Hi there!

[yle]

Lauren, if I'm reading your story correctly, you did a DSD in Colombia and the instructor insisted that you should signal your air to him during the dive. For a DSD, this is a violation of standards... the instructor is responsible for monitoring participants' air directly (because it is assumed that the DSD participants have not had sufficient training to effectively communicate their remaining air supply.)

The fact that you were already a certified diver and you knew how to signal your air is beside the point. Your instructor played loose with standards and you, subconsciously or not, picked up on that. Some people are like that: very detail oriented, follow instructions to the letter and notice when any small thing isn't right. You describe being anxious, I would say you are very observant... and your alarm bells ring when something isn't right. That's very useful when scuba diving.

But that experience aside, how do you get to the point where you are a confident diver and you no longer have to worry about whether or not your anxiety will take over on any given dive? There's no substitute for experience. I would suggest making some time to dive in Florida, since it's not far from you. Diving every day for a full week, with an operation that you feel comfortable with, will likely do wonders for your skills, your confidence and keeping your anxiety in check.

If you take another "refresher" course, do NOT take a DSD (i.e. Discover Scuba)... they are two very different things. A "refresher" course is specifically designed for an instructor to identify which skills you need to "refresh"... i.e. they assume you already know everything from the basic OW course, and they will work with you to polish those skills that need it.

Finally, find the right instructor. It will make the world of difference to have an instructor take the time to listen to your concerns and then take the time to effectively address your concerns. You obviously are interested and motivated... you just need someone to show you the way and you'll be all set.

 

[Lauren S]

I used to be a bit less assertive and just show my gauge and a weak ascend sign when I just got my PADI.

When I want to call I just get the attention of my buddy and do an ascend sign after indicating the issue, if the buddy hesitated I do it with both thumbs to stress that I really want to get back.

Some buddies may not realise that you really want to call the dive and you are just indicating to them you air. Also stress during the briefing that you do not want to get under a certain pressure. It will make clearer that you are not telling the guide that you are low and air and asking his opinion but that you just want to go up now.

It’s good that you are talking about this anxiety issue, it shows that you are being proactive.

Thank you!! I will definitely do that next time after I practice!!!

 

[Lauren S]

Lauren, if I'm reading your story correctly, you did a DSD in Colombia and the instructor insisted that you should signal your air to him during the dive. For a DSD, this is a violation of standards... the instructor is responsible for monitoring participants' air directly (because it is assumed that the DSD participants have not had sufficient training to effectively communicate their remaining air supply.)

The fact that you were already a certified diver and you knew how to signal your air is beside the point. Your instructor played loose with standards and you, subconsciously or not, picked up on that. Some people are like that: very detail oriented, follow instructions to the letter and notice when any small thing isn't right. You describe being anxious, I would say you are very observant... and your alarm bells ring when something isn't right. That's very useful when scuba diving.

But that experience aside, how do you get to the point where you are a confident diver and you no longer have to worry about whether or not your anxiety will take over on any given dive? There's no substitute for experience. I would suggest making some time to dive in Florida, since it's not far from you. Diving every day for a full week, with an operation that you feel comfortable with, will likely do wonders for your skills, your confidence and keeping your anxiety in check.

If you take another "refresher" course, do NOT take a DSD... they are two very different things. A "refresher" course is specifically designed for an instructor to identify which skills you need to "refresh"... i.e. they assume you already know everything from the basic OW course, and they will work with you to polish those skills that need it.

Finally, find the right instructor. It will make the world of difference to have an instructor take the time to listen to your concerns and then take the time to effectively address your concerns. You obviously are interested and motivated... you just need someone to show you the way and you'll be all set.

Thank you!!! I'm really glad I joined ScubaBoard. I've gotten a lot of good advice. I also felt frustrated because I felt things were "off" but I had no one to talk to about it to make sure it wasn't just me being anxious since the other divers weren't certified and less experienced than me. I am very detail oriented- I don't want to take diving lightly. I really enjoy it but recognize the risk.

 

[Lauren S]

Lauren, if I'm reading your story correctly, you did a DSD in Colombia and the instructor insisted that you should signal your air to him during the dive. For a DSD, this is a violation of standards... the instructor is responsible for monitoring participants' air directly (because it is assumed that the DSD participants have not had sufficient training to effectively communicate their remaining air supply.)

The fact that you were already a certified diver and you knew how to signal your air is beside the point. Your instructor played loose with standards and you, subconsciously or not, picked up on that. Some people are like that: very detail oriented, follow instructions to the letter and notice when any small thing isn't right. You describe being anxious, I would say you are very observant... and your alarm bells ring when something isn't right. That's very useful when scuba diving.

But that experience aside, how do you get to the point where you are a confident diver and you no longer have to worry about whether or not your anxiety will take over on any given dive? There's no substitute for experience. I would suggest making some time to dive in Florida, since it's not far from you. Diving every day for a full week, with an operation that you feel comfortable with, will likely do wonders for your skills, your confidence and keeping your anxiety in check.

If you take another "refresher" course, do NOT take a DSD (i.e. Discover Scuba)... they are two very different things. A "refresher" course is specifically designed for an instructor to identify which skills you need to "refresh"... i.e. they assume you already know everything from the basic OW course, and they will work with you to polish those skills that need it.

Finally, find the right instructor. It will make the world of difference to have an instructor take the time to listen to your concerns and then take the time to effectively address your concerns. You obviously are interested and motivated... you just need someone to show you the way and you'll be all set.

What does a DSD stand for?

 

[Lauren S]

Hi @Lauren S, I am glad I hit the right tone with my initial reply. Was worried I might inadvertently step into something. Am even more glad you opened up a bit and found good advice. I pretty much agree with all that @aquacat8 wrote.

Yes, finding a dive buddy, especially a regular one you can arrive at a good level of comfort and trust with can be difficult at times. You actually are not in that bad a situation there with your hubby diving as well. most important to understand is that you yourself are the diver you need to trust the most. And I got the idea that you already arrived at that conclusion. To get there will take some work and practice and I think you recognize that. Be careful what kind of scuba classes you book in what kind of places. I may have read that incorrectly, but it seemed to me that that refresher class you took was really a trust me dive (discover scuba for two non certified divers) onto which the instructor added you and paired you ad hoc underwater with a non certified diver so he could attend to the diver with the ear problem. To me one additional thing to learn here would be to not to book with that kind of instructor.

So called easy diving (decent visibility, warmer water, friendly sea state little to no current with a good buddy can help you to get more settled. If the good buddy is a problem, a DM or instructor just for you for a few dives might help. Just make it i.e. your goal to arrive at a level of skill that will make it possible for you to dive with your buddy unguided and safely so. You may or may not feel that to get there you need more supervised dives first. That‘s fine, get them. But make them count. Get them supervised by someone who understands your goal and willing to give you pointers to help you get there. Not by someone intent to show you as much as possible to the last drop of air.... (so to speak).

Maybe shelf more challenging conditions (current, cold, bad visibility, real waves) until after you got comfortable in good conditions. One exception to that: Those practice quarry or lake practice dives rarely ever are in good vis no Waves, no current and no dive boat let you and your buddy practice on your terms ... and it can be very helpful to practice in a familiar setting... (but of course it would be oodles nicer on a reef).

Anyway, your head is on the right way. You are thinking about things and you are not out of line at all to have certain things concern you if you have reason to see them as wrong. Even if that reason is incorrect, if you deem something as an issue or as something to head off before it becomes an issue and you put yourself in position to address it and do address it, then good on you because you have what it takes to get good at what you do. Just remember, your safety underwater (in the water, near the water, anywhere for that matter) is first and foremost your concern. So, if next time you signal your buddy to ascend with you because you reached the agreed on pressure to do so and then do that, that is your call to make (and a good call). Of course don‘t ascend into boat traffic and so on and so forth... but that would be “more advanced conditions. For your own comfort level stick with one Step at a time, one extra or different thing at a time... until you are comfortable with it... and then the next step....

Thank you! I actually found a dive resort that looks like a good place to start about 4 hours away from me at a big lake in Alabama. I'm really thankful for everyone's advice

 

[Lauren S]

As divers gain experience, they often get complacent about things - about gas reserves, about safety stops. Im sure that your buddy felt that everything you described was no big deal.

But its better to not be complacent. And it is the safety standard that the scuba industry has established. Your buddy should have adjusted himself to your more safety-conscious profile. If my buddy wants to go up at 500 psi and do a safety stop, I would do so, even if I don't think it's necessary considering how shallow the dive is. Its all about being a good buddy. Your buddy wasnt a good buddy.

As you continue diving, try to assert your safety-conscious profile. Even though you're a "newbie", you get to decide how your dives go, and how much of a safety margin you want. If your buddy is pushing you into situations where you feel nervous, assert your dive profile, so that you dont get into a nervous situation.

And although you describe feeling anxious and even panicky, the good thing is that it appears you didnt panic.

Thank you. I agree and this wasn't just a buddy- this was the dive instructor. I didn't outwardly panic besides using my air fast and wondering if he was trying to kill me and then trying to get myself to stop thinking negative thoughts haha but it was a very frustrating and scary experience for me. Through talking on here I feel like I've gotten a lot of good advice. Thank you!

 

[BlueTrin]

What does a DSD stand for?

DSD is discover scuba dive.
The try dive in a shallow site usually for non certified divers

 

[Lauren S]

What does a DSD stand for?

Nevermind!! I saw it's a Discover Scuba- Reread your post!!

 

[BlueTrin]

Thank you. I agree and this wasn't just a buddy- this was the dive instructor. I didn't outwardly panic besides using my air fast and wondering if he was trying to kill me and then trying to get myself to stop thinking negative thoughts haha but it was a very frustrating and scary experience for me. Through talking on here I feel like I've gotten a lot of good advice. Thank you!

So after my OW a PADI shop encouraged me to do my AOW immediately.

I thought they must know what they were talking about and agreed.

Although they promised that they would help me to improve my buoyancy they just kept us in a platform and go through the drills to tick boxes and get everything done quickly.

The instructor was too busy smoking and drinking coffees to tell us more than what the skills were.

On the second day I was still struggling with buoyancy. I told him that I was using air really quickly. He didn’t give me any advice than dive more. But when we got underwater he wasn’t paying too much attention to us. When I signalled him I was low he kept saying it was ok.

At some point I signalled 50bar, we were doing the Deep adventure dive and I was at around 25m deep (50 bar is the red area on your gauge) he told me to stay and left me there. He went away to find the others to get to the line (I didn’t know at the time and it was pretty stressful).

My buddy came and didn’t want to hear any of it when he saw me with 50bar, he just called the dive. Because I wasn’t around the line and was very new I struggled to ascend at a slow rate. Then after a min at the stop I surfaced as I didn’t hold my stop.

Now that I had a bit more experience I realise that he was really wrong and that he didn’t leave me in a great situation: although he left me with a buddy and DM, he didn’t really tell the DM to give me air or anything, he just disappeared.

So my advice to you would be to not trust a DM/Instructor blindly because he has more experience. Make sure that you are safe first and then that your buddy is safe second.

I am very new myself but I just wanted to tell you that I have been in a similar situation.

This was with one of the highest rated PADI shops in London, I just got unlucky with the instructor: the other group had proper briefing while my instructor was chain smoking ...

 

[Lauren S]

So after my OW a PADI shop encouraged me to do my AOW immediately.

I thought they must know what they were talking about and agreed.

Although they promised that they would help me to improve my buoyancy they just kept us in a platform and go through the drills to tick boxes and get everything done quickly.

The instructor was too busy smoking and drinking coffees to tell us more than what the skills were.

On the second day I was still struggling with buoyancy. I told him that I was using air really quickly. He didn’t give me any advice than dive more. But when we got underwater he wasn’t paying too much attention to us. When I signalled him I was low he kept saying it was ok.

At some point I signalled 50bar, we were doing the Deep adventure dive and I was at around 25m deep (50 bar is the red area on your gauge) he told me to stay and left me there. He went away to find the others to get to the line (I didn’t know at the time and it was pretty stressful).

My buddy came and didn’t want to hear any of it when he saw me with 50bar, he just called the dive. Because I wasn’t around the line and was very new I struggled to ascend at a slow rate. Then after a min at the stop I surfaced as I didn’t hold my stop.

Now that I had a bit more experience I realise that he was really wrong and that he didn’t leave me in a great situation: although he left me with a buddy and DM, he didn’t really tell the DM to give me air or anything, he just disappeared.

So my advice to you would be to not trust a DM/Instructor blindly because he has more experience. Make sure that you are safe first and then that your buddy is safe second.

I am very new myself but I just wanted to tell you that I have been in a similar situation.

This was with one of the highest rated PADI shops in London, I just got unlucky with the instructor: the other group had proper briefing while my instructor was chain smoking ...

That is insane. I guess I falsely assume Scuba Instructors took safety seriously. I've definitely learned a lot from this. Thanks for sharing