Lets tell the less experienced what our OWC was like..... ( if you remember)

[Katie K]

Hi.

Im Katie, I have been diving for 3 years now. I fell in love with diving after my BF made me try it. I was scared of diving because i thought I was going to drown.... I remember panicking and standing up the first time I flooded my mask. I keep picking the hole mask off my face and blowing and It just wouldn't clear for me. I sort of remember my first OWD, The vis was good and all I could think about was how cool the big orange blobs were (sunflower sea stars), and that The coolest thing ever weer the cool white slugs. After the First Ow dive the instructor told us that our buoyancy was good and that he wanted us to concentrate on it for the next dive. Feeling confident and probably a little overwhelmed we started the second dive (almost my last dive ever) Half way through I noticed two other divers I was a little excited and waved and watched them. I also noticed that my fin strap had slipped of my heal so I sat up and without thinking put it on. Now I thought I was fine because I could still see the other diver just fine, WRONG...... I was at the surface and my instructor 30 feet below. I remember like it was yesterday he was looking up at me, and put a hand on is head and shook it :depressed:. The hole establish buoyancy thin out the window....... eeeeee
I was so embarrassed and was sure I just failed the course, Thanks to the instructor, I finished the course. Now I have almost 300 dives, a tech course and Im an instructor. It is an addiction sport.


I hope that by sharing our newbe experiences with some of you will eliminate the fear of not being as good as the other guy. We all start somewhere, and it is up to you were you end....


"Submerse Yourself"

KT

 

[blackvans1234]

My first OW descent was very slow, and I still had to ascend to equalize my ears.
I remember the water (dutch springs, june) was cold, even at 25 feet. As a pices the water is very natural to me. Equalizing is another story. Out of my five OW dives, only one did not give me problems with equalizing upon DESCENT. Luckily, I was a natural at buoyancy, as was my sister. During OW dives 3/4/5 I was hovering over the platform (not high above, didnt wanna make my instructors nervous )
Think I witnessed another student in another class do a ''panicked'' ascent from 20 feet or so

Fun times, glad to be in warm water now

 

[TSandM]

I kept a detailed journal of my open water class -- the link is in my sig line. I still vividly remember being the "awkward child" who was sent off in the corner with the DM on every pool session. Today, I AM the DM who is sent off with the awkward child, and I remember, and I try to be as patient and kind and wonderful as the folks who were tasked with me managed to be.

I am the poster child for the lession that, with sufficient determination, ANYBODY can learn to dive. I had and have no native aptitude, and everything I've learned has come slowly and at the cost of much hard work. But today, I have technical and cave certs, and more importantly, I dive well enough to have a wonderful time in almost any conditions. If I can do it, so can you!

 

[AfterDark]

So long ago I don't remember.

 

[jimmyz19]

The first time in the pool with scuba gear on was exciting enough for me to know that if open water was anything like that, I was going to be hooked. Open Water was more than I expected and so much better then the pool, I was hooked! On my first descent in open water I remember saying to myself, “what are you doing, you belong on land”. That thought was short lived, I then started thinking about all the stuff that I was seeing for the first time and also trying to remember everything I learned during class and not messing up on my skills check outs. After doing all of the skills check outs we had a short surface interval followed by a dive led by the instructor. For me seeing the underwater world is a dream come true. I finished my OW class in July of this year; I have already completed my Nitrox cert and AOW cert. Just in the last couple of months I have already logged 30 dives and starting to think what my next step/goal will be for this sport that I have fallen in love with in a very short amount of time.
Happy and safe diving,
Jim

 

[Rythmmaker]

First experience for me was terrible. I didn't know any better and decided on a whim to try the offered "resort course" at a Jamaican all-inclusive. There were communication problems (he wasn't a native speaker of English) and he was very cavalier and did not take time to help me really understand anything. So after literally 10 minutes of pool time I found myself being pushed backwards over the gunwhale of a small dive boat into open water. Panic, overbreathing the reg, CO2 all combined to convince me that I was going to die before I completed that first descent. I made it back on the boat safely and decided that diving was not for me.

Fortunately, I decided a couple of years later to give it one more shot and my LDS (Dive, Dive, Dive; in Lawrenceville, GA) got me back into the pool for an afternoon of "Discover Scuba" and I soon realized that with proper instruction and patient teachers I not only was able to do it, but found that I absolutely loved it.

My son took the classes with me (he was 15 at the time) and we now dive together. It is a wonderful father-son activity, and I can't imagine many other activities we could enjoy together as much as diving, and I get some priceless face-time with my college sophomore.

 

[TMHeimer]

OW checkout dives went fine. We were all overweighted, so lots of ups and downs. Proper weighting and Peak Perf. Buoyancy course fixed that. My biggest concern was remembering how to put all that equipment together, having the memory I do.

 

[inventor]

I like to tell about how in my first pool dive, I'd flip out with any water in my mask, meaning like two tiny droplets under my nose. Had to buy a purge mask, before my second dive. A year later , with 20 some dives, had strap issues leading to constant mask flooding. I was following a fish, and my dive buddy had to remind me to clear my mask. It was half full, and I was tilting my head to see the fish out of one eye.

The story of the moral is, you will quickly develop your skills and abilities. Don't sweat it, just enjoy the experiences.

 

[Tool Belt]

Not so much the first dive......but at around #20 I did deep, dry suit and night all at once.....maybe not so smart.......

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was an overeager puppy who couldn't do anything right ... mostly because I was trying too hard. What I lacked in skill I made up for in enthusiasm ... fortunately I had a LOT of enthusiasm. Also fortunately, I had an instructor with a lot of patience. I think I gave the poor guy some gray hairs ... he retired from teaching scuba shortly after my class ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)