Pet peeves of SCUBA diving

[OldNSalty]

Pet peeves? Dive Masters who think they have to do something for you. On rare occasions I want someone to carry all my stuff, set it up, etc but usually I would rather they keep their hands off my gear and just be there in case I need something. I know they are working for tips and the Captain probably tells them to be pro-active but I would rather not be bothered most of the time. I’m not comfortable with someone working in a subservient position under me.
Also, scuba Nazis – these are people who insist that there is no other correct way to dive but their own. They don’t bother to determine the type of diving that anyone else engages in before rendering an opinion about what is ‘correct’ when ‘correct’ can be very situational/geographically dependant.
A note; while I have found that some of the best advice comes from old DIR folks who truly want to help, I have found that several scuba Nazis are new DIR folks. I don’t know why this is.

 

[ukslim]

I'm interested by the "novice divers wanting expert buddies" thing.

I've been training alongside my girlfriend - and had anticipated her being my buddy on the vast majority of my future dives. *Should* we both be seeking to do some diving with more experienced buddies?

 

[ScubaSteve]

My biggest Scuba Related pet peeve = WINTER (primarily because the dry suit has yet to make it to the top of the list. I keep finding other things I want.

I am also on OldNSalty's side. I do not care what role you play in the scuba adventure that I am about to embark....nobody touches my gear with my previous permission. I do not need a DM's help and it will actually cost them a tip if they set my gear up for me. I want to know that it has been done my way which has seen me surface safely for 300 dives. Any unknown change from that routine could be a hassle or a disaster. I do not want either.

 

[surfsidedav]

I guess what kills me more than anything is the "if you don't do it this way or that way, you'll surely die" attitude some people have. Clearly there isn't a one size fits all approach to all the different types of diving that people do, so why try to make a single standard and apply it across the board.

 

[ligersandtions]

I'm interested by the "novice divers wanting expert buddies" thing.

I've been training alongside my girlfriend - and had anticipated her being my buddy on the vast majority of my future dives. *Should* we both be seeking to do some diving with more experienced buddies?

My husband and I learned together....it wasn't till dive #42 that I first did a dive without him. We had made other dives that had more than just the two of us along, but that was the first dive I made with another buddy, without him in the water with me. That said, we learned a lot on our own, and learned together....part of the reason we were successful is that I read SB a LOT. I learn about things that I didn't even know I needed to work on....then I work on them. There were numerous dives where we went out to 30 feet, blew through most of our air, working on only buoyancy/weighting/trim. It takes a lot of self-analysis to do it on your own.

BUT, we did do the occasional dive with some very experienced divers. And that was extremely helpful....I got to see the way they conducted themselves in the water, I tried to emulate it....I picked their brains at the end of the dives. Watching, learning, and self-analysis has brought me a long way....so it can be done with two new divers, but you have to take the responsibility to really do it.

 

[--tom--]

My pet peeve: Having to work instead of diving.

Not having the time to dive with all of the people I want to dive with.

Not having enough money/vacation time to dive all of the places I want to dive.

Anyone wanna go diving?

 

[tstormdiver]

The long surface intervals between diving days. Those nitrogen levels can get dangerously low!

 

[4sak3n]

My pet peeve is people who make a noise underwater. This can be with a tank banger, rattler, quacker ... whatever. I hate it! Hatesssss it I tell you!

Those and students who don't follow instructions underwater (although they do have an excuse) are what makes me chew through my mouth pieces ... literally.

 

[Sas]

I hate

-Cleaning my gear after a dive
-Buddies that swim around like they are trying to break some kind of speed record
-People touching my gear
-90% of LDSs
-Having to wait a week between dives sometimes if work is busy
-As someone else said, people who have the 'if you don't do this, you will die' attitude

 

[tlawler]

The best way to alleviate much of the frustration and annoyance associated with many of the above posts is to start diving solo.