Diving Without certification...

[Aquatic Eagle]

Not so much I'm questioning if I should go as much as if I do, will it end up beyond what they say. Deeper diving, 15 ft turns into 60-100 (doubtful in the keys), currents, visibility can all come into effect.

That being said, I think I'm going to do it as long as the conditions are right. I will have my own gear and being I'm with a DM, along with knowing the basic fundamentals in shallow water, I think it may just be a great experience. It would be different I guess if it was with some other newbs wanting to go diving rather instructing. I will let you know about it this coming weekend. Thanks again for all of your input on the situation. seems to be about 50/50

It's so very easy to be at 15 feet and see something just a little deeper and go look at it. Then you see something a little deeper...

The majority here (lots of experienced certified divers, instructors, DMs, etc) say you should wait until you're certified. Can you explain why you're willing to take such a big risk when you could easily reduce that risk by waiting a few weeks? Divers that are in a big rush to do things that they have not been sufficiently trained for are many times the subject of diving-related headlines. Why come here and ask advice if you're just going to ignore it?

I'm asking you as an instructor and a fellow diver: please be responsible and get certified before diving. Not only will going through with this put you in danger but it also puts your buddy in danger. It doesn't matter how much experience he has. Anyone can have an accident and you are doing him a great disservice by being an untrained, unqualified and unprepared dive buddy. I love this sport and I hate to hear about accidents. Not only is it terrible because of the harm to a person but it also very much hurts the image of the sport. Diving would be much safer if people would follow the guidelines established and be responsible.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So I'm talking with this guy and he has been diving for years, he said he wants to take me out to a shallow reef with his dive buddy that's 10-15 ft deep max. I kind of laughed and said I'm not certified yet and will be in a the next coming weeks. He said its ok, its too shallow and it will help me "get my feet wet" before I actually dip into the class. Now I'm a pretty decent swimmer, and do plenty of spearfishing free diving, but with scuba diving, its not as simple as throwing on your mask and fins and jump in..

Question: Do people really just strap on a bunch of gear on and jump in with no training and leave their life in the hands of a couple guys just to get their feet wet?! Even though it is shallow water, what are your guys thoughts on this?

My first-ever dive was 11 years before I got certified. Had a sailing buddy who used to come out and clean our boat bottom ... he promised to "teach me everything I ever needed to know" about scuba. So off we were ... to a cove in Lake Winnapesauke in NH ... where he carefully explained how to set up the gear and all the useful stuff I needed to know about breathing off a regulator. He neglected to cover the part about equalizing ears, or not holding your breath ... but we headed down and terrorized the fish until the tank ran outta air ... at which point I bolted to the surface.

Fortunately, the fact that I didn't know how to equalize kept our depth to about 10-15 feet ... and probably equally fortunate when the tank ran out I didn't have a full inhale, because I honestly don't remember whether or not I held my breath coming up but I suspect so.

At any rate ... it was kinda fun, except for the pain in the ears ... but it planted a seed that took 11 years to germinate.

I've since discovered that there's no such thing as "everything I ever need to know" about scuba ... because there's always more to learn, and I have an insatiable desire to learn it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Does it happen? Sure. Should it? I believe, no, not in this day and age of dive shops and trained instructors. It's not as hard as it once was to shop around and find a good teacher. Forty years ago, that wasn't the case, and I'm willing to bet that more than a few veteran divers learned to dive by themselves or via ex-military men who turned out thoroughly solid divers who lacked c-cards because there was no such thing as c-cards. But we live in a very different world today...

Rule number 1 of diving: Never dive beyond your level of training. There's a reason why it's the number 1 rule. Read through documented diving accidents and/or near misses and consider how many situations could have been averted if folk abided by this simple rule. If you want to make a dive, any dive, get the training. It's that simple.

When faced with a new/tricky diving situation, and while considering my responses to this situation, I always ask myself: does this read like the beginning of an accident report? With all due respect, when I read your opening post, the answer was, 'yes'. It's great that you're so comfortable in the water, and it will stand you in good stead during your classes. Leave it at that.

Another thing to think about, which BoulderJohn has already touched on: if anything goes wrong, your buddies aren't insured to handle the consequences. Unless they are current dive instructors and carry their own insurance* - a very important distinction - they're not covered for any contingencies. Your family/next of kin could easily sue them if you were injured or died, and legally, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on. So, by declining your friends' kind offers, you're doing them a favor, too. With all due respect to your mate, he's a DM and therefore not trained to teach new divers. Even if he carries his own insurance, I doubt his provider would defend him in a court of law once it transpired he was guiding and teaching an uncertified diver.

* My fiance is a dive instructor and has introduced a couple of friends to the wonders of the underwater world, but since he carries his own insurance (and is an extremely experienced instructor), he's qualified to do exactly that. Instructors who are insured only through their dive shop can train divers only via their shop, and not independently, assuming they want to cover their rears.

 

[GLENFWB]

To me your choice is very simple. Are you willing to put your life in these guys hands?? We have all heard, "you don't know what you don't know." So IF something goes wrong...and bolting for the surface is not an option or possible (for whatever reason), do you trust these guys to save your life?

Personally I can't imagine doing a trust me dive before being certified.

But the integrity of these guys are legit, they are good friends with my wife and have yrs of experience. Still, what are your thoughts, should I give it a wurl?

 

[lmurtha1]

ok after further reading throughout this forum, my math is def. incorrect! my apologies, second, after talking to my wife and further pondering (after a certain phone call) I will wait 2 weeks until my certification. It is easier, safer, and more responsible. That way I will further my enjoyment of my diving experience.

Lastly, just got off the phone with the buddy a few min ago, hes more going to dive not instruct, which was different than previously discussed. secondly, he said we could go NIGHT DIVING, third, he said he sometimes wonders off and his DM buddy gets upset with him but he laughs it off. This made my decision very easy..

Sorry i did not ask further into his plans and how he dives before even making a consideration!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told him that I'm not going to dive with him until im certified and that I want to dive with all my own equipment which I do not have fully yet.

This could of been a doozy and thanks for all your wise advise!

 

[boulderjohn]

EDIT: Never mind--I did not see your last post when I made this.

 

[dwhthediver]

That is definitely the right decision!!!!

 

[Damselfish]

He said its ok, its too shallow

IMO this statement is a red flag that this person does not have the skills or knowledge to take you on this little junket. Diving for years doesn't necessarily mean anything, especially in this situation.

15-20 ft is really nothing deep considering ill hit 20-30 regularly free diving.

In the first case you are breathing compressed air, in the second you are not. It is completely different. And while freediving experience and comfort in the water may be helpful when you take your class, if it makes you over confident or more likely to instinctively hold your breath (before the class pounds through your head that you shouldn't) that's very bad.

 

[BarrelRoll]

Normally I would have suggested that your knowledge base coupled with your friends' experience and the simplistic nature of the dive says you should be fine, have fun.

But... Aren't you the same guy who has a contract that restricts dangerous activities? That's a huge contract to risk on not waiting a couple of weeks for the legally defensible instruction. You have the best job in the world dude, no reason to risk a minor injury that could possibly end your career without the proper paperwork legally backing your play.

 

[Notso_Ken]

At 15 ft, you are at less than one added atm of pressure, so if worse came to worse, you could dump the gear, and head to the surface, with very minimal risk of an over expansion injury.

That is completely false and a dangerous statement to make!!

At 15', you can have an expansion of 50% of the air in your lungs between 15' and the surface! Those first 15' are the MOST dangerous 15' out there!



Ken