Do you consider yourself an 'Advanced' diver?

[MarkUK]

You are always going to have differing opinions on this – some people consider themselves an expert with a couple of hundred dives, others with a couple of thousand still see themselves as learning, it is all down to personal opinion/expression.

I have been diving for 20 years, and in that time have logged upwards of 3,500 dives (nearly 2,000 in the last seven years when I joined the industry). These have been in a variety of locations – cold water, warm water, deep water, currents, swell, surge, awkward entries and exits, etc – and so with the combination of location and number of dives, I would consider myself an advanced diver.

However, I still learn new tricks and techniques every time I go on a trip, either from the guides/instructors, or from other divers on the boat. I don't think any diver – however many dives they've got or locations they've dived – will ever stop learning, and if they do get to the point when they think they know it all, then they should quit diving and take up golf, as that can be when complacency sets in and the **** hits the fan...

Mark

 

[Hooked-Again]

I think part of the reason he posted it was to get a definition.



well.....no. The next step after beginner would be intermediate. Then advanced, master and expert in your setup. So to know what advanced it, you would need to define beginner and intermediate.

So what's intermediate to you?

R..

I have AOW certification but in no way would I consider myself an advanced diver. I think I am just above beginner but not quite intermediate. Maybe novice is midway between beginner and intermediate. I am either novice or "Beginermediate".

 

[Spoon]

ive racked up 150 dives this year. most of my dives are in the 90-110 region. all done in warm philippine waters. highest cert is recue andbasic nitrox. i do consider myself average, plenty to learn plenty to learn

 

[Diver0001]

LOL

so all together we have enough to make a scale..... Here it goes:

Rank beginner
Beginner
Novice
Beginnermediate (LOL, i like this one)
Intermediate
Advanced intermediate
Intermediate advanced
Advanced
Expert advanced
Novice expert
Intermediate expert
Expert
and "Right bloody sorted"

In many martial arts they have a system we could apply to diving too:

white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black

The advantage of this system is it's partly (proudly) subjective and ranks you compared to your peers.

Where would you put yourself on that scale?

R..

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

But it's a simple question that most of you are too to answer honestly....:ne_nau:

Actually, it's not a simple question ... because everybody sets their own personal baseline for what the term means.

I think I've reached a level of competency that allows me to dive comfortably at any level of recreational diving ... and even qualifies me to teach others to do so. Does that make me an advanced diver? Possibly, by some people's definition. But then I go diving with someone like Uncle Pug, and compared to his skill level I don't really know very much at all ... so where does one set the bar? And once set, is it valid to consider raising it with respect to how you apply the term "Advanced" to what you know?

I think that's really more a personal decision than one that would apply to everyone.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Daylonious]

I would put John Chatterton and Richie Kohler on the "Right Bloody Sorted" level...

D.

Green Belt / Intermediate Advanced Diver

 

[MSilvia]

Do you consider yourself to be an Advanced diver, and if so, why?

Compared to who? I met a woman recently who got her scuba certification while on vacation, and who considers herself to be a skillful and competant diver. She was raving about how cool diving in Aruba is for a good 15 minutes before a friend mentioned to her that I'm a diver also. She asked where I'd been, and I told her about how I've been to a number of destinations but really enjoy diving at home in New England. She asked if the divemaster around here were any good, and when I told her I rarely hired one she was horrified, as though diving without a DM was the most reckless thing she'd ever heard of.

Compared to her, yeah... I think I'm advanced.

I have several friend that like to shore dive with me and hunt for lobsters, etc. They don't have any experience with dives deeper than 55 feet or so, and even though they're good at the diving they do, I wouldn't be comfortable asking them to come along when I charter a deep recreational wreck dive offshore. Compared to them, yeah... I think I'm advanced.

I have other friends who are just starting to do some limited technical diving, and while I've done cold water deco dives to 150' or so, I recently got married, and haven't had as much time or money lately to practice those new skills. Compared to buddies I was diving with more regularly a couple of years ago, I consider myself capable, but if anything a little bit behind experience-wise. Definately not advanced by comparison.

I have a co-worker who routinely does deep technical wreck dives in the local area, and who (knowing I have trimix training) has invited me to come along on several dives that are still outside my comfort range. Compared to him, I'm still something of a beginner.

In my own eyes, I should be getting out about twice as often as I do, so while I feel more experienced than the majority of recreational divers, I'd like to be building my skills rather than just maintaining them.

 

[thesassyrabbit]

Compared to who?

Compared to her, yeah... I think I'm advanced.

I have to agree with MSilvia. I would never feel comfortable making a blanket statement about my status. Depends on who I'm diving with. Sometimes I am the advanced diver in the group (scary, huh?), and sometimes there are divers who are far more advanced than I am in the group. It also depends on the situation or location that I'm diving. On many dives, I would consider myself advanced - that is, I can comfortably and responsibly make the dive without interefering with others, hurting the environment, etc. If I were to penetrate a wreck or go cave diving, I would consider myself a complete novice and all of my confidence in my open water diving might diminish.

I do crack up, however, when I'm at a dive shop (usually on vacation) and someone says "we only take Advanced divers to that location"... and the criteria for that is an Advanced card. As many before me have said..... so what! I've been diving with certified instructors whose skills I question, and definitely wouldn't want to buddy with, and newly certified divers who I would be happy to dive with anytime!!

Interesting topic!

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Ask anyone, I know it all.

 

[wulvrine74]

I think being 'Advanced' is more of a State-of-Mind. Yes, I agree you are always learning on every single dive you take, but how you feel about your diving abilities is what makes you advanced.
Instead of the crappy 3 weeks course at your local dive shop, I did my first open water, advanced, and Nitrox course at my university while in college. It was a 4 month course and I came out of that prepared to tackle any diving situations. I thought of myself as MORE advanced then any person who was just getting out of any other course.

I think of myself as being advanced for many reasons.
- I have come close to death on about 5 occasions (Reg. stops working at 150 feet in a cave, Pass out in 50 degree water with zero viz at 100+ ft., Bull shark encounter in Marathon, FL while spear fishing, etc). During all of these things, yes I was scared to death, but I found a way to get out of them with my life. I think that if even one of these things were to happen to 90% of divers, they would have stayed on dry land the rest of their lives. Instead, I learned from them and lived to dive another day.

- Just this past weekend, I was diving on the East coast of Florida. There were 8-10 ft Swells. I have been in bigger, but these ones seemed to come from all different directions. In the 3 hours that I was out, I heard over the radio that two boats had already gone down and I saw one getting towed in. Some people would just call this stupid, but if I want to dive, then there is nothing that is going to stop me! I did 3 dives last weekend and had an awesome time!

- I look forward to the challenge of anything our of the ordinary. HUGE swells, schools of sharks, extreme cold waters, deep depths, and a combination of those.

Every body likes to dive in different situations. Some just arent cut out to be an extreme diver by any means. and thats ok, as long as they realize this and dont go and try to do something they arent going to be able to handle. From what I have read here, people are realizing whether or not they could handle situations thrown at them.
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