What hardest thing to overcome as a new diver?

[TheFife]

I'll go a different route than the answers above. I think the hardest thing to overcome is the attitude that someone else is responsible for you. The lack of self sufficiency and self reliance among new divers is hard to overstate. Think about your encounters with new divers. Most of them need an incredible amount of hand holding. They need assistance figuring out and setting up their gear. They need someone else to plan their dive. They need someone else to give them air when they run out. They blame the dive master for any problems that arise. The list goes on and on.



Simple skills aren't the biggest problem. The basic problem is one of attitude. Those with the right attitude figure out the skills.

 

[Aviyes]

I'll go a different route than the answers above. I think the hardest thing to overcome is the attitude that someone else is responsible for you. The lack of self sufficiency and self reliance among new divers is hard to overstate. Think about your encounters with new divers. Most of them need an incredible amount of hand holding. They need assistance figuring out and setting up their gear. They need someone else to plan their dive. They need someone else to give them air when they run out. They blame the dive master for any problems that arise. The list goes on and on.



Simple skills aren't the biggest problem. The basic problem is one of attitude. Those with the right attitude figure out the skills.

Part of that also comes from attitudes of the experienced diver. If you act condescending when they ask questions, it can easily frustrate a new diver and make them more unsure of themselves. It goes along with learning any new skillset, the need to ask questions of the more experienced. If your response is to hold their hand through everything, then you are part of the problem, instead of guiding them by asking questions to get them thinking through the issue, make them plan the dive and double-check it, just to name a few examples. May take a few moments longer, but in the end will increase their self-reliance/self-sufficiency.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'll go a different route than the answers above. I think the hardest thing to overcome is the attitude that someone else is responsible for you. The lack of self sufficiency and self reliance among new divers is hard to overstate. Think about your encounters with new divers. Most of them need an incredible amount of hand holding. They need assistance figuring out and setting up their gear. They need someone else to plan their dive. They need someone else to give them air when they run out. They blame the dive master for any problems that arise. The list goes on and on.



Simple skills aren't the biggest problem. The basic problem is one of attitude. Those with the right attitude figure out the skills.

I'm not really disagreeing, mainly due to the number of times I've read posts describing (new?) "vacation divers" and their actions. In thinking about my encounters as you ask, in general they have been different. Over my 12 years I have done only spotty boat charters so my experience is limited, plus some of the buddies I was teamed with weren't new. But during the OW courses I assisted on, the norm was people did OK--even on those weekend courses with a lot of stuff to digest in a short time. Yes, some were very buddy-dependent (especially family members, significant others), but the majority faired pretty well on the checkout dives. Questions were asked, answered, and we moved on.
Yes, some had more trouble than others setting up the equipment--I was probably one of them, can't recall way back then. But after mistakes were pointed out, the vast majority seemed fine after doing it a couple of times. But getting back to "vacation" divers--perhaps it's lack of diving after certification that supports your points. I'm sure a lot of the mechanics are very easy to be forgotten without a decent amount of diving when you are new. Just my take.

 

[tilikum]

I believe the hardest thing for a newer diver to overcome is experienced divers. Whether it is boats or shore dives, diving can be intimidating to a noob. There is plenty of assistance to be shared, some of it unsolicited. I have been away from diving for a decade and I am leery of going back since I don't take suggestion very well..

 

[TMHeimer]

I believe the hardest thing for a newer diver to overcome is experienced divers. Whether it is boats or shore dives, diving can be intimidating to a noob. There is plenty of assistance to be shared, some of it unsolicited. I have been away from diving for a decade and I am leery of going back since I don't take suggestion very well..

Agree in that I recall--well I may not call it intimidated but--feeling a bit self conscious about being new. Especially the first couple of dives after OW with others around, and the first couple of boat dives when everyone seemed to be running around doing everything quickly and in the right order. Other than instructors, I haven't dived with many along the way that were a whole lot more experienced than myself and maybe have run into one or two jerks, but that's all.

 

[Clark Fletcher]

To not violate scuba diving rule #2:

"Don't do anything to embarrass your instructor."
​

Truthfully, the most difficult thing for me has been learning to make fine adjustments to my buoyancy with my depth of breathing. At first, my tanks weren't lasting very long and my SAC rates were high because I was constantly adjusting the air in my BCD. As I get more dives, I find myself with my hands on the inflator but, never actually doing anything with it because I end up instinctively breathing deeper or shallower to adjust my buoyancy. And, as you might imagine, my SAC rates have generally come down and my tanks are lasting longer.

 

[FinnMom]

EMPTY WALLET
This has been an enduring problem. But at least it's never been as acute as it was in the very beginning.

ACHING BACK
I remember it took maybe 3 full months of diving 1-2x a week before I stopped finding the weights and tank to be horribly heavy. I used to carry the tank & BCD to the water, then go back for the weight belt and put the BCD on in the water. I even asked a female-diver-also-doctor about buying some sort of back support, but she said to just give it a full 3-4 months and my muscles would probably build up to it. And that's exactly what happened. Now I'm over 50 and my 20-something son thinks mom's rig is HEAVY (make my day).

SORE ARCHES
My first 6 months or so, my feet used to ache after diving. I finally realized that I was unconciously clenching my foot as though I were trying to keep my foot inside an overlarge Crocs-shoe. Apparently I felt like my fins would otherwise fall off. It took me several months to get over this; I think it was more a matter of getting used to diving and relaxing in general than actually being able to consiously stop doing it.

BOUYANCY / TRIM
This is something you just get a completely different feel for once you dive regularly and have done it for some time. I remember when 1 kg more on one side than the other was an absolute catastrophe. Give it a little steady effort, then be patient and it will get better. It's like the chicken or the egg: you will probably find that as your bouyancy control improves, you need less weight, and as you carry less weight, your bouyancy control will improve; which change you notice first may vary.

GAS CONSUMPTION
Forgetaboutit. It is what it is; take a larger tank if you need one and tell yourself any higher consumption is 100% due to your excellent muscles. As you spend time on more important skills like bouyancy, trim, efficient kicks, no extranious movement (no windmilling hands, no unstoppably waving feet) and also just generally relax, better gas consumption might follow. If it doesn't, tell yourself you're just too excellent an athlete for improvement to be possible. Trying to improve you general level of fitness might help, but there again that's more likely to do all sorts of great things (feel better, look better, have more energy), but it may or may not affect you gas consumption. So forgetaboutit and work on the more guaranteed-return-for-effort items.

 

[Professor Nemo]

I would agree with the sentiments of many of my fellow divers. I only get to dive about four times a year. As a result I feel line a novice each time I go out. My biggest anxiety induces are:
1) bouyancy control and proper weight distrobution
2) controlling my breathing so that I don't exhaust my air before my insta-buddy.

 

[Clayton122]

As a new diver here are the things that have been a hurdle for me.

I have roughly 15 dives now, and just completed my AOW this past weekend.

1.) As most others have said here. Buoyancy. Especially at depth. I was VERY surprised how much I lost below the 60 foot mark, and I was not prepared for that. On the way down for the deep dive portion of the course, it was the first dive of the day. It was my first time wearing a 7MM wetsuit ( brrrrrrrrrr 43 degree water temp ) We were all going down, and then all of a sudden right around 40 I dropped like a rock, far faster than the other people with me down to 85 before I was able to get control of it again. I was a bit overweighted. Some simple adjustments seem to fix that issue though, and it wasnt as much of an issue on the next dives.

2.) Underwater navigation was a problem for me at first, but that was mostly due to my instructor giving conflicting directions and compass bearings.

3.) One of my first dives after getting my OW cert was a night dive in the ocean. IMO, it takes a certain level of stupid to jump into the ocean at night. And with Gods as my witness, I am that stupid. But dealing with the anxiety was key. Long deep breaths, and trying to calm down before going under.

4.) not panicking in 0 viz environments. I did my AOW at a place called Hague Quarry down in Kankakee IL. The viz there is TOTAL CRAP. I cant understand why people dive there. But I saw several people have panic issues due to the Viz.

 

[covediver]

the hardest thing to overcome is the well-meaning advice given by people to the question "what gear should I buy?" nothing is as hard on a diver's gear as another diver. you should all be using what I use. I am the best diver, therefore my gear is the best, otherwise I would not be using it.