The problem with choosing a class
based on agency alone is that you have no idea how good the instructor is going to be...or whether the pace of the class will match your pace of learning.
The quality of your learning experience will be directly related to the quality of the instruction. You want to get the best instructor possible regardless of his/her agency affiliation. Ask around locally and here on ScubaBoard. Talk to local divers. Join a local scuba club. Experienced divers will be able to direct you to a good instructor. Heck,
interview the instructor
before signing up for the class. I realize that most dive shops don't have things set up this way, but you need to be assertive in directing the process. After all, it's
your learning experience that's at stake.
It does sound as though you would have a better experience in a private or semi-private scuba class. Larger classes mean that the instructor has less time to spend with each individual student and, with the design of modern scuba classes, there's very little wiggle room to accommodate students who don't "get" the skills right away. On a separate but related note, most instructors don't give students enough repetitions with the skills to achieve proficiency, much less "mastery." That's just a consequence of the way some agency standards are written, how the instructors interpret those standards, and the time pressure placed on the instructors by the shop to push students through the certification process.
You need to be in good physical shape to dive safely. This means that diving (including walking to and from the water's edge on a shore dive) should
not be the most strenuous activity in your life. If it is, that's a clear sign that you should be stepping up your aerobic and strength workouts. For what it's worth, schlepping dive gear around will get easier with practice. Moreover, as you gain experience in the water, you'll learn to be more efficient with your fin kicks and other aspects of diving.
Sounds like you sustained a case of middle ear barotrauma. It's quite common in scuba students. As others have mentioned, you need to equalize early and often during initial descent. Pre-pressurizing at the surface can help. Instructors typically don't spend enough time explaining all of the different techniques for ear equalization. The hold-your-nose-and-blow-against-a-closed-glottis (Valsalva) technique never worked well for me. I prefer the
Roydhouse maneuver.
With some practice, you'll get the hang of establishing neutral buoyancy and hovering. Every beginner starts off learning how to hover by taking shallow breaths, which we all know isn't "normal" breathing. As you gain experience, you'll learn to set neutral buoyancy using your BCD at the middle of your breathing cycle (midpoint of tidal volume). Then, as you exhale/inhale normally, you'll be oscillating around that point of neutral buoyancy. Since there's a slight delay between when you inhale and when you rise in the water column (or when you exhale and sink), you can time your breathing so that the oscillation is dampened somewhat. With the proper timing, it is possible to breathe normally (with normal or near-normal tidal volume) without moving up/down too much in the water column.
For what it's worth, I think you made some good decisions during your OW training. You did the right thing getting out of your wetsuit during the surface interval in order to warm up. This is a luxury you have during shore dives (vs. being on a crowded dive boat). You should also be commended for having the courage to abort the dive when you found yourself too exhausted to conduct Dive #2 safely.
With regard to the perceived dinner snub, chances are, the diver you asked to notify you about dinner plans just forgot to call you. Or, maybe he thought you weren't going to be spending the second night at the hotel since you aborted Dive #2. I wouldn't read too much into it.
Best of luck with everything...
