First Time - Out on your own?

[ScubaPolishPete]

The fiance and I took the OW class 3 weeks ago, and will be doing some scuba in Nice, France and Mallorca, Spain this summer when there on a cruise.

However, prior to leaving for the cruise, we'd like to go out and have some more fun locally.

With that said, we're in the Chicago area (so Haigh Quarry and Pearl Lake are my thoughts) and we both did excellent in the OW class. No issue, had a ton of fun, completed each task easily, quickly, and with full understanding of why/how we were doing everything. Even though we're both very athletic and excel in most sport/physical related things, the fiance had some concerns being underwater, but after the first pool session realized it wasn't that bad and she had fun the whole time.

So...would you folks say it's too early for us to go out "on our own"? We wanted to go to Haigh or Pearl Lake for a day, do 2 dives maybe, and come home. We feel we have all the basics under our belt, and could handle doing these dives...however...as you all know...skill comes with practice, safety comes with practice, etc...so would it be ok to practice...on our own, or should we consider only going out again with more experienced folks with us?

I guess the OW cert says we're good to go, and we were those people staying in the pool longer practicing clearing/removing masks, OOA situations etc, just for fun. Even went an extra day that our instructor offered for free just to get in the pool and mess around on our own (again, we went to practice these skills).

I don't know, I guess I feel we have the ability to go out on our own now...but am I being optimistic? Is it too soon?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[chrpai]

Nope, it's not too soon at all. You are certified to dive within the limits of your experience. It's time to start gradually increasing that experience.

Pick your dive site, plan your dive and plan your dive. Make it a point to be her buddy and for her to be yours. Adopt rule #1: Any one can abort the dive for any reason without any repercussions. Do your buddy checks. Discuss the goals of the dive, work on your buoyancy, weighting, trim, skills and mostly just go have fun. After, candidly talk about any concerns. What went well? What didn't?

You don't *NEED* a DM or instructor to go diving. They are nice to have, and occasionally required by local law, but get in the habit of always doing the above things with your buddy and not fall into the trap on being dependent on the DM.

Now if you can find a local diver who's been around the block a few hundred times and can help you be a mentor in this process, that's great. But he's just there to give you pointers you on your journey. It's YOUR journey.

 

[grantwiscour]

+1 to chrpai

My wife and I started diving on our own after OW. We would sometimes use a guide to show us the best parts of the dive. Often, we just wanted to go diving and the local dive parks and lakes were all that was available. We did our research, check out maps, etc., made a plan and dove the plan.

A local dive club is a good way to find other divers and make some diving friends that can help you learn more about the sport.

Dive safe and have fun!

 

[TSandM]

Where did you do your dives for your OW class? That should theoretically be the perfect place for you to go back to and do your first independent diving, since you know the site.

If the other sites you name are new to you, try to talk to the dive shops and other divers about them, so you know if there are any particular concerns about diving them. (For example, where the best entries are, what the bottom composition is, etc.) This is a good idea for everybody, not just new divers.

I'm really glad to hear that you want to go do some diving before your trip. This sport reminds me a great deal of skiing -- the better you are at it, the more fun it is; and the only way to get good at it is to do it often!

 

[RJP]

So...would you folks say it's too early for us to go out "on our own"?

What would you wait for? As Lynne suggests, the place where you trained would be ideal, as it would clearly be "within your training and experience" plus the mere familiarity would make it an obvious choice.

 

[abyss_scuba]

ok when you said "on YOUR own" I thought you were talking solo diving. Like everyone else said plan your dive, dive your plan. I am sure you will get all the details of planning safety yada yada yada. Here's one, go have some friggin fun. Go do a dive where you explore a bit see things, enjoy building an underwater relationship - my wife is jealous of my dive buddy, as she says they are the one person I literally trust my life to. Not meaning don't do planning, go as deep ( or shallow) as you feel comfortable within your training. I am sure people will say this is bad, get a cheap camera, looking back you will smile at your "first" dives. Stay to the sandy areas so that if you drop you don't ruin any aquatic life or silt up so bad you call the dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

I can't add much except to be conservative and pick "benign" dive sites at first. Getting with an experienced diver, particularly one with rescue skills would be good. And keep practising all of the skills now and then. I think many new divers don't. I was one of those.

 

[spectrum]

As said, get on with the adventure. Returning to the site of certification can avoid a lot of questions and then just evolve from there. My wife and I jumped right in together upon certification and never looked back. Your training should have prepared to make novice dives with peers.

Pete

 

[Searcaigh]

Go for it

As others have suggested go back to where you trained and gain more experience and confidence in what you are doing and use of your gear.

If you go to a new site, hopefully you will have some other buddies who know that site and can team up with you.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

You are certified and should be capable of going out on your own. Particularly in the places where you learnt to dive.

However, people's comfort levels grow at different rates. It is quite possible that after four training dives, you just are a little nervous. There is nothing wrong with approaching a Dive Master or very experienced diver to join you. I did exactly that and my enjoyment of the sport benefitted tremendously.