Getting Certified On Vacation, Sanity Check

[djb_1965]

John, I took it as the training dives were going to be to 60', which is beyond standards. Also, DM's should not be taking OW divers below 60'. Until Advanced, a Instructor may take a student to 100', but I do not believe a DM can, please correct me if I am mistaken.

 

[Oceanonaut]

Thanks for all the advice and tips!

We will be staying at Ambergris Caye so it sounds like there's some ideal spots to dive there for us. To be honest, I think we'd have fun in a frickin swimming pool being new to the sport and all, at least I think I will, so not pushing the limit should in theory be easy to do as long as we don't get pulled into a dive over our head due to circumstances or a yahoo DM.

My understanding of guidlines in self regulated adventure sports like this is that the rules are usually intended to encompass safety for an acceptable 'common denominator' of diver ability. So some new divers may indeed be able to safely stretch the rules a quite a bit and some new divers may be questionably 'safe' operating well within them. Having zero known ability in the sport and zero sense of my own limits within in it, I'll go ahead and stick to the rules until I'm sure I know where I stand.

The scary thing about scuba, as far as I can tell, is it appears easy to get too far over ones head (no pun intended) without immediate consequences or realization compared to some other adventure sports--then if something goes wrong, as it always eventually will, you suddently find yourself in some really really deep sh*t (again, no pun intended). So having hard limits in place, and always planning the dive and diving the plan will be key.

Hopefully I'll get addicted and start a path of self improvement in order to continue to enjoy the sport in the long term. Only time will tell, but I could see it sinking its hooks in me for a while at the least. My poor credit card is already preparing for a good flogging. I saw it hunkering down in my wallet last time I checked.

 

[fisheater]

I'm worried about you. Not about you surviving your certification and trip, but about your diving surviving your trip.

You don't say where you're from, but unless diving conditions where you live are similar to those in Belize, you won't be trained to dive at home and, thus, the statistics show that won't dive at home. If you don't dive at home, you'll only be able to dive on vacation. If you only dive on an annual vacation, you won't really improve as a diver.

I you can, you'd be better off certifying at home and then enjoy all of your Belize dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

John, I took it as the training dives were going to be to 60', which is beyond standards. Also, DM's should not be taking OW divers below 60'. Until Advanced, a Instructor may take a student to 100', but I do not believe a DM can, please correct me if I am mistaken.

Assuming we were talking PADI, the first two training dives must be at 40' maximum, and the second two training dives must be at 60' maximum. These standards are for OW training purposes only. Once a diver is certified, that diver can do whatever he or she wants.

The 60' limit for certified divers is a recommendation, and that recommendation is violated regularly throughout the world. DMs regularly take OW divers below 60 feet. There is no official rule against it. The differentiation you make between instructors and DMs does not exist. There are no police to enforce the rule if it did exist.

If a diver chooses to take a PADI AOW course, then the deep dive portion of the course is limited to 100' maximum.

If the diver chooses to take the Deep Diver specialty, those dives are limited to 130' maximum.

Those limits are only when the divers is acting as a student in the course. No agency has any say in what a diver does outside of training.

 

[spectrum]

oceanonaut

As others have said taking a referral to warm water is a common tactic.

The sanity really depends in how well you both adapt. There are aspects of diving that are not natural for some and a little more pool time can be needed to acclimate.

Gear to bring? Well you should be getting mask, snorkel, fins and booties in order to perform your pool work. These items, especially the mask need to fit really well so pay attention to that and work out any kinks. A poor fit can cause a cascade of difficulties.

Dive depths? The 60 foot limit is agency guidance. The guidance is intended to put reasonable boundaries around new divers. The same limit applies to cold water diving in limited visibility. While you certainly farther from the surface (air) at 80 feet the overall stress in blue water is an order of magnitude less. You will also be in a guided group situation, unlike an independent pair of novice buddies. Listen to that little voice in your heads and respect your limits.

Lastly, please run to the dive shop and get a free copy of Dive Training Magazine, April 2010. Read the feature starting on page 32. Do not let yourselves become Ron & Cheryl! Once you return home certified become active local divers. That is where you will become safe & proficient and that will enhance you future vacation adventures.

Pete

 

[diverrex]

oceanonaut
Dive depths? The 60 foot limit is agency guidance. The guidance is intended to put reasonable boundaries around new divers. The same limit applies to cold water diving in limited visibility. While you certainly farther from the surface (air) at 80 feet the overall stress in blue water is an order of magnitude less. Pete

You expressed the depth issue more explicitly than I did but this is what I meant. If an agency allows a check out dive to 60 feet in 10 ft viz in 50 degree water, going to 70 feet in Belize's 80 ft viz and 80 degree water is comparatively easier and just not a big deal to fret about.

Oceanonaut - go and enjoy yourself at AC. It can be a fun place and the diving is relatively easy. Relax, have fun, get certfied, be safe, keep learning and keep diving!

Ecological Divers is an OP that consistently gets good reviews on AC. I used Elbert Greer when I got certified, but he runs a shop a little north of town now, not the most convenient if you stay in town or just south where many resorts are. I dove with Ramon's. They have six boats so they organize the boats by diver's experience, and they dive in groups of 6 or less, good for beginners.

 

[ecologic diver]

Hi Oceanonaut, wow i see alot of advice coming your way. this ian from ecologic divers in san pedro. we get to certify alot of referals which is never a problem , folks come on vacation and want to dive in warm water with good vis and have fun. i myself do not do the cold water diving thing. got enough of that at home! diving standards are high no matter which instructor or shop you use the padi standards dictate whats going to happen , if you want you can get a list of things to exspect from your local dive shop. most of our dives here are between 50 80 ft because that gives us a great view of the reef and allows the dive master to guide and to show you cool things, it leaves a bit of scope should you want to be a bit shallower or deeper too. we do have a few good shallow dive sites here too , so basicly you dive the way you would like. your dive master usally has MANY dives under his belt and will brief you and help with any aspect.

if i can help you with anything more please let me know .

thank you
Ian

 

[turtle05]

Being that I myself is fairly new to diving the best suggestion I can make to you and your wife is to follow the rules and regulations of your certification. Open water certifications allow you to go 60 ft....go 60 ft. Being that both of you are new to diving and going out of the country to dive, make sure that you communicate with each other about where you are diving, how deep you both are going to go, and hand signals (very important). You wouldn't want to be deeper than you are suppose to be and hurt yourself or your wife coming up. A safe diver is the best kind of diver!!!!!! Have fun!!!

 

[crosing]

If I understand you correctly, you will doing your open-water checkout dives in Belize.

Excellent choice!

You'll be with a divemaster who can guide you through your first set of dives. Your divemaster will help you get your weight correct. That's what he is there for.

Once you become officially certified, hire a divemaster to continue to provide some supervision until you feel comfortable enough to dive without a guide at your side.

Another way of expanding your horizons after OW is to continue taking classes and work towards AOW. That way you'll still be under the supervision of a divemaster but you'll be working towards an higher rating. AOW right after OW won't make you "advanced" divers, but it will make you more confident, safer and more knowledgable divers.

Good luck!

Good advice from Doc Harry :fish:

 

[Oceanonaut]

Once again, thanks for all the advice and input on this. We are on the manifest to dive with Ecologic for OW and have masks, fins, and snorkels from a LDS. The pool session went well and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it actually was--but I've always been completely comfortable in the water was in a 'swim team' and a lifeguard once. But I enjoy 'adrenaline sports' so a little 'excitement' is actually a bonus. I kind of hope the deep holds a few thrills--just not from stupidity or equipment issues or other BS.

If I decide to keep going after Belize I'm going to take the advice and go for AOW in the local waters--I want to know what the local sea-life is like and will want to learn how to dive a dry suit.

Only a week to go. Can't wait!