Advice, I thought scubadiving was for me :(

[Courtneychau]

Hi again everyone.

i want to reply to everyone at length and will so later this evening I'm just a bit time poor right now. I really do appreciate everyone's responses. This forum is so supportive. Thank you.
i suppose to give you some context it is a three day course, with theory, one pool dive, two shore dives and a boat dive. By the sounds of the responses it sounds like I should endeavour to find a course with more pool time. Unfortunately I don't just "get it" and do need time to feel comfortable....with equipment, breathing, being immersed in water etc. I think I am a naturally anxious person, which may be impeding my skill development.

We we only went about 5 metres down, and the thought of needing to go down further makes me want to cancel the course completely. I know that I don't have the comfort or skill set to do this.

i just had the weights which you can clip in the BCD and I kept purging because I am an idiot that can't multitask... When I emptied my mask I guess I didn't keep my mouth around the regulator tight enough and salt water slipped in. It wasn't because the regulator was faulty. I didn't get chlorine in my mouth while in the pool, because I did feel relatively safe.

An overview of the course so far... I did theory before the course, then we had theory in the classroom a couple of hours in the pool where I had to do 200m of swimming and ten minutes of treading, then we did some skills underwater., then it was the shore dive. So not much at all. I do feel that if I had more one on one time, and time to practice myself I could become better. I need repetition for new concepts to stick. I just don't want to endanger myself, and certainly not others. And right now I feel that I am a risk.

 

[redacted]

Your apprehensions are not uncommon. My wife quit twice during her OW training. She had the disadvantage of never even snorkeling before. (Actually, three times if you count when the instructor in the first class explained that he would stand on the tank of anybody who tried to surface. She continued when he was replaced.) First was in the pool when she was trying to breath from a regulator with a defective mouthpiece. Then again on the first OW dive when a AOW student (who panicked and surfaced) passed out on the shore and was medevaced by helicopter. When the helicopter took off and the instructor said, "OK, next group get ready" she was done. A really great DM assisting with the class was instrumental in getting her through.

It was a bit of a slow process but she now has over 700 dives and is the best buddy I could have.

Hang in there. It will all get better.

 

[Keith.M]

Wow. What agency would this meet their standards?

1 pool session and 3 open water dives? No wonder you don't feel comfortable.

 

[Courtneychau]

Hi Keith, is there a course that recommed that I do? Isuppose I've been quite naive as I thought that most open water courses lasted three to four days.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Wow, that doesn't seem like a lot of training, more like the most abbreviated course I've ever heard of. Mine was one weekend of class and pool including the 200 swim 10 min tread and 2 min hands out of the water, buddy breathing, mask flood and clear, mask removal and cruise around the pool U/W while being led around by hand by the instructor, neutral hover, fin pivot, and a bunch of other stuff including emergency swimming ascent, etc. Then the following weekend it was 4 dives (two dives a day). Plus in the ocean we had to freedive down 30 feet with no weightbelt and grab some sand or something to prove we made it down.
That was PADI 1998, so I don't know what you got.
My advice is to absolutely not give up. Instead take each thing step by step and practice practice practice.
During my time as a DM I've seen many people that I thought were hopeless learn and make it through to become pretty good divers.
Clear any mental blocks and if you get stuck on something and start to circle just keep working on it until you break through.
Comfort comes with time and repetition.
Stay within your comfort zone but stretch the comfort zone enough to make ground.
With the finning, go to a pool on your own time and do laps with mask snorkel fins.
It will make your legs strong and also help you figure out how to effectively make your particular fin perform the best.
Don't measure yourself against others, just keep your eyes on the prize.
And one more time DON'T GIVE UP!!!

 

[Courtneychau]

Your apprehensions are not uncommon. My wife quit twice during her OW training. She had the disadvantage of never even snorkeling before. (Actually, three times if you count when the instructor in the first class explained that he would stand on the tank of anybody who tried to surface. She continued when he was replaced.) First was in the pool when she was trying to breath from a regulator with a defective mouthpiece. Then again on the first OW dive when a AOW student (who panicked and surfaced) passed out on the shore and was medevaced by helicopter. When the helicopter took off and the instructor said, "OK, next group get ready" she was done. A really great DM assisting with the class was instrumental in getting her through.

It was a bit of a slow process but she now has over 700 dives and is the best buddy I could have.

Hang in there. It will all get better.

That's awesome to hear Hopefully I can become confident and proficient like your wife. I really don't want to throw in the towel, and your story gives me hope that I don't have to.

 

[Mscdex]

I remember my OW class was 1 day in the pool and 4 open water dives. It took a lot more guided dives to feel more comfortable. Taking the class with friends helps a lot and you can discuss issues you have with each other. I would say it took 15 dives for me to feel the way others looked after their open water class.

 

[lemke]

@Courtneychau... before you start digesting everyone's motivational suggestions, let me ask you one question. During your pool dive, when you first went to the bottom, completely breathing air that was not from the atmosphere, did you think at any time, even for a second, "This is really cool!" ?

If your answer is yes, then we're off to a good start. Sounds like you need to slow it down, like others have said, "baby steps". My suggestion would be a one-on-one training session... at your pace.

 

[boulderjohn]

An overview of the course so far... I did theory before the course, then we had theory in the classroom a couple of hours in the pool where I had to do 200m of swimming and ten minutes of treading, then we did some skills underwater., then it was the shore dive. So not much at all. I do feel that if I had more one on one time, and time to practice myself I could become better. I need repetition for new concepts to stick. I just don't want to endanger myself, and certainly not others. And right now I feel that I am a risk.

So you had a couple of hours in the pool that included a 200 yard swim, a 10 minute float, and some skills under water. Then you did three open water dives.

Here is a link to the minimum standards for a group of dive agencies called the RSTC. All agencies in that group (PADI, SSI, SDI, IDEA, and PDIC) all agree to meet or exceed those minimum standards. Current PADI standards exceed them by quite a bit. Other agencies who are not in that group have similar standards, and some exceed those standards.

As a PADI instructor, I cannot possibly complete the required pool skills in the amount of time you had, even if I had only one student who was doing well. I am also required to do four open water dives, so the three required of you is a violation of the agency standards.

If your agency was one of the ones I listed, you should contact their headquarters and tell them about your experience. You will be doing everyone a great favor.

 

[Keith.M]

Hi Keith, is there a course that recommed that I do? Isuppose I've been quite naive as I thought that most open water courses lasted three to four days.

Around here, any three day course is just going to get you through your classroom and confined water. Typically 5 hours on Friday night and 8 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. You would have between 12 and 15 of those hours in the pool.

Then the following weekend would be your open water dives, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

The other option is Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday evenings for 2 weeks and Open water dives on the weekend following the last class/pool session.

Many would say this is even not enough. Look at what Jim outlined for his course. Though I would suspect along with the additional time involved, there is also a considerable more amount of money for his course as well.