Taking Rescue Course and I don't think the conditions are good to dive in.

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Seville

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I signed up for the rescue course and I have done the pool portion without a problem, it was tiring and difficult but I did it. Tomorrow we have the OW portion of it where we repeat the skills. I only have about 20 dives under my belt and we shore dive in cooler water (50-60f) in San Diego. We go though the waves and swim about 300 yards before we drop down. The forecast is for waves 4-6 feet that day. The instructor said it makes it a little more "Challenging". The majority of people who dive here usually only go when the waves are 1-2 feet. I am nervous about doing tiring activities towing people in such harsh conditions. I dont think it is safe, as it is difficult to enter and exit the surf taking care of yourself let alone doing strenuous activities. I already had to reschedule this class once and the shop is known to put ppl out there just because on any given weekend they will have 100-200 students there in the morning. Do I tell the instructor this isnt safe and I would not even dive in these conditions? I know I will be getting pretty nervous in the water with the swells hitting me and getting tossed around. Am I over reacting and should i just do it since I paid for it? Honestly I trust myself more than the instructors.
 
I signed up for the rescue course and I have done the pool portion without a problem, it was tiring and difficult but I did it. Tomorrow we have the OW portion of it where we repeat the skills. I only have about 20 dives under my belt and we shore dive in cooler water (50-60f) in San Diego. We go though the waves and swim about 300 yards before we drop down. The forecast is for waves 4-6 feet that day. The instructor said it makes it a little more "Challenging". The majority of people who dive here usually only go when the waves are 1-2 feet. I am nervous about doing tiring activities towing people in such harsh conditions. I dont think it is safe, as it is difficult to enter and exit the surf taking care of yourself let alone doing strenuous activities. I already had to reschedule this class once and the shop is known to put ppl out there just because on any given weekend they will have 100-200 students there in the morning. Do I tell the instructor this isnt safe and I would not even dive in these conditions? I know I will be getting pretty nervous in the water with the swells hitting me and getting tossed around. Am I over reacting and should i just do it since I paid for it? Honestly I trust myself more than the instructors.
Reschedule it. Don't accept any excuses. Don't argue. If they won't do it, complain to the training agency.
 
Anyone can call a dive for any reason at any time is one the fundamental and most important safety rules of diving. Tell them you want to reschedule, if they give you crap find another shop.

Better to reschedule then wind up in a real rescue scenario.
 
sounds like la jolla shores. cdip forecast for tomorrow morning is not as bad for near shore.

Wind W 10 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. Swell W 3 to 4 ft at 15 seconds.

would be considered diveable conditions for norcal. but if you don't feel comfortable, then go ahead and reschedule.
 
I wouldn't dive in 4-6 foot waves. I've done it in NJ. No need to do it in those conditions. I wouldn't be diving in those conditions (I know conditions can change during a dive), so I wouldn't be rescuing anyone in those conditions.
Can't base the "extra challenge" on the miniscual chances of weather changing to 4-6' waves during a dive and you having to recsue someone.
 
My biggest issue, is I already rescheduled once and they waived the rescheduling fee. I just do not wanna push my luck I trying to reschedule again.


I fly ultra lights, and we have a saying.” It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky than being in the sky and wishing you were on the ground.”

I have over 200 flights and I am pretty experienced, but we know that if conditions are more than 7 miles an hour you don’t go up. And the ones that do are the foolish ones who end up getting injured.

I just don’t know if I’m overreacting or not. Is that considered Big Surf for beginner divers?
 
We must all decide what we are comfortable with. We had terrible weather for our rescue and our instructor loved it. He said it you can do it in those conditions it will be easy when you're diving good conditions. He also loved it when we had 5ft viz for our navigation ... Now that I think about it, they also made us pay up front .. wait a minute! haha. Seriously though, we didn't feel unsafe and already had over a hundred dives, many on choppy seas. At least in Florida, you get to have nice and warm 3-5 footers :)

Of course as everyone says, decide for yourself and don't be bullied or pressured into doing something your not comfortable with. Weather can change, so best may be to check out conditions on the day. Just like your ultra-light analogy .. it's better to have paid a rescheduling fee than ... to be out in the water wishing you would have ....
 
I’m here to tell you, 4-6 means an occasional 7. You can’t safely get on and off a boat, or make a beach entry in waves over your head. I’m not saying you shouldn’t or wouldn’t want to, I’m saying you can’t.

Don’t. But do go, and look it over yourself. And then make a decision after you see others getting rolled in the waves.
 
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