dnalevol
Registered
As I think about what I am about to write, I have to admit I am very embarrased. I did some very stupid things.
First, I am a newbie to diving. Just got certs in September. Went on a 10 day sailing/diving vacation to the BVI in December. Had never been on a dive except the pool/lake dives during certs. Since we had our own boat, my hubby and I decided we wanted to rent gear and dive whenever we wanted to without a dive master. Here is a summary of some of our dives, and the lessons I learned.
1. Diving the Wreck of the Rhone. Our boat was anchored fairly close to the dive site. So we decided to swim to it rather than dinghy over. Had no problems swimming to the dive site, had no problems on the dive. We did find ourselves at 80 feet at one point, which made us a tad nervous, but we closely watched our dive computers and were fine. Time to ascend. No problems. Start swimming back to our boat. Talk about a LONG swim!!! Plus we were swimming against a current. It took forever and we were exhausted when we finally got to the boat. Lesson learned: NEVER swim to dive site. Always dinghy as close as possible. Or make sure someone can come and pick you up when you are finished.
2. Diving Cistern Point. Checked our dive book. Nice shallow dive - max depth 40 ft. Our friends decided to snorkel while we dove. Took the dinghy to dive site. Cistern Point is a big rock that protrudes out of the water. So we descend and start swimming counter clockwise around the rock. We feel some current pulling us along, but don't pay too much attention. We figure once we come around the backside of the rock, the current will keep pushing us back toward our dinghy. WRONG. We make it a little over half way around the rock when it starts getting really shallow - lots of coral and rocks. We are dodging coral and rock when we get STOPPED by the current. We literally can't go foward and as we are kicking we are headed backwards. We struggle for a bit and decide we can't make it to the dinghy. We surface. We look over and see the beach. We decide we can swim to it and our party can come pick us up in the dinghy. Good idea until we almost reach land and again find ourselves in VERY shallow rocky, corally water. Now the waves start slamming us toward the beach. Every wave smashes us against huge rocks or into coral. The only option we now have it to let the waves smash us to shore. We make it shore and now have to hike with all of our gear, legs and hands pouring blood, to a smooth spot where the dinghy can pick us up. We hike over slippery rocks, panting, sweating, crying, bleeding, until the dinghy can pick us up. Lesson learned: ABORT mission if there is current or start dive upstream from current and let it carry you. NEVER swim towards a rocky shore as an option. Instead, wait in the water until friends come looking or another dinghy happens by. FIRE CORAL hurts!
3. Diving the nursery. Took a dinghy to dive site. No mooring balls, so we decided to tie the dinghy up on shore. Left it with a friend to watch. So, this is basically a shore dive. We gear up and start wading out into the water, but there are rocks everywhere and it's shallow. Hubby gets cut on coral. We finally get out where it is deep enough to swim and eventually descent. Had a great dive - saw turtles! Lesson Learned: Don't try a shore dive if it's not meant to be a shore dive. Jump off the dinghy in deep water and let friend take dinghy to shore. We were smart enough not to swim back to shore - we let our friend come and pick us up.
We had a total of 6 dives, and only 1 was very bad, 2 could have been better, and the others were great.
Other lessons learned: Shorties allow more freedom, but do not protect from rocks and coral. Dive Masters are your friends. Depth of dives is not nearly as important as currents. Diving is a blast!
Please don't blast me for my stupidity. However, if you wish to KINDLY offer advice for the future, feel free. Our next big trip is hopefully to the Sea of Cortez, Baja Mexico. I hope to get some more dive experience in before going.
First, I am a newbie to diving. Just got certs in September. Went on a 10 day sailing/diving vacation to the BVI in December. Had never been on a dive except the pool/lake dives during certs. Since we had our own boat, my hubby and I decided we wanted to rent gear and dive whenever we wanted to without a dive master. Here is a summary of some of our dives, and the lessons I learned.
1. Diving the Wreck of the Rhone. Our boat was anchored fairly close to the dive site. So we decided to swim to it rather than dinghy over. Had no problems swimming to the dive site, had no problems on the dive. We did find ourselves at 80 feet at one point, which made us a tad nervous, but we closely watched our dive computers and were fine. Time to ascend. No problems. Start swimming back to our boat. Talk about a LONG swim!!! Plus we were swimming against a current. It took forever and we were exhausted when we finally got to the boat. Lesson learned: NEVER swim to dive site. Always dinghy as close as possible. Or make sure someone can come and pick you up when you are finished.
2. Diving Cistern Point. Checked our dive book. Nice shallow dive - max depth 40 ft. Our friends decided to snorkel while we dove. Took the dinghy to dive site. Cistern Point is a big rock that protrudes out of the water. So we descend and start swimming counter clockwise around the rock. We feel some current pulling us along, but don't pay too much attention. We figure once we come around the backside of the rock, the current will keep pushing us back toward our dinghy. WRONG. We make it a little over half way around the rock when it starts getting really shallow - lots of coral and rocks. We are dodging coral and rock when we get STOPPED by the current. We literally can't go foward and as we are kicking we are headed backwards. We struggle for a bit and decide we can't make it to the dinghy. We surface. We look over and see the beach. We decide we can swim to it and our party can come pick us up in the dinghy. Good idea until we almost reach land and again find ourselves in VERY shallow rocky, corally water. Now the waves start slamming us toward the beach. Every wave smashes us against huge rocks or into coral. The only option we now have it to let the waves smash us to shore. We make it shore and now have to hike with all of our gear, legs and hands pouring blood, to a smooth spot where the dinghy can pick us up. We hike over slippery rocks, panting, sweating, crying, bleeding, until the dinghy can pick us up. Lesson learned: ABORT mission if there is current or start dive upstream from current and let it carry you. NEVER swim towards a rocky shore as an option. Instead, wait in the water until friends come looking or another dinghy happens by. FIRE CORAL hurts!
3. Diving the nursery. Took a dinghy to dive site. No mooring balls, so we decided to tie the dinghy up on shore. Left it with a friend to watch. So, this is basically a shore dive. We gear up and start wading out into the water, but there are rocks everywhere and it's shallow. Hubby gets cut on coral. We finally get out where it is deep enough to swim and eventually descent. Had a great dive - saw turtles! Lesson Learned: Don't try a shore dive if it's not meant to be a shore dive. Jump off the dinghy in deep water and let friend take dinghy to shore. We were smart enough not to swim back to shore - we let our friend come and pick us up.
We had a total of 6 dives, and only 1 was very bad, 2 could have been better, and the others were great.
Other lessons learned: Shorties allow more freedom, but do not protect from rocks and coral. Dive Masters are your friends. Depth of dives is not nearly as important as currents. Diving is a blast!
Please don't blast me for my stupidity. However, if you wish to KINDLY offer advice for the future, feel free. Our next big trip is hopefully to the Sea of Cortez, Baja Mexico. I hope to get some more dive experience in before going.
