So when am I no longer a beginner rant

[Scuba Do]

I have a total of 13 official dives. I will be the first to say I am a total newbie. But I read a post the other day in which someone said something to the effect of "I am just a beginner. I have only 50 dives.) Fifty dives? That's about four times the number of dives I have, and still a beginner? At the rate I get to dive, I will never make it to intermediate!!! OK, no real point to this. Just had to get that depressing thought off my chest.

 

[Crawl79]

When I first started diving thats what I thought too, then one trip here another there and the number of dives you have starts to multiply. One liveaboard trip or week long trip to the Caribbean and you could double your number of dives and every dive I think I gain confidence and experience.

 

[RonFrank]

I have a total of 13 official dives. I will be the first to say I am a total newbie. But I read a post the other day in which someone said something to the effect of "I am just a beginner. I have only 50 dives.) Fifty dives? That's about four times the number of dives I have, and still a beginner? At the rate I get to dive, I will never make it to intermediate!!! OK, no real point to this. Just had to get that depressing thought off my chest.

I've seen people with 20 dive who dive better than others with 50.

Be safe, work on skills, and enjoy it. It's not a race! I continue to learn as I dive. I think diving different conditions helps. After doing low vis dives in cold water dry, it's amazing how easy WWW dives with good vis become. But ocean diving has risks that Low vis cold mtn lakes do not. For example Nothing is going to eat me in the lakes of CO!

 

[creamofwheat]

Well, I have well over 80 dives now, been diving for over a year...and I still think I'm a beginner sometimes.

It's all relative. Someone with 13 dives is a beginner to someone with 50 dives. Someone with 50 dives is a beginner to someone with 200 dives. And it goes on. But honestly, it doesn't matter. Just dive. Have fun. You'll learn something new on every dive, and you'll get better with every dive!

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

After around 50-100 dives the basics should become second nature, allowing you to become a beginner again in other fields of diving.

I worry more about people who believe they know it all, have stopped learning, and consider themselves 'advanced'. Theres always new stuff to learn, no matter how many dives you have.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[jpcpat]

Glad you got that off your chest! Some people (not me) seem to think that you're not an advanced diver until you dive the Andrea Doria. Some say sooner. It depends on your goals

 

[Warren_L]

I have a total of 13 official dives. I will be the first to say I am a total newbie. But I read a post the other day in which someone said something to the effect of "I am just a beginner. I have only 50 dives.) Fifty dives? That's about four times the number of dives I have, and still a beginner? At the rate I get to dive, I will never make it to intermediate!!! OK, no real point to this. Just had to get that depressing thought off my chest.

I kind of thought after about 40 or so dives, I was out of the newbie stage. But the more I dive, the more I realize that I don't think I will ever know it all and because of that I will always be a bit of a newbie as I continue to learn. After about 500 dives, I started training as a rebreather diver. So again, right back into being a brand spanking new newbie. So suffice it to say, the newbie thing never really goes away as you continue to expand your own training and experience.

 

[TSandM]

I have about 230 dives now, and some time in the last little while, I passed (without recognizing it) a milestone. I finally reached a point where I don't have apprehension before each dive. Not apprehension about going underwater, or the conditions I might encounter, or the urgencies that might occur -- I still have those. But apprehension about my own ability to manage myself through the dive. I'm finally relaxed enough not to actively worry about that before I get in the water.

People vary in their talent. I dove with a guy in the BVI who was as good with balance and trim at 10 dives as I was at 100. But he didn't have experience, and how he would react to something going wrong underwater was still up in the air. At this point, I've had a few things go wrong, with me or with buddies, and I've taken classes that simulated more. I wouldn't at all say that I'm the totally competent, can-cope-with-anything kind of diver, but I don't think I'm a beginner any more.

Even 50 dives ago, I wouldn't have said that.

Edited to add that I took Fundies at 60 dives, and if anything was going to show me that I was still a rank, awkward, minimally cmpetent beginner, it was that.

 

[Scuba Do]

I worry more about people who believe they know it all, have stopped learning, and consider themselves 'advanced'. Theres always new stuff to learn, no matter how many dives you have.

Excellent point!!! As are the other ones you all have shared with me. OK, I feel better now. Thanks.

 

[Rishidian]

Come on! You're still a beginner until you dive the Titanic!

On a more serious note, I was diving with someone last week on their 1600th dive. 1600 dives! Jeez! He made me look like a beginner (because I am, with 30+ dives [all with successful ascents, I might add])...but he said there are those that he dives with that make him feel like a beginner.

It's all relative, and it's ok to be a beginner (AKA a n00b)...it means you still have things to learn. And that's not a bad place to be.