Am I being a wimp about these dive plans, or is this how you become a better diver?

[Bierstadt]

I trust that 7 pages in the overwhelming advice is absolutely do not do a 100' dive with only OW training and 12 dives under your belt. Because that is insane as far as I am concerned. My simple little rule of thumb is "am I going to be/am I able to save my buddy's life during this dive if things go wrong?" If the dive STARTS by taking you past your limits, it's a no-go. Pushing to expand your dive experience needs to be done in increments, not a giant leap. Your husband needs to dial it back a bit while you develop as a diver; you are doing the right thing by taking responsibility for your safety.

 

[Celt]

The 100 foot wreck dive could be to the hull of a small fishing boat sitting on the sand in a 100 feet of vis for all people know and they’re going with supposedly professional people. You’d have to wonder at the quality of the open water training some people got if they think this is a dangerous dive. Using depth to judge a dive is ridiculous.

 

[Blackcrusader]

The 100 foot wreck dive could be to the hull of a small fishing boat sitting on the sand in a 100 feet of vis for all people know and they’re going with supposedly professional people. You’d have to wonder at the quality of the open water training some people got if they think this is a dangerous dive. Using depth to judge a dive is ridiculous.

Maybe it is because the OP herself does not feel comfortable even doing the dive in the first place. After all she only has 12 dives and has not dived for two years. She has more common sense about not wanting to dive to a depth she has never been to before. In fact it is almost twice the depth she has diving experience at which is 52ft. It is important that a guide and her husband understand her needs on a dive and not their own desires to do these dives. You should be supporting her in her decision not to do the dives she is uncomfortable doing. It would not matter even if she had AOW as she doesn't want to do the dive.

" I do not feel that these dives are within my skill *or* comfort level" So her training is obviously better than you assume as she is following her training by not wanting to do a dive past her comfort zone and training. She is becoming a better diver buy knowing and accepting within her own mind when NOT to do a dive when peer pressure is being applied by others.

Part of training is knowing when not to do a dive. She is right not to trust those supposedly professional people you mention. No professional would be pushing her to do a dive to a depth she is not trained or has the experience to do and is unwilling to do.
As she wrote she has not dived that deep before. Her husband seems not to care and nothing to stop him doing the dive if he wants to with OW cert. There are no scuba police.

 

[Celt]

Maybe it is because the OP herself does not feel comfortable even doing the dive in the first place. After all she only has 12 dives and has not dived for two years. She has more common sense about not wanting to dive to a depth she has never been to before. In fact it is almost twice the depth she has diving experience at which is 52ft. It is important that a guide and her husband understand her needs on a dive and not their own desires to do these dives.

" I do not feel that these dives are within my skill *or* comfort level"

Part of training is knowing when not to do a dive. She is right not to trust those supposedly professional people you mention. No professional would be pushing her to do a dive to a depth she is not trained or has the experience to do and is unwilling to do.
As she wrote she has not dived that deep before. Her husband seems not to care and nothing to stop him doing the dive if he wants to with OW cert. There are no scuba police.

No one is pushing her to do any dives, and definitely not the shop, they have most likely never even met her yet, why on earth would her husband not care, people are on here making judgments on people they don’t know and have never met. She’s doing a refresher and a dive she’s happy to do first. It’s frankly ridiculous to say a diver can go down the line to 60 feet ( with a buddy who has 150 dives and a professional guide) and look at a wreck but can’t go any further to look in the wheel house or have a snoop around in clear benign conditions because it’s beyond their training. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. If people seriously think that divers are going to 60 feet and stopping there not being realistic.

 

[Blackcrusader]

No one is pushing her to do any dives. If people seriously think that divers are going to 60 feet and stopping there not being realistic

Her husband is pushing her and when she doubted she should do the dive
"His response is that this is how you become a better diver, and increase your skills and comfort."

She wrote she hasn't been to 60 feet only 52ft. Just because she has an OW cert does not mean she has dived to the certified limit of her card. Her buddy OW husband hasn't dived for awhile so although he may feel comfortable she isn't.
So your belief is based on a diver who doesn't want to dive beyond their training.... It’s the craziest thing you've ever heard. OK lol

After my son did his OW he did not want to dive beyond 18m with me so we stuck to around 15m depth. When I asked him what his feeling was about diving he said all he could think about was not drowning for the first few dives. Not everyone is a natural to diving.

 

[Celt]

Her husband is pushing her and when she doubted she should do the dive
"His response is that this is how you become a better diver, and increase your skills and comfort."

She wrote she hasn't been to 60 feet only 52ft. Just because she has an OW cert does not mean she has dived to the certified limit of her card. Her buddy OW husband hasn't dived for awhile so although he may feel comfortable she isn't.
So your belief is based on a diver who doesn't want to dive beyond their training.... It’s the craziest thing you've ever heard. OK lol

After my son did his OW he did not want to dive beyond 18m with me so we stuck to around 15m depth. When I asked him what his feeling was about diving he said all he could think about was not drowning for the first few dives. Not everyone is a natural to diving.

You don’t know me and definitely don’t know what my beliefs are, her husband is not putting any pressure on her to do dives 2 and 3 he said and I’ll quote (He thinks I'm just nervous because it's been a couple of years, and that once I'm done with my refresher dive and Dive 1, I'll want to do Dives 2 and 3 too.) this implies if she’s not comfortable with the dive that’s fine, he also said they don’t have to go in the cavern on dive 3 if she’s not comfortable, you don’t know any of the people involved or what they plan on doing. She’s hasn’t given any information about the shop they may not allow her to do any of the dives mentioned. It’s all pie in the sky for all you know.

 

[jborg]

Don’t forget to touch the mask nose-pocket in a consecutive manner with each finger while at depth.

What manner of sorcery is this?

 

[Marie13]

What manner of sorcery is this?

He posts all sorts of weird stuff. He’s approaching the entertainment value of @happy-diver

 

[drrich2]

No one is pushing her to do any dives, and definitely not the shop, they have most likely never even met her yet, why on earth would her husband not care, people are on here making judgments on people they don’t know and have never met.

It's true some level of inference occurs in these matters; we don't have all the data for a complete picture, so we have to 'connect the dots.' But we can do so logically, albeit with a risk of occasionally drawing an inaccurate conclusion.

It's true the shop likely isn't pushing her to do any dives (at least at this point). If this is a common Caribbean region scenario, a guide will lead a group, with this couple as part of it. She may not be under much professional supervision, as she's a certified diver, not taking a dive course.

On ScubaBoard, for a diver not thought to be cave certified to do some cave dives (even allegedly 'really safe ones') is a trigger casting someone's judgment into strong question. Maybe there's some explanation that would mitigate that, but we don't have it, and the default position tends to be that uncertified cave diving is moronic and dangerous.

If he thinks they'll be diving together, and he's got more experience and risk tolerance, her conservatism may hold him back a bit. That's my inference, not demonstrated reality. The impression I get from her original post on this thread is that she perceives it that way. It's a conflict of interest; he may be a fine fellow, but the temptation to 'encourage' (i.e.: pressure) her to see things in a way that facilitates what he wants to happen may be there. Even good people may rationalize serving their own desires. Note: between his 'cave diving' and her emphasis on adhering to indoctrination (e.g.: 'hammered into her skull' in training), it seems we may have a risk taker paired with a rule follower. Even if both are safe enough divers, just being at opposite ends of the bell curve may cause friction.

I'm not vilifying him. She was concerned enough to bring this issue to a public forum seeking guidance. She's got 12 dives and is concerned maybe she's 'being wimp,' and he supposedly cave dives (with ~ 150 dives mostly in high school and college, most not recent...I'm guessing without cave or cavern cert.?).

It’s frankly ridiculous to say a diver can go down the line to 60 feet ( with a buddy who has 150 dives and a professional guide) and look at a wreck but can’t go any further to look in the wheel house or have a snoop around in clear benign conditions because it’s beyond their training.

Nuance is key here. If we're talking an arbitrary belief 55 feet is okay but 65 feet is not, for example, I agree. But we may be talking about a different scenario...

1.) With a professional guide may not mean much if he's leading a group and not paying special attention to her. If he's made aware of her experience he might.

Note: bit of a tangent, but sometimes with less experienced divers, people choose to hire a private guide to provide more extensive direct supervision when diving a new place, pushing limits, etc...

2.) Diving 100 feet is not just a little further than 52. The more rapid air consumption and narcosis risks are substantial, as is the mental stress that while psychosomatic is still real.

---

I suspect if she does the dives she will probably return safely. But if she doesn't, and this matter turns into an Accidents & Incidents thread, we'll be talking about how some deaths are the end result of a cascade of bad choices that could've been aborted at a number of points, and how foolish risk-taking has put another body in the ground.

 

[-JD-]

What manner of sorcery is this?

I am going to venture a guess that it is a self-administered test of mental awareness and physical dexterity to gauge Narcosis effects, but I hope @Alaskan Scuba Dude chimes in.