better? paranoid or too comfortable?

[The Chairman]

Thats good. You zone out on me while diving and I will put an octopus on your head .

That actually sounds like fun!

( No people we dont harass the wildlife )

Denisegg excluded (of course).

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

That actually sounds like fun! Denisegg excluded (of course).

Well of course. We have to harass Denisegg

The Sailfish feeding sounds pretty cool Pete. I brought up some shovel nose lobster last year and ran into a school of amberjack, that was pretty intense too.

 

[The Chairman]

That was probably my most memorable dive/safety stop. They herded the ballyhoo straight into me and moved in for the kill when they scattered. I only wish I had had a camera on that dive.

 

[zamburinha]

My noob question is - which is worse? to dive with a paranoid noob or a comfortable noob?

A comfortable diver is great, a paranoid new diver is understandable, what really is worrying is a complacent diver ... no matter the level of experience.

I think you handled things ok. Sure, there were other options that would have been better, but some times it is just good enough, you don't need to be optimal every time. You have obviously identified some of the more important problems such as lack of clear buddy communication, next time your decisions should be better.

Keep diving and have fun!

 

[fresh_fish]

Given the information in the OP, I would have gone up by myself as well, but I would have given more communication to my buddy.. There is a large group, with a flag, and at least one other person on the surface, the snorkeler. I would have told my buddy that I'm going up because of my equipment (so he knows it's a controlled ascent, and my choice), then I would tell him to buddy up with another person (a 3 person buddy team is not uncommon) and gone with him to make sure he was not abandoned and the others know he will be their buddy, then I would indicate that I would buddy with the snorkeler, reminding him I would not be floating on the surface alone, possibly taken by currents or something.

Then, and only then, would I ascend.

It's longer to explain than to do. The only grey area would be how close the other buddys are, and if you could swim there with the cramp.

 

[cloudflint]

Sounds like you did the right thing overall, as the old saying goes "your better being on the boat wishing you where in the water than being in the water wishing you where on the boat". The important thing is to communicate well your buddies to ensure everyone knows what's going on and where everyone is.

I think there is a different between being comfortable and being complacent. Ive known lots of comfortable divers who have been diving for years and never got into serious trouble but most of the complacent divers i knew growing up aren't around any more which says alot. I generally feel incredibly relaxed and comfortable in the water but i still have all these incidents in the back of my mind keeping me on my toes even in a meter of water in a swimming pool. Sometimes I even pick a random year and read through the BSAC incident report for that year just to keep me alert

 

[TheOnlyRae]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and constructive criticism.

I really appreciate it.