To echo what has already been said....if you did a DSD, you can dull a full OW course. I completely understand your apprehensions about mask removal, etc. but understand they are necessary skills. Not just so your instructor can torture you or even to get an idea of your comfort being underwater, but to teach you to handle issues underwater to keep you safe at all times. The last thing you want is to be at 80ft and have to surface because your mask got dislodged and filled with water, or worse yet kicked off. Surfacing immediately is a bad idea because it's dangerous. Mask or no mask you still have to maintain that 30 ft/min ascent rate so you're going to be without use of your vision for at least 2.5 minutes on your way to the surface. Much easier to spend 3-5 seconds clearing the water out of your mask at depth and continue on your merry little way.
I was like you in that regard. I knew I wanted to dive but I was damn near terrified of the mask clearing skill. And the first time I tried in the shallow end I aspirated water and stood up feeling like I couldn't breathe. I completed the skill but I wasn't at all comfortable with it. The second day in the pool I actually perforated an eardrum doing a snorkeling skill and that ended my class for at least 6 weeks. I waited a year to try again because I was still extremely uncomfortable doing the mask skills. But I pushed through it and now I can do it no problem. And if you look at my avatar I typically dive a full face mask (more on that in a moment) which means if I have to doff (remove) it underwater, not only am I without my vision for a few moments, but I'm without air, too, since the regulator is integrated into the mask assembly. I practiced it and practiced it and practiced it again until I could do it without even giving it a second thought.
Something to look forward to: Full Face Mask. Why? For a few reasons. First and foremost for me....no fogging, no leaking, and almost impossible to dislodge since on my particular one (Ocean Reef G. Diver) there are 6 straps holding it in place. Aside from that, no jaw fatigue since you aren't holding anything in your mouth to breathe from. Also, it allows you to breathe through your mouth or your nose, depending on how you have it set up. Also, since there's nothing in your mouth, you can talk. And with an additional COMMS unit, you can talk to other divers with a full face mask and COMMS, which makes underwater communication worlds easier, even with those on the surface. So if you really are concerned about mask skills, maybe a full face mask (FFM) is something to consider after you get your certification. I mentioned having to remove it underwater. Considering all of the reasons to dive one that I mentioned, you're probably asking why would you ever want to remove it? What happens if the regulator stops delivering air? Or in my case in June, what if in the middle of a dive an o-ring blows and your system starts free-flowing air? For me and my kit there was a simple solution. I make sure to keep a spare conventional mask and spare 2nd stage regulator with me on every dive. And I have a quick disconnect fitting on my mask and 2nd stage reg so I can easily disconnect/connect as necessary. So when it happened, I disconnected my primary air line to stop the free-flow, removed my ffm, placed my octo in my mouth, then replaced the ffm with a conventional mask, cleared it and continued my dive (with about 500psi less air). Once I was settled I installed my spare 2nd stage on my primary hose, switched to it and stowed my octo in case someone else needed it later. Obviously this particular incident is sort of a worst case scenario and is extremely uncommon (first time for me) but being prepared for it is key.
So maybe rather than being afraid of the skills, think of them in terms of why they're required and consider them a personal challenge for you to overcome. A goal if you will. I'm now an SDI Divemaster and so far have helped usher roughly 100 students into the underwater world. Some with a few issues we needed to work on and other that I could swear have been diving for years. Trust me when I say I've seen students that I wasn't even sure belonged near water turn into half-way decent divers by the end of their OW weekend. And oh yeah.....a couple of them could barely swim. So if they can do it....I'm pretty positive you could, too. Like someone else already said....it really is mind over matter. If you're at all interested in scuba diving, I would strongly encourage you not to give up. I promise you any fears and apprehensions you have can be overcome with proper mindset and the right instructor. If you want my advice (and take it for what you paid for it), talk to a few instructors before you decide which one you want teaching you. Explain your concerns and find one that makes you feel comfortable. Each instructor has his/her own style of teaching and finding the right one for you makes all the difference in the world. But don't give up. Because as soon as you do, you'll wish you hadn't. You'll be snorkeling on the surface, always wondering what you might be missing beneath the waves.
- thanks again for your response.
