How soon after your cert did you go on your own dive without any DM?

[funkcanna]

Immediately for me.

 

[Plumb bob]

OW dive three was the first unsupervised dive for me, I had the instructor one on one and we got all the required skills done in the three previous dives. Looking back on that I am thankful he yanked the umbilical so soon as it really made me develop my situational awareness from the very start.

 

[chrispete]

My very next dives the weekend after getting certified. I thought I was diving without DM supervision, but come to find out most of the group I fell in with were either DM's or instructors, they just didn't bother to tell me at the time.

 

[pengwe]

Started diving straight after certification with a more experienced buddy who I was fully reliant on. I didn't do a dive without that kind of hand-holding for another 40 dives or so. I wouldn't have ever gotten in the water otherwise, since I had zero confidence in myself or what I had been taught.

 

[DivingDogDoc]

It was actually about dive 17 and I had just gotten my AOW (but I probably got that a little earlier). But then DI and DMs were the only people that I could bug into going with me. Once I started diving with other divers I developed a sense of who (in my opinion) was a safe diver and who wasn't very quickly

 

[Sas]

Dives 1-8 were for my OW class and I am glad I did a longer course as 4 dives would not have been enough for me to be comfortable in the water unsupervised, but 8 dives was enough Dives 9-14 were club dives with a DM for two reasons - to get to know the local sites and also because I didn't have a buddy to dive with then.

Have not dived with a DM since as I have a buddy and I have books and websites to look up information on sites. Also DMs are not common locally, only really on club run dives.

It is interesting some of the words people here use to describe diving with a DM - "handholding" "umbilical" and so on. The DM lead dives I went on were guided only so it is not always about needing supervision... I was assigned a buddy on the DM lead dives I did and the DM basically swum ahead and pointed stuff out, that was all. They did not do anything other than this, i.e. no gear setups, no watching my gas supply, and so on.

After you got your first (unrestricted) driver's license, how long was it before you made your drive without adult supervision? If you're like, what I have to believe is 99% of the public, the answer is, "not very damned long!"

I can see the point you are making NudeDiver but firstly, often people do not leave OW courses comfortable in the water and may need a few guided dives afterwards. This is not their fault, more the fault of their instructor but what's done is done so if people need DMs for a bit afterwards, I can understand why.

Also your analogy with driving licenses is flawed in my opinion. Most people do not learn to drive in four days for one thing. I got my Learner's permit at 16 and had hundreds of hours of supervised driving experience in the two years before I could go for my license. Then I had three years on a Probationary license, where the rules are stricter than those who have full licenses (and even more so these days for new P plate drivers - can't have more than one passenger of the age 16-21, not allowed to use a hands free mobile, can't tow anything, etc so one is not allowed free reign even after they have their license).

I'd say 99% of people who had hundreds of hours of supervised diving experience would be happy to go out alone after certification

 

[ScubaSteve]

.....I can see the point you are making NudeDiver but firstly, often people do not leave OW courses comfortable in the water and may need a few guided dives afterwards. This is not their fault, more the fault of their instructor but what's done is done so if people need DMs for a bit afterwards, I can understand why.........

I think there is some that needs to be added here. The logic of not doing an unsupervised "dRive" after getting your license is flawed because most people do not as to have an experienced dRiver come along when they drive in a new subdivision. However, many divers of many experience levels, will gladly ask for a DM guide to show them a site before diving it alone. Depending on the site they may just ask questions about it, but many wull gladly dive with the DM then go their way after that.

Some people seem to translate "diving with a DM" into lack of experience. This is wrong. I believe that knowing when you should dive with a DM (for any reason) means that you are a safer diver already.

 

[BDSC]

After our four OW dives in the local quarry, my buddy and I drove to the Florida springs the following weekend for several dives by ourselves. About a month later I was in the Keys with another buddy from Atlanta diving the wrecks of the Duane and the Bibb. I'd say there were dives 14 or 15 or something like that. Those wrecks are fairly deep as I remember. I didn't have a DM but my buddy had about 150 dives at the time so I felt pretty good about it. I don't think I did another dive with a DM/Instructor until the next year when I did my AOW.

Most of my dives are done in the Caribbean and while there is almost always a DM in the water when boat diving, I seldom if ever stay close to the group.

 

[captain]

Well lets see, I started diving in 1957, got certified in 1970, not exactly sure how to answer the OP question. I guess it would be first dive before certification and first dive after certification.

 

[D_B]

Me and my buddy got our OW certs together, and we wanted to do another class that looked like it would be fun but our instructor suggested we get AOW first, so we did, and had a ball doing it .. we did not go on our own untill the last dive during AOW where the last dive was a fun dive and we were just ourselves. We have never been on a DM led dive and we both feel comfortable underwater