How good should one be at diving fresh out of OW?

[nimoh]

I think that newly taught OW students should have an understanding of their ability.

There are going to be exceptional students that are able to do a lot, and there are going to be borderline students, that should probably dive with a DM or at least more experienced divers for their first few post OW dives.

 

[Nwcid]

GF and I just got certified this fall. When we got done we felt like were able to do the skills (set up our gear, manage our air, OOA practice, ect) and felt comfortable doing it in about 30'. We did not feel like we learned how to dive being all the other stuff that goes into it. I know some areas require different things but when to use flags, SMB's, is doing skills and going up and down a few times a shallow depth 1 dive or is each its own dive? Just lots of little things.

Since we did our class in the fall where we live there was not much time to get in the water before the outside temp was too cold. We did 2 dives locally one weekend where we just practiced skills and "playing" with the gear at our own pace. This seemed to help quite a bit. This was all with rental gear and AL80's

Then we got all our own gear. BP/W, Steel tanks, HOG regs, ect and had only been able to test them in the local 5' indoor pool.

We headed to the other side of the state (over night trip) to do one dive with locals (one being TSandM). It was interesting for sure. New area, salt water, new gear, new divers (us). Overall it went well but it was interesting for sure.

One of the things we had gone over for was to meet GratefulDiver to do an AOW class so we could lean the things we thought we were missing. After meeting with him and talking about what we wanted we actually did a "workshop" with him vs a specific class. So we went west again and spend a weekend on the coast. This way he was able to dive with us, work on what we actually wanted to work on and change things based on how we were doing. So we spent 2 days going up and down, hovering, practicing kicks, talking about the things we were doing right and wrong. Nice thing about going with an experienced diver is that they can see your problem, know what it is and offer suggestions on how to properly correct it. This is some of the best money we spent so far and we actually learned a lot.

Now that spring/summer is coming up we will be in the water a lot practicing. I live 10 min from good water but in the winter with water temps of mid 30*f and outside temps the same it is not good for new divers. Then this fall after we have our OW skills down very well we plan on going back for our AOW.

 

[nimoh]

GF and I just got certified this fall. When we got done we felt like were able to do the skills (set up our gear, manage our air, OOA practice, ect) and felt comfortable doing it in about 30'. We did not feel like we learned how to dive being all the other stuff that goes into it. I know some areas require different things but when to use flags, SMB's, is doing skills and going up and down a few times a shallow depth 1 dive or is each its own dive? Just lots of little things.

Since we did our class in the fall where we live there was not much time to get in the water before the outside temp was too cold. We did 2 dives locally one weekend where we just practiced skills and "playing" with the gear at our own pace. This seemed to help quite a bit. This was all with rental gear and AL80's

Then we got all our own gear. BP/W, Steel tanks, HOG regs, ect and had only been able to test them in the local 5' indoor pool.

We headed to the other side of the state (over night trip) to do one dive with locals (one being TSandM). It was interesting for sure. New area, salt water, new gear, new divers (us). Overall it went well but it was interesting for sure.

One of the things we had gone over for was to meet GratefulDiver to do an AOW class so we could lean the things we thought we were missing. After meeting with him and talking about what we wanted we actually did a "workshop" with him vs a specific class. So we went west again and spend a weekend on the coast. This way he was able to dive with us, work on what we actually wanted to work on and change things based on how we were doing. So we spent 2 days going up and down, hovering, practicing kicks, talking about the things we were doing right and wrong. Nice thing about going with an experienced diver is that they can see your problem, know what it is and offer suggestions on how to properly correct it. This is some of the best money we spent so far and we actually learned a lot.

Now that spring/summer is coming up we will be in the water a lot practicing. I live 10 min from good water but in the winter with water temps of mid 30*f and outside temps the same it is not good for new divers. Then this fall after we have our OW skills down very well we plan on going back for our AOW.

I think you and your girlfriends are about the perfect OW graduates -- Solid understanding of what you learned, but ready to work on things, and seeking out good places to work on these things.

One thing I would add though is that pretty much all experienced divers can point out anything you are doing wrong, but only some of them can help you fix it.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think TSandM and nimoh have it right. I would add this: As a certified diver you should know your own limitations, and dive within them. Stretch and grow with more experienced divers around you, or an instructor or other dive professional around you. I think the vast majority of open water divers are very well trained and a day or two after certification they are good divers. To stay that way, you need to be an active diver. When I encounter divers whose competence and skill level seems deficient based upon their training and experience, it is invariably because they have not dove for quite a while, and they have dove sporadically. Keeping skills honed, whether buoyancy, navigation, dive planning, safety, or otherwise, requires practice and repetition, just like a training workout- complete, repeat, and repeat often. If you lay off from diving for a while, please consider a refresher, and don't start back in where you stopped. You will catch up soon as you become active again.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I'd just like to clarify, I'm not worried about myself, but rather future buddies I may have. Half of my diving experience has been essentially unsupervised at sites we had never been to before.

Two other divers I saw in my AOW class were, quite frankly, terrible divers, and I want to know if you think that may have come from their lack of experience and uncomfortableness in the water, or if they were taught poorly. Is it normal for a noob diver to have no buoyancy control at all and not know any signals aside from "ok" and "out of air", or were they very bad at diving?

I think a large part of having a safe dive is proper planning and communication before the dive. With new buddies, I always discuss all the relevant signals (make sure they know them). I also properly communicate the dive plan (what pressures to turn around, safety stop, and ascend; where we're going; max depth/time; and so on). Most problems with buddies come from lack of planning beforehand.

Even with the worst buddy, usually with proper planning/communication, you will still have a safe dive. For the first dive with a new buddy, I never go below 60fsw, just in case of problems.

 

[TMHeimer]

[QUOTE=ScubaWith me, I didn't have that much comfort/skill to do this at first, so I did a few dives with more experienced divers to build up my comfort and diving skills.



That's the best idea if you can manage it. My first (and only real) regular buddy was just certified also. We felt quite comfortable, but who really knows how we would've reacted if something went south.

 

[boulderjohn]

Buoyancy and further comfort will come with more experience. Obviously it's not expected that buoyancy and trim be perfect your first few dives after.

Is it normal for a noob diver to have no buoyancy control at all and not know any signals aside from "ok" and "out of air", or were they very bad at diving?

Although it is certainly true that all divers will improve their buoyancy with time and practice, it is all too true that too many emerge from their OW class with buoyancy and skills far below where they should be. It is possible for an instructor to have the students firmly rooted to the bottom of the pool nearly the entire time, with only the briefest moments of actual buoyant swimming, and that does happen. It is also possible for an instructor to have the students planted on the bottom or on a platform while conducting the OW dives, with almost no independent swimming, and that does happen. In contrast, it is possible to teach those same skills in the same length of time to students who are not planted on the bottom, and that does happen as well. I know instructors, including myself, whose students do all their last pool skills, including scuba unit removal and replacement, in mid water. I know instructors, including myself, who do not allow students to touch the bottom or a platform while performing OW skills but must instead perform them while in diving mode. Thus, two different divers can complete all the same requirements for the same agency and emerge with vastly different buoyancy skills.

 

[spectrum]

I think being skilled/comfortable enough in the water to lead a safe dive with an adequate buddy at a familiar dive site is expected after OW certification, because that's what certification "qualifies" you to do. You should be able to check your gauges/depth and your buddy regularly while diving without feeling extremely task-loaded. As well, you should be able to deal with a few issues (e.g., mask flooding, lost reg, reg freeflow, etc.) and not do anything dangerous.

With me, I didn't have that much comfort/skill to do this at first, so I did a few dives with more experienced divers to build up my comfort and diving skills.

Buoyancy and further comfort will come with more experience. Obviously it's not expected that buoyancy and trim be perfect your first few dives after.

I like this answer and agree.
1) Enough confidence to go make dives comparable to your certification experience with peers.
2) Have the seeds planted of what you eventually want to look like as a diver and have half a clue how to progress.

Pete

 

[fjpatrum]

I'd just like to clarify, I'm not worried about myself, but rather future buddies I may have. Half of my diving experience has been essentially unsupervised at sites we had never been to before.

Two other divers I saw in my AOW class were, quite frankly, terrible divers, and I want to know if you think that may have come from their lack of experience and uncomfortableness in the water, or if they were taught poorly. Is it normal for a noob diver to have no buoyancy control at all and not know any signals aside from "ok" and "out of air", or were they very bad at diving?

From my perspective, having only dived with insta-buddies, I've found a few "experienced" (more dives than me, anyway) divers who don't have any control, buoyancy or otherwise, and definitely don't know many hand signals. Several of them had AOW and other certs as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of OW divers, especially new ones, don't have those skills down. I suspect it's a combination of factors involved. Sometimes it's just lack of experience but I suspect it's more commonly also a lack of recent experience combined with poor understanding/training initially, and lack of effort mostly. I think most OW divers tend to have a "no big deal" attitude and don't really try to understand the real meat of diving. (IE diving physics/physiology/planning/etc.) This isn't really a hard sport and it's supposed to be fun so most OW divers, especially vacation divers if my limited experience is any indicator, really don't pay a lot of attention and expect the DM/pros to help whenever with whatever needs attending to, even if the diver's training was supposed to teach them self-sufficiency.

 

[TonyErnst13]

"Ideal" and "Reality" are two different things. IMO two divers who JUST completed OW should not go dive together, unsupervised, with just each other (personal boat or shore dive). That is just my personal opinion. I feel they should dive with a more experienced "Buddy" until they don't just feel like they can dive without that experienced diver, but KNOW they can dive without that experienced diver. Getting a drivers license "qualifies" you to drive, but your first drive should not be at night, on a highway, in the rain. Being a fresh OW qualified diver, and being the MOST experienced person in that dive group is like driving an 18 wheeler in the snow with a learner's permit. Again - just my opinion.....