First Wreck Dive

[Dolan13]

Hi all!! I'll be heading to Fort Lauderdale this coming week and will be doing my first wreck guide. As a newly certified diver (Oct 2016) and only a couple of dives under my belt, I am a little nervous but excited as well. Any advice or tips for this rookie? Thanks!

 

[bluesrocker22]

Carry a spare mask (DEFOG it too!). A broken strap at wreck depth = not good. Equalize often and HAVE A GREAT time. Stick with your guide and watch your no deco time and do your half depth stop and your safety stop.

 

[Dolan13]

Carry a spare mask (DEFOG it too!). A broken strap at wreck depth = not good. Equalize often and HAVE A GREAT time. Stick with your guide and watch your no deco time and do your half depth stop and your safety stop.

Thanks, bluesrocker22!! You by chance a guitarist?

 

[Andreas Krueger]

Carry a spare mask (DEFOG it too!). A broken strap at wreck depth = not good. Equalize often and HAVE A GREAT time. Stick with your guide and watch your no deco time and do your half depth stop and your safety stop.

The half depth stop will only work if you agree to that with your guide *before* the dive. Whether the extra stop makes sense or not depends on your dive profile and your computer. Anyway, check with your guide.

 

[bluesrocker22]

And HAVE FUN! That is what it is all about. I am by no means an expert on the half depth stop stuff. We use a VERY GOOD dive shop and that is what they have done on our 120 - 130 foot dives (stop at 60 feet for one minute).

I USED to be a wanna be guitarist but work and life got in the way. I still have all kinds of guitars and recording equipment but just don't have time it seems any longer.

 

[TMHeimer]

Remember where the anchor line is, should you for some reason become separated from the guide/group. If it's your first boat dives bring a bag for stuff you want to keep dry and find where the "dry" area is on the boat.

 

[Dolan13]

And HAVE FUN! That is what it is all about. I am by no means an expert on the half depth stop stuff. We use a VERY GOOD dive shop and that is what they have done on our 120 - 130 foot dives (stop at 60 feet for one minute).

I USED to be a wanna be guitarist but work and life got in the way. I still have all kinds of guitars and recording equipment but just don't have time it seems any longer.

My guide comes highly recommended and she knows I'm a rookie. I'm going to a buoyancy clinic tomorrow so I'm certain that will help with my confidence and jitters.

I thought with a nickname "bluesrocker22", you probably play guitar. I've played for years and still do. Not sure what is more expensive, guitar or scuba gear. Lol

 

[KDAD]

@Dolan13 What day and which dive op will you be using. I am planning to be on American Dream out of Ft. Lauderdale on Friday and out of Jupiter on Saturday.

If you are diving on a boat out of ft. Lauderdale they seem to hit a wreck at 60 ft for the first dive followed up with a 30 ft dive to a reef for the second dive. What did you have planned.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Stay in neutral buoyancy with horizontal trim and keep your fins up and out of the silt, using either a hand pull 'n glide technique or non-silting frog kick to move forward.

For a first wreck dive on a big ship, you should be limited to NDL recreational depths, sight-seeing open deck superstructure & shallow cargo areas, and maybe a light zone swim-through traversing external lateral corridors and passageways along the ship's beam. Absolutely no overhead penetration of deep hull spaces like the engine room for example...

 

[stuartv]

Take a light with you.