Just got certified in Maui now have a few ?'s about Oahu and Air Consumption

[pasley]

Congratulations on being certified. You are right on track on your air. We all started there. You are also right on track as to the cause...poor buoyancy control. Once you get truly neutral in the water you will be able to stop failing your hands around (you are actually paddling to keep from sinking because you need one more millisecond of air in the BC). Poor air consumption is not a factor of breathing but a symptom of any one or combination of:
buoyancy control
proper weighting (goes with buoyancy control)
excitability/anxiety
physical conditioning (the fit use less air).
Gender - never get in a SAC contest with a female. Females tend to use less air than males.
Relaxation - moving slowly in the water like the fish do. Speed makes wasted air.
Currents and work load.

Righ now, buoyancy is probably still an issue, some up and down (waiting for the first small burst of air to overcome downward momentum before adding a second small burst of air) as si the excitment of being underwater. Give it time and work on the above, and above all enjoy the dive.

 

[pasley]

....Would it be a good idea to get a pair of webbed gloves? I saw a pair here for about $20.00 at maui dive shop. ....!

The gloves are for swimmers (usually in the pool) or divers with specific types of handicap who use them in place of fins. They are not useful for a SCUBA diver with fins on their feet.

I have done many dives where during the surface interval I coached my dive buddy to quit waiving his/her hands around and to park them in front of them or under their tank moving them only to check their gages. On the second dive at the same site, same day they always add at least 15 minutes to their bottom time.

 

[Buoyant1]

Congrats....don't worry, it gets better! The more you dive, the less you THINK about breathing, and just do it. (then it gets better)

I still have a "weird hand" once in a while so I just put something into it, and it cures that "need" to move! (like a light or a camera)

Keep diving!

 

[meesier42]

I just noticed a couple of people recommending 3Tables and Sharks Cove. I would NOT recommend them, as navigation is a little more difficult. They are fantastic dives if you can find a someone to lead you about.

The other place that is newb friendly is Haunama Bay, just make sure that you save a bunch of air to get home with (800-1000psi). The left side of the Bay is really nice and you don't have to go out that far. There is a 15' wide split from right in the middle of the Bay (right in front of the lifegaurd station) that you head in and out with, just be aware that the water that breaks over the reef all flows out right there, so coming in through it can be a little rough as you have to fight a reasonable current. DO NOT HEAD OUT OF THE BAY, I don't expect that you would as it is a really long swim, but if you do there is a nasty current (Molokai Express) out there.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

There is one that I can happily recommend for you though... Magic Island (aka Ala Moana Beach Park).

:no :mooner:

For starters, The Ala Wai Canal dumps the most polluted and toxic water in the entire State of Hawaii into the Ala Wai Channel which is the high boat traffic access to the Ala Wai Harbor and the beginning/end of this dive. There is either a significant muck dive or surface swim at both the beginning and the end of this dive, where you are either next to or under the boat traffic and in the nastiest water possible in Hawaii (other than the harbors themselves). Since this is a stream outflow, if you end your dive during the outbound tide with tradewinds blowing offshore you better have saved enough air to hug the channel bottom/wall as the surface current will not let most divers back to the exit point.

Secondly, summer time is when the surf swells are on the South Shore and the flat and glassy diving conditions are on the North Shore. With only the cheapest OW course dives in the State, that obviously didn't include proper finning/buoyancy/trim/breathing instruction there is really no dive that should be attempted without a local guide. I am not saying you have to hire a guide, but at the very least join one of the Hawaii O'hana SB members on any other dive than Magic Island. When I worked there we only took divers there when there was no other option, which was usually the Winter Holidays when no other shore dive had better than 10' vis!

 

[Blackwood]

2. When I breath, I adjusted my reg to increase the breathing resistance and put the tip of my tongue upwards against the back of my front teeth- This helped take lighter breaths- it seemed when my reg was "wide open" it was too tempting to take these huge deep breaths. The tongue trick help me sip at the air more than suck air

:11:

In the long run, the easier it is to breathe, the less you will breathe.

 

[bdshort]

"It was a 3 day 6 dive class (all ocean no pool time). It was only three people in the class and was $189 that included 100% of the gear"

No one else thought to comment on how CHEAP that is???

I noticed it, even thought commenting about it, but didn't. But now I will...

That's a REALLY cheap class! Mine was $350 (not including the required gear). I'm wondering about the no pool time as well, as I thought most agencies required 4 confined water dives (doesn't specifically say the municipal swimming pool, but that is usually what is used) and 4 open water dives. Was this a full scuba class or just a discovery type class?

MAUI DIVING Scuba Center/Snorkel Shop. Open Water Certification <--- This looks like the class he took, which seems to indicate it's the full open water class. They say they can offer it so cheaply because they certify so many people a year.

 

[DiveMaven]

We got certified 4 years ago on Maui (different dive operator) and did all of our training in the ocean as well. The "confined" water dives were in a very calm, shallow area of the ocean. Our 4 other dives were off a boat.

 

[NUDIVER2008]

Congratualtions and welcome to ScubaBoard!

I'm not certified yet but I noticed my air consumptiom in my Discover Scuba course. When I read the thread I realized I was flailing a lot too. Our group had great instructors but we didnt have time to be critiqued. Thank for bring it up, because I eventually would have been asking somebody.

Thanks again, Larry P

 

[penywisexx]

I decided instead of diving Oahu, I would just dive again in Lahaina. I went out with Lahaina Divers to Turtle Town and did two dives there. I rented a larger tank (100 cf), my first dive I followed around the divemaster and after 35 minutes I surfaced with about 500psi of air left. The next dive I just went with my wife and we did our own thing, were able to relax more and I pulled 45 minutes out of my tank before exiting with 500psi. I was able to move at my own pace, take more breaks and just have a more relaxing time overall.

We saw a ton of Turtles down there and got some awesome photos, I'll post those next week somewhere.

Thanks for all of the great advice, I flailed less and just relaxed and my air consumption improved greatly. I'm thinking now I'll be just fine on 100's or even 80's when I decide to buy my gear.