Get a guide or even take a class while you are at it. Just dove in Key Largo last week with Conch Republic. Jay is a great guide/instructor/dive buddy. He knows the area well.
First ocean dive: Guide or no guide?
- Thread starter Bamabowtie
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If you want a guide go for it. If you need a guide I'd seriously question your training and experience to this point. Knowing that you have some uneasiness about a new situation and wanting some guidance and perhaps someone to pick out critters ( as long as the herd is not trampling you to see them as well) is to me the use of good judgment. If the presence of the guide is felt to be needed to keep a diver safe that diver should not have a certification card. You say your GF is certed. Does she have experience with ocean dives? If so, why not trust her?
As certified divers you both should be able to safely plan, execute, and return from a dive in conditions equal to or better than that in which you trained. In the keys unless there is some serious chop or surge, or a strong current running I can't think of any quarry or lake local to me that would be considered as better. So therefore even though it's saltwater and will require some weighting adjustments, as long as you stick to the shallower reefs there should not be any problem. If there is, why? What was lacking that would cause you to not feel competent to do the dives? If you go with one of the major ops let them know that you are new. They will make sure that you go to sites that are within or should be within your recommended limits. Not like the ops in Cozumel, Cayman, or the one you went on in Hawaii that only care about your money and ignore recommended limits.
And lastly don't do anything resembling a "trust me" dive. If you are not an active participant in the planning of the dive, don't know what the plan is down to the last detail, and have no say in changes that may need to be made, that is the kind of dive that can kill you. Even if you do hire a guide you should have your own plan with your buddy in case the guide has something happen to them and you are left on your own. Planning a dive and making a back up plan to the guide's plan should have been part of your OW training.
As certified divers you both should be able to safely plan, execute, and return from a dive in conditions equal to or better than that in which you trained. In the keys unless there is some serious chop or surge, or a strong current running I can't think of any quarry or lake local to me that would be considered as better. So therefore even though it's saltwater and will require some weighting adjustments, as long as you stick to the shallower reefs there should not be any problem. If there is, why? What was lacking that would cause you to not feel competent to do the dives? If you go with one of the major ops let them know that you are new. They will make sure that you go to sites that are within or should be within your recommended limits. Not like the ops in Cozumel, Cayman, or the one you went on in Hawaii that only care about your money and ignore recommended limits.
And lastly don't do anything resembling a "trust me" dive. If you are not an active participant in the planning of the dive, don't know what the plan is down to the last detail, and have no say in changes that may need to be made, that is the kind of dive that can kill you. Even if you do hire a guide you should have your own plan with your buddy in case the guide has something happen to them and you are left on your own. Planning a dive and making a back up plan to the guide's plan should have been part of your OW training.
DevonDiver
N/A
The clue is in where the OP decided to post this thread:
New Divers and Those Considering Diving
I think the OP will be the first to admit that his experience is minimal... that's exactly why he's asking the question
SoccerJeni
Scuba Baby
The clue is in where the OP decided to post this thread:
New Divers and Those Considering Diving
I think the OP will be the first to admit that his experience is minimal... that's exactly why he's asking the question
Thank you for this point. I mean honestly...If I've never been to a location before, and the only Navigation training I had was 4 years ago in OW training with minimal dives since then, isn't it reasonible to say that I would be uncomfortable with navigation and a guide would be a good decision to help with that???
Even "no guide" means there's going to be someone on the boat to brief you and so on.
Florida keys diving is very very shallow (the reef anyway) so its a very easy site. The only thing you might have is difficulty navigating.
Are you familiar with the sites in question or did you learn elsewhere?
No guide means you're going to get paired with an unknown. More likely they'll be more experienced than you but its not always the case.
Its your call to make but if you do go for a guide treat it as a learning experience. Still check gas, check depth, check navigation points and learn off him. Use your natural navigation and see how its done. The ultimate aim is to be self sufficient. Don't just blindly follow a guide.
Florida keys diving is very very shallow (the reef anyway) so its a very easy site. The only thing you might have is difficulty navigating.
Are you familiar with the sites in question or did you learn elsewhere?
No guide means you're going to get paired with an unknown. More likely they'll be more experienced than you but its not always the case.
Its your call to make but if you do go for a guide treat it as a learning experience. Still check gas, check depth, check navigation points and learn off him. Use your natural navigation and see how its done. The ultimate aim is to be self sufficient. Don't just blindly follow a guide.
nolatom
Contributor
With a decent buddy, it'll probably be fine. And if you fess up to the DM or captain, and let them pick a buddy for you, your chances of a decent buddy go up much higher than if you try to pick one yourself.
If you want near-perfect odds of a good buddy, then go with the guide.
I've been the new ocean diver, and later on a buddy to new ocean divers, it worked out pretty well either way.
Your mileage, and others', may vary.
If you want near-perfect odds of a good buddy, then go with the guide.
I've been the new ocean diver, and later on a buddy to new ocean divers, it worked out pretty well either way.
Your mileage, and others', may vary.
diver 85
Contributor
How much experience does your GF have???....--if it's similar to yours, get the 'guide'--chances are the 'guide' is really not a 'guide'( a handholder) but someone to show you things of interest ie will make your dives a lot better....ALSO, chances are you're still "just young"---esp in diving experience, would hate to read about ya'll here on SB(seriously)........good luck & let us know how things work out...
PS--they'll probably be others on the dive so the DM might be in the water anyway, just tip the boat $5 per dive & no one will know the difference ie if you used him/her or not..again, good luck
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Most Key Largo ops do not put a guide in the water with "follow the leader" mentality. The crew explains the sites well, you plan and execute your own dive. That being said, most sites are shallow (30ft) and easy to navigate. Guides are available for a fee and they limit to guiding up to 4 folks at a time, so a private/semi-private guide. Since this is your first real experience in the ocean, this might be a good idea for your first dive and then once you've gotten your feet wet, so to speak, then dive on your own with your buddy.
For the deeper wrecks (highly recommended dives) you will need to be AOW certified or you will be required to hire a guide for those dives. My suggestion would be to complete your AOW class during your first couple of days with the leadership of an instructor (and fine tune some of the skills you learned in OW like navigation, and will include an intro to wrecks and deep) and then you can dive any site during the remainder of your stay.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or I can be of assistance. There are many fine dive ops here to dive with. Do drop by to say hi while you are in Key Largo.
For the deeper wrecks (highly recommended dives) you will need to be AOW certified or you will be required to hire a guide for those dives. My suggestion would be to complete your AOW class during your first couple of days with the leadership of an instructor (and fine tune some of the skills you learned in OW like navigation, and will include an intro to wrecks and deep) and then you can dive any site during the remainder of your stay.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or I can be of assistance. There are many fine dive ops here to dive with. Do drop by to say hi while you are in Key Largo.
diver 85
Contributor
OP---just thought of something that will make you feel a lot better(if you go that is).....You need head out to the Flower Gardens outta Freeport, Texas on the Fling------125 miles offshore for 7 dives in a day & a half, all deep dives------AND, there is NEVER a DM in the water----you're on your own 100% of the time, that means you make a wrong turn in a 3 to 4 knot current & you're next to Cuba(or so it would seem)......I bet you'd come home feeling 'great'......
nolatom
Contributor
OP---just thought of something that will make you feel a lot better(if you go that is).....You need head out to the Flower Gardens outta Freeport, Texas on the Fling------125 miles offshore for 7 dives in a day & a half, all deep dives------AND, there is NEVER a DM in the water----you're on your own 100% of the time, that means you make a wrong turn in a 3 to 4 knot current & you're next to Cuba(or so it would seem)......I bet you'd come home feeling 'great'......
Wow, that's *really* scary... remind me never to go out to that Flower Gardens place, especially as a newbie, or even a few dozen dives thereafter over the years, I don't want to end up in some Cuban morgue.
Oh wait, sorry, too late. I already did all that stuff. Damn, the current was 4 knots? And it's *deep*? And we dive a lot?
And I enjoyed it? Crud, I must've been on heavy psychotropic drugs each time, and didn't realize how close to certain death we all were ;-)
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