. But instead of allowing that feeling to overwhelm me, I try and use it to focus my thoughts and energy on dive planning and execution. And 95% of the time, once I submerge and "lock in" to the dive plan, that feeling goes away and my brainpower is dedicated to the dive itself and my team.

Being nervous is just your brain and body trying to keep you alive in the face of the unknown. And that's a good thing.

Being nervous has kept me out of the water on my last trip here because my sister in law didn't dive and I didn't trust a stranger to be my buddy at this point.
I didn't do a boat dive yesterday and I don't know if it was due to nerves or good sense. 30 knots wind, whitecaps and waves breaking out in the sea. I thought I would be over my head in skill level. I wouldn't have snorkeled in those conditions and I'm very confident snorkeling and swimming in the ocean. But I thought, "Don't make my last dive a bad one so I won't want to dive again." I'm not sure if I should have bailed or not. Ugh.

 

[nldunn]

If you weren’t diving with your own computer. Tell us you planned the dives using tables before getting in the water. Ideally, you had a slate with max depth and times on it.

I was with a guide who had done an informal refresher with us. Did I trust her rather than stress about depth, which I would have done? Yup. And it was a good plan for me that day. There is no way I'm diving without a guide any time soon but I get that I am in charge of my own safety. I had a mental block I was trying to get over.

 

[nldunn]

T

Don't beat yourself up over it, @nldunn. For some on ScubaBoard that may not be too far off of "normal" , but I won't dive in those conditions either. And also, depending on the direction a 30 knot wind is coming from, the dive shop I use on Roatan would cancel everyone's dives in those conditions. Frankly that's one of the reasons I dive with them.

We are recreational divers. By definition it's supposed to be fun. It sounds like you had fun on this trip, and learned a number of lessons that will serve you well on your next one in a few months. That's a win all the way around.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, it's true that this should be fun and my husband puking and me terrified would not have been fun.
And if in Roatan, I would want to dive with your shop!!

 

[Edward3c]

I was with a guide who had done an informal refresher with us. Did I trust her rather than stress about depth, which I would have done? Yup. And it was a good plan for me that day. There is no way I'm diving without a guide any time soon but I get that I am in charge of my own safety. I had a mental block I was trying to get over.

Even though you’re with a guide/instructor you should get into the habit of planning your own dive profiles. I confirm that my students have gone through the planning cycle for each dive. That way they are better prepared for the day they’re not with a competent guide/instructor or even diving as an ordinary buddy pair.

 

[NothingClever]

I had a pressure gauge and a watch but no depth gauge. I really didn't want to know my depth this dive because if I saw we were going below 40 feet, I think I wold have gotten nervous and said, NO WAY!! This way, I knew we were deeper than 25 or 30 feet because the surface looked different, but I didn't know we went 56 feet down.
I will be getting one to have for my next trip here in April with my daughter.

Well, dagnabbit.

Hard NO on the camera. You have other skills that require your attention first.

I can’t encourage you enough to get a computer or at the very least a depth gauge alongside your watch.

Hiring a guide to fulfill a basic individual responsibility (tracking one’s depth) is just silly.

What basic pilot training allows for outsourcing monitoring the altimeter? Yeah, I get the same answer - none.

If Janette hasn’t stomped her foot about this basic individual task, I won’t deny that she’s a kind soul that’s comforting and encouraging you but I will question her competency and duty to truly care. She’s tacitly endorsing dependency and I think that’s a DISservice rather than good customer service.

I’m glad you’re getting a computer. Please commit to learning to use it.

 

[nldunn]

Well, dagnabbit.

Hard NO on the camera. You have other skills that require your attention first.

I can’t encourage you enough to get a computer or at the very least a depth gauge alongside your watch.

Hiring a guide to fulfill a basic individual responsibility (tracking one’s depth) is just silly.

What basic pilot training allows for outsourcing monitoring the altimeter? Yeah, I get the same answer - none.

If Janette hasn’t stomped her foot about this basic individual task, I won’t deny that she’s a kind soul that’s comforting and encouraging you but I will question her competency and duty to truly care. She’s tacitly endorsing dependency and I think that’s a DISservice rather than good customer service.

I’m glad you’re getting a computer. Please commit to learning to use it.

As a long time teacher and now therapist, I thought the dive master was competent and intuitive and she knew what I needed for this one day. I dove with her before during this week. Now that I've gotten over the hurdle over going past 35 feet, I would always dive with a computer or depth gauge, which I have always done before, but it's gotten me really anxious to have one before and I spent a lot of the dive looking at it and worrying.
I do understand that I need to be independent and I'm getting a computer before I come back and I will figure it out before I leave home. I appreciate your caring.

 

[PEDiver]

Being nervous has kept me out of the water on my last trip here because my sister in law didn't dive and I didn't trust a stranger to be my buddy at this point.
I didn't do a boat dive yesterday and I don't know if it was due to nerves or good sense. 30 knots wind, whitecaps and waves breaking out in the sea. I thought I would be over my head in skill level. I wouldn't have snorkeled in those conditions and I'm very confident snorkeling and swimming in the ocean. But I thought, "Don't make my last dive a bad one so I won't want to dive again." I'm not sure if I should have bailed or not. Ugh.

I should probably rephrase what I said I meant that being nervous shouldn't keep you out of the water permanently. There will always be situations where it is smart to maybe not do a particular dive, whether it's due to bad weather conditions, equipment issues, lack of a buddy, etc. Diving should be fun, even if you have to work through some anxiety first. I see that as completely normal.

 

[mcohen1021]

So with 900 psi, since you knew where the boat was, you were confident of swimming underwater, a safety stop and a controlled ascent??
What would you have done if you had 200psi when you looked and you were a ways from the boat? These are the scenarios I come up with!!

When I saw the rate of how fast my air was coming out, I knew I had to haul arse back to the boat. With that clear of water I knew my wife would never lose sight of me. Yes, I knew exactly where I was with relation to the wreck, and I knew where the boat was in relation to the reef (you self lead more when you do liveaboards).

I had taken a compass heading from the mooring anchor to the wreck. Then I took another compass heading from the wreck to the nearby reef. So instead of following my path backwards, I diagonaled (shortest path) back to the boat), came up to the 15' zone and safety stopped. My wife caught up eventually, and did the full 3. I was prepared to take the tank down to 0, and if needed either buddy breathe or do the surface swim. BTW - when you get down that low, you'll notice you are drawing hard on the regulator rather than it flowing easily.

PS: I was just looking at my dive profile and my ½ tank point was @ 21 minutes - typically that happens under similar conditions @ 41 minutes!

 

[mcohen1021]

All my other dives were in local lakes. Beaver lake, Bulls Shoals, Tablerock, & Norfork lake.

I did a single dive with a local dive shop owner @ Norfork - Cliff Rooke. It was May 21, 1990 and the lake was flooded - picnic tables and parks were all underwater. We went out on his boat, I had a ¼" wetsuit hood and gloves and it was still frigid... It was clear water, a wreck dive, but idk if it had a name. 90' and 30 minutes.

 

[nldunn]

When I saw the rate of how fast my air was coming out, I knew I had to haul arse back to the boat. With that clear of water I knew my wife would never lose sight of me. Yes, I knew exactly where I was with relation to the wreck, and I knew where the boat was in relation to the reef (you self lead more when you do liveaboards).

I had taken a compass heading from the mooring anchor to the wreck. Then I took another compass heading from the wreck to the nearby reef. So instead of following my path backwards, I diagonaled (shortest path) back to the boat), came up to the 15' zone and safety stopped. My wife caught up eventually, and did the full 3. I was prepared to take the tank down to 0, and if needed either buddy breathe or do the surface swim. BTW - when you get down that low, you'll notice you are drawing hard on the regulator rather than it flowing easily.

PS: I was just looking at my dive profile and my ½ tank point was @ 21 minutes - typically that happens under similar conditions @ 41 minutes!

Holy cow! You kept a cool head!! That’s the goal, right???