Do you REALLY know how to scuba dive?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I guess a question I would ask of someone (with lots of dives) who says they have so much more to learn about diving is what, exactly, do you think there is left to learn assuming we are not talking about going into a totally different area of diving?

Environments and equipment, primarily. I'm pretty darn good at backmount diving in cold-water environments like we get where I live ... I should be, with a couple thousand dives in that configuration and environment. Put me in a cave and I'm a newby. Put me in a side-mount rig and I'm a newby. Put me on a rocking boat in the Channel Islands in a sidemount rig and I'm comic relief for everyone else on board. Put me on a CCR and I'd probably end up killing myself.

I like to try new things precisely because I don't know ... and I want to. Diving's got endless new things to learn and experience. Most folks define a style and environment that suits them and that's really all they want to know. And that's fine ... diving is, after all, just a recreational activity and we all have our preferences about how we choose to spend our recreational time, energy and dollars. Me ... I like trying new things. I enjoy getting out there with a new piece of equipment or putting myself into an environment I haven't experienced before ... or one I'm not yet comfortable with ... and struggling to get better at it. That's the "magic" of diving for me.

There's always something new to learn ... assuming that it's important enough to you to want to learn it. Each and every one of us has to decide that based on why we got into diving in the first place ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DivemasterDennis]

What does it mean to be able to scuba dive? It means being comfortable in the water, familiar with your equipment, able to independently plan and execute a dive safely, and deal with unexpected contingencies above and below the water. Being able to scuba dive means you have control of yourself in the water so that you can go where you need to, not touch anything with any part of yourself or your equipment, and be environmentally responsible. Being able to scuba dive means you can visit and enjoy another world that 99.9% of earth's population never gets to visit. It is a privilege that all divers need to exercise with proper skills and practice, for safety for themselves, their fellow divers, and the environment in which they dive. It means doing all of this in a way that is also polite, showing good manners above and below the water. I think we as divers have the right to expect every diver to work toward and meet the goal of achieving this level of "being able to Scuba Dive."
DivemasterDennis

 

[elmer fudd]

This is kind of like asking, "can you use a computer?" It all depends on what you need it to do. You can spend years diving regularly and still not be qualified for rebreathers, tri-mix or deep penetration dives, just like I've been using my computer for years but if you asked me to reformat my hard drive while retaining my original drivers or use the advanced features of photoshop or figure out how to put an avatar on my SB profile I'd be sitting there scratching my head.

 

[SaltyPirateBastard]

If you can set up your own kit, jump in without injury, stay down for at least 20 minutes, and get yourself out of the water without risk of injury or death, you can dive. Maybe not well, but you can do it.

 

[CT Sean]

If you can set up your own kit, jump in without injury, stay down for at least 20 minutes, and get yourself out of the water without risk of injury or death, you can dive. Maybe not well, but you can do it.

I think this is a good definition of "knowing how to scuba dive" though I would add demonstrating at least a modicum of bouyancy control while in the water. Should one be able to get in the water and then alternate between crashing in to the bottom and rocketing to the surface, I would not call that knowing how to dive.

 

[Ste Wart]

Of course not, I'm an instructor!

Those who can, can, those who can't etc etc

 

[DennisS]

Really knowing how to scuba dive means you come out of the water with a big grin every time and realize how fortunate you are to have discovered diving.

 

[caseywilson]

As a new diver -- eight dives logged since OW certification -- I know I have a ways to go. When I was granted my pilot's license some time ago, my instructor made the comment that that piece of paper was a "license to learn." I carry that philosophy over to my newly acquired "SCUBA license to learn." I am a safe diver because I know my limitations and stay within my "envelope" of skills and training.

 

[Thalassamania]

I think that sums it up quite well! When it all becomes second nature to you.

But I would like to comment on one thing. I have seen not only on this thread but on many threads on SB where someone will say something like this:

"After 500/1000 (It's usually some large number) dives, I realize how little I know and still have a lot to learn."

I quit logging dives after I hit #500 (unless it's a pretty incredible dive) so I don't know how many dives I have actually done but I ask myself when I read something like the statement above, do I still have a lot to learn or what more is there to learn?

My diving is pretty much the warm, clear water, caribbean type of diving. So thinking of that type of diving and after more than 500 dives over 20 years in that environment, I really can't think that there is so much more for me to learn. I think anyone can continue to improve on their in-water skills but I don't call that learning. To me that's just more practice. Now I realize that if I were to take my diving in another direction like cave diving for example, there would be a great deal for me to learn because that's a whole nother ball game. Or if I were to go and dive where TSandM dives I'm sure there would be some things I would learn because that too would be something different than the norm for me.

I guess a question I would ask of someone (with lots of dives) who says they have so much more to learn about diving is what, exactly, do you think there is left to learn assuming we are not talking about going into a totally different area of diving?

The ocean has many unexpected and unknown environments and conditions that one can challenge one's ability to deal with as "second nature." I remember the challenge of combining blue-water open ocean techniques with working under massive icebergs, "bottomless" ocean combined with a very hard ceiling and the coldest water on earth. There's always something new if you go looking for it.

 

[300bar]

No ... I dunno how to dive. That's why I dive so much. I'm still trying to figure it out ... ... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Unlike "some" MIB I'm still learning 4000+ dives.

As soon as I don't learn anymore, I'll take a new hobby