How many dives before you cease to be a beginner ? [Poll]

[Storker]

IOW, if I'm on an outing and one of the participants is able to set up their rig and get in the water without embarrassing themself, I won't be thinking "Oh, that person isn't a n00b, they look like an experienced diver". I just won't be thinking "who the heck certified that trainwreck?" and "Damn, where did I put my cellphone, so I can call emergency services when SHTF?"

 

[drbill]

Personally, I don't think a certain number of dives under your weight belt qualifies one as passing the beginner stage. If all those dives were in a given type of environment, say warm tropical waters, that doesn't give a diver a broad enough range of experience. One should have dives in a range of different environments to qualify IMHO. On top of that, I'd add experience with a few issues such as lost buddy, gear malfunction, etc.

 

[Saboteur]

You cease to be a beginner when you can comfortably execute a dive in somewhat favorable conditions without being supervised by a dive professional. It has nothing to do with the number of dives in my opinion.

Well said...I would add for dives up to your level of certification or experience and without requiring reminders or prompts from your buddy or having to ask basic questions.