Logging Shallow Dives? ex. Rivers

[NothingClever]

Same as others here...dive count is not the best measuring stick.

I’d train for where you intend to dive once certified and the conditions and requirements you’re likely to encounter there.

If that’s shallow rivers, you’re in luck.

If it’s the ocean with strong currents, then you’ll need to adjust your training plan or modify your desired training outcome.

At any rate, I’d train to exceed the instructor’s “underwater interview” and skills inventory.

For those things you can’t get to, make it clear you need some focused attention on that skill.

 

[wstorms]

My mistake, I guess the PADI course has modified focus since first introduced, and I hadn't bothered to update. Back then I was told explicitly "it's not a solo cert. It's to become a safer diver through self-reliance, not a solo diver, which is unsafe." I see the PADI course description now (and maybe for a long time) clearly identifies solo diving as the goal. Thanks for the correction.

Your point is still valid; the objective is increased self reliance, not solo diving. However, one of the achieved outcomes is the ability to dive solo. Mostly an agency marketing / positioning thing if you ask me. There is a subtle difference between "we encourage you to dive solo" and "we encourage you to increase your safety as much as possible, and as an extra benefit this means you are also qualified to do solo dives".

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Does anyone log dives without counting them, or keep separate counts or sub-counts? I was thinking about volunteering at the aquarium at some point, but I'm not sure I want to someday tell people I have X dives when half of those were in a fish tank. I was thinking maybe I'd log those but have a separate count: A1, A2, etc. I already track within my total dive count certain types of dives (beach, night, deep) because I like having more detailed stats (e.g. I have X dives but only Y% of those involved surf entries.)

I “log” everything in my log book for information purposes...even pool/confined water dives. However, only open water dives receive a dive number. Pool/confined water dives are noted with a ‘X’ in the ‘Dive Number’ blank (not counted towards my total)

p.s. I must not have had thread notifications set up properly for this thread. My bad (I’m still very interested in this topic).

Edit: The main reasons that I want a solo cert are: 1. The class would be a valuable learning opportunity...I’m sure that I’d get a lot out of it, and 2. It would be nice to be able to make a trip down to the quarry/lake and putter around solo. Ex. While I was diving today, I happened upon the largest school of small fish that I’d ever seen there (extremely young bass or bluegill). I would have floated along with them longer (I wish I had my camera with me), but I didn’t want to bore my buddy.

Everywhere else that I’d want to dive solo (ex. Shore dives, Cooper River, Meg Ledges, etc.), I don’t need to have the cert (though the course knowledge would obviously be nice to have).

 

[tursiops]

We all know there is some sort of parameter for an "official" dive. Like 15' for 20 minutes or something like that. Not sure where any agency has written that down and don't care.

No, we don't all know that....except for training dives, where the depth/time minimums ARE written down by the agencies. For just diving, a dive is what you call it. If I'm teaching solo/self-reliant then the 100 is a minimum. I look at variety, difficulty, task loading....

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

No, we don't all know that....except for training dives, where the depth/time minimums ARE written down by the agencies. For just diving, a dive is what you call it. If I'm teaching solo/self-reliant then the 100 is a minimum. I look at variety, difficulty, task loading....

I’m definitely going for variety. Well...until this summer. I’m just happy to get any dives in at the moment.

 

[tursiops]

I’m definitely going for variety. Well...until this summer. I’m just happy to get any dives in at the moment.

Yeah. By this time I should have made 6 dive trips to three continents...instead I made one in January plus two one-day trips to the local quarry.

 

[shoredivr]

We all know there is some sort of parameter for an "official" dive. Like 15' for 20 minutes or something like that. Not sure where any agency has written that down and don't care.
Agree it probably varies a lot from instructor to instructor, shop to shop, as to what counts. I wouldn't know myself since no instructor (or dive charter for that matter) has ever looked at my log book. That includes for the DM course (maybe they trusted me because I got my OW and other courses there?).
I log all dives (except pool of course).

That parameter of x minutes for x depth is part of a *training dive* scenario. What you do after your training and what depth and time you log is up to you.

 

[RX8Bob]

We all know there is some sort of parameter for an "official" dive. Like 15' for 20 minutes or something like that. Not sure where any agency has written that down and don't care.

I typically go based on whether my computer starts recording a dive. I once spent over 3 hours above 5 feet while working at one point, with a few short trips to about 20', would you not count that simply because it was not below 15' for 20 minutes? My head was underwater, I was performing a task, i was on scuba, i would count it as a dive.

 

[TMHeimer]

I typically go based on whether my computer starts recording a dive. I once spent over 3 hours above 5 feet while working at one point, with a few short trips to about 20', would you not count that simply because it was not below 15' for 20 minutes? My head was underwater, I was performing a task, i was on scuba, i would count it as a dive.

I have done maybe half a dozen dives somewhat like that. If I go through the trouble of gearing up and my head submerges, for me it's a dive. There have been a few places (notably Miss. shore dives) where I have spent the whole dive-- maybe 45 minutes-- in 5-10' of water because that's where the shells are. Plus you'd have to go out a quarter mile to get any deeper in Miss. Sound. Or, you can go to the casino.....

 

[Esprise Me]

I was thinking about this thread yesterday. My buddy's spool came unclipped when he splashed in, and quickly unwound behind him as the current swept him behind the boat. I was in the water first, saw what happened, and offered to get it for him. I followed the line down and back toward the boat, got the spool, and wound it back up to the surface (the attached DSMB was still floating at the other end.) The dive lasted 7 minutes (I didn't bother with a safety stop) and had a max depth of 32 feet. I thought about whether to log it at all, and whether to combine it with the dive we did together immediately after. But I've been really into tracking my SAC rate lately. I just did my solo cert and bought a 19 cu ft pony, which some folks think isn't big enough but which I feel I can defend with my stats. I'm still working on thin-slicing exactly what drives up my heart rate and breathing (and by how much), and I wanted to be able to quantify what was happening on that dive--solo, swimming into a current, winding up the spool--and separate it from the dive after. So I logged it separately, because that best satisfied the purposes for which I'm keeping my log. I already have over 100 dives that were deemed sufficient to take the solo course, so now my log is whatever I want it to be. And I want it to be nerdy rather than modest.