Experienced diver with newly certified spouse

[Meaghan]

I've been diving in South FL for 10 years, have about 275 logged dives, many of them deep and/or solo as a photographer. My husband is just now getting certified, and will probably have about 12 dives or so under his belt by the time we are headed to Coz in July.

I am happy to spend the first couple of days diving novice-appropriate sites with him, but I would also like to spend a couple days doing more advanced sites too (walls and points south). Since those sites won't be appropriate for him, I'm wondering what your suggestions would be. Do I need an op with multiple boats like Aldora so I can ask to be put on an "advanced" boat on my solo days? Are they the only one that does this?

 

[sharky60]

a lot of the dive ops have multiple dive boats & most set them up with divers of similar experience.

Yes, it would probably be a good idea to go with such a dive op, Aldora is great by the way. Off the top of my head, Blue Angel, Dive Paradise, Dive with Martin also have multiple boats and are good dive ops.

Chances are you will be on the deeper dives together anyway. We generally do a deep dives (walls) first and a shallow dive (mid-shelf garden reefs) second. The dive op will probably take y'all to a wall dive on the first dive, but just not allow him to go very deep until they have evaluated his skills.

After the DM has evaluated YOUR skills, (no dive op worth their weight will just accept a diver's word on their experience, or even a dive log. They should all evaluate you before allowing you to do "advanced dives"), he/she may allow you to dive deeper, as long as you keep within his/her line of site.

Just talk to the dive op and explain your situation. I'm sure they will accommodate you.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Aldora could be your perfect choice. Since we do our first dives in deeper waters for advanced divers, all 8 of our boats reunite at the beach for a long surface interval at about 10 am. It is common for us to switch divers from the advanced boat to their friends for the second shallow dive. Being small groups of 6 or less in much larger boats it is not much of a problem to add one more for the second dive.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[DFDubb]

My wife would've divorced me if I tried to put her on a beginner boat while I went on an advanced boat while we were on vacation together. Instead I took several vaca's with her doing beginner style diving. It's probably the only reason she didn't quite as she wasn't exactly a natural at it.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

My wife would've divorced me if I tried to put her on a beginner boat while I went on an advanced boat while we were on vacation together. Instead I took several vaca's with her doing beginner style diving. It's probably the only reason she didn't quite as she wasn't exactly a natural at it.

What I was suggesting was only that the first dive be separate, then together on the second dive, with a log beach surface together before.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[DFDubb]

What I was suggesting was only that the first dive be separate, then together on the second dive, with a log beach surface together before.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

yeah I know, I was really just kidding. My wife actually might have preferred it to be perfectly honest.

 

[Brules]

The chances of you going somewhere he cant are pretty slim............

Just dive together and enjoy.

Only sites that are "advanced" are like Maracaibo Deep, Punta Sur, then the 2 northern sites Baracuda and San Juan. Other than those (3 of which I have never done in 20 years and hundreds of dives in Coz lol), he can/will dive everything else with you I am sure......none of the others are particularly hard/difficult/require any advanced certs etc.

The DMs with whatever Op you use will determine what the boat can dive and give you all suggestions or options.

 

[AdivingBel]

@Brules has the right of it. Most Coz dives can be tailored to the experience of the diver. IMHO do all the dives with your significant other. My wife started diving after me and she always said "Honey, go ahead and do the advanced dives. Don't wait for me." I'm so glad I never did. I'm so happy she wants to dive wild horses couldn't make me dive without her as long as she wants to go. It didn't take her long to progress to the point there isn't a dive I want to do that she can't join. A few advanced dives aren't worth even the chance that she would have felt left in the "kiddy pool" and become discouraged. Life is a marathon not a sprint. We are having a blast with dive travel and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Again, all IMHO, YMMV. Have fun. Dive travel with your spouse is a wonderful thing.

 

[Meaghan]

The chances of you going somewhere he cant are pretty slim............

Just dive together and enjoy.

Only sites that are "advanced" are like Maracaibo Deep, Punta Sur, then the 2 northern sites Baracuda and San Juan. Other than those (3 of which I have never done in 20 years and hundreds of dives in Coz lol), he can/will dive everything else with you I am sure......none of the others are particularly hard/difficult/require any advanced certs etc.

The DMs with whatever Op you use will determine what the boat can dive and give you all suggestions or options.

Oh, ok. I guess I was thinking that if a boat had a new diver on it, they might stay away from all the walls. But I guess if he is uncomfortable with doing a wall dive, he could just skip the 1st dive and do the 2nd one.

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[RayfromTX]

One of the reasons Kimberly and I dive is because it reinvigorated our marriage to have something in common that we both loved. Being dive buddies also gave us a different level to be partners. I was at Coz recently with a couple in exactly your situation. She ended up air sharing with him on every dive until he gets his air use under control. Being generous with your partner is never a bad thing and sends a message down deep that you care more for them than for your own short term enjoyment.

I ride a bike. I'm strong fast and ride long rides. My wife is slower and I don't like to ride with her because it "ruins" my ride. For years I let that be the dynamic, never realizing the subtle message that I was sending and how it lingered into other parts of our relationship. It's a tough call but if he is committed to getting better and doing this long term, the memories you build now may pay great dividends in your later years. "I remember when I was new and you did whatever you had to to help me get better. That seems so long ago now."

Sharing the stories of what you saw are nice too.