Newly PADI certified OW--Vision question

[mesomel]

Howdy all,

I just got certified yesterday. After my last certification dive myself and my (also new) buddy went for two dives on our own. Everything went very well. We are very safety conscious and did things slowly and nothing more than what we were comfortable with. We also practiced some skills we had learned to keep them fresh.

Anyway, the lake we were in the vis was about 10 feet. My buddy started pointing things out to me (there were a few sunk boats and a plane) and I'd look and all I would see was a dark blur. He was telling me all this detailed stuff he was seeing, like the instruments in the cockpit and all about the boats and honestly, I saw none of the details. All I could see was the general outline of the thing. Like I'd see the outline of the boats but couldn't tell much about them. I could see what was right in front of my face but more than a few feet away it all became nothing but a blur. He was going on about the details of the boats, which end was which, how big, all the instruments in the cockpit, etc

So obviously I am wondering why he could see so much better than me. I know my mask wasn't fogged. I do have myopia so I'm thinking that may be it?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!!

 

[Crush]

Welcome to diving!

If you had posted in this forum stating that, say, you were -1.25 diopters in each eye with no pronounced astigmatisms and you wanted to know if other divers with such vision functioned without a prescription mask or contact lenses, that would have been one thing. But you cannot post in this forum and expect a diagnosis of myopia. Based on your description you may well be myopic, of you may have a wide range of other problems. You really need to see your optometrist. THEN, post here.

 

[Diver0001]

Howdy all,

I just got certified yesterday. After my last certification dive myself and my (also new) buddy went for two dives on our own. Everything went very well. We are very safety conscious and did things slowly and nothing more than what we were comfortable with. We also practiced some skills we had learned to keep them fresh.

Anyway, the lake we were in the vis was about 10 feet. My buddy started pointing things out to me (there were a few sunk boats and a plane) and I'd look and all I would see was a dark blur. He was telling me all this detailed stuff he was seeing, like the instruments in the cockpit and all about the boats and honestly, I saw none of the details. All I could see was the general outline of the thing. Like I'd see the outline of the boats but couldn't tell much about them. I could see what was right in front of my face but more than a few feet away it all became nothing but a blur. He was going on about the details of the boats, which end was which, how big, all the instruments in the cockpit, etc

So obviously I am wondering why he could see so much better than me. I know my mask wasn't fogged. I do have myopia so I'm thinking that may be it?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!!

Do you normally wear glasses or lenses? If so what is the perscription?

R..

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Or perhaps your mask lens was not as clean and clear as it could have been.

 

[mesomel]

Thanks all for the responses. No, I don't wear glasses or contacts and my mask was clean and clear.

To Crush, I appreciate you answer. I wasn't intending to get a diagnosis from anyone on here. I was just generally wondering if this might be an issue that other people have had and was looking for any kind of ideas. Thanks again.

 

[Diver0001]

My best guess is that you may have been having a kind of perceptual narrowing that can happen if your free attention is overly engaged with other things. How were you feeling during that dive? Also, how deep were you during the dive?

R..

 

[LanceRiley]

maybe visibility was low. had this experience once... person in front of me was about 15 feet away and he was pointing forward tellng me it was a boat... i raised up both my hands ( i don't see / understand ) but as I got to where he was... the boat slowly took form

 

[Necklinsberg]

[Congratulations on passing OW!!!!]


Don't discount that your instructor may not have actually seen the instruments or any particular detail ON THAT DIVE.

Your instructor may have seen them over how ever many hundred dives they've done at that site.

Human mind tends to fill in details if they are missing or not observed.

 

[mesomel]

My best guess is that you may have been having a kind of perceptual narrowing that can happen if your free attention is overly engaged with other things. How were you feeling during that dive? Also, how deep were you during the dive?

R..

That's an interesting thought. I was feeling fine physically and mentally. My attention was definitely overly engaged with multiple things. The vis wasn't very good so I was very concerned about staying with my buddy for one thing. And the new experience of diving had my attention and senses on the high setting.

But when my buddy was pointing things out, I did try and focus on what he was seeing and excited about and I was thinking "what's exciting about a dark blob?"

Being brand new at this I'm not sure what to expect as far as vision and seeing things go. But obviously I have some kind of issue. I'm going to go to the eye doctor to ask them about it.

We were diving 25 feet about 10 feet vis.

Thanks everyone for your responses!

 

[davetowz]

I say dive again and again and look for repeat occurrence in different conditions... tell the boss that you need time off, a week or two maybe to ensure that you don't have an issue going on!