Nervous for Open Water Dives

[FJUK1]

Expecting to perform my open water dives (at a local quarry) within the next couple weeks. Feel comfortable with all the skills but I guess it's the increase in depth that I'm most worried about. Going from a 1.8M pool to doing our checkout dives up to 20M just makes me a little nervous, which I guess is natural. Any advice for me before performing these dives? In the UK and vis is predicted to be around 4-6ft. Thanks!

 

[tbone1004]

slow and relaxed with good technique, be quick but never hurry, as long as you're breathing everything else is gravy! mantras to live by but also to dive by. Remember that when the world starts spinning too fast for you to catch up the answer is to put the brakes on the earth and make it slow down to your speed vs. trying to race to catch up to it. Stop, breathe, think, breathe, act, breathe. Insert a couple extra breaths between each step if it helps.

Your nerves are completely normal, fear of the unknown and all that. Having a healthy respect for the water will do you well. Try to take in everything that's going on and enjoy the experience but know that your nerves are completely normal and even those of us that have a lot of experience and do crazy stuff feel get the jitters before going into a new environment

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

@tbone1004 has given you excellent advice. Good luck and have FUN!!

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Perfect advice from Tbone. We all went through it and its totally normal to be nervous or a bit apprehensive.... Trust your training, be slow and confident and methodical. You'll do great!

 

[Green Frog]

Ditto, to the above. Also, if you don’t quite understand something don’t be afraid to ask. Any good instructor would rather deal with a “dumb“ question before the dive than a stupid mistake during! Relax, breathe, and enjoy yourself. Diving is FUN.

 

[icechip]

Remember your training and focus on the cool experience of being underwater!

 

[TMHeimer]

Just gear up and go ahead and do it. We only did 25 feet (8 M?), which is standard here for the OW checkout dives. Even with years (decades) of snorkeling (aka shallow free diving), I felt a little weird before the first dive knowing we were going down to 20+ feet depth and not coming right up. It cleared up right away once we descended and started out from shore. Enjoy the moment.

 

[grantmac]

Buoyancy control gets significantly easier past 10m. That's a skill which is challenging for new divers and not having full control over can cause some anxiety.
Remember to constantly add a little air to your BCD as you descend to keep the rate of descent down. Expect to remove a little air on ascent to maintain a slow ascent. Try to use your lungs to begin a change in depth either direction.

 

[Boarderguy]

A diver whom I met once about 3 months before this specific day had been standing in the parking lot of a local dive spot hoping to see another diver. I went and stared at the water like I normally do and he approached me asking if I was diving today and introduced himself. I explained I was planning a solo dive to about 105 fsw (32m), but he was welcome to join if he wanted. He was very anxious and hesitant since he was a newer OW diver and had only been to 70 fsw (21m). I went over my plan with him and explained if he felt overwhelmed or outright scared to signal me and we'd stop and turn the dive. After talking things out he and I agreed on the plan to skim 100 fsw (30m) and head back before ndl told us to go up. It was a dark dive in low vis (1-2m at best) above and through the alge layer. Once we passed 70 fsw the waters cleared up to 20 feet of vis. We skimmed 102 fsw (31m) and he stayed on my shoulder the whole time. He understood that the deeper dive wasn't much different than he'd grown used to except needing to plan for a longer ascent and greater gas usage. It is the same procedures, same breathing, same buoyancy control, same signaling, same everything. He learned that where we live the best summer diving is deep to avoid zero vis in algae bloom.

Don't let the unknown deter you from seeing what's out there beyond the surface. Take it slow. Breathe in and out. Enjoy the views. Let the dive be a relaxed encounter with nature.

 

[undefined]

Here are my thoughts, for whatever little they may be worth to you.

Your instructor is not going to allow you to get hurt or ask you to do something that is likely to injure you. The key to all of diving is to stay calm, relax, solve whatever challenges you are presented with in the water (not by bolting to the surface), and simply keep breathing.

If you go into the experience knowing that diving is easy, millions of people with no extraordinary powers or latent talent do it every day, and anyone that can keep breathing and chill out can likely handle anything PADI teaches, you'll be fine. You are going into the water with a paid professional who makes a living teaching diving to normal people. Even if you close your eyes (perhaps when taking off your mask during one of your skills), they are still right there, watching you and ready to assist you if needed.

Just keep breathing. In and out. Nice and calm.

In recreational diving within no decompression limits, depth is your friend. Buoyancy control is easier at depth. I'd rather be at 20M than 3M - everything goes more smoothly at depth in my opinion.

Final thought.... you are learning how to be a DIVER not a FLOATER. When you learned to drive a car, you likely didn't jump out of the car any time something challenged you. Likewise, you should try to face situations in the water and not seek out the surface as some magical panacea. Drivers don't learn to drive by getting out of the car, pilots don't learn to fly by jumping out of the airplane, surgeons don't learn to operate by running out of the operating room, nor should divers look to the surface as a solution for things they can easily resolve underwater.

Be calm. Keep breathing. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You've got this.