Dumbest things you've seen a newbie diver do

[bowlofpetunias]

The same things that I've seen veteran divers do . . .

the K

Hey K.. :admingreet: you mean like my blunder last dive? Counting waves sets to time my entry so I didn't get thrown back into the rocks.... yep.. this wave will do gonna wash back out NOW (combination giant stride/backroll entry..... with Reg in hand and not in mouth:doh: Decided I didn't need the reg anyway ... popped up to signal Ok to my buddies on the rock shelf and hang out to watch them enter.

 

[noreastDIVER84]

How about carrying my mask on my arm and dropping it in the water while putting fins on. Luckily it was a shore dive and I was standing in 4 feet of water. I do however not carry my mask on my arm anymore.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Probably one of the worst I've seen... diver wearing a VERY heavy weight belt but no BCD/regs.... leaning WAY over to reach the water to rinse his mask and a dive boat in fairly heavy seas! DM and Captain both yelled at the same time and the DM was close enough to grab haul him back!

 

[scubasledge]

So, we are in the shallow end of the try dive night pool...the girl that was in the group was rather challenged in the height department hence why we were so shallow! I was rather excited at the prospect of breathing underwater, as we all were. Mask spat in and rinsed, snorkel to the left just had to grab the fins then we could start. I was as surprised as the rest of us when the aforementioned vertically challenged girl enquired 'which flipper goes on which foot???'

 

[Van Isle]

I'm not sure if she was a diver or a snorkeler - so this may not count - but I saw a lady go beet red, exhaust herself, and nearly pass out from exertion and lack of oxygen.

On the dive shop floor.

While trying on a mask.

Couldn't seem to figure out that whole "breath through the mouth" thing while testing the fit of the mask.

VI

 

[silvernotch]

I'm not sure if she was a diver or a snorkeler - so this may not count - but I saw a lady go beet red, exhaust herself, and nearly pass out from exertion and lack of oxygen.

On the dive shop floor.

While trying on a mask.

Couldn't seem to figure out that whole "breath through the mouth" thing while testing the fit of the mask.

VI

is it bad that I almost spit out my drink while reading that??? :lol2:

 

[bamamedic]

is it bad that I almost spit out my drink while reading that??? :lol2:

You should've seen me try on a 7mm suit for the first time ever....it was a bit of a tight squeeze, and once I had wrestled the damn thing on, I couldn't get it off. There I was, in the middle of a typical Alabama heat wave, sweltering in a too-tight wetsuit. What's a girl to do? Fill the tub with cold water, go for a nice cool soak in the tub, and await hubby to come home to extract wifey from said suit....

 

[Van Isle]

is it bad that I almost spit out my drink while reading that??? :lol2:

My girlfriend is an instructor. She tells me the stories, and I *know* they're true, but...

and then you see one in real life. Wow.

----------

Not that I'm immune! During my confined water session, probably PADI CW 2, I decided - against the orders of my instructor - to do a little practice on my own while she was dealing with the other students. Something like the regulator to snorkel exchange. But maybe at depth. Luckily before a lung full of water was tasted I realized how double plus un-good that would have been. Pool tragedy averted!

VI

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

I was doing a wreck dive in the NorthEast and a young lady was doing her first dive in this area. She was nervous and it showed. I usually dive solo as do most, because the visibility is usually quite poor and it makes diving with a buddy problematic.

I offered to dive with her and she readily accepted. I explained that I would set my reel and she would follow me, always maintaining contact with the reel at all times.

We dropped down the anchor line, I deployed my reel, and we began the dive. The current was strong and the visibility was less than 10 feet in murk. A few minutes later I turned around and she was GONE. By the time I got to the surface they were doing a "rescue"- she had let go of the line for reasons unknown and was swept off the wreck by the brisk current and she made a free ascent and ended up away from the dive boat. The DM was swimming out to her with a life ring, and pulled her in.

She joined me once again on the second dive. I told her again to NOT let go of the line! We agreed that if she wanted to end the dive early she was to follow the reel line back to the anchor and ascend, I was more than happy to have her dive with me but I was not going to end my dive early. This is what she did...and when I got back to the boat...yup another rescue in progress. This busy dive boat uses two lines to the wreck...white is the "down" line and "yellow" is the upline. They're tied in to each other on the wreck and selecting the correct one is easier than making a left or a right turn at a fork in the road.

She forgot which one to use...and she started up the downline, and when she saw other divers coming down..she...let go. And she was swept off the line and made a free ascent and surfaced away from the boat.

You're quite welcome.

I made it clear to the young woman (who was planning to dive alone), that I would help her out, but I was not going to change my own dive plan significantly to accommodate her. I dive perhaps a half dozen times per summer in the NorthEast, the dives aren't cheap, and there's no way I'm going to cut a dive short just because a newbie pulls a bonehead move and lets go of a wreck reel line.

Now there are some, perhaps many who might say "you've taken responsibility for this diver by offering to dive with her, and when you looked back and saw she was not on the reel line you should have immediately ended your dive!" Or as you suggested "Look behind you every few seconds to make sure she's still on the line".

And perhaps, from an "ethical", "proper dive etiquette", "safety" point of view, they'd be right.

As far as I'm concerned, this diver, who planned to jump in alone, with no reel, with no redundant gas supply, was better off having me as a guide, at least up until the point she decided to let go of the line and do a free ascent.

My girlfriend was recently certified and during her post OW certification dives in the Caribbean, my eyes were on her the entire dive. She's planning on giving the NorthEast diving a try in a few months, and I will do the same thing on those dives.

That's not the same situation as the incident I mentioned on this thread, as far as I'm concerned.

I won't be diving with you.

 

[suzette]

I don't remember now how many dives I'd done at this point, maybe 10 or 12? I was out on the dive boat and going with a group guide. I was off the boat first, waiting on the line for the rest of the group to descend together and down we all started to go...except for me. WTF? I try. I dump my air- nada! I'm getting all worried because now they're pretty much all at the bottom waiting on me and I can't do a thing! I yelled to the mate (who very luckily was my husband) and he turned back and grabbed my weight pockets from under the seat where I'd carefully stowed them.


Because he is husband of the year, he actually jumped in with them and stuck them in my BC (it's a real bitch to get weights into them, they come out fine) and I was able to descend and join the group. Quite a show they all got watching that, I'm sure.

NOW, I put my weight pockets on top of my fins for the ride out, that way I cannot get my fins on my feet without having encountered my weight pockets first. Holy embarrassing!