Dumbest things you've seen a newbie diver do

[carrielsal]

How about someone who knows they are underweighted and has to swim down the first ten feet. Then stays long enough to go into deco and has to grab a big rock to keep from surfacing while doing the mandatory stops.

That was me on my second drysuit dive.

You sure that wasn't me?

 

[njedrn]

.....

 

[pasley]

That is really really funny. When I first read it I thought maybe your legs were being pulled off by the DM. But Wikipedia confirms the existence of such an animal.

Kind of the ocean version of walking across the carpet with socks on. Glad you didn't get jolted!

Electric rays come in many varieties. In Southern California we have the Pacific Torpedo Ray which are a bit more of a shocker than walking across the carpet with socks on.
From Wikipedia Electric ray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "an average electric ray may electrocute larger prey with a current of up to 30 Amperes and a voltage of 50 to 200 Volts, generating a similar effect as dropping the average hair dryer into a bathtub."

from:Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department: Pacific Electric Ray "Divers are warned to avoid contact with the ray, as the shock of 45 volts or more is powerful enough to knock down an adult human. The Pacific electric ray is very confrontational and if harassed, will swim directly at divers. There are no confirmed mortalities from this ray, but there are some unexplained scuba fatalities in which this ray might have played a part."

 

[Aggiebq86]

During my first shore dive following in a couple of years, we are doing a surface swim until we reach deeper water. As we start to submerge, I get a mouth full of sea water. I do what I've been taught to do. I exhale sharply to purge my regulator. I then inhale again this time choking on even more water. I struggled to the surface coughing and sputtering. Yep, you guessed it. Snorkels don't work more than 1' under water. After I got the correct mouthpiece in my mouth, we went on to a wonderful dive.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Dumbest thing I have seen a new diver do.....?????? Trust ME!!!

 

[Wantonmien]

Picture the scene:-

Beautiful day in the Philippines, divers just finishing pre-dive checks, tightening straps, de-fogging masks etc. etc.

Dive guide gets everyone's attention "Hey guys, just a quick word before we jump in, I'd just like to point out that this is a pretty special dive for Larry here - it's dive number one thousand! Well done Larry!".

Larry's obviously a bit embarrassed by the attention, just mutters a shy thanks to all the nice people and does the crotch strap of his bp/w up and gives everyone a smile and says "Cheers, everyone. If we all make it back, I'll stand drinks in the bar tonight!"

Larry gives his buddy the final OK and they both roll backwards off the boat into the sea - a total of about 1 metre down.

Except that Larry doesn't make it.

Larry has managed to get the crotch strap around the permanent line that goes along the side of the boat for the divers to hold on to while equipment is being passed up or down.

Accordingly, he is now upside-down in the sea as far as his waist with his legs stuck out in the air, and trying desperately to figure out what the Hell is going on.

The buddy meanwhile has watched the debacle unfold, sees that Larry still has his reg in his mouth and is in no imminent danger of death, decides it would me much more fun to video his embarrassment.

Larry actually manages to get a grip on the situation, opens the waist release, drops into the sea, re-fixes equipment and carries on with the dive hoping that the video will never see the light of day.

It was a great dive, and yes, I'm Larry.

--

Oh how we'd like to see that video .. come on, don't be shy !

 

[Troutmaster]

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.

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.

Safety and ethics are really the only factors that really matter. You agreed to be this woman's buddy and then did not act as a buddy to her. That is wrong. The worst part is that you don't think it is.

 

[Troutmaster]

So I am in Cayman and my (now ex) wife wants to sit out a dive so I hook up with a guy at Eden rock that has never dove anywhere on Cayman and only has time for one dive before heading back to his ship. We plan our dive and dive our plan. I am playing host because I have dove the site before. I am not great at compass nav and I second guess myself, so I signal to him that I am going to surface and check the heading (we are in about 30 feet at the time so no big deal)

I was really happy I checked because I was WAY off, so I shoot a new heading to the dive flag out front of the shop, head back down and we continue.

We surface in front of Don Fosters, about 800 yards from Eden Rock where we entered. My first heading was right. Looking at the shore, there were about a dozen flags each at a different entry point and I picked the wrong one (which I then navigated to FLAWLESSLY) Good news is we were both strong swimmers and needed the exercise.

I only had 150 dives or so at the time so I will call it a "newbie" mistake.

 

[Hammerhead]

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Oh how we'd like to see that video .. come on, don't be shy !

The video-taker is also here on SB, but he will not post it because I will kill his first-born if he does

 

[DwayneJ]

During my initial training, you collected your rental gear sometime during the week before Saturday pool training...

Me and 5 other students turn up at the pool at 7AM in the morning - One new student gets out of his vehicle wearing the rental wetsuit with no other change of clothes.

Obviously cannot perform the swim or treading water exercise so the instructors make a deal with him he will take part in the lessons but needs to return the following week to perform the swim without the wetsuit.

Proceeds to wear the wetsuit all day long including the drive from the pool back to the store for lunch and afternoon instruction. Halfway during lesson plan, decides he's had enough for the day and leaves without completing the written tests. Instructor is pissed.

Dwayne