Panicked on my second open water dive.

[Kevo88]

On top of what others have already said, I'd recommend just working a bit to become more comfortable in water in general. If there is a local pool or calm waters that you can swim in, go spend some time there. Being comfortable with breath hold swimming without a mask will go a long way in being comfortable during your skills practice.

 

[2airishuman]

Hi guys! I am new to this site and also new to diving.

Hello Danielle

I have never been a fan of water. I can swim, and don't mind jumping in water, or doing a bit of snorkelling, but the idea of breathing underwater and trusting gear is a bit freaky for me.

SCUBA diving isn't for everyone. My wife can swim, sort of, but can't stand the sensation of water in her ears. She doesn't dive. While in some ways I wish diving could be a shared experience for us, I realize it would be unwise for her to pursue it.

Anyhow, as I'm heading with my boyfriend to Thailand next month, we both thought it would be fun to get certified in open water. So we signed up and since then I have been taking my Padi at a dive center.

If I were an advice columnist for a major national newspaper, I'd put in two paragraphs here about making sure you're being true to yourself and making your own decisions rather than being led in directions you don't want to go for the sake of the relationship. If this is something you really want, great. If you're doing it for the sake of the relationship, well, don't.

I can back two days later and trained with another instructor who was much more paitient and I felt very comfortable with him.

Some instructors are better than others. Some instructors who are good overall may be wrong for you. On the other hand, the first steps are the hardest -- day 2 is easier than day 1.

On the day of the open water...current...only 3ft of visibility

I'm not an instructor, but I would consider those conditions marginal for instruction.

I felt alittle annoyed though afterwards that my instructor didn't sit with me to talk about what went wrong or what happened. It just seemed like he just said no don't come tomorrow, you can try in fujeriah as its a better dive spot or try next week. But he didn't really do anything to make me fee better. I guess what I needed from him was a bit of reassurance.

There are instructors who are empathetic and patient. In my experience, they are the exception rather than the rule. (fwiw this is not a problem that is limited to scuba instruction)

Now I just feel like he doesn't want to teach me and that maybe this sport isn't for me. Am I destined to never be good at scuba? I was really looking forward to some beautiful diving in koh Tao and seeing all the beauty below! Any information or advice super appreciated.

I do have some advice for you.

1) Make sure this is something that you really want to do. One question to ponder, that may help you decide, is whether you would still want to do it if it were not something your boyfriend was involved in. If you want to it, great, if not, that's great too, either way, be who you are

2) Switch instructors. Explain that the instructional relationship wasn't working out and you need someone who is patient and supportive. If necessary, switch shops.

3) Make it clear to your new instructor that you don't want to go out and dive in crap conditions. You may have to compromise on scheduling. You may have to pay more. It's worth it.

One of the things about diving is that it is weather sensitive. When the conditions are crap it isn't fun, better to do something else that day.

 

[Catchdanielle]

I like this advice! I'm booked Saturday to practice the skills more in the pool! I'll def take your advice!

 

[Catchdanielle]

I do have some advice for you.

1) Make sure this is something that you really want to do. One question to ponder, that may help you decide, is whether you would still want to do it if it were not something your boyfriend was involved in. If you want to it, great, if not, that's great too, either way, be who you are

Well the good thing about this is we are both doing our Padi and are new to diving! I see what you're saying, but I would be giving this sport a go with or without him.

2) Switch instructors. Explain that the instructional relationship wasn't working out and you need someone who is patient and supportive. If necessary, switch shops.

I think because I was feeling embarrassed about freaking out that I was pretty quiet and disinterested so he probably wanted to leave me be and give me some space to process. I think our pool session on Saturday will give us a chance to debrief about what happened and what could be done better.

3) Make it clear to your new instructor that you don't want to go out and dive in crap conditions. You may have to compromise on scheduling. You may have to pay more. It's worth it.

One of the things about diving is that it is weather sensitive. When the conditions are crap it isn't fun, better to do something else that day.[/QUOTE]

You can say that again!

 

[dmaziuk]

I like this advice! I'm booked Saturday to practice the skills more in the pool! I'll def take your advice!

Take a closer look at your regulators while you're at it. If it has a + - lever or knob on top or on the side, you may need to turn it to "+" when you start breathing from it. On the backups it is typically set to "-" aka pre-dive position that reduces the chance of free-flow and makes breathing harder. Especially when you breathe harder like when panicked.

 

[TMHeimer]

Lots of good advice here.
From your first posts it seems your mask skills did improve some.
I recommend:
--practise airway control (on land first) -- breathing with only mouth, only nose, both at once. And notice how you consciously can completely block off either (so no water enters) while breathing through the other.

 

[pnwbred]

It took me a bit to get use to water around my face and to breath thru the reg. The whole not breathing thru nose and mouth took getting use too. My dive shop has a pool, so I was in it training as much as I could before the OW cert.

Some tips you can try that helped me.

In ~3 feet of water, get on your knees, take your mask off and put it around your neck. Put reg in and start breathing... slowly bend at waist and put your face in the water.... eventually you should be on your belly in 3 feet of water.

Now, this drill is to breath through your reg and exhale through your nose. This was very difficult for me, but I kept doing this drill and now its second nature.

Next, you can start moving your head around as if you're looking at your buddy or something under water. Still breath slowly and exhale through your nose. Every once in awhile, exhale through the reg as you normally would. Exhaling through the nose helped me be able to clear my mask with ease.

Also, a tip for mask cleaning, Tilt your head to the left or right and your bubbles wont go up your nose but straight up. Makes it easier to take off mask, breath and put back on without those bubbles getting in your nose.

Good luck!

 

[TMHeimer]

pnwbred, This drill worked for you, which is good (I assume you now have no problems breathing with mouth only, mask on or off). Two things oppose what I've always felt:

--Exhaling through the nose, except for the tiny bit needed to equalise the mask (which may be done subconsciously), is generally not needed or a good idea. Exhaling too much, intentionally or not, can cause water to enter the mask. I think once in a blue moon I do this myself. I do admit that I have read on SB advice from some experienced divers (perhaps instructors) saying that exhaling through the nose will in fact prevent water from going in the nose--which does make sense. Closing off the nose to everything (air and water) internally (closing the Soft Pallet, I think--I believe Glottis is for the mouth/throat), eliminates any exhaling from the nose. Water still gets in the nostrils, but goes no further and causes no problems.

--There is no need to tip your head left or right in order to prevent bubbles up the nose--IF the nose is blocked off as above.
In my case, tipping the head when not necessary encourages water to go deeper into my ears (a problem I have to look out for, and one that can happen when tipping my head while donning fins).

But, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[dmaziuk]

I do admit that I have read on SB advice from some experienced divers (perhaps instructors) saying that exhaling through the nose will in fact prevent water from going in the nose--which does make sense. Closing off the nose to everything (air and water) internally (closing the Soft Pallet, I think--I believe Glottis is for the mouth/throat), eliminates any exhaling from the nose.

Could be a swimming thing: you breathe in through the mouth and breathe out through both. I do it all the time, it equalizes my ears and my mask, no extra maneouvres needed.

One problem with that drill is if you don't close off your nose, you'll very likely suck some water up your nose when you inhale. Especially if you're down where there's extra pressure pushing it in. Pool water's particularly bad for that, when I get it in deep enough it not only stings, everything smells like vinegar for some 5-10 minutes after. Yuck.

 

[TMHeimer]

dmaziuk, Agree. Having seen a number of students with mask problems, I never thought that sometimes it may very well be a swim problem--Thanks for pointing that out. I haven't swam competitively in 47 years and didn't relate these mask problems to the normal breathing technique used while swimming laps. Probably is the case at least now and then with mask problems-- you'd have to be a regular swimmer with a good stroke.

This "closing off the nose &/or mouth" -- I am under the impression that some people really can't do this, or just don't know they are doing it every day at some point without thinking about it. I can't figure why someone couldn't do it, but that's just me. Everybody at some point, on land, has held their breath, and most likely have closed off the nose and mouth passages completely (as opposed to not breathing but keeping the airway open--you can do that easily too, but have to think about it a little more--ie. CESA but without the bubbles and "Ah"......., which no one should ever do).