scary first dive--appreciate some advice

[Puffer Fish]

isurus, yes, Monterey is supposed to be a really cool place to dive. But it sure wasn't on my 4 dives (due to weather mostly). That's ok, hopefully when I hook up with the university, I'll see more in Monterey.

Ayisha, I'm a tall female but not very wide and the wetsuits they had at the rental place fit me verticially, but were too roomy...so, I'll probably have to get mine custom fitted or find a company that makes taller wetsuits. We wore 7mm two piece wetsuits. Our instructor wore a drysuit and said it was just better. And, yes, I was wearing gloves and a hood. Neoprene socks sound like a good idea, because my feet were super cold!

My congrats also - but you have had a pretty ugly start to diving. It should be enjoyable at the worst, or at least one would hope so.

Having that poor fitting suit was most likely far more of an issue than just being cold, they can hold a lot of water. My name in this forum refers to a night dive a long time ago, where we came upon a school of giant puffer fish, all sleeping, but swimming together into the current. I brilliantly decided to wake one and take it back to the boat. It filled itself up to the size of a beach ball, and I actually tried to pick it up- providing years of jokes for all that were there.

You have gotten some excellent advice here, but I don't understand two aspects of your first ocean dive:

1. It sounds like there was no predive walk through that covered what to do when things go wrong? Anyone diving from the shore in So Ca is going to see varying waves, and some will knock anyone down. Not all entries are with the BC inflated, not all involve crawling, if you fall.

2. What happened to the post dive review? You should have had the chance to tell how you felt and what you though was going on. This is for your benefit and the instructor.

If you have to tell your instuctor, there is something very wrong.

Without a plan, almost every new diver will want to standup and head to the shore (it is dryer there)

I hope you will stick around to see the great aspects of diving.

 

[smolderinglime]

jasmith1961, you hit in on the head. I felt a traumatized hours later, after I came home. I kept talking about it with friends and on here, just to get it out of my system and that helped a lot. And, yes, the part that was traumatic was the friend--the situation didn't seem scary until she started screaming.

Foo, sure come to Cali we'll go diving!

Turns out, the instructor's friend--who is actually his girlfriend, is a diver, but not a divemaster and I thought she was experienced because she has a shop--BAD assumption. He later talked to the class about what happened (during our last class) and asked me how I felt about it. I just said, it was all ok until your girlfriend started to scream. He said he understood and would tell her that. I think he was a little shook up by it too.

I was talking to someone about my first dive and they were like "Oh, man that beach is crazy! First dive there?!" and funny thing is, the nickname for that beach is Mortuary Beach...because the surf can be really unpredictable there. The viz is supposed to be great, so our instructor took us there.

 

[miskatonic]

Sounds like you were at Monestary beach. The exact same thing happened to me. However, it happened on my 12th dive and not my 1st. I honestly don't think anybody with less then 24 dives should be diving Monestary at all.

That beach can kill you.

 

[dpbishop]

smolderinglime,

Beach diving, as has been mentioned, is a learned skill, and a big part of it is learning the charateristics of different beaches under different conditions. We just lost a diver in San Diego who, it appears from the reports, never even got underwater, but was caught in a rip current. I know the beach where it happened and I have scrubbed a lot of dives there because of conditions, and I ain't no girly-man ( to paraphrase the Governator).
It is easier to gain that familiarity without 40# lbs of scuba equipment on your back. Spend some time at the beach watching the surf, talk to surfers, divers and lifeguards about the currents, do some ocean swimming ( do a lot of ocean swimming). Rank locations for ease of access and do the easy ones first. Hit the gym when the conditions are bad. The beauty of shore diving is it's immediacy; when conditions are good you can grab your gear and go without making a reservation or overloading a credit card. As your experience and water strength grow, the number of dives within your ability increase until the whole coast is your playground. Most important rule: don't depend on DMs or Buddies; do as much of your own research as you can. They are there as a back up, you are your own primary life support system.

Welcome to the life aquatic and Good Diving!

 

[shuurltt]

Good advice TSandM!

 

[psychosolodiver]

If it was that rough, the Instructor should have called the dive off. I can believe a "freak wave" and I have the scar to prove it, but it sounds like the conditions were too rough with the waves coming as they did. Was this the same instructor that you had in the class and pool? If not, that's too bad.

Your equipment gets lighter the more you dive, and yes crawling is always a good idea when you can't stand up.

Did you have air in your BC? If so, that might be one of your problems because you'll bounce around like a floating cork and never get back in.

Best of luck to you; don't give up!

 

[smolderinglime]

Yes, it was the same instructor I had in the pool and class.

Yes, it was Monestary! Crazy beach.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Congratulations, and welcome to being a diver.

My first shore dive was in Cozumel, this past October. The sea was ROUGH. Entry wasn't so much of a problem. I was able to avoid the rocks and I got my azz into waist-deep water as soon as I could, and we helped each other don our fins. Getting OUT was another case altogether. I was the newest diver in the group, and I'm an athletic guy, but the waves were so rough, plus there were rocks everywhere, and when I got into the shallows, the waves were just rolling me over and over. I looked like a complete dork! Arms and legs flailing everywhere, and yelling in my mind all the while, "Ohhhhh noooooooo...." (whumpety thumpety roll roll roll....) "Bad! Very bad! Ohhhhh nooooooo....." LMAO

I dragged myself onto shore, and found everyone else in more or less the same condition that I was in, so I didn't feel so bad. Later on, all of us roared with laughter over it. LOL

 

[Darnold9999]

And I have the scars to prove it. Went where I should not have been, my own stupidity so I don't have anyone to blame. Thankfull for the tough wesuit - it took most of the rocks. Really really short dive. Bleeding and diving do not go together.

Hang in there, the diving only gets easier and better.

Sometimes you will wonder why you do this, its expensive, cold, and takes 4 + hours work to get an hour of dive time, sometimes even longer. Then there are those magic moments. Face to face with a seal who is just as curoius about you as you are about him, an aquarium of fish - and your one of them, a tiny creature half an inch long that can fascinate for hours(well maybe minutes - I need this stuff called air), swiming with mantas, whales, sharks, my personal favorite giant turtles, colours and shapes that don't exist up here. You arrive on the surface and you and your buddy interrupt each other with "did you see" and "what about the ...".

One of my recent dives my buddy came up all excited and started to babble at me - coudn't understand a word. He was so exceited that he forgot what language he was speaking and that I couldn't understand a word.

Then there are the oh ***** moments where you find out alot about yourself. You plan for them, practice, practice, practice. But the first time somebody kicks your mask off at 60' and you don't panic, you just retrieve it, put it on and fill it with air and continue the dive. You know you can keep your cool when the adrenaline hits - and it will.

Get a wetsuit that fits. Say again... Get a wetsuit that fits. If it does not fit it does nothing to keep you warm. A wetsuit for cold water that fits properly should fit you like a second skin. I have been in 40 degree water in a wetsuit and been warm. To be fair in the same wetsuit at 120 feet I thought I was going to freeze to death, but that's what dry suits are for - and you won't be going that deep and you won't be seeing sub 40 degree water for a while I suspect (hope).

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

A good fitting wetsuit is the key. I have snorkeled in 50 degree water in an ill-fitting wetsuit and froze. On my certification dives, I wore a 3mm farmer-john style wetsuit in 70 degree water and stayed warm. Before anyone jumps all over me about 70 degree water, please keep in mind I was home on R&R from Iraq and the temps I was used to was 130 degrees without any humidity. Please take into account the 60 degree temp change so 70 degrees seemed FREEZING to me. Thankfully the wetsuit kept me nice and warm.