First ocean open water, so disappointed

[The Chairman]

Let me put this in perspective... when I made my first dive off of Catalina Island in California, I had already racked up thousands of dives, in fresh water, salt water, some cold water and even in caves. I lasted about 60 seconds in that Cali water. Dry suit flooded, I wasn't having fun and THAT WAS IT. I was done diving for the day... make that the week. I much prefer warm water dives and I bet you'll love Thailand because of that too!

I have three rules of diving. The second, which is just as important as the first is my "Rule of Fun". It states that you can call a dive at any time, for any reason with no questions asked and no repercussions. In other words, if you're not having fun: CALL THE DIVE. Don't beat yourself up over it and don't let others beat you up either. It's all good. Dive when you can have fun.

FWIW, the first rule is to always breathe or BOYLES' law really stands for "Breathe Or Your Lungs Explode, Stupid!" The third is the ten second rule: never stray more than 10 seconds from your buddy.

 

[TrimixToo]

Every single different thing will take time to get accustomed to. Try hard to change one thing at a time and move on when you are comfortable. Surf entry, cold water, a more-constrictive suit, lower visibility, deeper dives, and such are all pretty easy to get used to when approached one at a time, but combinations of new things can be viciously hard to cope with.

John

 

[KevinNM]

I've got a lot more dives than you and I went diving in a lake in Houston with like 6" vis. It was just a green blur. I had no depth control until I stumbled across a line running horizontally in the water. I bounced of the bottom and the surface until I did.

It can be very hard to deal with that kind of visibility.

 

[joe10540]

Having a wetsuit that is tight around your chest makes it just slightly harder to breathe as does a tight hood combine that with an anxiety about your first ocean dive and doing a surf entry and having about no Viz I think you did fine I mean you didn't have to get rescued. You realized you were in over your head and you surfaced before you reached panic. That is a lot to take on all at once. My first experience in a wetsuit was on a dive to 90 feet and I started feeling like I couldn't breathe while we were drifting so I started stripping on the bottom. Got lots of laughs later on the boat but after I explained that it was causing me stress so I took it off instead of calling the dive it made more sense than I was narked and losing my mind keep on pushing your comfort zone an inch at a time and soon you'll be doing dives that you wouldn't even consider now! Stay safe

 

[TMHeimer]

All good advice. Yeah, too much stuff all at once. I don't dive in that sort of surf often (maybe once yearly in NJ), but it is different than a calm bay or elsewhere. You were down 30' in Utah, so you know you can dive. I had a similar experience in Rhode Island with 18 dives under my belt. No viz to speak of and probably not as rough surf as you had. After a minute or 2 of that I said good by (couldn't even see the others by then). That was the only time I can think of when I called a dive after starting one. Look for some easy sites. No way around getting used to the cold water crap you have to wear. But dealing with it gets easier and more fun with each dive--well, nah..... But then when you get to warm water in a shorty and less weight you can laugh at the others. One thing to think about though may be the claustrophobia. You never know in some places when viz can change fairly quickly--current change or dopes kicking up silt. My wife can't dive because of the claustrophobia of all the equipment around her. This condition varies a lot per person--maybe yours was just something to do with all the other stuff going on with your first ocean dive. Are you ever that way on land--ie., can you go into a cave? My wife simply can't.
Many people feel worn out when first donning and doffing the equipment. That will pass. Take little breaks between doing stuff and just sit there. I was with a young man 1/3 my age during a class who just had to stop and stand on the beach. That WILL come a lot easier even after just a few dives.
As noted, I'm sure Thailand will be much better. Remember to take things slowly. I found on my first few boat dives it seemed everyone was just in a big rush to get geared up. They weren't really-- they all just did it a lot before.

 

[dmaziuk]

Find a better and easier dive site. Sounds like this was not the best spot to do your first real dive, especially considering your anxiety.

It's the argument for "deep end of the pool" training: we certified in a lake in .wi.is in May and did the first "real" dive in Curacao. There was no chop in the lake and vis got better once we pushed through the couple of metres of muck at the top, but on the flip side the parking lot's on the hill and it's very long staircase. Especially with the lead for the 7 mm hooded suits...

 

[diver0008]

Yours is not the first story of it's type from someone getting certified for a vacation with other divers. I think this scenario creates pressure and expectations. As others have mentioned, the diving conditions did not help, but going into it with personal anxiety and fear of letting others down put you in a mentally dangerous place for scuba diving. Good call aborting the dive. What happened happened in your head. It may be hard for you, but you have to just be in the moment, relax, and breathe, knowing that you have air on your back and a buddy or instructor close by. Forget about everything else. It is as simple as that.

 

[diversteve]

I learned to dive in San Diego and the Cove wouldn't be my first choice.

If you're still there or plan to go back - the Shores a mile away is a lot easier entry and often has better vis. Even when the Cove is poor like you saw, the Shores can be better. Many of the local shops do certs there for that reason. Plus you drive up, gear up and walk in off the beach - no stairs. Shallow and sandy to 30'. 30-60' is more typical San Diego bottom cover and around 60' (depends where you enter) there's a deep submarine canyon you can drop into - or not.

Visibility probably isn't going to be an issue in Thailand and the water is warm.

 

[DevonDiver]

You were qualified to dive in "conditions equal, or better, than those you trained under".

You were trained in warm, clear, water. You dove in cold, dark, water.

You didn't enjoy the dive because the environmental conditions were beyond the comfort zone and competency spectrum established in your training.

Learn from that.

Expanding your comfort zone does entail some measure of anxiety. That's normal and should he expected.

Likewise, any lay-off from diving... especially when skills are not fully ingrained.... causes severe skill fade. Comfort zones can shrink. Expect that also.

Anticipate anxiety in new environments and after periods of non-diving. Account for that by keeping your dives very conservative and reducing the physical and psychological demands that those dives apply.

Inexperienced divers often overlook the benefit of formal refresher training and/or supervised local environment orientation dives....or even shallow/confined water practice of new equipment or environment-necessary techniques.

If anxiety and stress result on a dive, it is a clear indication that the diver has progressed their diving beyond their competency.

The danger of anxiety and stress on a dive is that the individual becomes less likely to handle routine or unforeseen problems that may arise. If a high degree of stress arises, the individual may not even handle normal diving demands. This is how easily preventable accidents happen.

Trusting in a supervising instructor, divemaster or guide is not guarantee of safety, nor is it a replacement for individual competency.

Stress provoked accidents can happen far too quickly for even the most observant supervising diver to intervene. Add to that there are many 'pros' who are far less observant or diligent than desired (or a novice diver might expect).

Do not relinquish personal responsibility for your own safety, and ensure that the dives you undertake are well within your competency... as defined by the stress that conducting the dive provokes.

Seek further training to remedy competency deficits.

Pay less attention to advice that you need to "gain more experience". Competency, not experience, is what dictates your in-water confidence and comfort.

Training, not experience, is what defines competency.

That doesn't mean 'do more courses', it means seek more training to reinforce your competency at your existing level.

 

[drrich2]

So when it's time to start heading down, I realize I'm starting to feel claustrophobic. I can't catch my breath, so I come back up after about 3 feet. I tried it again, but I start getting more and more anxious because visibility is literally about a foot.

So, you're fairly new, and something within you balked at the idea of hurtling weighted down into a dark abyss where you cannot survive without life support equipment that could fail at any time, basically blind and where your fellows likely couldn't see you to intervene if something did happen. And it was cold. Plus you were suited up in exposure protection you weren't used to.

Don't beat yourself up about that. That's not failure, that's wisdom in action. A number of accidents and incidents section threads start with people deciding to dive in dubious conditions, then things go south, then we speculate about what happened because the dead can't tell us...

I really enjoyed my California diving last August, but I worked my way up to it and the viz. was way better than what you had (I did a limited load Southern Channel Islands live-aboard trip). If I were diving tomorrow, I'd balk at 1 foot viz. in the open ocean.

I got used to deep, cold water diving in extensive exposure protection in a local quarry. That way, no currents, decent viz., no airfare & vacation time booked so not a big deal if I need to cancel due to conditions & try again next weekend, hard bottom at a known depth, right by shore.

Richard.