Are you an EXPERIENCED recreational diver?

[Dody]

Wait - you've never gone diving on your own with just a buddy yet? Is that normal where you are?

It is just that I don’t know the places yet. Most of the spots are reached by boat. I don’t speak the local languages and there is neither Cost Guards nor chamber here so I don’t push my luck. I will wait to know some spots in and out before diving without guide.

 

[Dody]

Finding buddies will also be difficult. Most of the divers are tourists who stay a couple of days. And my wife only has as much training as me.

 

[Searcaigh]

Any dive clubs on Cape Verde or is it just the commercial dive shops? Surely there are other people living there who dive recreationally.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Straying off topic, but this is good advice and I'm surprised so few people seem to carry a general purpose piece of cordage with them underwater. It's great for jury rigging all sorts of stuff without having to cut up your spool, or sometimes you need something stronger than cave line. I've used mine for jury rigging broken mask/fin straps, jury rigging slings to lift stuff with my SMB, makeshift jon line, camera and light lanyard, tying gear to the tag line, securing gear on the boat, tying extra weights or whatever to the flag spool among other things.

My camera tray has a sports shoe lace I use as a safety line. It can be used for anything else as well.

 

[Searcaigh]

It can be used for anything else as well.

Let me guess ..... lacing up a sports shoe

 

[scubadada]

Let me guess ..... lacing up a sports shoe

But only one

 

[Dody]

Any dive clubs on Cape Verde or is it just the commercial dive shops? Surely there are other people living there who dive recreationally.

In the capital city, there is just one dive shop, no club. In the most touristic islands (Cape Verde is a 10 island archipelago) like BoaVista or Mindelo, there might be some clubs but getting there is complicated.
Anyway, when we do fun dives, I am the one making the dive plans. I just need a guide to tell me what there is to see in a specific spot, if there are strong currents and come with me for backup in case of emergency and dealing with the locals (boats, authorities,...). In terms of planning, calculating and recalculating, I am probably better than the guides. I just don’t want to waste time. Maximum dive duration is about an hour. And one hour underwater feels like 20 minutes. That’s very short.

 

[Rickk]

There is an instructor here with a few thousand dives but he has never dove dry suit. I have dove dry and ice.

Does this make me a more experienced diver?

Yes but only for ice and dry.

You should be experienced for the type of diving you want to do. If a type of diving does not interest you, no need to do it or get good at it, just don't do it.

In all conditions, make sure that you have the basics as perfect as you can. Buoyancy, gear configuration, propulsion, gas management, equipment malfunction drills, deploy DSMB etc.

Practice and monitor your skills in these areas every dive. If you make a gear change, then return to basics and get comfortable with the new gear set up. I recently switched BCD to BPW and am mastering that. Some doff and don underwater and on the surface, things I could do almost blindfolded with my BCD I am re-learning and practicing again with the BPW.

Also remember that practice makes permanent, not perfect. Get the basics right and continue to make sure that they are right. In almost every situation, you will be doing the basics to recover.

To paraphrase the aviation community, superior divers use their superior skill and superior knowledge to avoid those situations requiring the use of their superior skills.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Let me guess ..... lacing up a sports shoe

Tied up a drunks hands on a flight. It's not seen as a deadly item although it's long enough to strangle someone with.

 

[Edward3c]

...
I am the one making the dive plans. I just need a guide to tell me what there is to see in a specific spot, if there are strong currents and come with me for backup in case of emergency and dealing with the locals (boats, authorities,...). In terms of planning, calculating and recalculating

I sorry to disappoint you, but your not doing the planning, the guide is. Planning is more than selecting a date, time and site. It involves research into weather, tides, currents, topography, etc. Then access, egress, depth, times, not forgetting gas management need to be included. There are other aspects I’ve not mentioned.