Anyone else really nervous in the beginning?

[nldunn]

Excellent! So glad your dive went well this morning!

From my own experience I would suggest waiting a bit on the camera. I get what you are saying about the distraction, but a distraction can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It's one more piece of gear to keep track of (I managed to lose track of mine and had it float to the surface twice in the same dive one morning - second time I lost I thought it was gone for good. It is a super cheap camera, which was a conscious decision, but still...). Although I really wanted the camera so my non-diving wife can see a bit of what I see underwater, I think it would have been better if I had waited a bit to improve my skills before adding that to the mix.

Focus on enjoying your dive this afternoon (and I think tomorrow morning too, right) and think about the camera when you get back home. You'll probably get a much better price at home than there in Curacao too...

Yes, I didn’t get one. We also didn’t do the dive - it was a boat dive, wind was 31 knots, captain said it would be a rough trip and my husband gets seasick. I also saw whitecaps and rolling waves breaking in the sea and said Nope. I want to leave here with a last good experience.
May dive tomorrow AM. Husband’s stomach has been funky so I’ll play it by ear.
Thank you!!!

 

[nldunn]

Hello

Forgetting to breathe underwater doesn't have to be a crazy idea, it can also be a part of your diving refex.

Try this out with a person you trust. If you want to breathe again within 2 minutes, you are within the limits of most divers and know that the CO2 triggered your breathing well .
Btw : the record for static breathhold is around 22 min.

It may be that you have learned that the " first rule in scubadiving is never hold your breath ".
If you observe divers, you will often see that this rule is not practiced.
You will hear the hiss of the inhalation, then a more or less long pause and then the bubbles of the exhalation .
If your body wants you to breath this way , then do it , it's nothing wrong about it .

Oh, I'm really careful to never hold my breath! I don't think I could not breathe for 2 minutes!!

 

[nldunn]

The other thing I failed to mention about going into the blue water where you have no visibility back to the reef - watch your depth closely it is easy to dip low with no reference points.

Its always good to have an observant/helpful buddy, but at the end of the day, you are responsible for your own safety. I was on a dive on the BVI Aggressor - wreck of the willy t. I kept hearing this "sound" and could not figure out what it was. We got bored with the wreck, moved to a nearby reef - and I could still hear the sound.

When my wife got close, I could read her tank on my dive watch - and she had 1800 psi to my 900... We are normally within 200 psi. I was like crap that sound is my gear.... I took my BC off and my 1st stage had a huge leak. I knew exactly where the boat was and i gave her the cut throat sign and signaled 'follow me, we're done...' I hauled ass back to the boat, got a 2 min safety stop in and surfaced with around 200 psi.

It would have been avoided had she noticed my gear was malfunctioning, but it worked out and she'll be more cognizant next time.

So with 900 psi, since you knew where the boat was, you were confident of swimming underwater, a safety stop and a controlled ascent??
What would you have done if you had 200psi when you looked and you were a ways from the boat? These are the scenarios I come up with!!

 

[nldunn]

Absolutely! I want to learn how to dive for about as long as I can remember. I was still a bit nervous when I did my open water dives.
I was nervous when I did my 1st ocean dives too! And I had over 100 dives when I did that.

Hi,
Thanks for sharing!! Where did you do your first 100 dives??
Thanks!

 

[nldunn]

Hi @nldunn

If you didn't have a computer, you must have had a SPG, depth gauge, and watch and should have been monitoring those yourself, right? Besides getting over your fears, you need to work on becoming an independent diver, that will probably also help with you primary problem. A computer might also help you as you would also know your NDL at all times.

Best of luck with your ongoing diving

I had a pressure gauge and a watch but no depth gauge. I really didn't want to know my depth this dive because if I saw we were going below 40 feet, I think I wold have gotten nervous and said, NO WAY!! This way, I knew we were deeper than 25 or 30 feet because the surface looked different, but I didn't know we went 56 feet down.
I will be getting one to have for my next trip here in April with my daughter.

 

[turcottep]

Your apprehension seems normal. The more you dive the less likely you will feel this way.

 

[ImpotentSeaSnake]

Better to be nervous and cautious than cavalier and reckless. Channel that energy to safety checks, dive plans, buddy coordination and review of your training (e.g. is my buddy primary donate?, what is the symbol for leg cramp, etc.) The more your prepare, the less anxious you will likely be, especially as you remind yourself that you are trained and capable for this mission whether it is a 30ft dive or down to the limits of your cert level.

 

[digdug87]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing!! Where did you do your first 100 dives??
Thanks!

All my other dives were in local lakes. Beaver lake, Bulls Shoals, Tablerock, & Norfork lake.

 

[PEDiver]

I think other people have already said this, but being nervous isn't a bad thing in my opinion (unless, of course, it keeps you out of the water).

I've been diving for almost 15 years with a resurgence over the last 5 years as I decided to go down the tech/cave diving path. 5 years later, and a couple hundred dives (most of those in caves or overhead environments with deco), I still get a little nervous before almost every dive. But instead of allowing that feeling to overwhelm me, I try and use it to focus my thoughts and energy on dive planning and execution. And 95% of the time, once I submerge and "lock in" to the dive plan, that feeling goes away and my brainpower is dedicated to the dive itself and my team.

Being nervous is just your brain and body trying to keep you alive in the face of the unknown. And that's a good thing.

 

[scubadada]

I had a pressure gauge and a watch but no depth gauge. I really didn't want to know my depth this dive because if I saw we were going below 40 feet, I think I wold have gotten nervous and said, NO WAY!! This way, I knew we were deeper than 25 or 30 feet because the surface looked different, but I didn't know we went 56 feet down.
I will be getting one to have for my next trip here in April with my daughter.

You should not delegate monitoring of your dive to others, I assume you know that. I would suggest that you have at least a basic computer and SPG for your next diving and work toward becoming an independent diver.

Best of luck