How long should a new diver wait before diving without DM

[nymbus]

There is a program offered by PADI and by wise dm and instructors called "discover local diving". This is a chance for you to go out to a dive site or local area and get a good briefing and single dive led by a person who has been at that site many, many times. My LDS offers it for $5 over the payment of the rental gear (if you need anything).
This is a wonderful way to have a built-in buddy, as well as get a briefing and introduction to a site.
And remember- there is a big difference between being certified and qualified.

 

[willardj]

My feeling is if you are not ready to dive w/out an Instr. or DM after you are certified the Instructor didn't do his or her JOB. But that is just me. The best thing you can do is find a good buddy and go dive.

 

[Rainer]

After being certified, I've never been with a DM. Go out and practice. I learned as much diving on my own those first few dives as I did in the pool as part of OW. A few hour long dives help straighten everything out. At this point, I think I'd feel weird divig with a DM, but clearly that's the norm in some parts of the world. I don't think I've even been diving somewhere where DMs get in the water (both here in MA and in CA the DMs all just stay on the boats). There's no substitute for experience, so get out into the water.

 

[Mossman]

I think that junior certification is a "restrictive" certification. In Michigan, as a teenage driver, you are "restricted". Meaning your parents can take away your driving privelege.

There are plenty of 10 to 15 year old kids who are immature, incapable of clear judgement, and can not be counted on to assess risk. I think if they were certified, it means that they should be arms away from a responsible adult, and diving only very conservative low-risk shallow dives.

Then there are lot of young adults 18 to 26 who still are not mature enough to drive, nor to scuba dive.

I wasn't mature enough to drive until a couple years ago, around age 36. I'm still not mature enough to dive, given the stupid things I still do at times. But I have the skills and capability to dive safely when I apply them correctly and that's the important part. It's hard to measure maturity since all of us act our best when tested. But it is possible to gauge skills and one's comfort level in the water and if these aren't adequate to allow a new diver to dive without a handhold, that diver shouldn't get a full OW card IMO. There are enough opportunities in the world for supervised diving and plenty of DMs that seem to like supervising; they can do their thing together and let the rest of us alone.

 

[deepblueme]

Always dive with a DM/Inst. they know where the "cool" stuff is.
And tip them well !!!!!!!





Only kidding, kinda....

 

[divingbuddy]

I agree that students who complete an OW certification should be able to dive unsupervised in conditions similar to those in which they were certified. My own students must plan and lead their final OW dive as if I wasn't even there (I swim behind and slightly above the buddy pair - observing their communication, buddy skills and other diving skills). I want to see if they follow the dive plan they established before getting in the water. Do they stay together as they've been trained? Do they monitor their gauges regularly? Do they appear to be in control of their buoyancy and trim while diving? Do they seem comfortable and happy? In short, I need to feel that they could come back to this same site the following weekend and do this dive without me. If they can't, I don't issue the certification. I will continue to dive with them and work with them until they have reached the appropriate level of proficiency. To do any less is shirking my professional responsibilities.

I did (and still do for the most part) take advantage of skilled or knowledgeable divers when diving at places I am not familiar with, or in environments different from my own. There is nothing wrong with using someones knowledge of a local site to improve your enjoyment (they know where the cool things are, and any safety concerns). It is also a nice sociable thing to do (especially the thank you beer afterwards).

When I started out, I dove regularly with a dive club. This allowed me to further develop my skills, meet new friends, and have someone show me around when we dove sites I had not dove before.

Get out and dive is the best piece of advice - but within your training and experience levels. If you really feel you must have a DM/Instructor, better that you err on the side of caution. Happy dives! Cheers!

 

[String]

My feeling is if you are not ready to dive w/out an Instr. or DM after you are certified the Instructor didn't do his or her JOB. But that is just me. The best thing you can do is find a good buddy and go dive.

I'd agree with that.

Maybe its a culture thing. Here divemasters on charter trips are rarer than rocking horse excreta (ive personally been on a boat that had a divemaster exactly once) and even then the dm didnt dive, just in charge of brief and coffee.

Generally here while qualified you cant expect to ever dive with a DM or instructor.

 

[james croft]

You need to wait 30 minutes. Oh wait, never mind. That was for diving after eating.

 

[Bob Vincent]

I think that is a very good question to ask. But there is no set answer. I believe to dive yourself with a buddy that has about the same experience as you ... lets start there. First you have to think and be truthful with yourself. Is this dive going to be similar to my previous dives? Have I dove here before? If I haven't dove at this site do I know how to prepare for diving at this local? Do I feel comfortable? Do I feel if I ran into any type of problem can I address it without panick? Will I plan the dive ... and dive my plan? Will I address concerns with my buddy and get his feedback? Will we not exceed our training? Will we leave a copy of our dive plan with someone with times etc.? Do we have an emergency plan if anything would happen? Now I think if your truthful you can answer these questions the way you know they should be answered. HAVE A GREAT DIVE!!! :mooner:

 

[El Orans]

How long, or how much experience should someone have before actively looking to do local shore diving with a buddy, no DM or instructor... What do you think? i.e After OW cert

We did the first dive after OW by ourselves.