What makes you an experienced diver?

[down4fun]

i've always thought that 'experienced' is a title given to you by your peers and that those who are truly experienced are too humble to label themselves as such.

 

[jupitermermaid]

In my five year history of diving, I have close to 1,200 dives under my belt. I work as a DM in Florida. All my diving has been local and other tropical areas in salt water. My initial training was done in fresh water. I do not consider myself an "experienced" diver yet, though. I have not experienced many no-viz (low-viz, yes) or cold (64 degrees is my coldest dive logged) water dives. I swim mainly in warm water, with mild to ragging current, with minimum navigational skills being utilized. I hunt for lobster and lion fish. Many of my friends have less dives than me, but swim in waters I would feel intimidated by (caves, technical, trimix, etc.). The more I learn about scuba, the less "experienced" I feel. I am happy being an "average" diver, but if it makes one feel better to consider him/herself "experienced" due to the number of logged dives or other criteria one uses, go for it.

 

[DaleC]

I remember Jimmy Hendricks asking this question back in the late 60's. Nothing's changed it seems.

 

[parrotman]

I do not think that you need to dive in many different conditions to be experienced. In other words, you do not have to be a good cold water,
low vis, cave, wreck etc. diver before you are an experienced diver. I have no desire to dive in cold water although I was certified in water that was 42 degrees. I have no desire to cave dive, or do wreck penetrations, deco dives etc. I enjoy warm water diving and taking pictures. On my next dive trip I will log my 1000 dive. Over the years I have honed my skills to the point that I can hover a few inches off the bottom with out kicking up silt while taking pictures so I would say that I have experience in buoyancy control. I am happy with my air consumption. Would I be considered experienced? Probably by some and probably not by others. However when I am asked what my experience level is I mark experienced. I have been in the water with divers that have there DM certs and have found them down right scary. I have been in the water with divers that have there AOW certs with less dives than I do on a typical one week liveaboard. It is all in the personal perception.

 

[raftingtigger]

The ScubaBoard rating is a self rating. Some people will rate themselves higher, some lower than others with the same skills and comfort level. It is a combination of experience (number of dives, variety of conditions, etc), skill, and comfort level. Nor does an "experienced diver" need to feel that way for all conditions. They may be experienced in cold water, limited viz, surgy conditions and an absolute pre-beginner in cave, wreck, or tech diving. How the member rates themselves can have a lot to do with the divers they generally go with. The diver with 100 dives who dives regularly with divers with 25 dives may rate themselves experienced, where a similar diver who dives with divers with >1000 dives would probably rate themselves as beginner.

The thing I found in flying is that after a certain point the number of flight hours no longer predicted anything. This goes for both total flight hours and time in type. After a certain amount of experience (this amount is VERY individual) then the incremental improvement with each new exposure is very small.

So with all self-ratings what a diver lists on ScubaBoard should be taken with a grain of salt. What I find helps me more is to review their posts. That tells me (I hope) a lot about their thought processes.

 

[DevonDiver]

So are you saying the vacation diver who only does those dives but if comfortable and proficient with "all the skills they need" for that environment counts as experienced?

Nope.

You said "comfortable and proficient".

I said ""instinctively/unconsciously".

Those are very different levels.

For example: A 'good' diver might have very good buoyancy control or navigation skills (proficiency). They might work on those skills, consciously adjusting and refining what they are doing. But an experienced diver won't even think about buoyancy, or navigation... it just happens. Like breathing or blinking or scratching your head if you have an itch. This difference is even more acute with contingency skills, such as; air-sharing, rescues, gas management etc.

The difference between proficiency in a skill...and a skill being automatic and unconscious is often measured in hundreds, if not thousands, of hours spent underwater. It also depends on the frequency that the skill is utilised. Buoyancy, trim and breath control being the most frequently used. Navigation, rescue etc being less frequently used...and consequently slower to develop to an instinctive level.

Would your self-classification be situation based experience(depending on location/ type of dive/ etc.) or general experience(all diving included)?

Both.

1) Being "absolutely comfortable and familiar with the underwater environment" is situational dependant. Cold versus warm water. Depth. Currents etc. A diver may be experienced in one, or more, environments - but not others.

2) Performing all of the skills they need instinctively/unconsciously is task dependant. A diver can have instinctive level skills in open water, but may only have intermediate skills for wreck diving...and may have no skills for CCR, Sidemount, Altitude diving etc etc. So experience can only be judged in context with the specific skills demanded for a given activity.



To define someone as an "experienced diver" would encompass the full spectrum of diving tasks and situations. I've met some truly great divers in my time, but not yet one who had a full spectrum of skills in every equipment, every situation, every environment and task.

Of course, there are many generic / transferable skills. Buoyancy, trim, propulsion etc. Some people might use those 'core skills' to judge a person's experience. But I don't see it that way. I prefer to look at it from the perspective of the specific skills needed for a given activity/environment.

Personally, I measure my experience by those yard-sticks. I am aware of the level of 'task loading' that a specific skill or environment causes me on a dive.

On a tropical, open-water, recreational dive doing navigation and supervising other divers I have virtually zero task loading. It just happens automatically and without error. If I returned to dive in the UK (despite having hundreds of dive experience in cold water - it's been a while since I did that), I'd have to think more during the dive about what I was doing. The same applies for technical diving - there are some attributes that I'd need to consciously control. Put me in a CCR or Cave and I'd have to think about everything I was doing.

 

[TMHeimer]

You can obviously be experienced in this place/climate/conditions and not in that. You can be an "experienced" deep diver, but not the greatest with Search & Recovery or Navigating a triangle successfully in 20 feet. You can't say someone is experienced because they've dived over 10 years, but have done 62 dives. So, the only "one fits all" generic criteria has to be total dives done. What that number should be to be "experienced" nobody will ever know.

 

[Scuba Stallings]

In all my hobbies and sports I have met many "Experienced" individuals that know everything and have learned nothing.

I consider someone "Experienced" when they have learned everything and realize this still do not yet know everything. We are all masters of our own universe but not all us are seen as masters, how we are seen by other people helps define us.

 

[befee]

Thanks for the replies and keep them coming.

Thanks especially to DevonDiver for the breakdown. This is what I was looking for because I was personally having a difficult time pinpointing what I was using to judge experience.

 

[Thalassamania]

With about 15,000 dives I moved to Hawaii ... newbie again!