New Divers, looking for advice.

[Squalus]

Rock, you can come out and hang out with me anytime

 

[ScubaRook]

Thanks for the help guys.

DMP, Are you going on the scheduled group dives this year? My wife and I would be happy to dive with you. And, when we decide to have kids I'll have to find a new dive buddy for about 9 months

 

[RPanick]

Paula has some really good advice.

One more thought to add to it. You need to learn to be self sufficient as a diver. Don't get dependent on following someone else. That can get you into situations you aren't ready for. Which already sounds like the case. With just your open water dives you should not have been doing dives in the 70-110 foot range. You should have been staying relatively shallow. It concerns me that you were doing such deep dives, most Dive Masters check for experience before going that deep.

Your statement about not having to worry about navigation and concentrate on diving can get you in trouble. What happens if you get separated, then what do you do.

Now, having said that, don't get discouraged. Your LDS probably has some divers that are willing to help you out and make some simple dive plans. You can likely follow along with them, but you should know where you are at all times and how to get back. If you don't then the dive is probably too complex.

Most of the quaries and even some of the lakes have simple navigation requirements. Follow the wall until you reach your turnaround point, then come back. Others have lines you can follow out and back in. Gilboa has all kinds of lines you can follow right from the dock out to things to see. That makes navigation pretty easy.

Your first few dives may be just to swim out to the platform and practice your buoyancy. Nice part is there isn't much loading and you will get more comfortable with your gear. As you get more comfortable you can start expanding what you do on each dive. This reduces the stess you will face and builds confidence and the practice you need to get good at it.

As Paula said, get to know your LDS, you can consider it almost a social club, and we spend a lot more talking than we do diving.

 

[ScubaRook]

Paula has some really good advice.

One more thought to add to it. You need to learn to be self sufficient as a diver. Don't get dependent on following someone else. That can get you into situations you aren't ready for. Which already sounds like the case. With just your open water dives you should not have been doing dives in the 70-110 foot range. You should have been staying relatively shallow. It concerns me that you were doing such deep dives, most Dive Masters check for experience before going that deep.

Your statement about not having to worry about navigation and concentrate on diving can get you in trouble. What happens if you get separated, then what do you do.

Now, having said that, don't get discouraged. Your LDS probably has some divers that are willing to help you out and make some simple dive plans. You can likely follow along with them, but you should know where you are at all times and how to get back. If you don't then the dive is probably too complex.

Most of the quaries and even some of the lakes have simple navigation requirements. Follow the wall until you reach your turnaround point, then come back. Others have lines you can follow out and back in. Gilboa has all kinds of lines you can follow right from the dock out to things to see. That makes navigation pretty easy.

Your first few dives may be just to swim out to the platform and practice your buoyancy. Nice part is there isn't much loading and you will get more comfortable with your gear. As you get more comfortable you can start expanding what you do on each dive. This reduces the stess you will face and builds confidence and the practice you need to get good at it.

As Paula said, get to know your LDS, you can consider it almost a social club, and we spend a lot more talking than we do diving.

Thanks Bob. Great advice and I did not even think of it that way. A second shop I stopped at today suggested going out to Lake Interstate and the two of us could go on our own. Since the lake is at most 25 feet deep, and supposedly about 80 degrees surface and low/mid 70's on bottom then would should be quite safe. He also said to just remember the training and practice the skills a few times at Lake interstate before going anywhere a little more advanced.

What do you think? I think I would need a little safety gear like a dive flag and cable, knife and flashlight. I don't have any ot that stuff yet. Would be good to get a little more comfortable and then to Gilboa for some practice navigating and planning dives. I don't think Lake Interstate has any boats on it, but I am sure it has some fishing lines.