Nervous In The Water

[DandyDon]

And order a copy of "Certified Divers Handbook," by Clay Coleman. A great help for a new diver. $16 at Amazon, I think. rofile:

 

[verona]

Yes, it's very normal. As you gain more experience it will change though you may still have a little bit of butterflies! Enjoy

 

[cmcarver]

If surface conditions permit, breath off your snorkle face down for several minutes to get used to breathing in the water thru a restrictive air source. This has helped me in the past. Most of my diving is Quarries and allows calm surface conditions. I have finally started not needing this now.

 

[Fishinghawk]

Thanks for all the help guys - I'm really looking forward to my next dive. No tasks to perform just going to try and relax and enjoy.

Thanks again
Jeff

 

[Glitch]

As everyone else already pointed out this is totally normal and will go away the more experienced you become. I'm currently doing my DM course here in Sweden and I think for every next level I have gone to in diving a nerviousness has kicked in. Funny thing is on my OW course I was super relaxed the entire course then for the AOW I got a bit antsy just before the deep dive. That went away pretty quickly and after a few more dives I was super relaxed in the water. Then for my rescue I got a bit nervous again although that I think had more to do with me putting pressure on myself having to perform well in order not to be disappointed in myself rather than being nervous about the diving part. Didn't get the rescue breathing/towing part perfeclty right the first time so I got supernervous when I did it a few more times but then it felt good again.

Then when I started my DM course here all of a sudden I had to start diving in a dry suit in really cold water (10C on my second dive here) with about 1-3 meters vis and mostly pitch black around me. Now that was nervous but after about 5-6 dives it felt normal and natural to be in the water again. Now I'm mostly nervous before every new module in the course which once again has to do with my fear of failure.

My point is there will always be an element of nervousness when attempting something new especially in Scuba which is very safe but still there is a risk of things going terribly wrong. Experience removes nervousness just don't let things become so routine that you start compromising you own safety by overestimating your ability as a diver. As various people have pointed out take time to practice your skills with your buddy especially if it is someone you are going to dive with more than once. A good way to kill some time on a safety stop for example is practicing OOA situations, switching masks, freeflow breathing .etc do this while hovering and you also practice your bouyancy well. Although if not entirely comfortable with your bouyancy try to stay near a line or something so in case you drift up you can just grab it and swim down/hold on to it

Most important of all DIVE DIVE DIVE and have fun otherwise it's completely pointless

 

[RIDIVER501]

Sound pretty normal to me. The more you dive the more at ease you'll become.
Soon diving we be about as nerve wracking as tying your shoes.

 

[verrerie]

I didn't even go down my first dive but i felt really ashamed after and dad got to c lots of seals and i didn't.

But i think it's normal.

Amy