How soon after your cert did you go on your own dive without any DM?

[ZenDiver.3D]

My next dive.
If you are trained as you should be, you should be able to dive independently as soon as you are certified. That's what the cert means. If you you don't feel capable of being an independent diver upon certification, then your instructor did you a disservice by certifying you.

 

[D_B]

Capable? yes ... Comfortable? ... OK it was a little scary the first time we planned and executed a dive by ourselves, ocean dive from shore

 

[sabbath999]

My next dive.
If you are trained as you should be, you should be able to dive independently as soon as you are certified. That's what the cert means. If you you don't feel capable of being an independent diver upon certification, then your instructor did you a disservice by certifying you.

With all due respect, I felt completely capable of making a dive independently with my recently certified buddy "in the conditions I trained in".

We trained in low vis, dark and cold fresh water quarries and lakes, from shore. I felt 100 percent comfortable making quarry/lake dives from shore in bad vis, cold nasty water, no problem. When you are in a quarry, you simply can't go very far wrong on navigation... and when the quarry is only 63 feet deep it is kind of hard to mess up by diving deeper than the recreational limits.

I did not feel comfortable diving from a boat, in salt water, in a wide open ocean where navigation is actually a challenge.

We signed up for, and took, our AOW courses not so much for the information that they taught and the certification cards but rather for the fact that our first five dives in the ocean would be with an instructor working through not only the coursework but all the other things that freshwater trained divers have not seen.

I think it worked out pretty well... when we were done with our AOW we were ready to just tell the folks on the boat "hey, we are going to go do our own thing" and they were good with that (especially because our own thing was to simply stay within 100 feet or so of the mooring and examine the macro animal life and corals closely).

OW Certification, in my case, made me ready for conditions that I had trained in... but AOW training in the ocean added several necessary tools to my diving skills.

DISCLAIMER: I am a NOOB, so keep that in mind when listening to anything I say... I do not offer advice on diving because I don't know what I am talking about... I only answer questions about what I DO know about (which is how I was trained and what I have seen on the limited number of dives that I have been on).

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

My next 2 dives were without a DM, a couple weeks or so after certification. Just me and my buddy went to a dive park.

 

[Jai Bar]

Immediately.

 

[Dr Neil]

I did over 30 dives after my OW certification with only a dive buddy. I give credit to one great instructor who trained me.

We then went to the Bahamas and got on a cattle boat where we were told that we had to dive with the group. No exceptions! Being still somewhat of a newby, I was flabbergasted that I had to dive with a DM in 80-80 water when I had just done 30 some dives in green low visibility water.

Now that I know better, DMs are invaluable when diving an unfamiliar site. I especially apprecite someone else worrying about navigating and I can dive on the fringe of the group and take pictures.

However, I still get somewhat ruffled when I travel and have to be led on a wreck that can be clearly seen from the surface.

 

[kjvander]

does it count if my normal buddy is a DM and the other is an instructor....then i guess i've never dove unsupervised?

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

With all due respect, I felt completely capable of making a dive independently with my recently certified buddy "in the conditions I trained in".

We trained in low vis, dark and cold fresh water quarries and lakes, from shore. I felt 100 percent comfortable making quarry/lake dives from shore in bad vis, cold nasty water, no problem. When you are in a quarry, you simply can't go very far wrong on navigation... and when the quarry is only 63 feet deep it is kind of hard to mess up by diving deeper than the recreational limits.

I did not feel comfortable diving from a boat, in salt water, in a wide open ocean where navigation is actually a challenge.

We signed up for, and took, our AOW courses not so much for the information that they taught and the certification cards but rather for the fact that our first five dives in the ocean would be with an instructor working through not only the coursework but all the other things that freshwater trained divers have not seen.

I think it worked out pretty well... when we were done with our AOW we were ready to just tell the folks on the boat "hey, we are going to go do our own thing" and they were good with that (especially because our own thing was to simply stay within 100 feet or so of the mooring and examine the macro animal life and corals closely).

OW Certification, in my case, made me ready for conditions that I had trained in... but AOW training in the ocean added several necessary tools to my diving skills.

DISCLAIMER: I am a NOOB, so keep that in mind when listening to anything I say... I do not offer advice on diving because I don't know what I am talking about... I only answer questions about what I DO know about (which is how I was trained and what I have seen on the limited number of dives that I have been on).

You know, I guess I assumed that you weren't talking about an unknown environment. I run dive boats, and we always send a DM with divers new to the area, or new divers to us, just as a courtesy and as liability management.
But, if you are open water certified, you should be able to plan for your dive, environment, and be able to plan for risk management which helps you decide if you are diving to your training level.
And I was trying to say that divers who weren't ready to dive independently after Ow are at fault in any way. I have problems with those instructors who turn loose students who are unprepared and not capable of being safe divers. It isn't the diver's fault, it is that instructor. My students know that they get their cert when I am ready to trust them to buddy up with my daughter. And you know what? They are able to handle different conditions when they finish my class.

I have also had divers on our boats with hundreds of dives, be completely unprepared for drift dives, or low visibility. Everyone is fine in their comfort zone and must plan for unknown areas of diving. You must know whether you feel comfortable with a dive or not. If you feel you need supervision, ask for a DM. At the end of the day, you decide whether you are within your limits. Stay within them and train further. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[foxe]

A couple of my dives just after OW were group dives where there was a DM in the water but we were buddied up and allowed to go at our own pace, so there was no "hand-holding" -- the DM was with a much less confident diver, out of our sight for most of the dive and surfaced well before we did. We did talk through a navigation plan and it was a simple site, so there was little chance of getting lost; plus I was paired with a very experienced buddy -- I didn't need help with anything and didn't think it was likely I would, but it was nice for peace of mind.

My first dives without a DM around at all were 14-16 (I'm still new to this!), with a more experienced buddy who knew the dive sites pretty well and was essentially leading; and they were pier dives, therefore easy to navigate. I'd be comfortable diving there again, or most other places I've been, without a DM and with a buddy of only my own level; but I think it'll be a good long while before I try a site I haven't explored before without an experienced guide of some sort -- I'd always want to get an orientation dive in, not for hand-holding on basics but just for any features or hazards peculiar to the site. Call me over-cautious perhaps...

 

[SoybeanQueen]

First unsupervised dive was the same day I was certified. Everyone in the class paired up and went for a swim. We were certified and this dive was conducted in arm's length or less visibility. We were really startled when we were strafed by a sea otter.

Man, I'm totally jealous on the otter sighting.

My first unaccompanied dive was just after the last OW training dive, as well. My husband was my buddy. In a lake, really low vis. We did two or three short dives right then. My nav skills were seriously lacking, and I was having a hard time trusting his, though, so I wasn't enjoying that part as much as I should have. Loved the actual diving part, though. My husband is also a private pilot, so he has the advantage of already having learned the "trust the instruments" thing. I'm getting there.

No otters in the lake. After we surfaced, I asked my husband about "that really big fish" that we saw. He looked perplexed for a moment, and then realized that I meant the merely average size fish that didn't impress him at all. It's a miracle I saw anything other than my arm in that lake! Can you blame a girl for being excited about a fish?