First ocean dive...advice?

[JohnJacobs]

Hello all. I'm brand new to diving so far I've only completed my 4 OW certification dives and will be going to key largo this Friday and Saturday and will be diving in the ocean for the first time. I will be going for the advanced adventure course and doing 5 total dives including one night dive! I'm nervous (but definitely more excited) especially about the night dive. Does anyone have any tips for me? Thanks in advance, John

 

[Caveeagle]

Staying close to your buddy reduces your chance of being eaten by approximately 50%.

..Sorry for the bad joke.. Just take it easy and enjoy! Double check your gear and your dive plan.

If you have a spare couple hours on the drive down, try and do a dive at Blue Heron Bridge (near Riviera Beach). This is a pretty easy shore dive that will give you a first taste of salt water and help you get your buoyancy dialed in since this is your first time in salt water.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Relax, it's going to be fun. The night dive will be amazing....unless you shine your light in someone's eyes and they turn off your air. On the upside, if someone blinds you with their death ray 10,000,000 lumen submersible air raid light...you get to turn off their air. The amount of time until it is turned back on is directly realated to the brightness of their light. The general rule is that once the yellow dots in your eyes go away....its time to turn their air back on....if necessary.

BHB would be a good stop to work on buoyancy. As a new diver it will take several dives to get your buoyancy under control. Relax, don't fight it, use little bursts of air in your BC and fine tune with your lungs.

If you have not done a back roll before, again, relax and let the tank do the work. Hold your reg and mask with one hand, mask strap with the other, lean back and gravity will do the rest. Gently kick away from the boat as soon as you splash.

The main thing is to not get frustrated if you aren't as trimmed out and graceful as divers with 100's of dives. There is a learning curve and it is pretty quick. Watch other divers, find a comfortable position to not use your arms, and listen to your instructor, the dive master, and your buddy. If you catch yourself turkey diving(flapping your arms like a turkey) stop.

Watch your air, and if you need help, ask.

Good luck, safe travels,
Jay

 

[Nukakola]

A few specifics on the various Key Largo sites:

The deep wrecks (you may not go to them but I've seen open water divers taken to the Spiegel Grove before) can have some pretty stiff surface currents. Make sure to hold onto the line while on the surface and your initial descent if you end up there.

Molasses Reef: Shallow, no real current, maybe 25 feet max depth in most places. A great beginner ocean dive in other words.
Benwood Wreck: 50 ft or so max depth, no real current in my experience.
French Reef: Lots of little swimthroughs and "caves". I'd bring a dive light for this one personally. Depth is pretty variable depending on the exact location on the reef.

 

[iamrushman]

Nothing like jumping off a perfectly good boat in the middle of the night out in the ocean...have fun and a great trip.....make sure you have fresh batteries in your flashlight.

 

[Neilwood]

As the guys above have said - relax.

A few take aways from my experience:
1) You will hoover air - don't worry it gets better with time.
2) Don't worry about being perfect - you won't be. Be safe and take your time.
3) Enjoy yourself and make sure you look at the scenery
4) For the night dive, two lights is best. That way if one goes, you are still good.
5) Listen to the briefing - you are a qualified diver now so that means you should know and understand the plan. Know your turn pressure, max depth etc as well as any possible issues (current, fire coral etc). You are diving with an instructor but think of him more as an experienced buddy than an instructor.

Did I say enjoy it?

 

[JohnJacobs]

Thanks everyone

 

[Dnaber]

Relax, breath, relax, breath. Night dives are my favorite. As said above take a backup light. You will need it for your AOW. But most of all enjoy looking at the fish, I think they are at their best at night.

 

[RyanT]

On the upside, if someone blinds you with their death ray 10,000,000 lumen submersible air raid light...you get to turn off their air. The amount of time until it is turned back on is directly realated to the brightness of their light. The general rule is that once the yellow dots in your eyes go away....its time to turn their air back on....if necessary

I love this! I'm going to incorporate this as SOP on all future dives.

Seriously, you've been given good advice already. I'll second the recommendation about doing a dive at the Blue Heron Bridge to dial in your buoyancy. This will be really helpful. Also, lots of divers find the "gearing up" time on the boat stressful. You'll see other experienced divers, gearing up more quickly than you, etc. Don't worry about it. Take your time, do your buddy check and make sure everything is in place before you splash.

 

[icechip]

My two cents, I would just say SLOW down, relax and enjoy the entire process, not just the dive itself. When I started, I used to get so excited/amped up while suiting up and getting ready that my chest was literally pounding. For some reason I felt like I had to be one of the first ones efficiently and competently "ready" (maybe to show the other more seasoned divers that it looked like I too knew what I was doing). Anyway, I was practically spent and exhausted by the time I hit the water. Then I started taking my time, being more methodical and thorough. I started to enjoy the arrival and gearing up routine, began to better notice the scenery, chatting with the dive buddies more, etc. Found it was a heck of a lot more relaxing and enjoyable. Good luck on your upcoming dives!