Hey all, been a member for a short time and usually just lurk the forums reading up on things.
My daughter and I were certified back in September / October, before cold weather, and haven't been back in the water since.
We have a cruise planned this summer to the caribbean and had planned on scheduling a couple of dives at two of the stops. I'm going to try and have at least 1 or 2 dives under our belts before the cruise but i'm not sure if we'll have time, she's 17 still in school, life etc. etc you get the point.
So my question(s) is will we be ready, will the dive shops take us being recently certified?
I know we think we're ready and that everybody has dive #1,2,3 etc. at some point in their dive history but i just don't want to make a mistake.
Thanks for your input.
I would suggest at a minimum to get in a pool with your gear on and swim around a bit. If you can get in for a refresher at the dive shop that would be even better.
I have a few dives under my belt, but only local cold, murky water dives.(I don't mind it though) I just came back from a cruise where I was in Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan, and Costa Maya. I went diving in Belize and Isla Roatan, and had two different experiences.(I was comfortable with what I signed up for) In Isla Roatan we were just put into a group right off the cruise ship, we were lead to the dive boat, got on geared up, and were in the water.(again, I was comfortable with the dives so it wasn't a problem for me) The divemaster basically told us that the boat was anchored in 15 feet of water and we would swim along the reef wall, and that we weren't to go deeper than 60'. I was down to 80 feet for a brief time to get a photo, so the divemaster wasn't really the most attentive to the group. The second dive was a drift dive, which I do all the time at home, and had no problem with, there were a few new divers on board who were clueless as to what that meant, and the divemaster just told them that we would not be swimming back to the boat, the boat would come to us. I told them (all 4 of them) to just stay with me and I would keep an eye on them and gave them a little briefing on how drift diving worked.
In Belize it was a different story, the dive operator picked us up right off the ship, took us to the shop so we could sign waivers and then they actually briefly interviewed everyone as they were setting up their gear, most everyone was honest about their skill level and it showed, there was an "older" couple who told them they have been certified since the 60's and have been diving every year and have over 3000 logged dives. (but they had no clue how to hook up a yoke regulator) The divemaster then grouped everyone in similar skill levels (there were 3 groups of 6 divers) From what I saw, I was the only one able to set up my own gear unassisted, and the only one who had done more than my open water dives. The "older" couple got put into the beginners group and made it even worse by bringing along a camera. They definitely had not been diving as long as they said, or were just horrible divers for that long; they could not control their buoyancy, they kicked the reef on many occasions and on the second dive they were told that they could not bring the camera, and that they had to seriously or on their buoyancy. (they were not happy about being put in the beginners group in the first place, and it was made worse by being told to leave the camera on the second dive) The divemasters were very attentive as to where everyone was and were very strict about going no deeper than 65'(I found this out when I swam down to 85' to get a picture of a sea turtle, and they actually came a dragged me back up. Before the dive they went over the different hand signals that they would use, and that the dive would be called when the first diver to reach 1000 psi signals low air. They did allow those of us who still had air to remain under the boat and explore, but to come up with no less than 500 psi. (the boat was only in 15' of water so it was also a safety stop)
I will say that both dives were within the limits of an OW certified diver, but the operator in Roatan was just not as thorough in determining the skills of the group. The operator in Belize not only interviewed everyone briefly, but watched everyone set up their gear to get an idea of everyones skill level that way as well. I was very happy with the operator in Belize and gave them a $20 tip for the two tank dive, the dive operator in Roatan was a bit disappointing and only got a $10 tip.
Brent
