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

[Nwcid]

Tony understand your point but that is not always possible. The GF and I did out class together, both new. Live in an area where there are few divers and after some of my experience with some them I would not feel safe diving with them. Example one of the "very experienced" divers in this area put inline shut offs on his regs because he had a free flow in cold water........ While I would have preferred to go with another trusted diver that was just not reality. So for now we head to places where there are trusted divers when we can.

So to get practice we have to dive as new divers. We know our limits. On our initial dives by ourselves we never passed 35' and abut 25' was our normal. I understand you can still have problems there but the surface is fairly close. We were diving from a fresh water shore. I know very little about the "ocean" so I would have never even considered a dive there on our own.

Your example of new drives vs divers does work but not like you said. You are right your first drive should not be a night on the hwy in the rain, nor should you first dive be to your max depth under bad conditions. Your first drive should be under better/safer conditions, just like you dives.

 

[nimoh]

"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.....

I agree completely, although I have taken heat for posting this opinion in the past. Because of this, I will also add some points I have conceded on in the past, there are definitely some exceptional OW graduates (I was not one), that would be perfectly capable of diving on their own, but for the most part OW students should seek out some experienced divers to dive.

 

[nielsent]

I hear this a fair bit from new divers I talk with, asking how good you should be or how comfortable you should be after finishing open water. The fact is that no matter how proficient a diver is when leaving an OW class, many new divers are simply filled with apprehension of diving with no supervision. Apprehension is normal, and healthy if you ask me, because it shows that the diver has come to the realization that they might get hurt and might not know it all. This makes you a better diver because you are cautious and work hard to make sure everything goes well. Its when this apprehension goes away and complacency sets in that accidents happen.

IMHO Its not about what you got out of your OW course, its about how hard you work to be a better diver afterwards.

 

[Sheri SGR]

I personally would expect if I buddied up with a new diver that a) they can assemble their unit properly and perform a pre dive safety check on themselves and me. B) they would be discuss a predive plan - even if it was as simple as asking what is the plan and I decide. they would follow it, so if we agree I am leading I expect you would stay with me not hit the water and take off. C) Your bouyancy wouldnt be great but you would be weighted properly to descend and not be underweighted as to force us to abort the dive after 10 minutes and d) you would be checking your own guages and we would be close during the dive so we can signal each other and buddy dive.

if you can practice good buddy procedures then most people will over look any lack of expertise and enjoy diving with you. welcome to the underwater world!

 

[Rhone Man]

My main hope for someone just finishing their OW is: please at least let them know what they don't know.

Better than finding out the hard way.

 

[spectrum]

Tony understand your point but that is not always possible. The GF and I did out class together, both new. Live in an area where there are few divers and after some of my experience with some them I would not feel safe diving with them. Example one of the "very experienced" divers in this area put inline shut offs on his regs because he had a free flow in cold water........ While I would have preferred to go with another trusted diver that was just not reality. So for now we head to places where there are trusted divers when we can.

So to get practice we have to dive as new divers. We know our limits. On our initial dives by ourselves we never passed 35' and abut 25' was our normal. I understand you can still have problems there but the surface is fairly close. We were diving from a fresh water shore. I know very little about the "ocean" so I would have never even considered a dive there on our own.

Your example of new drives vs divers does work but not like you said. You are right your first drive should not be a night on the hwy in the rain, nor should you first dive be to your max depth under bad conditions. Your first drive should be under better/safer conditions, just like you dives.

You sound well grounded to me, have fun!

Pete