First Open Water Dive Trip

[DiverDean59]

My son and I went on our first dive trip after completing our AOW. Our previous dives have been training dives. This trip was in the Keys and we could have not asked for better weather and a great group from the Florida Keys Dive Center. We did 5 days of two tank dives and a night dive. We went out to the Spiegel Grove on Wednesday but the upwellings were so great, that we didn't make the dive. After seeing the conditions, I'm glad we didn't attempt that on our first trip.

I was worried about my buoyancy on this trip, but by mid week I felt really comfortable underwater. I'm addicted and can't wait until my next trip. I hope to get the rest of the family interested before the next trip.

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

Sounds like you had a very nice trip. I have dove in the Keys as a kid alot and I would say they are most like tropical diving. If you can dive in that current, you'll be well prepared to dive down here in Mexico!

 

[RICHinNC]

Glad you had a great time. Egads, I can remember my first boat dive. I was so overweighted I didnt almost come back up, but I was so worried I would be underweighted and not sink and look like the DORK DIVER I am. Ahhhhh..memories....

 

[chris408]

I was worried about my buoyancy on this trip, but by mid week I felt really comfortable underwater. I'm addicted and can't wait until my next trip. I hope to get the rest of the family interested before the next trip.

Glad to hear you had a great trip!

Btw, not having been on a dive trip yet, I'm interested to know, were you able to determine your own weight, or did the dive op set the weight for you? And did they assist in a bouyancy check before the dive?

 

[bottomfeeder22]

Glad to hear you had a great trip!

Btw, not having been on a dive trip yet, I'm interested to know, were you able to determine your own weight, or did the dive op set the weight for you? And did they assist in a bouyancy check before the dive?

Mine didn't, just add a few pounds to your freshwater poundage and if you're wearing more/thicker neoprene.

 

[DiverDean59]

Glad to hear you had a great trip!

Btw, not having been on a dive trip yet, I'm interested to know, were you able to determine your own weight, or did the dive op set the weight for you? And did they assist in a bouyancy check before the dive?

I was able to go by the PADI AOW chart on the Peak Buoyancy Control Chapter. It estimated that I should have about 15 or 16lbs for salt water. The first couple of dives, I went with 12lbs. The first part of the dive was fine, but when my tank got under 1000psi, I started going ascending. The next day, I went with 14lbs and was fine through the whole dive. Eventhough I was about one pound under the recommended weight, I think it PADI is pretty close on their recommendation. BTW, I weigh about 175 and was diving in a shorty. The Dive OP really didin't assist me with my weight but I was fortunate to have arranged the trip with my LDS. The same instructors that I had my OW and AOW were on the trip. They were a great help.

I thought about arranging the trip on my own, but I am so glad that for my first trip those guys were available for the trip. It was great diving with familiar people and having my instructors available. I will say that the staff at the Florida Keys Dive Center were also a great group of people. I'm sure if anyone of us needed their assistance, they would have been more than happy to help.

I'll be interested to know how your first trip goes.

 

[editmojo]

My sons and I just got certified in June and did out first open water dives in Cozumel on a trip sponsored by our local dive shop. The day we got there our instructors took us all on a shore dive to check buoyancy. They had a pretty good idea what we all needed as we had trained with them. I had some trouble getting down as I'm a bit to short for my weight and had a full 3mm. I started at 20lbs. By the end of the week I was down to 18 and felt a bit heavy.

I'm glad I did my first dives thru the dive shop. I wanted to learn the ropes with the group. I feel I know what to expect now, at least in the Caribbean.


We did the same 2 dives a day as you did and had a blast. We all felt a lot better about our skills buy the end of the week. It was fun to watch my boys go from a little clumsy on day 1 to assuming the “arms folded” minimal movement posture of our DMs by the last day.



joe