Anyone else really nervous in the beginning?

[therookie]

Dark water sucks. Actually, any water you can’t clearly see in sucks.

My least favorite dive on earth is 18 feet deep in a nearby inland lake. The water is green, you can’t see anything, and they have sunk things for diver entertainment. You know, boats, equipment, things like that.

The problem is the water is just bright green and you can’t see through it until this dark, foreboding… thing…slowly resolves itself slowly in front of you. It is the absolute creepiest, most intimidating feeling of doom, and I have it for every single object every single time when I dive in that lake. The things in the bottom of the lake are bad enough, but when the objects are tall enough to be noticeably over your head… That is way worse.

I dive caves. I dive 200 foot deep shipwrecks. And I hate that lake the most.

So, yeah. Never feel bad about feeling uncomfortable. We may not all have the same trigger, but we all have that feeling.

ETA: oh, by the way, I’m diving there next weekend. It’s not nearly as bad when there’s ice on top of the lake: all the algae dies back and you can actually see things. I’m actually looking forward to it.

After reading this I shall never, ever, complain about visibility diving around Roatan again...

 

[mcohen1021]

Dark water sucks. Actually, any water you can’t clearly see in sucks.

Couldn't disagree with you more. I live for those days where I can go do that murky lake dive with 2 inches of visibility!

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@tmassey You just described all my local dives lol. I will say, it can be slightly scary when a catfish loom up on you out of the gloom. All you see is green and fins and for a second it feel like the creature from the black lagoon is about to descend on you.

 

[nldunn]

First off, thank you for sharing your feelings about this! It's great for new or returning-after-a-long-hiatus divers who may have similar feelings to know those feelings aren't unusual...

I'm also a fairly new diver so won't offer advice, just my own personal experience. I still vividly remember my first dive to 60ft in our OW course. This was in Roatan - West Bay. I don't remember what skills we were doing on that dive but we were sort of "in the blue", a ways out from the reef (it was still just visible) but we were looking out towards the deep at the instructor and I remember thinking "this is kinda freaky down here this far"...

... and then a spotted eagle ray that was by far larger than any I have ever seen since went by slowly, just a little ways behind our instructor. When we finally got him to turn around (he couldn't figure out at first what all of our gesturing was about!) I will never forget his reaction. He immediately went vertical and threw out his arms and legs in awe. We were talking about it with a group of experienced divers diving off the same boat with us that day that also saw it and they also said it was the largest ray they had ever seen. That dive was a mental game-changer for me. The depth just no longer matters for me; it's about the wonders underwater. I think you are already most of the way there to have that same mindset.

I do think this tidbit posted above bears repeating:



This has been the key for everything "new" that I have done underwater - that first 60ft dive, our AOW deep cert dive to 27 metres at Mary's Place with its cool crevices, our first (also part of AOW) night dive (which happened to include the String of Pearls phenomenon) - every single time I've done something new I've been "with people I trust" and that eases any fears. If there is an emergency, I am 100% confident that we will all handle it together.

And with that said - would you be willing to share the name of the operator and dive master that you went back to? The one that is so respectful of your personal limits? If I ever find myself with an opportunity to dive in Curacao that's who I think I will want to dive with.

Hi,
Thank you so much for your story. It was really helpful, as the ocean and its wonders, even the tiny fish, are magical to me!
We dove with Coral Divers at Coral Estates Resort and the guide was Janette. She is professional, thorough and totally competent. We are doing another dive with her tomorrow morning and I don't feel nervous - yet. I'm sure I will have some jitters but I knew she is very good at what she does and I have to learn to trust my skills, too.

 

[nldunn]

Hello


Interesting that you write "I can free dive of sorts".
What kind of freediving do you do?
Is 30 feet the depth you are used to from freediving?
You are a certified diver and you have skills, but along the way there is something left in your body or soul.

A slow but very thorough way to learn to dive is with no or very little gear.
It is a good thing if you have a ladder, rod or rope on which you can pull and hold on.
Nothing to distract you from being with yourself and the water. You can close your eyes and try to sleep or just enjoy not having to breathe for a while.

I can free dive down to see fish, etc, probably to around 20 feet on a breath. I also like to just lay flat when diving or snorkeling and breathe in and out. I love the water, I'm comfortable in it, but then I get a crazy thought that maybe I will forget to breathe and I know it makes no sense so I keep saying, "I know how to breathe, I've been doing it for over 63 years!!" Crazy, I know. Anxiety does wacky things to our brains.

 

[nldunn]

And hiring a guide is ok too. At least you will be in clear waters! You could always get some practice in a dive shops pool - they should be able to help for a nominal fee.

I'm not gonna lie, myself and I am sure many others on this forum became good divers by diving in crappy lakes - and - making every mistake in the books along the way.

Just don't push what you think are your personal limits. My sister does not like to go beyond 80 ft and that is her choice - and she hired a guide for an easy shore dive in Fredriksted pier.

Me, I will go deeper if the site calls for it, risk is mitigated, if theres something of interest or on like my last blue hole trip, I dipped to 139' for a few seconds just to record my deepest dive in 36 yrs.



I did that several times in Belize this past trip, its freaky as hell. Future tip - be sure you take a compass heading when going out into the blue. It can get disorienting and you can lose your sense of direction and which way it is back to the reef/wall.

139 feet??? I don't think I will ever do that!!!
Thank you for your thoughts - and sharing your Belize adventure! And I'll be getting a compass when I get home, along with a dive computer. Right now, I'm right on the tail of any guide we have!

 

[nldunn]

Before your next dive, pace off 60 ft from your car in the parking lot. Turn around and look at your car. I think you will be amazed how close it is.

(FWIW, the average step length is 41% of your height. A 60 ft distance would be around 30 steps if you're 5 ft tall, or 25 steps if you're 6 ft tall.)

Thank you! I'll do that tomorrow morning!

 

[nldunn]

I thought that was a great question by @johndiver999 and I figured that might be your answer…

know this: an ascent to the surface from 60 feet is almost exactly the same as an ascent to the surface from 30 feet. Yes, it will take you twice as long. However, as you are ascending, the gas in your lungs literally expands: that’s why we are taught to hum or let small amounts of bubbles out as we make such an ascent. And that literally makes up the difference.

I don’t necessarily expect you to emotionally believe that, and certainly not immediately. But you can at least use the analytical part of your brain to explain that to yourself. Keep reminding yourself of that: as you ascend, the volume of gas in your lungs will increase and you truly will make it to the surface with a lung full of air. And that is without rushing to the surface.

Remember that we want to ascend to the surface no faster than 60 feet a minute — ‘follow your large bubbles .’ This means that it will take you no more than a minute to get to the surface in such an emergency situation. Can you hold your breath for a minute? I know that you can! Even when you’re at the point where you feel the need to inhale, I am quite certain you can hold your breath for one minute. I’m not saying it will be comfortable: it won’t be, because of our breathing reflex. But it will not be difficult or even painful, just uncomfortable.

You may find that explaining that to yourself and practicing that with yourself may give you the comfort to know that even if the absolute worst happens you can make it to the surface reasonably and safely without difficulty. Just having that proven, practiced knowledge alone will help you to both be more comfortable at 60 feet, as well as greatly reduce the odds that you panic if something happens.

And then after you remind yourself and prove to yourself all of that, remind yourself of all of the other things that have to go wrong. You have a tank full of air. You have not one but two regulators supplying gas to you. And you are going to have a buddy that is going to be just a few feet away who has all the same resources that you do. And it’s only if all of that goes terribly wrong that you will actually have to make your way to the surface. And even then, you have plenty of time to make a controlled and reasonable ascent to the surface just with the air you have in your lungs. Even from 60 feet — or even deeper, really!

Again, I’m not expecting all of this information to be a magic wand that will put everything at ease in a single moment. It takes a long time to change our emotional reaction to something. But at least having a lot of provable, factual information in your mind and reviewing it frequently between now and your dive can start to make that change in your perspective.

anyway, in the end, stay within your limits and work on expanding them in a careful and controlled manner. You’ve got this! The hard part is getting the gear on and getting in the water. If you can do that, you can work toward doing anything with just a little bit of additional time and effort.

YOu are so right!! The head games my brains plays with me before a dive are painful!! And I love your advice. I am a therapist and do a lot of CBT with clients and we challenge their cognitive distortions with facts. I can use the "hold my breath for a minute," "everything would have to go wrong," "I have a buddy and a guide," to get the knowledge from my logical brain to my emotional self using CBT.
Great advice. I really appreciate it!

 

[nldunn]

OP, if you're inclined to test this in your living room, you should understand that ascending (with associated exhalation) for one minute is MUCH easier than holding your breath for a minute on land.

Without getting too detailed, our need to inhale is related to the number of waste molecules in the lungs, which are generated at about the same rate during both exercises. The key difference is you are throwing away lots of them as you exhale during ascent.

(That said, you should breath normally on a normal ascent.)

Thank you!! I had no idea about that!

 

[nldunn]

@nldunn

The most nervous of all of my students was a 6'5" 280 lb firefighter, a man who would break through walls to rescue someone in a burning building.

And he was afraid of the dark water.

He got over it, but my point is, if someone like that can be afraid of the water, no one should feel bad about themselves having reservation. He got over it with enough time under the surface.

I don't know if you have local shore diving opportunities, but my suggestion is to do gradually deeper dives shore, adding 5'. So start at 40', and when comfortable go to 45 feet. Once comfortable .... rinse and repeat. Go at your own pace. There is no timeframe requirement for progressing. The only "requirement" is to enjoy yourself. Gradually you will open up more dive sites that will be enjoyable to you.

Good luck!

Thank you!! My firefighter husband doesn't have any fear, so I always feels like a wimp!!! And I live the advice of 5 feet at time. We did 39 feet yesterday so I'll shoot for around 45 tomorrow!!