Experienced diver? Maybe not.

[Paladin]

For a long time, because of the number of years I have been diving and the number of dives I have under my weight belt, I considered my self to be an experienced diver. But over the months since I became a member here on SB, I have come to realize that this might not be true. The vast majority of my dives have been in local rivers and lakes with only a few shore dives off the beaches in SC and FL, with depths usually between 15' and 70'. I have gone to 100' a few times and once to 130' (got narcked). I have lately come to grips with the fact that the number of years one has been diving and the number of dives one has done do not necessarily make one an "experienced" diver. While I have spent many happy hours underwater sucking on a regulator, and have had many valuable experiences (some good, some not so good), maybe it is a bit of a stretch to think of myself as an experienced diver. Perhaps it is more accurate to think of myself as "just an average diver." After all, I still have so much left to learn.

 

[captain]

Your experience is where you got it. There is a difference between experience and knowledge and they don't necessary exist together. I wouldn't say I am not experieced because I haven't dived deep northeast wrecks or because I am not nitrox or trimix certified. You are a retired truck driver, would you consider yourself an inexperienced driver because you never drove in an Indy car race.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

We need to remember that diving is supposed to be fun. If your fun is playing around in a local lake with the little fish in 25 feet of water there is nothing wrong with that. For years I did mostly shore dives with a max depth of 22 feet. 80 feet felt DEEP when I did those infrequent dives.

Divers need to realize that there is significant differences based on local conditions. I had considerable cold water experience in the Atlantic and did a vacation in the Seatle area or the Orcas Islands I think it was. Walked into the shop rented a tank, asked no questions and went out for a solo shore dive. Apparently they have like 7 kt currents up there or something wacko. I paid no attention to the tide cyle and swam out from some randomly selected cove.

A little ways offshore I ended up in a kickass current and it was not fun and used all my strength to get safely back to shore. It would have been really bad if I had been with a buddy who was not also in excellent physical condition. Stupid, ignorant, unsafe and not much fun, primarily because I failed to seek local knowledge. When I returned the tank, I asked a few questions and got some very valuable information.

Don't underestmate the value of local knowledge and local experience, especially if the environment is different than you are used to. I pulled an even stupider stunt on an extended cavern dive, where i failed to follow good rules because I was so "experienced". Now that I think of it. my first Calif kelp dive pretty much ended in a fiasco, with me running out of air in the middle of a kelp paddy and had one hell of a time making it back to shore (especially with my poorly rigged gear for kelp diving).

 

[Nemrod]

Not meant in any critical manner but I see this over and over. Freshwater divers, particularly those who dive quarries and man-made lakes with 95% of their diving of that type, often do find a world of surprise when they dive the ocean, suddenly there are waves and significant current and often for the first time visibility giving the "experienced" diver a sudden sense of acrophobia to make it worse and then saltwater stings their eyes and burns their nose and before you can whistle Dixie they abort, whupped at 15 feet.

1. The ocean is never to be underestimated even under optimal conditions, it is a living thing.
2. Lack of ocean experience and lack of recent diving experience (such as people like me who over winter high and dry) are certainly at a vulnerable state for their first dives or first dives of the year.
3. Scuba diving and flying do not really have much in common but here and there they do and one is not to push your luck, in this case, do not push your luck with the ocean, it will swallow you up and not bother to spit you back out, at least the wild blue yonder spits you back out onto the ground, usually rumpled and bleeding for your transgressions.
4. It is not just years of diving or even the total number of dives but more the variety and quality of those dives that produces an experienced diver. Doing the same dive over and over does not build meaningful diversity of experience.
5. Experienced in one place does not mean experienced in another place, when in doubt, avail the services and advice of the locals.
6. Physical fitness/aerobic stamina and swimming ability and water confidence are a great and powerful compensator for other shortcomings. When all else fails, the ability to keep going and stave off exhaustion and the resulting panic is extremely important.

Just my thoughts.
N

 

[liuk3]

You might be an above average diver, but one thing I know is that as good as you might think you are at diving, there's probably someone else out there who's better...

 

[Paladin]

Nemrod,
That is exactly what I was talking about. I feel I need to broaden my horizons more before I can honestly think of myself as an experienced diver, in spite of the countless dives I have made over the years. There are so many things I can learn and do. Until recently, I never felt the need to go beyond the type of diving I've enjoyed for so long. I was happy in my own little watery universe. But now my sons have joined me and I want them to do and see more. Considering this, I feel I am as much a student as they. I am looking forward to learning to dive in new environments.

Salt water doesn't bother me. While I can count the number of SCUBA dives I've done in the ocean on the fhe fingers of my hands, I have swum and snorkeled in the ocean for years. Salt water in my eyes and nose is just a minor inconvenience. But what diving I have done has been in shallow water a couple of hundred yards from shore, not from a boat well out to sea. This is going to be a new and exciting experience for me and my boys.

But, for now, being "just an average diver" is enough. I'm still having fun.

 

[Paladin]

You might be an above average diver, but one thing I know is that as good as you might think you are at diving, there's probably someone else out there who's better...

Yup. There's always a bigger fish!

 

[AfterDark]

So how high is up? Just what does constitute the term experienced relative to diving ? Certainly one wouldn't have had to lived underwater for a period of time saturated to say they are experienced, if one wasn't already considered experienced then the person wouldn't be there. You maybe at home in FSW but the experience you've gained there would serve you well no matter where you dived. All of my early dive experience was in FSW. When it was time to scuba in the ocean all that time in the fsw helped make me feel comfortable bobbing around in the ocean. When it comes to diving any time in the water is valuable experience.

 

[Texfrazer]

Divers need to realize that there is significant differences based on local conditions. I had considerable cold water experience in the Atlantic and did a vacation in the Seatle area or the Orcas Islands I think it was. Walked into the shop rented a tank, asked no questions and went out for a solo shore dive. Apparently they have like 7 kt currents up there or something wacko. I paid no attention to the tide cyle and swam out from some randomly selected cove.

A little ways offshore I ended up in a kickass current and it was not fun and used all my strength to get safely back to shore. It would have been really bad if I had been with a buddy who was not also in excellent physical condition. Stupid, ignorant, unsafe and not much fun, primarily because I failed to seek local knowledge. When I returned the tank, I asked a few questions and got some very valuable information.

Don't underestmate the value of local knowledge and local experience, especially if the environment is different than you are used to.

+1

A number of years ago, my dive buddy and I almost got swept into some unknown channel in Palm Beach somewhere since we didn't know the local tides. We thought we did, but we didn't confrim with the local dive experts. What a crazy dive - 10 feet max depth for 25 minutes. Why only 10 feet? The current was whipping us so much that we couldn't go anywhere else. Why 25 minutes (i.e. why didn't we abort sooner)? I was holding on to a rock with one hand and my dive buddy with the other, and it took a lot of time for us to crawl our way back around the point into calm water.

That's one experience I really learned something!

 

[herman]

We see this a lot in NC. Divers read about the great diving in NC (and it is) and think they are an experienced diver because they have done a number of 20 minute boat rides on glass slick seas in Coz with a DM holding their hand the whole way or maybe they have dove the “advanced“ Florida wreck the Spiegel Grove (an easy wreck by NC standards) , heck they even went to 100ft- twice. None of this will prepare you for what our conditions often are. We have no DMs leading you around- you are a diver and we do not hold your hand, this is a dive boat not a valet service. Our boat rides are often 2 to 3 hrs each way in 4 to 8 ft seas, with 1-2 hr surface intervals, sea sickness is common. I have seen 1/2 of the boat hanging over the rail....including me on occasion. At the site they are not prepared to jump off into heavy seas, pull themselves down the anchor line in heavy current or guide themselves once at the bottom. Then there is the Carolina Ladder Ride...on a good day (6+ft seas) this is an experience you will never forget. As you watch the stern of the boat dip under the water then almost immediately you see the prop of the 50 ft boat rise above your head, you realize you have to grab hold of this beast and ride it. You move to within inches of the ladder, wait as it zips past you until it stops…..in the few seconds it stops , you must jump on with both feet and hang on because you are about the be propelled straight up as the boat rises again. Nothing in Coz prepares you for doing it for the first time…..and the DM‘s in Roatan wondered why we laughed when they told us it was too rough to go out…..in 4 ft seas..

We do get glass slick days with gin clear water but those are rare compared to 6 ft seas and 20 ft vis.