cert dives with animals and caverns!

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David P

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Location
Valencia, So Cal
What a blast! Just did my cert dives (basic and Nitrox). Loved all the kelp! We saw a couple yellow tails, I saw a leopard shark (I thought it was about 2' everyone else says 4'), and on the last dive my buddy and I made friends with a sheeps head that followed us almost the entire dive. I found a nice size bug hiding under a rock, I tried to pull it out to show my buddy, but this little buggers are pretty smart. We dove the USC conservatory/ blue cavern, that was pretty awesome, my buddy didnt like the cavern for some reason and bolted out, so I followed and vow to return. I heard there were dozens of bugs all over in the cavern.
All and all, Id have to say it was a great time. Oh yeah I learned a very important lesson, Do NOT drink salt water! I had a few mouthfulls and ended up soo sick I was afraid I was not going to make my last 3 dives on the second day.
 
Is this 'cavern' an overhead? if so your next lesson should be to stay out of any overhead unless you are trained. Seems like your buddy was the smart one here.
 
Wendy:
Is this 'cavern' an overhead? if so your next lesson should be to stay out of any overhead unless you are trained. Seems like your buddy was the smart one here.

I find waaay too many dive operators wanting to take me through "small" overhead environments even though they have just seen my card and the release that says just how few dives I have.

I second your buddy's decision, and pleeease, get some training before you put yourself where there is anything between you and the surface.

*Aside: Is there anything sillier-looking than a DM making like a chicken underwater? I don't mind getting called one anymore; I know I'm right, and I get a good laugh out of it*
 
Congrats! Glad you had such a wonderful experience! What a great way to start out!

My cert dives were pretty awesome, as well.

Beware that you will get a bunch (more) posts saying what you did was wrong. People here like to scour the posts looking for things to pick at. Since you mentioned a cavern, I knew people would jump on it, without knowing the details. Since you mentioned the bug, you'll probably also get some idiot accusing you of harassing the wildlife, as well...

Unfortunately this seems to be an unavoidable aspect of this board. Too many people looking for something to attack (without knowing the facts), and not enough who just want to share your joy.

BTW don’t let ‘em intimidate you, and don’t let ‘em pull you into a long war explaining and justifying your dives. Depending on your comfort level and agency, limited overhead environments are just fine. Just don’t take chances or exceed your comfort level (but I’m sure you know that).

You did the right thing staying with your buddy when he wasn’t comfortable, and you have a good attitude regarding waiting to do the dive another time. Way to go, and, again, congratulations.
 
We're not picking on him, we'd just hate to have anything happen because we DIDN'T say anything...
 
David P, Wendy and I are experienced cavern and cave divers, myself of 15 years along with being an instructor for 16 years. 3 Dents advice of "limited overhead enrironments" are "just fine" is probably not the best advice your going to get on this board.
We all join you in your excitement over your new dives. You'll find that a lot of us on the board are probably just a little more concerned when we read about new divers doing things while diving that we have seen can cause a serious problem.
We're not here to spoil your fun, but to insure you have a long diving career.
With that said, as Wendy mentioned, you should stay out of all overheads until you gain experience and then some formal training. Even a little cavern, swim through, or wreck has proved problematic for many divers.
Take the advice of divers with 1000's of dives and extensive training or from those with very few and very little, your decision.-JMHO-M
 
Michael Schlink:
David P, Wendy and I are experienced cavern and cave divers, myself of 15 years along with being an instructor for 16 years. 3 Dents advice of "limited overhead enrironments" are "just fine" is probably not the best advice your going to get on this board.
We all join you in your excitement over your new dives. You'll find that a lot of us on the board are probably just a little more concerned when we read about new divers doing things while diving that we have seen can cause a serious problem.
We're not here to spoil your fun, but to insure you have a long diving career.
With that said, as Wendy mentioned, you should stay out of all overheads until you gain experience and then some formal training. Even a little cavern, swim through, or wreck has proved problematic for many divers.
Take the advice of divers with 1000's of dives and extensive training or from those with very few and very little, your decision.-JMHO-M

and if you didn't notice, I did ask him about the 'caverns' that he was diving, since no specific info was given.
 
Wendy:
and if you didn't notice, I did ask him about the 'caverns' that he was diving, since no specific info was given.

Yeah, I noticed. No congrats, no welcome to the board, no welcome to the wonderful world of diving, just immediately questioning what you assume he did wrong. I’m sure no specific info was given because he wasn’t looking for advice on cave diving.

Michael Schlink:
We all join you in your excitement over your new dives.

Then why doesn’t anyone say so? Why immediately question what they did instead of politely asking clarifying questions?

Sorry, guys, I just get fed up with all the folks on this board who jump on something they assume someone did wrong w/o knowing the details. I’ve seen it sooooo often. I’m sure that’s not what you intended, but if you read over the posts, you can see how someone new to diving would feel under attack.
 
3dent:
Yeah, I noticed. No congrats, no welcome to the board, no welcome to the wonderful world of diving, just immediately questioning what you assume he did wrong. I’m sure no specific info was given because he wasn’t looking for advice on cave diving.



Then why doesn’t anyone say so? Why immediately question what they did instead of politely asking clarifying questions?

Sorry, guys, I just get fed up with all the folks on this board who jump on something they assume someone did wrong w/o knowing the details. I’ve seen it sooooo often. I’m sure that’s not what you intended, but if you read over the posts, you can see how someone new to diving would feel under attack.

well excuse me for caring about other divers. I guess being witness to brand new ow divers dying in caves has made me bitter, or at least in your eyes.
 
David P:
What a blast! Just did my cert dives (basic and Nitrox). Loved all the kelp! We saw a couple yellow tails, I saw a leopard shark (I thought it was about 2' everyone else says 4'), and on the last dive my buddy and I made friends with a sheeps head that followed us almost the entire dive. I found a nice size bug hiding under a rock, I tried to pull it out to show my buddy, but this little buggers are pretty smart. We dove the USC conservatory/ blue cavern, that was pretty awesome, my buddy didnt like the cavern for some reason and bolted out, so I followed and vow to return. I heard there were dozens of bugs all over in the cavern.
All and all, Id have to say it was a great time. Oh yeah I learned a very important lesson, Do NOT drink salt water! I had a few mouthfulls and ended up soo sick I was afraid I was not going to make my last 3 dives on the second day.

sweet, congrats. have fun. What you dont like salt water? Congrats
 

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