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Lauren S
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I thought so too. Other times diving I've always done a safety stop.
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aquacat8
Contributor
Honestly you probably just haven’t gone diving enough to be completely comfortable. If you want to be more comfortable find a pool to practice in, and go slow, and do shallow easy dives with buddies you can trust. Give yourself time. This is a great place to learn a lot, though some of the stories on here can make anyone anxious too!
OP
Lauren S
Registered
T
Thanks! I think that's good advice. I plan to try to go with my husband next time or another buddy I feel comfortable with (I don't know many divers honestly). I would like to do some more practice in a pool or something! I really love diving and don't want a bad experience to ruin it. I also think it would be good if I spent more time just researching diving and refreshing myself on basic skills even when I'm not able to go so I just am learning more and I think that could help with being nervous.
Thanks! I think that's good advice. I plan to try to go with my husband next time or another buddy I feel comfortable with (I don't know many divers honestly). I would like to do some more practice in a pool or something! I really love diving and don't want a bad experience to ruin it. I also think it would be good if I spent more time just researching diving and refreshing myself on basic skills even when I'm not able to go so I just am learning more and I think that could help with being nervous.
aquacat8
Contributor
Here is a great way to increase comfort in the water when you can’t practice in full dive gear: Find a local pool and swim laps in your mask and fins, maybe snorkle. Make that all so comfortable that you don’t even think about it. Then when you add the rest you will be ahead of the game. Swimming in a scuba or freediving mask with an enclosed nose teaches you to mouth breathe regularly. Deep regular breathing is a cure for anxiety. If you get anxious underwater diving you should stop and consciously take slow deep breaths to calm yourself. It can be good to practice this on land.
Swimming is also a wonderful treatment for anxiety and depression that has actually been compared to antidepressants and done just as well. As a bonus you’ll get really fit. Nothing makes a person feel great and empowered like being fit.
If you freedive down in the pool you can practice clearing your ears and equalizing your mask, just like in scuba. Be sure you know how to do this and don’t hurt your ears or hold your breath very long because of the danger of shallow water blackout... just short baby skin dives. It’s a ton of fun.
Swimming is also a wonderful treatment for anxiety and depression that has actually been compared to antidepressants and done just as well. As a bonus you’ll get really fit. Nothing makes a person feel great and empowered like being fit.
If you freedive down in the pool you can practice clearing your ears and equalizing your mask, just like in scuba. Be sure you know how to do this and don’t hurt your ears or hold your breath very long because of the danger of shallow water blackout... just short baby skin dives. It’s a ton of fun.
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....
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....
@Lauren S : This might be a good initial guide... to guide your efforts into a good direction without being a too overwhelming kind of book:
Scuba Fundamental
Scuba Fundamental
Chavodel8en
Contributor
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.
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.
How were you indicating to the dive guide? What signal did you use, specifically?
thewalrus
Registered
If one buddy wants to end a dive - the dive ends. I thought that was a fairly sacrosanct part of diving. Particularly when it's a dive leader leading a far less experienced beginner. I think it's perfectly reasonable to have been uncomfortable in that situation - not just because of the fact that you were lower on air than you were used to - but also (and perhaps more particularly) because it seemed like the guide, the Dive Master, either wasn't aware of / trying to figure out what your concern was or simply didn't care.
Now - to my mind - the fact that you were anxious in an anxiety inducing situation means that you're being reasonable. And that's a good thing! I think the biggest part of you becoming comfortable in the water is to just go with a better dive leader / buddy.
Now - to my mind - the fact that you were anxious in an anxiety inducing situation means that you're being reasonable. And that's a good thing! I think the biggest part of you becoming comfortable in the water is to just go with a better dive leader / buddy.
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.
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.
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