embarrassing novice question

[suddha]

Go easy on me please. I have long wanted to get certified and try diving but one thing has held me back and I'd like to know if it's as siginficant as I've led myself to believe all these years.

I have very sensitive eyes and have never been able to open my eyes under water, either in a pool or salt or fresh water. I obviously do fine with goggles on but am concerned that during my first scuba classes or during dives, there will be times when I will have my goggles off and need to see under water.

Is this "handicap" a deal breaker for me? I am otherwise comfortable in the water, a strong swimmer, physically fit and a quick learner so I think I'll take the diving well.

Thank you in advance.

 

[fishb0y]

I would dare to say that your problem is 90% mental. You have 2 options...1) keep your eyes closed...2) suck it and use eye drops after you get out of the water. As you become more accoustomed to the water you will get over the discomfort.

 

[MSilvia]

You will have to remove your mask, replace it, and clear the water out, but you don't have to have your eyes open to do so. It's good to be able to open your eyes underwater, but it's not necessary.

 

[utdivermatt]

I would agree this is probably mostly mental.... but I have better news than that. To answer your question, you never have to 'see' underwater to get certified. I have contacts, and never once opened my eyes underwater without a mask during the certification process (I have since learned I can still open them with contacts but thats beside the point). They will make you take your mask off and put it back on, but this can be done without opening your eyes. My advice... got get signed up for a class. You wont regret it!

 

[DNV]

Don't worry about that problem, just get out there and start a new adventure! I think you'll find that you have a great time diving and meeting other divers. All of the above will make your concern fade away very quickly!
Dive safe!

 

[Rico867]

Go easy on me please. I have long wanted to get certified and try diving but one thing has held me back and I'd like to know if it's as siginficant as I've led myself to believe all these years.

I have very sensitive eyes and have never been able to open my eyes under water, either in a pool or salt or fresh water. I obviously do fine with goggles on but am concerned that during my first scuba classes or during dives, there will be times when I will have my goggles off and need to see under water.

Is this "handicap" a deal breaker for me? I am otherwise comfortable in the water, a strong swimmer, physically fit and a quick learner so I think I'll take the diving well.

Thank you in advance.

If you have sensitive eyes than I would not be scuba diving, part of scuba diving is getting your eyes wet.
My eyes were also sensitive, everyones eyes are sensitive when it comes to saltwater it always burns a little but the more you do it, the more of a tolerance you will build up.
So practice in the pool first until you feel you are confident to venture out into open water.

 

[suddha]

Wow, I belong to a number of Web forums but this is the fastest one I've seen! Thanks to all of you for the responses. After I wrote my message, I did a search and found some related threads from people with contacts that have this issue. It is very reassuring. Thanks again.

I will be signing up this week for a course. I have a trip planned to Playa del Carmen at the end of January and might try to get my certification there.

Cheers.

 

[plot]

The hardest part for me was opening my eyes while wet without rubbing them first... which was not really a problem at all, just something I noticed when I was first doing mask clearing.

 

[Footslogger]

I have very sensitive eyes and have never been able to open my eyes under water, either in a pool or salt or fresh water. I obviously do fine with goggles on but am concerned that during my first scuba classes or during dives, there will be times when I will have my goggles off and need to see under water.

Is this "handicap" a deal breaker for me? I am otherwise comfortable in the water, a strong swimmer, physically fit and a quick learner so I think I'll take the diving well.

Thank you in advance.

===============================================

You're not alone. I did quite a bit of pool session assisting over the years and met a lot of aspiring divers who had an outright phobia to water in the face, much less their eyes. Seems somewhat paradoxical but I can remember one diver who told me that they even turn their back to the shower head. The instructor would often ask me to move to the shallow end of the pool and work on that with the student. What seemed to work best was to have them don their mask and add about 1/4" of water and let it sit there for a while. Then slosh it around for a bit and little by little add water until it reached their eye level in the mask. By then, most of the students realized that they could in fact function with their eyes open under water. Another way to work on that situation is to just bob up and down in the water without a mask. Lower your self so that your eyes are right at the water line and then bob, holding your eyes open.

Might not work for all ...or even for you. But I was successful in getting many people past the mask clearing excersise, who had told me up front that they would NEVER be able to open their eyes under water.

 

[H2Andy]

but am concerned that during my first scuba classes or during dives, there will be times when I will have my goggles off and need to see under water.

no, not unless your mask comes off accidentally and you have to locate it yourself and can't do so just by touch

you will have to take your mask off and put it back on, but you can keep your eyes closed while doing so.