What is "basic scuba"?

[TSandM]

My husband and I met a friend yesterday for a night dive. We spent an hour in the water, with a max depth of 20 feet. We were exploring a bunch of eelgrass patches, looking for Spiny Lumpsuckers, which are small, incredibly cute fish which can be found this time of year. The three of us would spend five or ten minutes on a single patch of eelgrass, maybe ten to twenty feet across. We would float quietly and methodically examine the grass and the sandy bottom, looking for interesting critters, and finding both lumpsuckers and other great things, like market squid.

Ten minutes in a 20 foot radius, and not a single bit of silt raised. No problems hovering for that long. Constant passive communication -- each of us knew where the others were at all times.

To me, these are basic scuba skills. But how many people who would term themselves basic divers have been taught how to do this?

 

[pjones]

I don't think they stress that enough in class. I know its teachers pref but i would have been just as happy doing my skills and tests hovering instead of on the bottom. They say not to kick up silt but when it came time to do the open dives the first thing they had us do is sit on the bottom...

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Not many. We seem to have many "advanced divers" with less than 20 dives. Effortless buoyancy comes with time and attention to detail. Not something that is typical after 20 dives. The agencies have done a lot to cheapen the terminology.

 

[RU4SKUBA]

Are those really basic skills?

Motionless hovering --very near the bottom-- in a horizontal position using anti-silting kicks

 

[Hepcat62]

Are those really basic skills?

Motionless hovering --very near the bottom-- in a horizontal position using anti-silting kicks

I would say that they're simply the refined versions of very basic skills that everybody learns the beginnings of, and that people with sufficient experience can perform.

 

[RJP]

Are those really basic skills?

Motionless hovering --very near the bottom-- in a horizontal position using anti-silting kicks

Yes, they are.

There's nothing "advanced" about the having ability to control your position in the water column.

 

[deadly_risk]

To me, these are basic scuba skills. But how many people who would term themselves basic divers have been taught how to do this?

Not me, and I would consider myself a basic diver. I really liked my OW class (got along well with the divecons and instructor), but it was not until I started diving with others outside OW that I realized how much it lacked in what I would now agree are basic scuba skills. 20 or so dives out of OW and I am just now getting to the point where I can see that skill level on the horizon.

My OW was two class room sessions, two all day pool sessions, and a 4 dive OW weekend. Zero to OW in two weeks sounded like a good idea at the time. Turned out to only be cheating myself.

 

[DaleC]

To me, these are basic scuba skills. But how many people who would term themselves basic divers have been taught how to do this?

I think very few people at the basic level are taught this. However, I think that some people at the basic level do teach themselves this. If that makes any sense.

BTW, the more important question is: Did you see any Lumpfish?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Might be basic skills, but it takes some people longer to learn them. For that reason, I don't think it's fair to expect everyone with an OW card to be able to hover perfectly and never kick up silt.

I didn't used to think so, but working on a DM cert has opened my eyes to see how people tend to progress through classes and scuba knowledge. Some people are already refining those skills when they exit the class. Others know enough to stay alive, and what the end goal of skill refinement is, but take more time and dives in order to reach that goal.

 

[liuk3]

My dive instructor used to say something about not needing good buoyancy so long as you are comfortable diving in low viz...