The difference between incompetence and tentativeness was about 20 dives for me, with another 20-30 dives to reach a point where I felt comfortable leading a dive at our "routine" sites. Even now I still consider myself a newbie.
How long is a diver a newbie?
- Thread starter BekaLynn
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Sas
Contributor
Well I still consider myself a quite inexperienced diver as I haven't been diving that long. However, I don't feel so much like a n00b anymore, at least with my local diving environment. I don't remember when I stopped feeling like that, but I was thinking not long ago that it has been a long time since I have felt anxious or uncomfortable diving, also my air consumption has improved (since about dive 50), buoyancy is better, I can perform all the skills from OW without a second thought, I've dealt with a bunch of problems underwater well, I'm comfortable leading inexperienced divers around and so on.
However, if I go away or move on to another type of diving then I will be back to noobness
However, if I go away or move on to another type of diving then I will be back to noobness
I think the number of dives does not determine when a NOOB is experienced. I was fortunate that I got my OW and then went right into my AOW. It was a semester class I treated myself to in the next to last semester before I graduated.
Anyway, a OW diver probably needs 50 dives to not be a NOOB.
I took far fewer. Right after I received my AOW we drove to Santa Barbara and went on a 3 day boat dive. That's sleep, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, then optional night dive and then sleep. Repeat that for 3 days.
On my first dive, having never dived off a boat, my buddy who was more experienced told me to fan the urchins out of the way before I bounced off the bottom. Well, I did as instructed and then when I looked up, I was in awe. It was just like being in the Monterey Aquarium. That was a jaw dropping awe. Yep, dropped my regulator. I just scooped it up, breathed out a little and then breathed in. No problem.
It turned out that a DM was right behind me and was watching out for me, first blue water dive. He was already finning to me with his octopus but stopped short when he realized I was OK.
And the next dive, I put air in my BC as I approached the bottom and didn't bounce. So, I think I was no longer a NOOB on my 20th dive.
But like the others say, then I took Rescue about 2 years ago. Yep, I felt like a NOOB again.
Anyway, a OW diver probably needs 50 dives to not be a NOOB.
I took far fewer. Right after I received my AOW we drove to Santa Barbara and went on a 3 day boat dive. That's sleep, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, dive, eat, then optional night dive and then sleep. Repeat that for 3 days.
On my first dive, having never dived off a boat, my buddy who was more experienced told me to fan the urchins out of the way before I bounced off the bottom. Well, I did as instructed and then when I looked up, I was in awe. It was just like being in the Monterey Aquarium. That was a jaw dropping awe. Yep, dropped my regulator. I just scooped it up, breathed out a little and then breathed in. No problem.
It turned out that a DM was right behind me and was watching out for me, first blue water dive. He was already finning to me with his octopus but stopped short when he realized I was OK.
And the next dive, I put air in my BC as I approached the bottom and didn't bounce. So, I think I was no longer a NOOB on my 20th dive.
But like the others say, then I took Rescue about 2 years ago. Yep, I felt like a NOOB again.
Charlie99
Contributor
- Messages
- 7,966
- Reaction score
- 169
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
After 600+ warm water dives, put me in a drysuit and I'll be newbie. 
Obviously a lot depends of how relevant your dive experience is to the specific dive you are about to do.
Obviously a lot depends of how relevant your dive experience is to the specific dive you are about to do.
RonFrank
Contributor
Any time a diver encounters new situations, they are a newbie.
I'm not talking about seeing a new type of fish, rather new diving situations and especially new gear. For example, diving dry takes some experience, and a diver with 500 dives diving dry for the first time is going to have new experiences, and maybe even difficulty adjusting to that setup. Same holds true for things like closed circuit diving, diving beyond rec limits (deco), cavern, cave, etc.
Having a larger number of dives will help a diver better prepare for new types of environments, but it will generally not make a first time experience easy.
I've watched as fairly experienced divers came unglued in very low vis cold water diving.
There are some divers that have done it all, but those are few and far between.
I'm not talking about seeing a new type of fish, rather new diving situations and especially new gear. For example, diving dry takes some experience, and a diver with 500 dives diving dry for the first time is going to have new experiences, and maybe even difficulty adjusting to that setup. Same holds true for things like closed circuit diving, diving beyond rec limits (deco), cavern, cave, etc.
Having a larger number of dives will help a diver better prepare for new types of environments, but it will generally not make a first time experience easy.
I've watched as fairly experienced divers came unglued in very low vis cold water diving.
There are some divers that have done it all, but those are few and far between.
At around twenty-four dives. And by fifty dives I thought I was hot stuff. At around one hundred I was smarter, had seen a lot more, and considered myself "competent" for the cold water and low viz of my typical dive.
I'm a beginner still in the sense that I periodically push myself into new territory, new forms of diving, and new challenges--this month I'm conducting my first assistant instructor course. I have four candidates and I'm taking them diving this weekend, if the snow doesn't stop us reaching the lake.
A recent post by Thalassamania, here, might be of interest in this context. Thal offers operational definitions of the terms novice, beginner, competent, proficient, and expert.
-Bryan
under water
Contributor
When your Dive guide says "Thanks! It was a treat to dive with folks that really know what they are doing" then you are no longer a newbie. This just happened to us last month when we hired a guide in Sydney to point us to some Weedy Sea Dragons.
Having said that, I agree with the sentiment that you will be a newbie when you encounter a new diving environment. I had about 7 dives when I dove Vancouver Island and was a newbie in every possible way, but even now, I will still consider myself a newbie when I eventually go back there for a return dive.
Having said that, I agree with the sentiment that you will be a newbie when you encounter a new diving environment. I had about 7 dives when I dove Vancouver Island and was a newbie in every possible way, but even now, I will still consider myself a newbie when I eventually go back there for a return dive.
When you're a newbie you practice something enough that you can get it right.
You stop being a newbie when you've done it enough that you can't get it wrong.
You stop being a newbie when you've done it enough that you can't get it wrong.
Trimix2dive
Contributor
About 100ish dives in your "regular" diving environment, you should loose the newbie tag.
With that said, Walter above is correct. High Flow Current, Extreme Cold, whatever - if it is out of your "regular" diving environment - your still a newbie. Nothing wrong with that - you may get gigged a bit about it, but good diver will be there to help you out, oversee, or whatever.
I got no problem with me or anybody else saying, "hey this is my usual thing. I gotta question, or can I pick your brain."
Hey I really want to thank ALL of you for your input and wisdom. It's good to know that there will always be something, new for me to explore... that's good because I get bored easily. 
It's very reassuring to know that even those with 100, 500 dives still have moments of noobieness! Right now, I'm enjoying my brand new noobieness with great anticipation for what the future underwater world holds for me...
It's very reassuring to know that even those with 100, 500 dives still have moments of noobieness! Right now, I'm enjoying my brand new noobieness with great anticipation for what the future underwater world holds for me...
Similar threads
