Open Water Checkout Dives This Week
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Relax, keep breathing...
iluvtheocean
Contributor
have fun and relax!!!!!!! the skills are easy if you relax and then you have the rest of the dive to play/look around. after you finish the checkout dives -- if you still have time there are tons of dives in the keys and north. oh and don't forget the Dramamine!!! better safe than sick! chewable is best. don't wanna chew a regular one by accident.
Lee Viathan
Registered
Firstly, Congratulations on getting your confined water dives accomplished! Secondly, trust your training and trust yourself. As previously stated, "Relax and Keep Breathing". You are diving with someone (spouse) who you can trust in a bind. This is something that will help alleviate some stress in itself!
My wife is heading to Islamorada the last week in October for her checkout dives. It took me a year to get her off the bench and into the water, but I'm excited for the trip as well.
Good Luck and Good Diving!
P.S. We need an update when you get back!
LEE
My wife is heading to Islamorada the last week in October for her checkout dives. It took me a year to get her off the bench and into the water, but I'm excited for the trip as well.
Good Luck and Good Diving!
P.S. We need an update when you get back!
LEE
As the others above have said, relax and enjoy. Breath deeply and just enjoy the experience. Warm water checkouts are great, as opposed to our fabulous, cold, low viz quarries in our locale.
Good luck,
Terry
Good luck,
Terry
Plan to have fun!
Plan ahead, get to the shop/boat early, make sure you have everything. No need to add stress of running late, not being prepared, etc.
If going off a boat keep seasickness in mind. Careful with breakfast: easy on coffee, fruit, and anything else acidic or greasy. Bring some ginger snaps, or better yet Trader Joe's Ginger cookies. They have crystallized ginger. Ginger settles stomach. Set your gear up while at dock. Ultimately, if you have to heave, embrace it; heave over the side of the boat, downwind, with everything you've got. We've all been there.
If you're very susceptible to seasickness, have bananas for breakfast. They don't actually do anything, but they are the only food that tastes the same coming up as it did going down.
:d
Plan ahead, get to the shop/boat early, make sure you have everything. No need to add stress of running late, not being prepared, etc.
If going off a boat keep seasickness in mind. Careful with breakfast: easy on coffee, fruit, and anything else acidic or greasy. Bring some ginger snaps, or better yet Trader Joe's Ginger cookies. They have crystallized ginger. Ginger settles stomach. Set your gear up while at dock. Ultimately, if you have to heave, embrace it; heave over the side of the boat, downwind, with everything you've got. We've all been there.
If you're very susceptible to seasickness, have bananas for breakfast. They don't actually do anything, but they are the only food that tastes the same coming up as it did going down.
:d
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Review the pool skills in your head, you will do most of them again in the ocean. Re-read the manual and go through the skills' motions. Enjoy the Keys!
I will echo several of RJP's comments!
Good advance communication with whatever op you will be using is worthwhile. A phone call to ask, what is the schedule, what should I bring, etc. is a good way to become comfortable with what you are going to do.RJP:
I had to chuckle. I wish someone had mentioned that to me (set your gear up at the dock). I didn't get sick on the boat, but it would have been a lot easier than trying to set up at the site. We don't want to put you off by raising the possibility of seasickness, though. These are just good suggestions for prevention.RJP:
Years ago, I did my OW dives in Ft. Lauderdale, having finished Confined Water in NC. We flew down the afternoon before, and drove over to the shop after we checked into the motel, just to be sure we knew where we were going, AND to meet our instructor. That made getting there the next morning easier. All went well during our dives, but I hadn't thought about what I would experience on the boat, and the shop / Instructor didn't think to mention it. My son and I were on a boat charter with probably 10 certified divers - boy did I feel like a noob. It wasn't a bad experience, I just wasn't thinking about - actually I didn't know anything about - dive boat procedures. A big one in most cases - you don't need to bring a lot on a dive boat. Just you and your basic gear. Find out if drinks are provided, or if you need to bring some plastic bottles of liquid for hydration.
Are you going to be using gear provided by the op / Instructor doing the OW dives? If so, do you have any unique size requirements? If you do, let them know in advance. If you have already bought gear, not a bad idea to let them know what you will be using.
Don't forget to take your log book. I had a referral student show up one time and tell me (at the dive site) she had never gotten a log book. My bad for not mentioning it in advance.
I prefer to communicate with the referring Instructor, by email, before I ever see the students. So, I ask OW referrals to provide the contact information for their previous instructor in advance, in case that individual doesn't take the initiative to contact me. So, you may want to 'facilitate' that interaction. A good instructor referring a student for OW dives will forward the necessary paperwork in advance (if they are given the contact information), rather than giving it to you to take with you. A good instructor accepting referral students for OW dives will want to see the paperwork in advance, rather than waiting for you to show up with it on game day.
[h=4]I wrote this blog a while back that a lot of people have found useful. I hope you find it useful; too.
So now you are doing your open water dives
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by DivemasterDennis
, July 7th, 2011 at 03:08 PM (1721 Views)
So now you are doing your open water dives
[/h] [h=6]
0 Comments
by DivemasterDennis
, July 7th, 2011 at 03:08 PM (1721 Views)
This weekend I will be part of team leading 24 new divers through their open water dives to certification as new divers, and as I know we have a lot of new divers in training who read scubaboard, I'd like to share a few suggestions with you to make your experience smoother and more enjoyable.
1.Check all you gear a day or two before the dive, to be sure you have everything, everything is working properly and everything fits properly. Put stuff on, especially rented exposure gear. If anything is too tight, too loose, looks damaged, or doesn't work, go to your local dive center and get it switched.
2. Before you leave the dive location after day 1, check to make sure you have everything in your dive bag, and that what you have is yours. In big groups, people sometime get the wrong stuff. While it can usually get straightened out the next day, it is a pain and an anxiety maker. Do the same on day 2.
3. Be on time. This can be a problem. And it will stress you and others. Punctual divers are calmer divers. Give yourself plenty of time to get to where you need to be.
4. Don't schedule stuff for later the same day as you open water dives. You won't want to rush off, because you may well forget a piece of gear, or miss out on meeting new people, or conversations that would be helpful to you. Getting certified is a big deal, and also involves some physical exertion. Try and schedule yourself so you can be fully focused on the dives, not be rushed, and fully enjoy the experience and the achievement of open water diving.
5. Ask questions. If you have a question ask your instructor or divemaster. There are no stupid questions. If you want a "private moment" asks for one. We will accommodate you.
6. Report problems. If you don't feel well, a piece of gear doesn't fit right,
or you have some other issue, please tell one of us. We need to know, and we can help.
7. Be patient. Sometime you have to wait your turn. Sometimes we have weather delays, or other things that delay a planned schedule. Stay calm, stay relaxed, we will get everything done. We promise.
8. Bring you paperwork ( including photo, written work not yet turned in,etc.) and log book and a pen. The job isn't over till the paperwork's done. Bring everything in your student kit. It's a great feeling to not only have done your dives successfully, but to have all the paperwork ready to go, your dives logged, and be a totally legitimate certified diver.
9. Ok, as the co-author of "The Scuba Snobs' Guide to Diving Etiquette" I can't close without saying this: "Don't Bitch." If you have a complaint, state it to your instructor or divemaster. We can't control the weather or water conditions, but we will do all we can to meet your needs while guiding you to becoming a certified diver. That means we won't be doing things for you, but will guide you through it. You can minimize problems by having all your work in before the open water weekend, checking your gear a day or two before, and following the other suggestions here.
Diver's bond with other divers in a hurry. You are about to join one of the coolest clubs that has ever existed- the brother- and sister-hood of certified divers. Let's have a fun, positive and memorable(in a good way) experience under the water!
DivemasterDennis
1.Check all you gear a day or two before the dive, to be sure you have everything, everything is working properly and everything fits properly. Put stuff on, especially rented exposure gear. If anything is too tight, too loose, looks damaged, or doesn't work, go to your local dive center and get it switched.
2. Before you leave the dive location after day 1, check to make sure you have everything in your dive bag, and that what you have is yours. In big groups, people sometime get the wrong stuff. While it can usually get straightened out the next day, it is a pain and an anxiety maker. Do the same on day 2.
3. Be on time. This can be a problem. And it will stress you and others. Punctual divers are calmer divers. Give yourself plenty of time to get to where you need to be.
4. Don't schedule stuff for later the same day as you open water dives. You won't want to rush off, because you may well forget a piece of gear, or miss out on meeting new people, or conversations that would be helpful to you. Getting certified is a big deal, and also involves some physical exertion. Try and schedule yourself so you can be fully focused on the dives, not be rushed, and fully enjoy the experience and the achievement of open water diving.
5. Ask questions. If you have a question ask your instructor or divemaster. There are no stupid questions. If you want a "private moment" asks for one. We will accommodate you.
6. Report problems. If you don't feel well, a piece of gear doesn't fit right,
or you have some other issue, please tell one of us. We need to know, and we can help.
7. Be patient. Sometime you have to wait your turn. Sometimes we have weather delays, or other things that delay a planned schedule. Stay calm, stay relaxed, we will get everything done. We promise.
8. Bring you paperwork ( including photo, written work not yet turned in,etc.) and log book and a pen. The job isn't over till the paperwork's done. Bring everything in your student kit. It's a great feeling to not only have done your dives successfully, but to have all the paperwork ready to go, your dives logged, and be a totally legitimate certified diver.
9. Ok, as the co-author of "The Scuba Snobs' Guide to Diving Etiquette" I can't close without saying this: "Don't Bitch." If you have a complaint, state it to your instructor or divemaster. We can't control the weather or water conditions, but we will do all we can to meet your needs while guiding you to becoming a certified diver. That means we won't be doing things for you, but will guide you through it. You can minimize problems by having all your work in before the open water weekend, checking your gear a day or two before, and following the other suggestions here.
Diver's bond with other divers in a hurry. You are about to join one of the coolest clubs that has ever existed- the brother- and sister-hood of certified divers. Let's have a fun, positive and memorable(in a good way) experience under the water!
DivemasterDennis
diverrex
Contributor
In Islamorada tanks will probably already be on the boat so you may not be able to setup on the dock. But as others have said be there early and you should be able to setup on the boat before it gets underway. Ask questions, don't just assume. If you get there early ask if it's ok to get on the boat. Sometimes when the crew is still preparing the boat they don't want anyone boarding until they are ready. Ask where you should set up, some tanks may be reserved for specific people or groups.
As someone else said if you have the time go the afternoon day before to see the op, ask questions and just to see how it is all setup. If you can time it when the boat is returning so much the better to see that.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. I really don't think crew and other divers mind that. Most people will be helpful when asked in a nice way.
Even if you don't get seasick consider taking Bonine the night before and the morning of. I always do and never notice any side effects. Better safe than sorry.
Relax and have fun. The diving is generally very easy there.
As someone else said if you have the time go the afternoon day before to see the op, ask questions and just to see how it is all setup. If you can time it when the boat is returning so much the better to see that.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. I really don't think crew and other divers mind that. Most people will be helpful when asked in a nice way.
Even if you don't get seasick consider taking Bonine the night before and the morning of. I always do and never notice any side effects. Better safe than sorry.
Relax and have fun. The diving is generally very easy there.
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