Failed Open Water in Dry Suit and Devastated - Any Advice?

[Persephone]

Hey everyone, long-time lurker over here, it's my first time posting, and I'm very sorry it's such a long one....
I'm completely devastated after failing my Open Water this weekend, and am in some serious need for some perspective, advice and hopefully encouragement. I've been wanting to learn how to dive for over a decade, and finally decided to give a proper go. I live part time in Iceland so I went to do the OW course here over a three day weekend.

The pool dives were done on day 1 and went well - however, ALL dives are done in a drysuit, because there's no real wetsuit dive sites in Iceland, since the water's like 2-3 degrees C, maybe 8 in some places. The pool dives were all about getting used to the drysuit and that super restrictive feeling whilst also still trying to figure out how to actually dive... but all good, completed the exercises, got more confident as the day went on and felt optimistic about the upcoming Open Water dives at the end of day 1.The only thing that worried me was the weight of the gear - I'm a 36yo female, 160cm / 5ft 3, and not particularly strong, at all - could just make it out of the pool with all the gear, and was able to walk a little bit with it on; but with the dry suit and the gear I felt as though a hippo was sitting on my chest (even when I inflated the suit somewhat), whilst choking me (I also needed an additional strap around the neck seal) and I'm carrying another hippo on my back at the same time, it was beyond exhausting. And then during the next two days on the Open Water dives everything went wrong, just everything - I had no idea how far we would have to walk with the gear on for every single dive, across slippery uneven stones and rocks, so by the time we reached waist deep water I was just about ready to pass out, with the suit being so tight and the gear being unbearably heavy, I just couldn't catch my breath at all; by the time we had to put our regulators on I was still breathing so fast like I had just done a sprint, and could just not breathe quickly enough through it. The first time I also fell twice wading through the water because my legs couldn't carry the weight anymore, and then I couldn't catch my breath and needed to go out and try again in the afternoon.

Once I was underwater I usually felt ok, I didn't have issues with the suit, in fact I liked the insulation and protection, and liked using it for buoyancy, and I didn't think I was doing badly - then the next day the CESA exercise, I couldn't get enough momentum to catapult myself in the suit high enough out of the water to manually inflate the BCD, got a couple breaths in, and was again so exhausted that I needed to breathe faster but the neck seal and the suit, with the gazillion thermal layers and undergarments, were too restrictive to let me do that. At that point I called it a day, I knew it just wouldn't get better. I'm not a panicky person, and I wasn't panicking that I wasn't getting any air, I was just so exhausted from the weight of the gear, and the kicking, and the restrictive suit which wouldn't let me breathe as fast as I needed to, my mind was always calm and I was trying to breathe slowly and deeply and just relax - but my body just cannot bear the weight and then immediately go from really heavy fast breathing and a pulse of 150-160 to super relaxed in an instance.

I feel like the biggest failure, no one seems to have an issue passing the OW, but I also feel a bit cheated by the dive centre tbh.. of course I understand there is no wetsuit diving in Iceland, but the theory studying ahead of the practical course made it all look as though even people who aren't regularly competing in Strong Man can go diving, they just put their gear on in the water, or they gear up on a boat and then drop in. Some kind of warning about the conditions, of how heavy the gear really is, how the restrictive dry suits can make it that much more challenging - especially for complete novices! - and how far you'd have to walk to the dive sites with all the gear on, would have been much appreciated, then I could have saved myself some cash, disappointment, and a lot of tears because I feel like an absolute failure. Everyone makes it seem as though it's next to impossible to fail the OW, and I've seen people post who aren't crazy strong or have injuries that don't allow them to carry the gear as much, and they all seem to be able to do it. Am I just hopeless, or is there a chance that learning in a wet suit in warmer waters is just easier?

I don't seem to find a lot of posts online of people having done their entire OW in a drysuit, so I have no understanding of whether others are finding it just as difficult. I was also struggling to put my mask back on underwater because I was of course wearing a hood and three-finger gloves, making me feel like retarded lobster unable to get the strap back over my head, fumbling with it for over two minutes with ice water in my face.. I feel terrible for having to give up on my dream and have no idea where to go from here. The instructor was nice and all, but I think he got fed up with me towards the end, I was hoping he'd say something encouraging, like, that I can probably do it, but maybe learning in Iceland is just not the right path for me; but he didn't so maybe he thinks I'm not capable.. just so sad and hoping to hear something from people who've done both wet and drysuit and can maybe understand what I'm describing and offer up some advice on the learning conditions.

 

[Marie13]

I did my entire OW in a drysuit. US Midwest. Passed. I had issues with weight of the gear (and the amount of lead I needed, but I began working out by snorkeling laps in a pool and that really helped.

Sounds like the gear may not have fit properly. Plus it sounds like you need to do some strength training.

If you really want to learn how to dive, perhaps go somewhere warm and do it in a wetsuit and dive on trips to warmer places? Or give the drysuit another chance, but you might have to get your own for a proper fit.

You might want to join the Girls that Scuba group on FB as I’m sure there are a number of gals who has similar issues. It’s a UK based group and lots of UK divers dive dry only.

 

[Aura]

I believe you'd find the experience considerably easier in warm water in a wetsuit.
Did you get to take a breather after walking to the water? I'm also a not very big and strong woman, and I definitely need a moment to sit down and catch my breath after walking far across land with the gear before I'm comfortable going under.
Your issue with manually inflating the BCD may very well be because you were overweighted. Many students are.
Also, I refuse to use three finger gloves because the dexterity in them is just so bad. 5mm five finger gloves, no matter how cold the water is. Better than wearing oven mitts.

 

[Centrals]

ALL dives are done in a drysuit, because there's no real

. Am I just hopeless, or is there a chance that learning in a wet suit in warmer waters is just easier?

Awful experience and waste of time and money.
The operator should have more than enough knowledge to teach OW in dry suit in Iceland.
Three days is never enough even in warm water with wet suit.
Dry suit is a course on its own.

 

[BoltSnap]

PLEASE do NOT blame yourself. You were set up to not succeed the way you describe the course. I can't believe that all you had for confined water training was only one day. Your training was very lacking and totally inadequate for your environment from the confined water to openwater training. Wetsuit or drysuit shouldn't matter, what should matter is the amount of training and preparation you should have received in the confined water part of the course and the conditioning required to succeed.

Your instructor/dive center should spend more time in the pool with you doing all of the skills over and over in FULL openwater kit (drysuit, gloves, etc.) in addition to giving you time to "relax" and get used to everything all in the pool before proceeding to the openwater part. I train my students using wetsuits and I have them in full kit in the pool before they go to openwater. They shouldn't be using equipment in openwater they never used in the pool. My pool training time is around 24 hours over several sessions.

Remember, you did NOT fail, the instructor/dive center failed you!!!

 

[rick00001967]

first.....DO NOT GIVE UP !!

you had a learning experience. thats all. we have all gone through these. if you really want to learn to dive, you will.

i am curious about your statement that you had a strap around your neck? pls explain. was it because it was leaking around the neck seal?

anyone can dive in a wet suit if they choose to. i dive in canada. we have people here who dive all year round in wet suits. even ice diving. so do not feel it is absolutely required to use a dry suit. diving dry is great. but it does present some challenges for someone who is just learning to dive.

in my opinion it may have been a mistake choosing a 3 day course. i know this is done in many locations but i am not a fan. especially when diving cold water as we need so much more equipment than warm water divers. our classes here are at least 5 pool sessions (one or two nights a week) before we attempt open water dives. then we typically do 4 dives over 2 days. those 2 days may not even be back to back. they may be a week apart.

it sounds to me like you needed much more pool time in full gear. if you cannot remove and replace your mask in the pool (with gloves and a hood on)
then how will you be able to do it in open water?

if you choose to stick with the dry suit, the suit should not feel like it is squeezing you. so either it is too small or you do not have enough air in the suit. maybe you are wearing too much underwear? also, the seals should not be too tight. especially the neck seal. this will restrict blood flow which can be dangerous. you definitely should not have any straps around your neck.

cold water diving is not for everyone. i feel if you do learn in cold water that is makes warm water diving that much easier, but do not feel that you have to learn in cold water in order to be successful. perhaps consider completing all your theory and pool work at home and then doing your open water dives abroad in better conditions. you could always try cold water diving again another time.

people do not realize that diving can be a physically demanding sport. this is one reason we do a fitness test for all our divers. you will learn how to minimize the physical stress as you get more experience. but it is very important to never begin a descent until you have settled down and calmed your breathing. there is nothing wrong with floating at the surface for as long as it takes to recover. i do it all the time. i will not descend until i am ready. anyone who doesn't like it can dive without me.

sometimes this sport is more about figuring out what works best for you rather than just doing what everyone else does. we are all here to help. we can figure it out together !!

 

[drrich2]

I feel like the biggest failure, no one seems to have an issue passing the OW

You're not. I did, and my OW course was much easier than what you describe. I remember the bitter frustration and self-recrimination at the setback. I finished the OW dive skills demonstrations on referral to a nice tropical location (St. Thomas) where we stopped on a cruise. Recreational scuba is not a competitive support; it's about accomplishing what you want to accomplish, not doing it faster and better than other people.

or is there a chance that learning in a wet suit in warmer waters is just easier?

Oh, yes.

You haven't failed unless you quit or have run into a problem that makes diving a contraindication (e.g.: suddenly developed epilepsy).

You simply haven't passed the OW course...yet.

Odds are good you can get your instructor to refer you to an instructor in a tropical location for OW check out dives, so you don't need to redo the classroom and pool portions. Quite a number of popular dive destinations have instructors teaching OW courses.

No great shock, Iceland on the map looks to be a long way from anyplace warm. Looks like the Red Sea isn't all that much farther from you than Florida!

You may well want to gain proficiency in dry suit diving, given how far you are from mainstream warm water destinations, but it may make sense to get OW certified first, then pursue dry suit training.

Because OW is the gateway into the hobby, there's a lot riding on certification courses, which brings strong expectations and stress. Get that out of the way so you can focus on just the dry suit diving.

I've dove dry suits. Many on SB have, and if it were as miserable as you describe, they'd post about that. Sounds like you were dry suit shore diving. Perhaps boat diving is in your future...

 

[Gone for diving]

I would not recommend learning OW in a dry suit, especially if not super comfortable in water, for most people all the new gear is overwhelming, then add in a drysuit, it tends to be an other layer of complexity that an newbie has to sort through,,
Its definitely can be done, with lots of practice, but so much easier in a wetsuit,

You don't say what tanks etc you are using... steel or aluminum.
But total weight will be the same, just changes if it's, more lead or heavier tank,
Drysuit you will need more lead than wetsuit.
You may want to plan a trip somewhere warmer to finish.


Getting to dive sites can be a real hike sometimes, and not a smooth walk,,,

Everything gets easier with practice,

One other thing I would suggest, fill a backpack, with some weight. And carry that around for a while and get used to the new center of gravity..
Pretty soon it with feel more normal and lighter

 

[KatieMac]

You might want to join the Girls that Scuba group on FB as I’m sure there are a number of gals who has similar issues. It’s a UK based group and lots of UK divers dive dry only.

That's exactly what I was going to post.

@Persephone there are tons of women (although not me) who have done OW in dry suit only. You might also find other women from Iceland in the group to connect with.

I'm almost positive it is easier to do OW in a wetsuit but if you don't have the opportunity, it should never restrict you from diving. Loads of women do dry suit diving only.

 

[boulderjohn]

Lots to say.

1. It does not sound like your drysuit fit you properly, either that or you may have had to put in too much air to compensate for the amount of weight you were carrying. You should have just enough air in your suit to keep your undergarments fluffy.

2. I was certified many years ago in a 3-day course. Years later I realized that they were only able to do that by skipping standards--quite a few, in fact. As an instructor, I would not be able to get a student through a course in 3 days, unless you are not having to do any academics in those 3 days. Even then, a full day in a pool would be required for all the skills, and I would think students would be absolutely exhausted.

3. You don't have to get your head very high out of the water to inflate the BCD orally. If you can get your head out for a breath, you can blow into the inflator under water and then kick up for the next breath. I agree with the earlier comment that it sounds as if you were overweighted. When you ascend on the CESA, the air in your BCD (if you had any) should have expanded significantly, and so should the air in your drysuit (although that might have vented out.) If you had a lot of air in your drysuit (because you were overweighted) and none in the BCD, the drysuit may have vented all its air as you ascended, leaving you with no buoyancy at al.

4. You say you are pretty weak and got too tired with all the physical exercise required. That does not have to be a permanent situation. I am a pretty big and reasonably strong man. I just finished an extensive workout with an exercise bike and weight lifting. My primary reason for doing that exercise is to maintain and develop the strength I need for the diving I do. Lots of divers do that for that reason. You can do it, too.

5. I am mostly a drysuit diver today, but I got certified and did almost all my first years of diving in a warm water location. I transitioned to cold water years later.

Back when I was a DM assisting a class, when the students were doing the swimming requirement, the instructor pointed out one of the female students who was doing a beautiful freestyle stroke throughout the swim. She told me that the student had only a year before been nearly a non-swimmer. She had been in Australia and done a Discover Scuba dive, on which she had nearly drowned because of her poor water skills. As she cried during the boat trip to shore, she swore she would not be defeated, and she began swim lessons as soon as she got back to the USA. She finished the class with flying colors, and I assume she is a happy, active diver today.