mbwilliamn
Contributor
Way ahead for under 10 dives!
Will DM be a guide or a babysitter?
- Thread starter SCUBASailor
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ItsBruce
Contributor
At the risk of being redundant, I'll add my 2 cents. (Keep in mind that redundancy is one of the keys to safe diving.)
Being comfortable in the water is certainly a prerequisite to diving to 80 feed or any other deeper depth than where you customarily dive. But it is not the only one. Do not confuse bravado with confidence or capability.
You may be completely comfortable in the water when things are going smoothly. But, if something should go wrong, even if it is only a minor inconvenience, your comfort level will likely plummet.
Remember that at 80 feet, it ought to take you nearly 3 minutes to ascend to the surface and that is not even counting a safety stop. That is a very long time when you are uncomfortable.
And, just because you have made to 80 feet once or twice, that does not mean you are now qualified to dive to 80 feet. It only means you have made it there.
OP
SCUBASailor
Contributor
I had hoped to do the Nitrox course this month, but my schedule did not permit. My plan is to do Nitrox as soon as possible, then AOW. I don't know if there is a deep diving course offer locally, but I will check into it.
There's nothing wrong with using a DM until you get comfortable. In fact, I dare say that you'll know when you don't need a DM anymore when they start customarily underperforming your expectations (not a bad thing, I've just found it happens).
You're ahead of the curve for certain, but I think you might have pushed your limits on your 7th dive. Nothing that every one of us hasn't done at least once in our diving careers, just good to be aware that you were probably in a touch over your heads.
Welcome to the sport and enjoy it!
You're ahead of the curve for certain, but I think you might have pushed your limits on your 7th dive. Nothing that every one of us hasn't done at least once in our diving careers, just good to be aware that you were probably in a touch over your heads.
Welcome to the sport and enjoy it!
OP
SCUBASailor
Contributor
We booked the DM, and the trip went great, despite low viz. It started at 20' and dropped to 10' by the end of the second dive. The DM was valuable in taking us to a few "holes" that we would not have seen ourselves. The seas were good and the temp was perfect. All in all, a great day.
FishOutUvH2O
Contributor
OP
SCUBASailor
Contributor
I'm not sure that what I have to share will be news to many of you, but this was our experience:
We had a long time to chat with the DM on the way out to the site. We told him that we were newbies, but competent. He treated us as such. He knew what our dive plan was, but he did not attempt to decide anything for us underwater, including when to ascend. I liked that very much. We can't get any practice doing that if someone else handles the task.
As one of the respondents pointed out, we paid for his services, so he was dedicated strictly to diving with me and my son. I had feared that it might be like our certification dives, where a large group followed the instructor around and we were unable to take our own path. This trip was more like diving with an experienced buddy, and that is exactly what I was hoping for.
Another thing that I discovered is the value of having some navigation skills. I have not had any underwater navigation training, but I do have other navigation experience. Although the viz was not good, we were able to return to the boat anchor line with out too much difficulty even though we had made quite a few turns. We simply noted the underwater landmarks as we swam over them, and reversed the process to get back. (Well, there may have been some luck involved, too.) I have put navigation training on my list of thinks to do.
BTW, I am pleased to say that we dove our plan to the minute, and came up with the expected air reserves.
We had a long time to chat with the DM on the way out to the site. We told him that we were newbies, but competent. He treated us as such. He knew what our dive plan was, but he did not attempt to decide anything for us underwater, including when to ascend. I liked that very much. We can't get any practice doing that if someone else handles the task.
As one of the respondents pointed out, we paid for his services, so he was dedicated strictly to diving with me and my son. I had feared that it might be like our certification dives, where a large group followed the instructor around and we were unable to take our own path. This trip was more like diving with an experienced buddy, and that is exactly what I was hoping for.
Another thing that I discovered is the value of having some navigation skills. I have not had any underwater navigation training, but I do have other navigation experience. Although the viz was not good, we were able to return to the boat anchor line with out too much difficulty even though we had made quite a few turns. We simply noted the underwater landmarks as we swam over them, and reversed the process to get back. (Well, there may have been some luck involved, too.) I have put navigation training on my list of thinks to do.
BTW, I am pleased to say that we dove our plan to the minute, and came up with the expected air reserves.
Sounds like a great experience.
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