Unfounded fears

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S

surfsidedav

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
187
Reaction score
11
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
# of dives
200 - 499
Last spring my wife and I went to do our first check out dive at Rainbow River in FL. We were both excited. On the way upstream the boat captain was telling about the area and offering tips about the diving there. One of his tips was that although you may see some fish on the sides of the river in the grassess, it was best to stay away from it because if you surfaced, you may get tangled up. Ok, good advice for first timers. BUT, all she heard was "stay out of the grass". Anybody who's dove this site knows that the entire river bottom is basically covered in grass. Upon entering the water, she was knee deep in grass and let the panic begin. She gutted it out the rest of the day, but quit the second day. Now I'm trying to get her to finish. I've talked to her and have her convinced to try again but with another, more fatherly-like, instructor. Any tips for getting this "killer, attack grass" thing out of her head?
David
 
surfsidedav:
Last spring my wife and I went to do our first check out dive at Rainbow River in FL. We were both excited. On the way upstream the boat captain was telling about the area and offering tips about the diving there. One of his tips was that although you may see some fish on the sides of the river in the grassess, it was best to stay away from it because if you surfaced, you may get tangled up. Ok, good advice for first timers. BUT, all she heard was "stay out of the grass". Anybody who's dove this site knows that the entire river bottom is basically covered in grass. Upon entering the water, she was knee deep in grass and let the panic begin. She gutted it out the rest of the day, but quit the second day. Now I'm trying to get her to finish. I've talked to her and have her convinced to try again but with another, more fatherly-like, instructor. Any tips for getting this "killer, attack grass" thing out of her head?
David
Click to expand...
do the training dive somewhere else.
 
oly5050user:
do the training dive somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Yep. Now, it's been so long that refresher training in the pool might be a good idea - for practice as well as soothing her feelings. Talk with your Inst about this first so s/he can watch for anxiety in the pool session and know where it's coming from. Then plan a trip to Key Largo or someplace else for the certification dives.

In West Texas, we are fortunate to have San Soloman Springs south of Pecos, where we have an olympic size pool with a natural bottom and springs, a few cute fish* and turtles, clear water - a great place for this. * I did have one pesky tetra (tiny member of the piraha family) who bit my ears :11: but that was about it.

Good luck :thumb:
 
Get an old lawnmower and duct tape a tank to it.....see if she gets a laugh out of it.
Go slow and dont push or she wont dive anywhere.
 
Find another place to finish her certification or discuss this with the instructor and have him/her talk with her. She is reacting this way because she is under stress and this is in her head. I would advise you to NOT try and convince her otherwise but simply let her overcome this on her own. People react to stress/fear differently and if you push her to hard....you will be diving on your own....maybe forever.

You have no more experience than her and she knows that, so you can't overcome this by pushing or convincing her otherwise. Maybe the captain can change her mind but not if you are pushing her to do it. Find another venue or talk to the captain yourself and have him initiate the conversation. You may still need to find another place to finish.
 
I talked with another instructor from another dive shop who has the convienence of an on-site dive tank who said he could work with her one on one to try and get her past the issues. Nothing wrong with the first shop, just getting one on one will be more difficult. He also had a better place in mind to do check out dives without the attack grass. She seems willing to entertain this idea, so keep your fingers crossed.
 
David,
As said do it at a nother site,In Florida you have Devils Den,Blue Grotto, Hal Watts 4o Fathoms,Hal watts may freak her out with the duck weed on top but it is a site to dive and do a deep dive as he has tons of stuff sunk thru the whole place.
But the den or Grotto are clear and rock springs as long as you dont get to the site late! as it gets mixed up with the training.
Brad
 
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