Getting Certified On Vacation, Sanity Check

[fisheater]

Once again, thanks for all the advice and input on this. We are on the manifest to dive with Ecologic for OW and have masks, fins, and snorkels from a LDS. The pool session went well and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it actually was--but I've always been completely comfortable in the water was in a 'swim team' and a lifeguard once. But I enjoy 'adrenaline sports' so a little 'excitement' is actually a bonus. I kind of hope the deep holds a few thrills--just not from stupidity or equipment issues or other BS.

If I decide to keep going after Belize I'm going to take the advice and go for AOW in the local waters--I want to know what the local sea-life is like and will want to learn how to dive a dry suit.

Only a week to go. Can't wait!

Excellent. Let us know how your class and dives go.

 

[vladimir]

But I enjoy 'adrenaline sports' so a little 'excitement' is actually a bonus. I kind of hope the deep holds a few thrills--just not from stupidity or equipment issues or other BS.

Caribbean diving like you'll experience in Belize may turn out to be a little bit too sedate for you--often the currents are mimimal, the big fish few and far between, and the seas as warm and calm as a bathtub. I have come close to nodding off on a few dives. I do take a lot of pleasure in the complex symbioses that characterize much of the ecosystem--not everybody's cup of tea, I'm sure. If you need adrenaline, it is out there, though. Wild currents, hordes of frenzied predators, animals the size of buses, all can be found if you look in the right places. Enjoy your trip. Try to get out to the Elbow; my favorite site in Belize and, if the current is running, just the thing for an adrenaline junkie.

 

[Oceanonaut]

The great thing about being a newbie is that even the bunny slope holds terrors. Nice to know about the Elbow, catch me 5 years ago and I'd be all over it, but truth be told those days are behind me. Still dig the idea though.

 

[boulderjohn]

... but truth be told those days are behind me.

...and why would that be?

 

[Oceanonaut]

...and why would that be?

Depends on what kind of risks you're talking about I guess. (I still don't have the experience or knowledge to gauge diving risks aside from reading on the forums or otherwise.) The why is simply a high priority of family/dependents combined with being old enough not to feel invincible anymore combined with the realization that adrenaline pursuits, at least for me, have diminishing returns beyond a point, even when the risks are exponentially increasing.

To each their own, but I am completely happy with the decision to live a more subdued lifestyle, at least for quite some time, because that less adventurous lifestyle has attributes that I value more at the moment. :victory: (Want to settle down to raise a family soon and be around for all that good stuff.)

Some would consider even scuba diving at all adventurous, this is coming from a perspective that considers scuba safe as a whole, it's the edges that make it as extreme as one wants it to be, like anything I suppose. We all have our tolerances, thresholds, and decisions around what we're comfortable with.

So it's the days of flirting with the edges that are over, I try to stick well within reasonable limits these days even though part of me will always enjoy the taste of raw adventure.

 

[RonFrank]

I did not read the entire thread. However my thought is just to find an OP that can finish your OW certification, and have fun!

Asking folks here for advice is great, but they are not the ones training you. You need to have some discussion with an OP in Belize that can train you. Those are the folks that can answer your questions best. Sure suggestions from SB are awesome, but make sure you have a list of questions to ask BEFORE you commit to an OP. Maybe talk with more than one.

My priorities would be:

1) Safety
2) English
3) Fun!

Remember, you are there to LEARN and TRAIN on those four OW dives, so that is Key. Don't just go with the guy who says the learning is no issue, you need to finish OW as the number one priority, and not just sail through it with no skill demonstration or effort.

Good Luck!

 

[boulderjohn]

I guess I never understood the context properly. I don't consider general OW scuba to be anywhere close to living on the edge.

 

[lavachickie]

As others have said, while PADI certification comes with a recommendation of what limits you should keep yourself to... there are no ocean police out there. Divers can do as they please, and even when divers are wanting to stay within those recommendations (or others of their own choosing) DM's and dive ops will also do as they please.

No one is responsible for yourself but you. Always remember that. Be sure to ask about the details of a dive, and if it says they go to X, and you don't want to go to X, then find another dive.

But also know that if your skills are solid, your mind is strong and you dive well... then 40 ft isn't much dif than 80 ft. I was afraid of the number... going to 87 fsw during my first post OW certification dive on a boat dive and drift dive in Cozumel cured me of that. :cool2:

I would recommend that post certification you find a very simple shallow dive (20-30 ft) where the two of you can just play. Fiddle with your equipment. Practice buoyancy. Do something simple to boost your confidence and skills. Then hit the big time.

I could shore dive in front of my resort on Coz, and I did about two dives per day out in the 25 ft depth, just to get wet and get comfortable. Add that to boat dives each day and by the end of the week I was wearing the gear like a favorite sweatshirt. I miss that sense of comfort and familiarity now that I'm back in the PNW with cold waters, more gear, and only being able to dive once a month or so. (Except for this month... was in WA last week, will be again next weekend, AND the weekend after that... and then Maui the next weekend!)

 

[lavachickie]

I guess I never understood the context properly. I don't consider general OW scuba to be anywhere close to living on the edge.

Everything is relative. My father's response to my mother when she "let it slip" that I was getting certified?

"Over my dead body."

Did I mention I'm 38 freakin' years old!?

To some people, eating at a new restaurant is livin' on the edge.

 

[Oceanonaut]

Exactly, it's relative. Those thoughts are simply my way of planning way in advance what type of diver I'll be and how decisions will be weighed. A very macro way of planning the dive and diving the plan if you will.