First time without an instructor?

[pasley]

...So now that I have my advanced certification, I want to start doing some beach dives (socal area) with some friends. ...QUOTE]
May I suggest http://www.sandeaters.org Not a dive club, just a website that post a schedule of weekly beach dives. It is a good place to meet other divers who regularly dive off the beach. I have found the divers to be generous and willing to share their knowledge.

I also recommend the Rocks, Rips and Reef (3Rs) course as well http://www.lascuba.com/3rs.html

I have not taken it yet, but it is on my to do list. I have only done 85 beach dives in the past 2 years, and so still have much to learn, hence my desire to take their course when they next offer it.

As for when you can dive without an instructor - If your certification is more than just a pice of paper received in exchange for money, then immediatly following certification, within limits of your certification and with caution. I do recommend diving with more experienced divers. Diving is a constant learning experience. The lessons for life is a good place to study what has and can go wrong. You often read them and think "what were they thinking".

Gives you a chance to think about it now.

Enjoy the diving. PM me if you want to go beach diving - I go in SoCal every week.

 

[MikeC]

Back many moons ago I was looking to get some bottom time away from the instructors and the dives the shop organized. I asked several of the instructors if they knew of any people who had similar ideas, I was put in touch with a 17yr old female. After talking and making sure she could drag my butt around in the water we set a time. We used a quarry the LDS used as a training site because we had both dove there and knew it. Since the girl, no offense meant but she was 17 and i was 30+, didn't drive her dad was there.

I had the local emergency phone #'s and other info and my cell phone with the father JUST IN CASE!! I think we did five or six dives in that quarry and both learned what we wanted.

IF you think a father can give you looks when you take his girl out for a date just imagine the looks when you are taking her underwater and are 13+ yrs older...

 

[DawgPaddle]

My first dive without my instructor or DM as my buddy was down in the outer banks over Labor Day 2001. Although my instructor and a few others from our local dive gang all went down (to the boat) together, I had asked another diver whom I had just met to dive buddy with me just for the experience of diving with someone else.

I went over my qualifications, reviewed hand signals, and safety items and then asked him to lead the first dive. The following dive I led and learned a lot by the great example he provided on our first dive.

It really is exciting "cutting the chord" (umbilical) and I'm sure by now (this date) you've been out with others diving many times. Still, its a point that every diver will go through and exciting none the less.

blub blub blub,

 

[neil]

Welcome, and may all your dives be good memories.

Now, I've been diving for 26 years now. Up until a couple of years ago, I thought I was ready for anything. I got certified AOW at the Dive N' Surf shop in Redondo Beach. We had a cool instructor, did a few 100' boat dives at the end, did lots of class work and were taught what to do and what will happen to us if...
Now, I say I thought I was prepared for anything up until a few years ago because I ran into the people (several different ones to be exact) that were true Technical Divers. They did mixed gasses, blended their own, made tables the night before their dives, checked and rechecked their equipment and then went for it. At first look, I was overwhelmed at their precision and safety. I was "taken into" their little group and delicately instructed and had all the bad training removed from my mind. I thought I was pretty safe. over 500 dives and no accidents, only a couple of close calls years ago, but after being around them, I learned there's a way to kit-up and a place for everything you take with you.
I was taught the right way to run (route) my hoses, the proper regulator setup to use, how to select the right reg for dry suit inflation, where to hang my backup reg., which reg to give my Out Of Air dive buddy, how to deal with emergencies, how to fasten stuff I really needed to my rig, and literally hundreds of other little things that, after my close analysis, made such perfect sense, I was shocked why I hadn't figured them out before. So, you see, you're in the perfect place and at the perfect time to NOT learn the bad habits. The habits that will lend themselves to accidents and possibly serious injury to you or maybe those you dive with.
Check out DIR or do a search on "google" for WKPP and read up on the right way to do stuff. I don't follow ALL of their 'rules', and I dive with a computer, which they frown on, and I use a BC, which most of them use backplates and wings...but the one thing we all have in common, is the safe and right way to rig our dive gear, and how to react in an emergency. How to control the emergency situation and not be controlled by it. eEmail me if you want more, I hate to take up so much room on theboard with this stuff. but now you know.
thanks
db]

I'm sorry Dennis but, WHAT A CROCK! IMHO, of course.

LSanchez:
It's simple: Dive carefully, cautiously and conservatively using what your instructors taught you and you will be fine. Dive in only ideal conditions if you are nervous. Find an experienced diver to go with you. Don't drink the Koolaid.
Neil

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Oh I dunno about that ... I'm not a big fan of kool-aid, but I encourage new divers to at least familiarize themselves with the basics of DIR. Without getting at all into the gear config issues, there's a lot to be said for making oneself aware of their approach to diving ... particularly with respect to team diving.

Buddy skills are something that's not adequately covered in typical OW classes ... at least not to a level that's practical beyond the most basic dive plan. Learning to be a good buddy, and what to look for from a dive buddy you can trust your life with, is a big confidence builder ... and that seems to be what the author of this thread is looking for. And the process of identifying and developing the skills to be a good dive buddy lead to becoming a safer, more confident diver.

DIR certainly isn't the only way to gain this knowledge ... but I would never discourage any new diver from looking at what they've got to offer. There's a something to be gained by looking at how different agencies teach people to dive.

Suffice it to say making oneself aware of what they teach is worthwhile even if you decide it's not for you. Keep it in perspective ... if you can pick up a few pointers then that's not a bad thing. If it turns out that adopting the DIR style really excites you (as it does many), then go for it ... the kool-aid's not really that terrible.

I find that one way or the other, we all share the same goals.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Damselfish]

Started diving without Inst/DM the next weekend after OW, with some people from our class at some of the same locations. Never was suggested or occured to us to do otherwise.

 

[Blowin Da Bubbl]

I would like to add my 2 cents if I may.
First off it's not the cards you recieve imho that make you a good diver . To me it is about your comfort level. The card is a license to learn up to that point and then slowly pushing that comfort level further and further . You are ready to dive w/o an instructor when you are ready not when someone else tells you you are. Only you know how you honestly feel . This being said the decisions are yours to make at this point despite any one elses opinion. There are many ways to dive and no 2 people do everything in exactly the same way . It is about embracing your comfort level and practicing that which you do not feel as comfortable with in small steps.For some this may be nothing more than learning to conquer their fears or insecurites to get to a level of comfort . For others it may be learning to weight or trim properly. I consider each dive a lesson done on my terms and at my pace. Although many have advice to support what I may be doing their are some who will scold because they are rigid in their beliefs. What it all boils down to in the end is that I am not them and they are not me. My comfort level is mine and yours is your own . Stay in your comfort zone and remember to always fall back on your training should a problem arise. Dive with someone you feel comfortable with regularly and learn to compliment them and visa versa. Know when to say when for you not just cause someone on the bank says "ya stood up in 5' of water with 300psi left !" and begins badgering you with "well when ya suck rusty water you will learn!!!" Common sense would tell me this person is a bit rigid and a tad anal retentive. Yoyur dive is yours and your inner voice is usually right . So just relax and enjoy yourself.

Dive deep , Dive safe and do your thing.

Damon
a.k.a B.D.B.

 

[Hallmac]

I would like to add my 2 cents if I may.
The card is a license to learn up to that point and then slowly pushing that comfort level further and further . You are ready to dive w/o an instructor when you are ready not when someone else tells you you are. Damon
a.k.a B.D.B. (parts edited out)

I understand that this post started in December but with the new posts what the heck!

IMHO if you are not ready to "Plan a dive", with all that it implies, dive the plan, and handle the risks associated with the dive then you should not be certified.

If you need an instructor leading you around you need to take your card and throw it in the storage room with your grandmothers hat and take some more training. You are neithor comfortable or confident about your skills and have been ripped off in your training course!!!

Now with that said There is nothing wrong with using a DM, Instructor, or experienced dive buddy for assistance in diving a new site or location you are not familiar with. You should not feel like you need to have an instructor with you to feel comfortable diving a site you have been to before.

Hallmac

 

[neil]

Oh I dunno about that ... I'm not a big fan of kool-aid, but I encourage new divers to at least familiarize themselves with the basics of DIR. Without getting at all into the gear config issues, there's a lot to be said for making oneself aware of their approach to diving ... particularly with respect to team diving.
Buddy skills are something that's not adequately covered in typical OW classes ... at least not to a level that's practical beyond the most basic dive plan. Learning to be a good buddy, and what to look for from a dive buddy you can trust your life with, is a big confidence builder ... and that seems to be what the author of this thread is looking for. And the process of identifying and developing the skills to be a good dive buddy lead to becoming a safer, more confident diver.
DIR certainly isn't the only way to gain this knowledge ... but I would never discourage any new diver from looking at what they've got to offer. There's a something to be gained by looking at how different agencies teach people to dive.
Suffice it to say making oneself aware of what they teach is worthwhile even if you decide it's not for you. Keep it in perspective ... if you can pick up a few pointers then that's not a bad thing. If it turns out that adopting the DIR style really excites you (as it does many), then go for it ... the kool-aid's not really that terrible.
I find that one way or the other, we all share the same goals.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob,
Understood and well said. I didn't mean to say ANYTHING ,really, about DIR specifically. It was the notion of Dennis telling LSanchez that from the get-go his training and equipment were inappropriate and/or inadequate that got me PO'd. That's crap. Or most likely is. LSanchez can improve with what he's been given, and if he has any curiosity at all, he'll investigate other possibilities. If he's observant, he'll notice divers doing things better than he does, and will find out how to do likewise. I tell students about other ways of doing things, including DIR. I didn't mean any particular flavor Koolaid. Tutti-frutti, maybe. We do share the same goals.
Neil

 

[DORSETBOY]

My personal opinion would be to at least have rescue diver or equivalent, I believe that people should aim to get this even if they are diving with a dm or instructor as an unconcious instructor for example couldnt help you.
And before anyone suggests otherwise... NO I'm not just trying to push the old con-ed!!