My first in water situation....

[topflowerrubberforever]

i was on the last dive to complete my advanced open water training . the instructor was laid back and really cool . i was with 2 friends.. one was completing the course and another was just there to dive. we decided beforehand that after the exercises were completed we would take off our fins and just do sumersaults and stuff.. then we inflated our bc's a bit and jumped on to the ship (that was by far the coolest thing i have everdone) then as i got up i was putting my fins on and after i had put them on.. i was a bit behind so i didnt get to go inside the ship with the rest. i couldnt see any bubbles blowing so i decided to wait a minute or so.. i sat down and waited.. i stayed calm all the time.. my heart started to beat faster and i felt that maybe i should have went inside to look for them. but i faced reality and said to myself "no just stay..and plus i dont have a light" a minute or two later i saw my two friends leave the wreck just a meter away from where i was waiting.. i asked them where the instructor was and they didnt know... so we just huddled up and continued our dive. we ascended a bit after that and the instructor came soon after that. all in all it was ok.. but diving alone is freaky.

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

A wreck penetration on an Advanced Open Water dive? Is this the norm/allowed? My impression from the PADI AOW course is that wreck penetration is only permitted on/after Wreck Speciality course.

Yes, I know, you can do what you want, PADI plastic card or not. But with an Instructor leading the dive, I would expect adherence to the rules.

Or am I totally wrong about the wreck penetration bit?

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[miketsp]

With most of the operators I know, penetrating a wreck without specific qualification gets you black listed, even if you are a paying customer. you don't dive again with them.

 

[topflowerrubberforever]

it was the instructor who decided not us.. and there was a wreck dive on the AOW but i dont know about penetration. the instructor i heard got stuck in the ship a week earlier and had to have the students take his gear through a window then he came through it or something.. i dunno maybe i shouldnt go to that centre.. but they are the best in the country according to service and everything else.. there is another center which is sooo close to my house.. but they charge skyhigh prices and i dont know about their safety policies

 

[H2Andy]

wow... man....

never dive with that instructor again if you can confirm
the bit about getting stuck

on second thought, if he led you into a wreck without
training, never dive with him again anyway

 

[scubafool]

Ditto. I obviously don't know your experience & skill level, nor that of your buddies, but I am assuming that none of you were familiar with overhead enviroment diving. If so, leading your group into a wreck was irresponsible to say the least. Hanging outside & waiting was probably the best thing you could have done. Consider if you had penetrated the wreck & 50 feet in had gotten completely silted out in a cloud left by the rest of the group? Would you have been able to find the way out in zero vis? You said that the instructor exited after the rest of the party? Considering that he was the leader, it seems to me that he should stay with the group, most particularily in a potentially dangerous situation such as an overhead enviroment.

 

[topflowerrubberforever]

well next week i am going to get some free dive experience there. the deal is i get full rental equipment and boat ride in exchange for showing the tourists AROUND the wrecks. i dont think i'll be near that instructor. do you guys think i should go for it? or just switch dive centers??

Thanks a lot btw
i only realised yesterday the severity of what happened..i am careful on any dive deep of shallow... i sometimes spend more time checking my gear and gauges and where i am then conducting the dive

Jay