Advise in getting back to dive

[Santhosh]

Hello,

Just to give some background about my diving history, I got my OW in Oct 2016 and did around 10dives. During my dives I always had issues with trim and buoyancy so decided to take some course to improve my diving. I took AOW in 2017 assuming this will help me in learning new skills and also help with my trim and buoyancy issues. But I realized that AOW is for learning new skills and does not help with my trim and buoyancy. After reading a lot in the internet I thought GUE Fundies would be the best for me to get my basics correct. So I took my fundies by end of 2017, I did not do well in the Fundies but I learned a lot during the training. My buoyancy was much better at the end of the training but not up to the standard of GUE so I got only a provisional. Then some family issues got into my way so couldn't dive after my Fundies. Now I want to get back to diving but confused where to get started. My goal is to become a better diver and enjoy every dives, after a year or two I want to get into tech diving. I am looking at couple of options and need advise on which one to take.

1. Take GUE Rec Diver 1 course and do lot of dives and the Rec 2 and Rec 3....
2. Take a refresher course through a non GUE agency, do some dives then take some course on buoyancy control get more dives. Once comfortable in the water take Fundies (Fundies after a year or two).

 

[Imla]

or option 3) Get in contact with your fundie instructor and talk to them about a refresher/mentorday/GetMeBackInWater101 kinda thing.

I know at least the Norwegian GUE instructors are more than happy to help with this kind of challenge.
Then, find a club... and go diving!

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I would start by taking a refresher course. The agency is not relevant. Find a good instructor.

Part of the issue (buoyancy wise) is that you only completed 10 dives. Sure...that might be enough to get the hang of it for some divers, but I don’t think it is for most. Ex. You’ll notice a big difference in your buoyancy by dive 20, 30, 40, etc. You’ll realize as you progress that you didn’t know as much as you thought you did at point ‘x’.

Another thing is that some divers start out so heavily overweighted...it can take some time to get weighting sorted out. Ex. By dive 20, I was diving with 10+ lbs less than I was when I started. That can make a big difference with your trim.

Diving is very much one of those things that the more you do it...the better you’ll get. That being said, you may benefit from a peak performance buoyancy course.

Edit: While AOW is partly to learn to things, it is also supposed to reinforce what you were taught in OW. There’s not much of a point in learning advanced skills if you don’t have the basic ones down. That was the first part of my first dive for AOW...my instructor quickly running through the basics to see what he had to work with.

 

[Cap335]

Take a refresher if you think you need it but the best thing is to just dive. Book a week somewhere nice and try to do 3-4 dives a day for a week after a week you will probably feel more dialed in.

 

[OTF]

Do a refresher, pool dives, or a few dives with a guide/instructor. But the best thing for you at this point might just be practice! You've done a lot of training. Good trim comes eventually with time in the water. Do simple shallow shore dives with a group or trusted buddy. Get comfortable. Experiment with different weighting options, tank heights, maybe try a different suit, etc. until you find your groove. And enjoy diving! As a new diver it's important to get out there, have fun, look at fishies, and build experience. Trim will come if you work at it a little bit on every dive. More classes at this point will add more task loading which will just be frustrating without getting comfortable in trim first.

(edit: hah, cap beat me with the same message by a few seconds)

 

[scrane]

It depends on what you want. If you want to be a technically perfect diver work at it. If you want to have fun diving just go out and have fun.

 

[BoltSnap]

1. Take a refresher course OW/AOW.

2. Go diving 10 - 20 dives in various conditions

3. Go back to your GUE fundies instructor and take a refresher with him and earn you Fundies pass.

4. Go diving and enjoy it.

5. Do lots of diving and try different types of diving: Night, Deep, Wreck, (do nitrox if you haven't), boat, etc.

 

[Landau]

For any course you choose to take: talk to your instructor about what you want to achieve. You are much more likely to get what you want if the instructor knows about it.

At my LDS in the AOW course buoyancy is the main topic - so even though each dive has a different main goal - Night, Wreck, Navigation etc - at least some buoyancy work is done on each.

Rise up the side of the wreck - stop and hover, swim level across the top, stop slowly descend, stop and hover just above the bottom without touching it etc,

On every dive check your SPG and signal instructor while hovering. Harder than it sounds to remain at the same depth while distracted by a task.

Etc.