First Dive / Training (Am I wrong? Or, is the instructor crazy?)

[DivemasterDennis]

I too think that the OP should consider changing instructors. While the post may have lost something in translation, I was especially concerned with the first time equipment use problems, that are usually ironed out in the pool, or confined water that is pool like in the conditions presented, such as a shallow sandy cove or bay protected from any current, surge or surf. Rushing through the initial "get acquainted period" with equipment is never a good idea.
DivemasterDennis

 

[LaMissJude]

I almost never did confined water sessions in a pool... because because I always had lagoons that fit perfectly for confined environment, which is, following the intructor manual: "Confined open water is an open water site that offers swimming-pool-like conditions with respect to clarity, calmness and depth.
It has both shallow water and water sufficiently deep to allow student divers to meet all skill performance requirements."

5m is still confined water... if the right conditions are there.

If you didn't practice ANY skills, that's a bit strange... on the first session you should have practice the following skills: regulator clearing (2 methods), regulator recovery, mask clearing and out-of-air situation (static).

Have you had a proper briefing? or just "here you go, it's your equipment, lets jump, I'll take care of everything."

The relationship student-intructor is, in my opinion, very important. Better to change instructor than not felling comfortable with your actual one.

The first experience might be stressfull for some people, after all, it is not our natural environment; it doesn't mean that your have to give up diving.

 

[jar546]

This is one of the biggest parts I have issue with as stated by the OP:

"The wave kept knocking me over"

 

[Don Quixote]

Did you get a briefing? explanation of what you were going to do?

Thank you for giving your insights on this. There was a briefing on the surface (land) on what we will be practicing: mask clearing, regulator clearing, regulator recovery and handling muscle cramp. We did went into all the regiments. Going through these threads, I am now asking my buddy (wife) more details as to what she went through. She experienced flooding of her mask and sucking in water from the start to the extent she felt she is drowning and spat her regulator out at one point. The instructor buoyed her up and she said she was scolded and warned to never spit out the regulator. This is during the mask clearing exercise.

I guess going on an underwater tour for maybe 100 meters or more to 5 meters of depth is the only one item we were not told in advance.

---------- Post Merged at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:52 AM ----------

Thank you replying. Yes, we did went through some regiments: mask clearing, regulator clearing, regulator recovery and cramp removal but no out-of-air exercise. My buddy did not fare well in the mask clearing section and she choked and spat her regulator out at one point. She has problem sucking in water and flooding of her mask. A second try on this succeeded to some extent. We did not know that we will be going on a tour of the sea bottom.

Although I am really 'dive-shocked' by my wife's tank coming loose of her BCD, I still wanted to judge things as fairly as possible. There's two of us and the instructor and his assistant (a Dive Master) in a one-to-one session. The beach is rocky; the water is about 4 meters (12 ft) visibility.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think the most important part is to learn to kneel properly on the bottom. Once you are weighted properly and have figured out a stable kneeling position, most all the hard "scuba skills" will be easy to master. Keep practicing and learning.. in just 50 more dives you will be able to use the BC and control your buoyancy!!


Hang in there! Bruises will heal and your wife has life insurance right?

 

[Don Quixote]

Feel like there are two ways to go:
- If the instructor has done things right, then it is my wife who couldn't cope. If this is the case, it may be wise to opt out of diving.
- If the instructor is wrong, then we can change instructor and try again.

Will very much like to hear more from instructors out there.

 

[SubMariner]

Feel like there are two ways to go:
- If the instructor has done things right, then it is my wife who couldn't cope. If this is the case, it may be wise to opt out of diving.
- If the instructor is wrong, then we can change instructor and try again.

Will very much like to hear more from instructors out there.

As has already been detailed by several other Instructors, confined water sessions may be carried out in an area where there is a shallow & deep area, plus "pool like conditions" in terms of visibility, little or no waves, etc. However, given the conditions that you were in during your initial confined water session, I would echo others in saying that this was NOT "pool like conditions".

Standards DO indicate that a student may progress from Confined Water #1 to Open Water Dive #1 if they have also completed the required Open Water Course Knowledge Development #1. However, I have not seen in this discussion whether this occurred. If there was no prior Knowledge Development completion, then the student must go through the Discover Scuba Diving & skills practice prior to getting into the water for OW #1, which it appears may have been the case.

In any event, I can tell you from experience that many women have difficulty learning to breath in/out only through their mouth and NOT use their nose. (It certainly took me a while to get used to it back in my own OW days.) So it's not uncommon to have problems with mask clearing or no mask swimming. With time & practice, this becomes a non-issue.

However, I want to stress that you should NOT pressure your wife into diving if she doesn't want to do it. If this was indeed a JOINT decision to learn to dive or HER idea, then there is probably nothing she can't overcome with patience and practice. OTOH, if this is YOU pushing HER into diving, it's a BAD idea & you two need to have a talk.

FWIW,

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Feel like there are two ways to go:
- If the instructor has done things right, then it is my wife who couldn't cope. If this is the case, it may be wise to opt out of diving.
- If the instructor is wrong, then we can change instructor and try again.

Will very much like to hear more from instructors out there.

Dude, the instructor is a clown. Clowns are fun at the birthday party and dangerous in the ocean. Get whatever money back from him you can and then ask around for another instructor. If you and your wife are even reasonably competant snorkelers, then learning to scuba dive shoud not be a problem at all.. with the right people and the right setting..

 

[00wabbit]

About the wetsuit. My wetsuit was too tight when I did open water and caused me to breath too shallow. This caused a minor panic attack when I surfaced once because I felt like I couldn't breath and I couldn't get any relief. I finally unzipped the wetsuit to give my chest some room and all was well. I learned a wetsuit shouldn't be "really tight" it should be snug. I went up to the next size wetsuit and it was still snug but was much better.

 

[flygirl74]

Just recently finished my OW and I have to say that it's super important to like, understand and be comfortable with your instructor. Since most of us learning SCUBA aren't little kids and have fears like a normal adults it's important to feel comfortable with ones instuctor, if not get a new instructor. I loved my instuctor even if he was challenged by me. My problem was the taking off of the mask. I could fill it and clear but take it off.....NO!! He worked with me, worked with me and worked with me until he final.......threw it to the other side of the pool and said "go get it, put it on and clear it" I loved him for it. Unlike being underwater and thinking about it too much I swam, got it, put it on and cleared it! No problem! If you aren't happy or comfortable seek someone you are happy with. Interesting thing is one of the people in my OW dives was a young lady from a good bit aways that came all the way up to do her OW after having an aweful experience at a local shop with a instructor. Sad that there are some out there that aren't good and trying to teach others.