Okay, I'm not going to read through all these posts. But it is apparent to me that this particular course is not one for you. That does not mean that scuba diving is not for you, but this is an accelerated course, meant to get a student out in minimum time. You did on-line testing, then a practical set of skills. But this course did not give you time in the water, simply getting comfortable with being underwater.
Someone above on page one recommended that you take a mask and snorkel, no fins, and go to the beach just to get used to the mask and snorkel. That's a good idea, but go to a pool first. When more comfortable, then go to the beach. You simply need more time in the water to get a "feel" for how this new-to-you gear functions.
This experience of diving is something you've been looking forward to for a very long time, from your first text. Well, a lot of us started diving only after being in the water for a long time. For me, I was on the YMCA Swim Team, my North Salem High School swim team, and numerous pool experiences before starting scuba diving. I remember getting a mask and snorkel and trying them out in the YMCA pool in Salem, Oregon. I was learning how to clear the snorkel, and my Mom later chewed me out for surfacing and blowing out the snorkel tube, right into the face of my YMCA swim team coach, Mrs. Lengel. (She had been an Olympic silver medalist in the breast stroke in the 1930s). Well, I told Mom that I could not even see up above my head, as my head was in the water when I cleared the snorkel.
My first experience with scuba was when a guy brought his tank and regulator (a double hose regulator) into the YMCA pool, and allowed me to use it. The harness was too large for me, so I simply hugged it and in about five feet of water sank down to the bottom and simply breathed off the unit for about five minutes. The simply sensation of breathing underwater was so new, so wonderful, that this was all I did. All I had was a mask and the scuba unit. I had my ears pressurized for over a day afterwards (I had not yet learned how to equalize my ears).
Years later, I was a NAUI Instructor and helped Midge Cramer with his basic scuba course at Oregon State University. This was a three credit hour course, and lasted a full term (3 months) meeting twice a week. He had the potential divers do a lot of snorkel exercises, getting used to the gear, then went to scuba. The scuba units he used were single steel tanks with a Healthways Scuba Deluxe regulator, which was a double hose regulator. And Midge had the students in these units for hours before any exercises. He then showed them how to clear the hoses, their masks, etc. But it was a wonderful course, which culminated with a trip to Hawaii for some real dives.
In my judgement, you were not the problem; it was the course design that was the problem. You need a lot more time with the equipment to get familiar with it, to understand the mechanics and biomechanics of diving, and to enjoy the experiences of being able to see underwater, and breath underwater. So give yourself some time, and get to the pool to do some fun exploration of this new, wonderful underwater world.
SeaRat
