How did you get experience?

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Wheeler925

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Newly certified and feel like I just want to get some experience. How did you build some experience before booking a dive-centric trip? I'm in the midwest, and I know I can tag along on some lake/quarry type dives. I guess I'm not expecting a lot of new information here, but hoping some other ideas might pop up.
 
Sorry I read your quote before your comment. I think my main thing is I want to feel more comfortable with buoyancy before a trip. My check out dives I definitely just felt like I'd feel neutral then bam be in the mud or headed up to the surface.
 
Hello Wheeler,

Well, assuming you have access to a pool near by, at least 12 foot deep, the pool is a perfect place to work on buoyancy, I still goof around in the pool with my buoyancy, I’m always changing something with my gear, so, that ,ales it necessary to continue to square away my lead and buoyancy skills.

Find a country club or a high school that will allow you to use their pool, they usually don’t mind if you do it early morning, like around 6 am. But ask first!
 
Maybe you'd be surprised how many newly minted divers immediately take that first dive trip. I was one of them. I got certified because I was already planning a trip to Australia. The next dive after certification--my first dive ever outside of the OW course--was the Great Barrier Reef. But the dive operator was aware I was a total newbie, and they made sure they had me diving on an appropriate site. As I recall, I was on a boat that also carried some snorkelers, and they dumped us over a reef in about 30 feet of water. This was over 20 years ago, and the reef was spectacular.

If I were you, I'd feel free to go ahead and book a trip, and sure, if possible, visit a quarry to refresh your dive skills before the trip. When booking, the dive operator will either ask you how many dives you have done, or you can (and should) volunteer that information. As rjack said, choose your dive operator wisely; some are more attentive to individual diver needs than others, though I suspect it would be a rare dive op that put a beginning diver over a site way too advanced for the diver's skill level. For the most part, dive ops are pretty good at taking care of newer divers' needs. If you need specific dive op recommendations once you have picked a destination, ask in the appropriate SB forum for the destination.
 
Newly certified and feel like I just want to get some experience. How did you build some experience before booking a dive-centric trip? I'm in the midwest, and I know I can tag along on some lake/quarry type dives. ...
Local diving! I am assuming that your open water course prepared you for diving in local conditions. If so, then, link up with a diver from your class, and then go buddy diving in local lakes and quarries.

Enjoy!
rx7diver
 
Dive until you are exhausted but always safely. When I was just starting to dive and significantly younger, I would go on dive trips and dive 4 times, sometimes 5, per day. The only way to get better at diving is to dive.

To quote Patches O'Houlihan, "dive, duck, dip, dodge, and dive". ok, I took a little literary license but you get the point.
 
Local diving! I am assuming that your open water course prepared you for diving in local conditions. If so, then, link up with a diver from your class, and then go buddy diving in local lakes and quarries.

Enjoy!
rx7diver
There are two good things about diving in crappy conditions:

* Makes you a better diver.

* Makes good conditions seem even better.
 
Hit the local lakes and quarries for sure. Water's water - you can practice buoyancy and skills just as well in a quarry or lake (or even a nice, deep pool) as well as anywhere else.
 
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad experience.

In all seriousness, just dive in benign conditions first and work your way up once you are comfortable in the current level/conditions. Repeat the skills you performed in OW, except CESA (learn gas planning instead).

And always make sure you are having fun.
 
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