Wannabe Scuba Divers...

[scuabacruiser]

That is great! You still have "fun" ok work to do, but from here on, the stress level will go down while the fun level will go up. You have stepped into an exclusive club that knows no strangers and has the best and nicest people you will ever meet.:D Just get wet!

[scubadiver888]

Our class had 10 students with one instructor and one assistant instructor who is going through the divemaster program right now and has only been diving a year himself. The assistant was by far the best "teacher" of the two and was right there on top of it when you needed him. Without him, I may not have made it through the first day. The class was mainly made up of police officers and firemen who are looking to be on the scuba teams of their respective departments. I found having all of them in the class to feel kind of intimidating. There was also one female that wasn't police or fire, however, her brother is a fireman. He has been a scuba diver for a long time and she tried her first experience with diving on a cruise and it turned out to be really bad. She said she would never do it again, but gave in once he promised he would come with her and stay close by to make sure she didn't have another bad experience and give up for good. He stayed back throughout the pool session so as to not be intrusive, but was close enough to give her support and also to give it to those of us that were as fearful as his sister.

 

Sounds like the dive shop is busy. They probably drop the Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) because all their instructors and assistants are busy doing Open Water (OW) certifications. You might need to bug the instructor (or assistant) for a little more help. With a full class they won't be able to go over everything in detail. If you are getting certified in PADI, I know the manual has a lot of helpful information. You want to read through it (not just skimming it) and ask questions about anything which is not obvious. This will help the instructor to know what to focus on and what they can skim over.

 

I have to say, I was starting to feel really sick during the classroom portion of the day as I anticipated heading to the pool. I was shaking as they were fitting me for my BCD and I started wondering if I could really bring myself to go through with it. The instructor had said we were going to start with the swimming test which was a 200 meter swim and then 10 minutes of treading water. Once again, it felt sort of intimidating because I knew that with my medical conditions, it would take me longer to finish the 200 meter swim than everyone else. It did, and everyone else got a break while they waited for me. Of course, we went straight into the water treading right after I finished, but I made it through it.

 

Unless you become a professional Dive Master, you'll never need to do the swim test or tread water again. Oddly enough, as you get good at scuba diving, technique makes it unnecessary to swim that much.

 

And then it was time to suit up.

 

They say that once you have your first underwater breathing experience, you'll never forget it. I think that it very true. I must say, once I stuck the regulator in my mouth and took a few deep breaths through it, I felt myself relax a little bit because it felt comfortable and safe. I did find myself holding my breath somewhat, but I really concentrated on it and got past that pretty quickly. The instructor had made us leave off our masks and go down into the water with just our regulators at first, and of course I sucked water in through my nose and choked a little. But, once we got our masks on and then went under, everything seemed to work pretty well and I felt comfortable breathing underwater.

 

I have trouble with breathing without my mask on as well. I don't remember breathing off the regulator without a mask in the pool. It is helpful though as you will have to do this in the open water portion of the class. It is good he is taking the time to have you practice in the pool. Mask work is probably one of the weak points of most students.

 

I did have a few problems I have to try to work through. I really thought we might get a little instruction on using our masks, snorkels and fins at the beginning of class, but we didn't. I had never used any of those pieces of equipment before and I struggled quite a bit with those. I never could get my mask and snorkel on properly. My mask was constantly coming off or filling up with water throughout the whole session and it made things very difficult (even though I became pretty efficient at clearing my mask underwater because of it). Once we put on our fins and got to a point where we were swimming around the pool, I felt like I wasn't using the fins properly. I felt my fins coming up out of the water and it seemed like I wasn't able to kick my legs at an even pace. It felt like I was exerting a lot more effort than I assumed it would take and I was getting extremely tired by the end of the day.

 

Get your husband to help you with your mask (you'll need a second set of eyes). Flip the strap so it is in front of the mask, i.e. you can put the mask on your face without using the strap at all. Look up at the ceiling with your mask in your hands. Place the mask on your face. Don't press it down, just place it lightly on your face. Does it sit well or are there gaps? Have your husband look for the gaps. If there are gaps it is going to leak a little. Different masks have different shaped skirts. Fit is the most important thing in a mask.

 

With the mask sitting on your face you should be able to breath in through your nose and the mask will stick. You can now bring your head down and the mask will stay in place. If you have to keep sucking in to keep it in place it is not fitting properly.

 

Additionally, the water pressure will keep your mask on. The strap should not be tight. You should be able to take the mask on and off without adjusting the strap. If the strap is so tight you need to loosen it to take the mask off or get it back on then it is going to deform the shape of the skirt and the mask will leak.

 

Also, don't smile or your mask will leak. Smiling is guaranteed to make all masks leak.

 

As far as finning goes, it is not a race. Once you are underwater it will be harder to fin. Just take your time. Unless you are a Navy Seal and wearing blade fins, kicking harder will get you only slightly faster. When I'm on Caribbean dive I tend to float and do one or two kicks every 10 seconds. If you are going any faster you are going to miss everything.

 

You might want to look into Apollo Bio fins. These are split fins. If you want to go REALLY fast you cannot. If you kick REALLY lightly you will go medium speed. They reduce the strain on your legs and work well for a flutter kick. I bought a pair last year and they work great.

 

I had a terrible time with getting weighted properly and they had to fuss with that constantly. They started me off with 14 pounds of weights and they had to continue adding more until I ended up with 24 pounds by the time we finished. I'm sure that caused a large part of my feeling of overexertion. My BCD was completely deflated so I don't know what the problem was with that. There were several people that had a problem with proper wieghting, but they said that we would work on that next week.

 

Proper weighting is the most important thing and something that you'll continue to work on even after you get certified. If you are working with a PADI shop they should have a class called Peak Performance Buoyancy (PPB) which will help a lot. Once you get your buoyancy working well, everything else improves.

 

Too little weight and you spend all your time swimming down (you'll use a lot of air doing this). Too much weight and you spend all your time swimming up and wasting air filling your BCD.

 

Things to look for:

 

- Make sure there is no air trapped in your wetsuit (armpits and crotch area usually).

- Make sure your BCD is really empty (some times an air bubble gets trapped)

 

Start with what you think is enough weight, go to the deep end of the pool, relax (slow deep breathing; eyes closed if that helps), take a breath and let all the air out of your BCD. You should NOT sink. If you sink you have too much weight. If you don't sink, let your breath out. Let it all out and you should sink. If you sink before letting it all out you are overweighted. If you don't sink with no air in your lungs you need more weight.

 

If you need more weight, fill your BCD with air and slowly go back to the shallow end and get two 2 pounds weights, stick them in the BCD pockets (one each side), try it again. Keep doing this until you sink with no air in your lungs but float with a full breath. Take your time and don't get out of breath or your results will be wrong.

 

This is a time consuming process but once you get your weight right the rest of your training goes much faster.

 

Also, practice with the same equipment you will wear in the open water. If you wear no wetsuit in the pool and a wetsuit in the open water, your going to need more weight in the open water. The only way to know how much weight you need is by doing the above procedure. Every time I change my gear (new fins, new BCD, new gloves, etc.) I go through this procedure.

 

We worked on using the alternate air source with our buddies yesterday also. We had some trouble with this and had to repeat it several times. We had problems doing this for several reasons. First, the mask problem I was having was a problem my husband was having also. In addition, once we got in the pool, we found that my husband's BCD didn't have several of the hooks that were needed to keep his equipment in the proper place. So, it was difficult getting to his alternate air source, his SPG, one of his BCD deflators, etc. That made things tough also. We were a little disappointed in the fact that the equipment they supplied us with didn't have everything we needed, but we had to do the best we could with what we had.

 

If you use rental gear in the Caribbean you'll face the same problem. Keeping all the rental gear in good condition is very expensive. Most dive operations have a hard time making a profit so they cannot afford to keep currently updating the gear. Ask the assistant, instructors or any certified divers if they can show you were to hang the octo and SPG. I like to bend the hose on the octo and place the bend in a D-ring on my shoulder. I like to take the SPG and slide it up under the cumberband. I place it so if I look down I can read the gauges. This makes it secure and makes it so I don't have to move it to read my depth and cylinder pressure.

 

I guess overall, we did pretty well with our first class and considering all of the equipment problems we were struggling with, we probably should be quite proud of ourselves. I can honestly say, I felt pretty overwhelmed by the time we finished up but I'm still ready to go back and try it all again. We've worked on figuring out our masks and snorkels to get them to fit properly and I think that will help us significantly. I think next week when we spend time in the deep end and have time to really work on swimming more than just individual skills in the shallow end, things may seems to come together a little more for me.

 

Use this time to work on the buoyancy. This will improve your skills a hundred times. You will be diving better than people certified for years if you can get this right.

 

Also, relax and don't rush. As you take your time you will enjoy it more and you'll actually be faster.

 

I really want to thank you all again for your advice and recommendations because it really helped us with our decisions. It may not seem apparent, but after having our first class, I am very glad that we went through with it and I definitely still think it is something my husband and I will enjoy doing together once we master our skills. And that is something that I really want to do prior to taking our cruise because I want us to really be able to enjoy our first dive in the caribbean together. We continue to welcome everyone's advice and comments.

 

When you get to the Caribbean, let the dive guide (usually an Open Water Scuba Instructor or Dive Master) know you are newly certified and would appreciate any tips or help. These guys usually have thousands of dives and hundreds of students. Most of them are REALLY helpful.

[Roatanfans]

I'm so happy that you were able to get in the waterand enjoy your class. I promise it will get much easier- the hardest part is over!

Masks can be tricky- most of my problems have been due to hair getting caught in the skirt of the mask (my husband has a mustache, so his mask always has some leakage) or sunscreen/lotion not allowing the mask to seal properly (it took me a while to figure that one out!)

I got certified in Monterey Ca- a beautiful place, but cold water diving with kelp. I had to wear a 7ml farmer john style wetsuit with a hood (I hated that hood!). I looked like a bad cross between a ninja and the Michelin tire man! Also, I am extremely naturally bouyent- I started off my scuba career with 50 lbs of weight! I could hardly move- I remember crawling out of the surf and collapsing on the sand like a harpooned seal. I got through that and as I became more and more comfortable in the water I could shed weight and have gotten down to 16 lbs (of course now I'm diving in warm water). In some cases I found equiptment to help me- I found a weight harness that let me distribute the weights more evenly, and I experimented with different fins (I have force fins and love them, but they do look funny!) I now have over 100 dives and am really into underwater photography and fish identification.

Don't let the fire fighters and police in your class intimidate you, scuba is something that almost anyone can do- you will meet lots of people diving who don't fit into the stereotype of divers- and most are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. One of my greatest insprations when I was learning was watching a class of handicapped divers getting certified, it really is amazing at how inclusive diving can be! Once you are under that warm caribbean water and you see the amazing variety of life and vibrant colors you'll never look at the ocean the same way again!

[CaribQween]

Sounds like the dive shop is busy. They probably drop the Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) because all their instructors and assistants are busy doing Open Water (OW) certifications. You might need to bug the instructor (or assistant) for a little more help. With a full class they won't be able to go over everything in detail. If you are getting certified in PADI, I know the manual has a lot of helpful information. You want to read through it (not just skimming it) and ask questions about anything which is not obvious. This will help the instructor to know what to focus on and what they can skim over.

 

 

 

Unless you become a professional Dive Master, you'll never need to do the swim test or tread water again. Oddly enough, as you get good at scuba diving, technique makes it unnecessary to swim that much.

 

 

 

I have trouble with breathing without my mask on as well. I don't remember breathing off the regulator without a mask in the pool. It is helpful though as you will have to do this in the open water portion of the class. It is good he is taking the time to have you practice in the pool. Mask work is probably one of the weak points of most students.

 

 

 

Get your husband to help you with your mask (you'll need a second set of eyes). Flip the strap so it is in front of the mask, i.e. you can put the mask on your face without using the strap at all. Look up at the ceiling with your mask in your hands. Place the mask on your face. Don't press it down, just place it lightly on your face. Does it sit well or are there gaps? Have your husband look for the gaps. If there are gaps it is going to leak a little. Different masks have different shaped skirts. Fit is the most important thing in a mask.

 

With the mask sitting on your face you should be able to breath in through your nose and the mask will stick. You can now bring your head down and the mask will stay in place. If you have to keep sucking in to keep it in place it is not fitting properly.

 

Additionally, the water pressure will keep your mask on. The strap should not be tight. You should be able to take the mask on and off without adjusting the strap. If the strap is so tight you need to loosen it to take the mask off or get it back on then it is going to deform the shape of the skirt and the mask will leak.

 

Also, don't smile or your mask will leak. Smiling is guaranteed to make all masks leak.

 

As far as finning goes, it is not a race. Once you are underwater it will be harder to fin. Just take your time. Unless you are a Navy Seal and wearing blade fins, kicking harder will get you only slightly faster. When I'm on Caribbean dive I tend to float and do one or two kicks every 10 seconds. If you are going any faster you are going to miss everything.

 

You might want to look into Apollo Bio fins. These are split fins. If you want to go REALLY fast you cannot. If you kick REALLY lightly you will go medium speed. They reduce the strain on your legs and work well for a flutter kick. I bought a pair last year and they work great.

 

 

 

Proper weighting is the most important thing and something that you'll continue to work on even after you get certified. If you are working with a PADI shop they should have a class called Peak Performance Buoyancy (PPB) which will help a lot. Once you get your buoyancy working well, everything else improves.

 

Too little weight and you spend all your time swimming down (you'll use a lot of air doing this). Too much weight and you spend all your time swimming up and wasting air filling your BCD.

 

Things to look for:

 

- Make sure there is no air trapped in your wetsuit (armpits and crotch area usually).

- Make sure your BCD is really empty (some times an air bubble gets trapped)

 

Start with what you think is enough weight, go to the deep end of the pool, relax (slow deep breathing; eyes closed if that helps), take a breath and let all the air out of your BCD. You should NOT sink. If you sink you have too much weight. If you don't sink, let your breath out. Let it all out and you should sink. If you sink before letting it all out you are overweighted. If you don't sink with no air in your lungs you need more weight.

 

If you need more weight, fill your BCD with air and slowly go back to the shallow end and get two 2 pounds weights, stick them in the BCD pockets (one each side), try it again. Keep doing this until you sink with no air in your lungs but float with a full breath. Take your time and don't get out of breath or your results will be wrong.

 

This is a time consuming process but once you get your weight right the rest of your training goes much faster.

 

Also, practice with the same equipment you will wear in the open water. If you wear no wetsuit in the pool and a wetsuit in the open water, your going to need more weight in the open water. The only way to know how much weight you need is by doing the above procedure. Every time I change my gear (new fins, new BCD, new gloves, etc.) I go through this procedure.

 

 

 

If you use rental gear in the Caribbean you'll face the same problem. Keeping all the rental gear in good condition is very expensive. Most dive operations have a hard time making a profit so they cannot afford to keep currently updating the gear. Ask the assistant, instructors or any certified divers if they can show you were to hang the octo and SPG. I like to bend the hose on the octo and place the bend in a D-ring on my shoulder. I like to take the SPG and slide it up under the cumberband. I place it so if I look down I can read the gauges. This makes it secure and makes it so I don't have to move it to read my depth and cylinder pressure.

 

 

 

Use this time to work on the buoyancy. This will improve your skills a hundred times. You will be diving better than people certified for years if you can get this right.

 

Also, relax and don't rush. As you take your time you will enjoy it more and you'll actually be faster.

 

 

 

When you get to the Caribbean, let the dive guide (usually an Open Water Scuba Instructor or Dive Master) know you are newly certified and would appreciate any tips or help. These guys usually have thousands of dives and hundreds of students. Most of them are REALLY helpful.

 

First and foremost, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to give us so much information. Believe me, it will be put to good use. I would venture to guess you are either an instructor or probably should be one :). As soon as I read your post (a couple of times actually), I told my husband he had to come on and read it. There are a LOT of really good tips that we think could help us substantially.

 

Before we started our classes, we went ahead and purchased mask, fin, and snorkel sets and also wetsuits, so we could start our training using what we would be using when actually diving. We figured it would help us in several different ways. We didn't want to skimp on anything because we didn't want to find ourselves struggling anymore than we already would be :o. We got an Oceanic mask, fin, and snorkel set. We had the opportunity to choose from a huge selection of masks and we tried on all of them and did all of the tests that they told us to do with the dive shop owner helping us. The fins are Oceanic Vortex 16 split fins. Our snorkels are an Oceanic Ultra Dry model that keeps water from flowing into the end of the barrel. We got Bare Elastek wetsuits which are full-length farmer john style, 3/2 mm.

 

We did not work on weighting at all in the class Saturday and I really wish we would have done so. When we got to the water portion, the instructor just went down the line and told the assistant how much weight to give each of us before we had our equipment or our wetsuits on so the amount of weights they gave us didn't take any of those things into consideration (and since we all had different types of BCDs and wetsuits it would obviously make a difference). After that, if we were having trouble staying down on our knees in the shallow end of the pool, they would come along and just stuff more weights in our pockets. They did make sure our BCD's did not have any air in them, but we didn't do any work with breathing at all to help us learn to adjust anything properly. I'm really hoping they work with us this coming week but if they don't, we have your guidance to use ;). I'll read and re-read it a couple of times before we leave for class this Saturday (maybe take a cheat sheet with me too).

 

We are definitely making sure we thoroughly read our books and all training materials they've given us. Having the DVD helps too because it reiterates what you've just read and emphasizes the really important issues. After we got back from class last week, the whole process of putting together our equipment was sort of a blur so re-reading it in the book and watching it again on the DVD made things much clearer for me.

 

I'm definitely ready to go back for our next class and I won't be as scared this time around even though there is definitely some anxiety still lingering. I really want to be able to practice, practice, practice our skills and just be able to bring everything together. We've already asked the dive shop about taking Peak Performance Buoyancy right after we finish the Open Water Diver Course and they said we can definitely do that. I'm willing to do as much as we can in advance of our Caribbean trip because I want to be relaxed and just really be able to enjoy that experience because I know it will be like nothing we've ever experienced before.

 

Once again, thank you so much for all of the advice and recommendations. We really appreciate it more than you'll ever know. And believe me, we'll put it all to good use and try everything you've discussed. We appreciate everybody's help and encouragement and we really do welcome any additional comments along the way.

[CaribQween]

I'm so happy that you were able to get in the waterand enjoy your class. I promise it will get much easier- the hardest part is over!

Masks can be tricky- most of my problems have been due to hair getting caught in the skirt of the mask (my husband has a mustache, so his mask always has some leakage) or sunscreen/lotion not allowing the mask to seal properly (it took me a while to figure that one out!)

I got certified in Monterey Ca- a beautiful place, but cold water diving with kelp. I had to wear a 7ml farmer john style wetsuit with a hood (I hated that hood!). I looked like a bad cross between a ninja and the Michelin tire man! Also, I am extremely naturally bouyent- I started off my scuba career with 50 lbs of weight! I could hardly move- I remember crawling out of the surf and collapsing on the sand like a harpooned seal. I got through that and as I became more and more comfortable in the water I could shed weight and have gotten down to 16 lbs (of course now I'm diving in warm water). In some cases I found equiptment to help me- I found a weight harness that let me distribute the weights more evenly, and I experimented with different fins (I have force fins and love them, but they do look funny!) I now have over 100 dives and am really into underwater photography and fish identification.

Don't let the fire fighters and police in your class intimidate you, scuba is something that almost anyone can do- you will meet lots of people diving who don't fit into the stereotype of divers- and most are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. One of my greatest insprations when I was learning was watching a class of handicapped divers getting certified, it really is amazing at how inclusive diving can be! Once you are under that warm caribbean water and you see the amazing variety of life and vibrant colors you'll never look at the ocean the same way again!

 

Thank you for your encouragement. It was definitely a very tough day, but it was still enjoyable and really gave me a sense of accomplishment. I was literally on the verge of a panic attack prior to going to the pool, but the instructor, and especially the assistant, were aware of it and gave me quite a bit of encouragement too. I could feel that the assistant was making sure to watch me closely and even at one point when we were practicing sharing alternate air sources, he just grabbed me and pulled me up out of the water because he saw that the second stage was upside down and I had already taken my regulator out of my mouth. They knew that my fear level was pretty high and I don't think they wanted anything to happen that would scare me away permanently.

 

I can't imagine 50 lbs of weights. The 24 lbs wore me out completely. My legs were so tired when we were swimming around the pool and I even started getting cramps in the arches of my feet. It was a lot of work that involved muscles that I just wasn't used to using. And of course after the swim test, it was even worse. I'm really glad we don't have to do the test each week and I'm really hoping that we can work on reducing the amount of weights I need, but we'll see what happens this week.

 

I just can't wait to get to the caribbean and experience everything you describe. It just sounds so wonderful with the warm waters and the amazing variety of undersea life. There is just so much we want to do on this cruise. We would love to dive with the dolphins and we definitely would like to do Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Of course, there are the barrier reefs in Belize and Roatan and we would like to do both boat diving and shore diving if possible. We're pretty much set on Anthony's Key Resort in Roatan, but we haven't made any decisions on the other ports. We definitely welcome any other recommendations for any and all of the ports we'll be visiting (Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan). And thank you for telling how you got inspriation from watching the class of handicapped divers getting certified. That really does give inspiration just hearing about it and it does remind you that this really is something that nearly anyone can do, no matter what your limitations. It seems like a really great community of people who love to share the experience. And since you've already told us about you being into underwater photography, please do share some pictures with us. We'd love to see them :).

[scubadiver888]

First and foremost, thank you so much for taking the time and effort to give us so much information. Believe me, it will be put to good use. I would venture to guess you are either an instructor or probably should be one :). As soon as I read your post (a couple of times actually), I told my husband he had to come on and read it. There are a LOT of really good tips that we think could help us substantially.

 

Not a problem. I find teaching others anything helps me remember it and improve. That post was as much for me as it was for you. Glad you liked it though. :)

 

I've been teaching for years (Computer Science, Math, etc.) and just started my Dive Master (DM) training. It will probably be a year or more before I become an Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI).

 

A few more tips:

 

There are a few fin designs. The split fins are the newest. If you are an Olympic athlete or Navy Seal they are not the best choice. If I kick lightly I will go fast. If I kick harder I will not go much faster. They not good if you are fighting against a strong current. They are good for most recreational diving. There is no reason you need to go fast. Take your time and enjoy yourself.

 

I like the Apollo split fins because they are the original split fins. All other companies either copied or licensed the design from Apollo. Apollo has been improving their design. I found they to be much better than most other split fins. The downside to them is they are made of 100% rubber. They tend to break down (everything in nature breaks down; some things take decades) faster than composite materials and they are very heavy. Not best if you travel a lot (adds a few pounds to the luggage).

 

Snorkels are pretty much the same. Too long and it is hard to breath through. Too short and you get water in it. Too small a bore and it is hard suck air in. Too large a bore and it is too hard to clear. Little things like the clip, making it dry, purge valve, etc. is the big differences.

 

I'm just learning about equipment because as a DM I am expected to help student select their equipment. I found there is a lot of research on this topic but I suspect the more experienced DM and OWSI aren't keeping current. No one seemed to know how to pick a mask as I was learning. I purchased 4 masks over 8 years until I found one that fits really well. Most people know how to pick a mask which works for them. You really have to do research to find out how to pick a mask for anyone. It is hard to find the research however (I was looking for at least 4 years).

 

I've worked with 7mm farmer johns and 3mm full suits. The 3mm farmer john will be less buoyant than the 7mm but less buoyant than the 3mm full. I would say 24 pounds is possibly too much weight. But it might not be for you.

 

Being nervous will make you retain air in your lungs. The more diving you do the less this will be a problem. Just get in the water and dive more. Meditation and yoga can help. I started diving skin with 18 pounds. I now use 12 pounds with a wetsuit. I could probably do 8 pounds with skin diving.

 

Some BCDs will trap a little air. Imagine a plastic bottle. You put it in water and the water rushes in. You can see an air bubble in the bottle. If you turn the bottle the right way you can get the air bubble out of the bottle and it is 100% full of water.

 

The trick is to roll your body to get all the air to the dump valve. For some BCDs it is easier to pull the dump valve on our butt as you swim head down. Raising your left shoulder as you dump air helps too. One small air bubble could add a few pounds.

 

And finally, sometimes air gets trapped in your wetsuit. Especially if you are wearing a farmer john. As you move around underwater the air will come out.

 

Your instructor will prefer you overweight rather then underweight. As your cylinder empties it will become lighter. You need to be 5 pounds too heavy at the start. If you are just right at the beginning you will be too light at the end. Too light equals a rapid ascent and that can lead to decompression illness (DCI) or an air gas embolism (AGE). Very dangerous. Always better to be too heavy.

 

Personally, I like to give a lot of information but I should add, there is a lot to remember. If you forget some of it that is fine. Don't get too overloaded. ALWAYS remember the basics. NEVER hold your breath, don't panic and it is not a race. It you remember just these three things you will get better over time.

 

If you get good training in the Peak Performance Buoyancy course you will be better than most people with advanced certification. It often takes years to get to that level.

[CaribQween]

Not a problem. I find teaching others anything helps me remember it and improve. That post was as much for me as it was for you. Glad you liked it though. :)

 

I've been teaching for years (Computer Science, Math, etc.) and just started my Dive Master (DM) training. It will probably be a year or more before I become an Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI).

 

A few more tips:

 

There are a few fin designs. The split fins are the newest. If you are an Olympic athlete or Navy Seal they are not the best choice. If I kick lightly I will go fast. If I kick harder I will not go much faster. They not good if you are fighting against a strong current. They are good for most recreational diving. There is no reason you need to go fast. Take your time and enjoy yourself.

 

I like the Apollo split fins because they are the original split fins. All other companies either copied or licensed the design from Apollo. Apollo has been improving their design. I found they to be much better than most other split fins. The downside to them is they are made of 100% rubber. They tend to break down (everything in nature breaks down; some things take decades) faster than composite materials and they are very heavy. Not best if you travel a lot (adds a few pounds to the luggage).

 

Snorkels are pretty much the same. Too long and it is hard to breath through. Too short and you get water in it. Too small a bore and it is hard suck air in. Too large a bore and it is too hard to clear. Little things like the clip, making it dry, purge valve, etc. is the big differences.

 

I'm just learning about equipment because as a DM I am expected to help student select their equipment. I found there is a lot of research on this topic but I suspect the more experienced DM and OWSI aren't keeping current. No one seemed to know how to pick a mask as I was learning. I purchased 4 masks over 8 years until I found one that fits really well. Most people know how to pick a mask which works for them. You really have to do research to find out how to pick a mask for anyone. It is hard to find the research however (I was looking for at least 4 years).

 

I've worked with 7mm farmer johns and 3mm full suits. The 3mm farmer john will be less buoyant than the 7mm but less buoyant than the 3mm full. I would say 24 pounds is possibly too much weight. But it might not be for you.

 

Being nervous will make you retain air in your lungs. The more diving you do the less this will be a problem. Just get in the water and dive more. Meditation and yoga can help. I started diving skin with 18 pounds. I now use 12 pounds with a wetsuit. I could probably do 8 pounds with skin diving.

 

Some BCDs will trap a little air. Imagine a plastic bottle. You put it in water and the water rushes in. You can see an air bubble in the bottle. If you turn the bottle the right way you can get the air bubble out of the bottle and it is 100% full of water.

 

The trick is to roll your body to get all the air to the dump valve. For some BCDs it is easier to pull the dump valve on our butt as you swim head down. Raising your left shoulder as you dump air helps too. One small air bubble could add a few pounds.

 

And finally, sometimes air gets trapped in your wetsuit. Especially if you are wearing a farmer john. As you move around underwater the air will come out.

 

Your instructor will prefer you overweight rather then underweight. As your cylinder empties it will become lighter. You need to be 5 pounds too heavy at the start. If you are just right at the beginning you will be too light at the end. Too light equals a rapid ascent and that can lead to decompression illness (DCI) or an air gas embolism (AGE). Very dangerous. Always better to be too heavy.

 

Personally, I like to give a lot of information but I should add, there is a lot to remember. If you forget some of it that is fine. Don't get too overloaded. ALWAYS remember the basics. NEVER hold your breath, don't panic and it is not a race. It you remember just these three things you will get better over time.

 

If you get good training in the Peak Performance Buoyancy course you will be better than most people with advanced certification. It often takes years to get to that level.

 

It wasn't a tough guess that you were a teacher/instructor of some sort. I just wasn't expecting it to be in so many areas. But that makes students pretty lucky to have someone who is so willing to share information and seems to love doing it. I'm really very glad to hear that you're going through Divemaster training and will be moving on to the OWSI. I really think you'll benefit a lot of divers.

 

I realized from reading your post that I was confused on the type of wetsuits that we have. I didn't realize there was a difference between the farmer john style and the full wetsuits. I just thought that farmer john meant they were long legged. Now, I know that farmer johns don't have arms. The style we have is definitely the full wetsuit with both long arms and long legs. I wanted to get those right from the start because I get cold easily and I also didn't want to worry about getting scratched up on my arms and legs because I really scar very easily. Even though we will be doing most of our diving in the Caribbean at first, we like to cruise in February and the water isn't all that warm, at least not for me. I was freezing in the heated pool at the school the other day with the wetsuit on. My husband was very comfortable with his on.

 

One of my big problems last week was that I couldn't figure out the closure on my mask and so it kept loosening up. It constantly was filling up with water and slipping around. I think my husband figured it out and we even stopped in the dive shop again yesterday and talked to the shop owner about what we were doing wrong. He said they were a little difficult to work with and since I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, using my hands for some of these things can be difficult. He showed us the easiest way to adjust them and said he was working with the manufacturer's to get some with better closures. We're going to see how it goes this weekend and if we need to get some new masks, then we will. I just really want to get past some of those problems early on so I can really concentrate on the skills we need to know.

 

We also talked to the dive shop owner about possibly being able to get pool time once we finish our class if we feel like we want to still work on our skills before going out diving on our own. He said if the two of us just want to do some pool time together while other classes are in the pool, we could work on our skills by ourselves for a very nominal fee. He also said if once we finished our class, if we thought we wanted some additional pool time with an instructor, we could do that also. He really stressed that we don't have to feel that we only have 3 weeks of classes and then our open dives and after that we would be on our own with no additional help. If we need help, it's available. I really like knowing that. I want to be able to be very comfortable when we go out on our own.

 

Well, thank you again for all of the information you've provided us and the new info you gave us in this most recent post. I'm thinking that this week we're going to be working on a lot of the areas that I was having trouble with last time such as the proper weighting, inflating/deflating our BCD's, swimming with our fins and snorkel, etc. Well definitely take all of your advice and put it to use. And we'll let you know how this week's class goes.

 

I see you're getting very close to your next cruise. Enjoy!!

[scubadiver888]

It wasn't a tough guess that you were a teacher/instructor of some sort. I just wasn't expecting it to be in so many areas. But that makes students pretty lucky to have someone who is so willing to share information and seems to love doing it. I'm really very glad to hear that you're going through Divemaster training and will be moving on to the OWSI. I really think you'll benefit a lot of divers.

 

Thanks. I'm glad it shows that I am very passionate about teaching. This is the reason I've become a teacher of everything I'm passionate about. Thus after diving for 8 years I thought it was about time I became a scuba instructor. :)

 

I realized from reading your post that I was confused on the type of wetsuits that we have. I didn't realize there was a difference between the farmer john style and the full wetsuits. I just thought that farmer john meant they were long legged. Now, I know that farmer johns don't have arms. The style we have is definitely the full wetsuit with both long arms and long legs. I wanted to get those right from the start because I get cold easily and I also didn't want to worry about getting scratched up on my arms and legs because I really scar very easily. Even though we will be doing most of our diving in the Caribbean at first, we like to cruise in February and the water isn't all that warm, at least not for me. I was freezing in the heated pool at the school the other day with the wetsuit on. My husband was very comfortable with his on.

 

Not a problem. I didn't learn about farmer johns until years after I was certified. The farmer john (with jacket) is warmer because you have two layers of neoprene on your core.

 

If you want the same effect with a full wetsuit, there is a thing called a 'core warmer' or 'tunic' (different companies use different terminology). You can wear a tunic over the full wetsuit and they will add a layer of neoprene to your core as well. This is actually a nicer combination, in my opinion.

 

It is understandable that you were cold in the pool. Your husband was also cold but just didn't realize it. The average body temperature is 97F. Very warm, tropical water is 85F. February Caribbean can get as cool as 70F but if you say in the western Caribbean or out of currents from the Atlantic Ocean it will usually be 75F. Even at 75F, you will be constantly warming the water around you because you are 97F.

 

For swimming or snorkelling, you tend to move around a lot. So you don't get chilled. For scuba diving, you will tend to move a lot less. This means you are at risk of hypothermia if you dive for too long. Fortunately, for recreational scuba divers it is hard to stay in the water too long (you'll usually run out of air first). Scuba diving in inland lakes, the Atlantic Ocean or other colder bodies of water require a wetsuit. If you dive repeatedly, even in the Caribbean, you will get colder each day.

 

Underwater you can wear a 7mm wetsuit and be fine. The problem is, on the surface and, even more so, on the boat a wetsuit will make you too hot. Then you could suffer from hot stroke.

 

Bottom line, wear a wetsuit but leave it roll down to your waist while you are out of the water (you can leave it on during cloudy days). You will see this is what the Dive Masters in the Caribbean do.

 

One of my big problems last week was that I couldn't figure out the closure on my mask and so it kept loosening up. It constantly was filling up with water and slipping around. I think my husband figured it out and we even stopped in the dive shop again yesterday and talked to the shop owner about what we were doing wrong. He said they were a little difficult to work with and since I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, using my hands for some of these things can be difficult. He showed us the easiest way to adjust them and said he was working with the manufacturer's to get some with better closures. We're going to see how it goes this weekend and if we need to get some new masks, then we will. I just really want to get past some of those problems early on so I can really concentrate on the skills we need to know.

 

I understand how rheumatoid arthritis can be a problem. I had rheumatic fever 32 years ago and have slowly losing my dexterity. So I'm always looking for things which are easy to use.

 

The mask I use is a CressiSub. They have a good field of vision (you want to be able to see a lot; you want to be able to look down and see your gauges), they are low volume (less air in the mask is better; less chance of mask squeeze) and the come in a variety of sizes. I like the Lince but that is just because I have a narrow face.

 

I put the mask on then pull on the straps until it is snug. The straps tighten with a ratchet action. I'll pull a little until it clicks once on the right, then once on the left. If I pull too tight, push a button and they loosen. I then try again. Once I have the mask strap adjusted I don't move it. There is enough stretch in the strap that I can take it off and put it on without adjusting it again.

 

We also talked to the dive shop owner about possibly being able to get pool time once we finish our class if we feel like we want to still work on our skills before going out diving on our own. He said if the two of us just want to do some pool time together while other classes are in the pool, we could work on our skills by ourselves for a very nominal fee. He also said if once we finished our class, if we thought we wanted some additional pool time with an instructor, we could do that also. He really stressed that we don't have to feel that we only have 3 weeks of classes and then our open dives and after that we would be on our own with no additional help. If we need help, it's available. I really like knowing that. I want to be able to be very comfortable when we go out on our own.

 

This is one of the duties of a Dive Master (DM). We are here is guides and helpers to certified divers. Part of my training will be to do refresher courses. I re-teach certified divers. Only an Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) can train new divers but as a DM I can re-train or help certified divers.

 

Well, thank you again for all of the information you've provided us and the new info you gave us in this most recent post. I'm thinking that this week we're going to be working on a lot of the areas that I was having trouble with last time such as the proper weighting, inflating/deflating our BCD's, swimming with our fins and snorkel, etc. Well definitely take all of your advice and put it to use. And we'll let you know how this week's class goes.

 

I see you're getting very close to your next cruise. Enjoy!!

 

I'm glad to help. I'm actually anxious to get in the water and help some of my dive shop's students. Unfortunately, that will not happen until after my cruise, i.e. September 26th.

 

Remember, if you are properly weighted you shouldn't have to inflate/deflate the BCD very much. Also remember, as you go down the air in the BCD will get smaller. To maintain the same buoyancy you'll need to add air. As you go up the air will expand. so you will need to purge air from the BCD.

 

Also, the change in air size is greater at the surface. As you go deeper, the air change will be smaller. So you need to pay more attention from 20' to the surface. Once you get below 20' the change will be slower. Getting good buoyancy in a pool is harder than in the Ocean because pools tend to be only 12' deep. Even a deep pool is usually only 16'.

 

Finally, if you get the correct weight, you can go down by breathing all your air out, you can go up by breathing in deeply. You can stay at the current height by breathing normally. You should NOT use the BCD to go up and down. You want to adjust the BCD if you go up or down more then 5' but not as a way to start going up. Basically, if your torso gets bigger (deep breath) you are more buoyant (weight to volume ratio) if your torso gets smaller (breath all air out) you are less buoyant. The original scuba divers didn't use BCDs. They were VERY fit and just used their lungs.

[CaribKng]

Well today we have completed all of our classroom work and all of our confined water dives in the pool :D. We will be traveling next weekend to a quarry to complete our certification and then we will be official.

 

I'm sure my wife (CaribQween) will be on writing about it. All the information given has been so helpful.

 

I just thought I would provide a little update. I can tell that this is going to become very addictive, at least for me.

[BuzzF117]

Well today we have completed all of our classroom work and all of our confined water dives in the pool :D. We will be traveling next weekend to a quarry to complete our certification and then we will be official.

 

I'm sure my wife (CaribQween) will be on writing about it. All the information given has been so helpful.

 

I just thought I would provide a little update. I can tell that this is going to become very addictive, at least for me.

 

what quarry will you be doing your cert dives in?

[MPM]

Way to go! Keep us posted with your progress.

[CaribKng]

what quarry will you be doing your cert dives in?

 

We will be going to Ohio at the Gilboa Quarry. I don't know much about it, but it looks nice.

 

www.divegilboa.com

[crystalight33]

How exciting for both of you! Scuba is something I got my husband into, and it is something we both very much enjoy.

 

We actually sailed on the Legend this past June (on our honeymoon) and we went diving in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan. I posted a trip report with pictures (a lot of underwater pics as well) here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1023218&highlight=

 

As far as your legs being so tired from swimming with fins, there are a couple of things I've found that help me. First, try to make yourself as horizontal as possible to create less drag. If you are trying to swim forward, but your body is angled, its going to create a lot more drag. It also helps to keep your arms close to your chest. Second, think about starting each kick from your hips, instead of kicking only from your knees. You will get a lot more power from each kick because you are using more muscle. If you watch a dolphin swim, they don't just move their fluke, they use their huge tail muscles and the fluke just follows and creates the propulsion.

 

I hope that helps!

[CaribKng]

 

We actually sailed on the Legend this past June (on our honeymoon) and we went diving in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan. I posted a trip report with pictures (a lot of underwater pics as well) here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1023218&highlight=

 

 

We are doing that Cruise in Feb, on the Legend. Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize. We are looking very forward to it and is one of the main reasons we decided to get certified ahead of time. I am looking forward to seeing a whole new world that many people miss out on. Thanks for posting the link. I will definately check it out :D.

[CaribKng]

We actually sailed on the Legend this past June (on our honeymoon) and we went diving in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan. I posted a trip report with pictures (a lot of underwater pics as well) here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1023218&highlight=

 

By the way, Congrats on the wedding!!!!!! Looks like you had a great honeymoon.

 

Nice review of your trip.

[CaribQween]

How exciting for both of you! Scuba is something I got my husband into, and it is something we both very much enjoy.

 

We actually sailed on the Legend this past June (on our honeymoon) and we went diving in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Roatan. I posted a trip report with pictures (a lot of underwater pics as well) here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1023218&highlight=

 

As far as your legs being so tired from swimming with fins, there are a couple of things I've found that help me. First, try to make yourself as horizontal as possible to create less drag. If you are trying to swim forward, but your body is angled, its going to create a lot more drag. It also helps to keep your arms close to your chest. Second, think about starting each kick from your hips, instead of kicking only from your knees. You will get a lot more power from each kick because you are using more muscle. If you watch a dolphin swim, they don't just move their fluke, they use their huge tail muscles and the fluke just follows and creates the propulsion.

 

I hope that helps!

 

 

Thanks. I appreciate all of the helpful hints. And I really need them. This has turned out to be a very, very difficult experience for me. It was something that I thought I would love and even though I had some fears about being under the water, I really thought it was something I could work through.

 

The first confined water dive wasn't so bad. It was a little scary but I felt like I was truly working through my fear of being under the water. Then we got to the second confined water session and we were in the deep end of the pool and I realized that I didn't just have a little bit of fear, I was terrified. I mean completely and utterly terrified. I found myself having panic attacks in the pool and I was bolting for the top constantly. I fully understand why I can't do that, but that doesn't make it any easier to control the fear and deal with it. I didn't really feel that anyone understood what I was feeling and I can say that the instructor certainly didn't have any tolerance for it. And of course he made some comments to me in front of the whole class that were pretty much just meant to embarass me. Of course, my problems were holding up everyone else in the class and that was making the instructor pretty mad and short on patience also. We had a class of 10 students with only one instructor and his only assistant was a guy that is in the Divemaster training program. I felt really bad that I was holding up the class and that made it even harder. Before we started the class, the dive shop owner repeatedly told us that if we had any problems along the way that we didn't need to worry about it because we could take as long as we needed. However, that certainly wasn't the impression we got once we were actually in the class and I was having problems. It was a huge embarrassment and that only made it more difficult for me. I was very much ready to quit by the end of the second confined water session, and that is basically what I was being encouraged to do. But, I didn't want to quit, I just wanted the time to work through my fears. I really felt that if given the time to work on my skills and understanding of everything that I could do this.

 

At the end of the second confined water session, I asked if we could possibly do an extra session that would just be my husband and I with the instructor. The instructor thought that was a good idea because it would give us a chance to get ahead and then I wouldn't be holding up the class in the final confined water session. Of course, once we got to the private session, I think it got even worse because the instructor was able to concentrate fully on me. I felt like he was just yelling at me the whole time. My fears certainly weren't going to disappear under those circumstances. I just continued to freak out and bolt for the top. At one point, the instructor started nearly yelling at me and told me that at this rate I wouldn't even be able to get through it in 5 or 6 weeks. He was basically telling me that I had to just get over my fears or quit.

 

At one point, I thought he was really trying to help me work through all of this, because he told me that if I started to freak out to signal to him that I was having problems. I did as he told me, but I had no idea what he was going to do. Instead of doing something to help calm me down, he literally held me under the water so I couldn't get to the top. I started flailing around and begging him to let go of me. I was trying to pull his hands off of me but he was holding on as tight as he could. I really felt like I was going to drown. Obviously that wasn't going to happen since I had the regulator in my mouth, but that is how it felt. It was just a horrific experience. I actually made it through it and was able to calm down and stay under the water, but I just don't think that is the way to get a student through their fears. I can barely think about it now without having a panic attack. It's definitely something I will never forget.

 

As strange as it seems, I was able to start working through my fears shortly after that happened. I had been trying to tell everyone all along that when I was having my episodes of fear overtaking me, it was always when I didn't quite understand exactly what we were supposed to be doing. I think the confusion made me feel like I had no control and because I felt like I didn't have control, I felt like I was going to drown. I just kept pushing the fact that I needed to understand the exercise completely before starting it. For the next skill, my husband walked me through it step by step so I understood exactly what we were doing and oddly enough, I didn't feel the fear before we went down. I was able to get through the exercise, and even do some additional ones, without having any problems at all.

 

During the final confined water session this past Saturday, we didn't have to do some of the skills again since we had already done them, so we were able to just practice working on everything. I was able to really stay under water for considerably longer periods of time without feeling panicked or scared. I was able to practice use of the fins and work on my buoyancy skills and I did really well. I could really feel myself improving and most of the fear was gone. When we did go down to do some additional exercises with the rest of the class, such as taking off our BCD and putting it back on at the bottom of the pool, I did it with no problems. I had struggled considerably from the very beginning with buoyancy problems where I couldn't get myself to the bottom of the pool and I couldn't stay down once they got me down. I was able to overcome that this time too by just having the chance to work on my skills. There was a different assisitant there that we had never met before and he was able to see what was causing some of my buoyancy problems and helped me fix it. I really felt like having the chance to just practice being under water and working on my skills really helped me. I was able to really work through a lot of things during this last confined water session. It was just that I needed the chance to feel comfortable doing this all and realize that I could have control over it and therefore feel safe while down under the water. I'm not saying that there is no fear left at all, but it has certainly decreased significantly.

 

So, as my husband said in another post, we are going this weekend to the Gilboa quarry near Ottawa Ohio for our open water dives. We'll be doing all 4 open water dives over the 2 days and hopefully we'll be certified by the end of the weekend. Once we're certified, I would really like to take a couple of weekends to go to different quarries nearby to just practice our skills. I felt like I made significant strides in just a couple of hours during our final confined water session, so I think I can really make some additional progress if I keep working on my skills over a succession of dives. I really want to feel comfortable when we take our cruise on the Legend in February. We are really looking forward to diving in the Caribbean. I can't wait to go read through your review and see your pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post it for the rest of us to enjoy.

[weirsky]

Calm down...scuba is fun. The divemasters recognize newbies instantly and react to them as needed. They will stay with you until they see you are comfortable. I'm so glad you've decided to get the full certification at home. I wouldn't use up valuable blue water time demonstrating skills. There is so much more to look at! You'e going to love it.

 

BTW - we call the extra blubber bio-prene.

[BuzzF117]

Thanks. I appreciate all of the helpful hints. And I really need them. This has turned out to be a very, very difficult experience for me. It was something that I thought I would love and even though I had some fears about being under the water, I really thought it was something I could work through.

 

The first confined water dive wasn't so bad. It was a little scary but I felt like I was truly working through my fear of being under the water. Then we got to the second confined water session and we were in the deep end of the pool and I realized that I didn't just have a little bit of fear, I was terrified. I mean completely and utterly terrified. I found myself having panic attacks in the pool and I was bolting for the top constantly. I fully understand why I can't do that, but that doesn't make it any easier to control the fear and deal with it. I didn't really feel that anyone understood what I was feeling and I can say that the instructor certainly didn't have any tolerance for it. And of course he made some comments to me in front of the whole class that were pretty much just meant to embarass me. Of course, my problems were holding up everyone else in the class and that was making the instructor pretty mad and short on patience also. We had a class of 10 students with only one instructor and his only assistant was a guy that is in the Divemaster training program. I felt really bad that I was holding up the class and that made it even harder. Before we started the class, the dive shop owner repeatedly told us that if we had any problems along the way that we didn't need to worry about it because we could take as long as we needed. However, that certainly wasn't the impression we got once we were actually in the class and I was having problems. It was a huge embarrassment and that only made it more difficult for me. I was very much ready to quit by the end of the second confined water session, and that is basically what I was being encouraged to do. But, I didn't want to quit, I just wanted the time to work through my fears. I really felt that if given the time to work on my skills and understanding of everything that I could do this.

 

At the end of the second confined water session, I asked if we could possibly do an extra session that would just be my husband and I with the instructor. The instructor thought that was a good idea because it would give us a chance to get ahead and then I wouldn't be holding up the class in the final confined water session. Of course, once we got to the private session, I think it got even worse because the instructor was able to concentrate fully on me. I felt like he was just yelling at me the whole time. My fears certainly weren't going to disappear under those circumstances. I just continued to freak out and bolt for the top. At one point, the instructor started nearly yelling at me and told me that at this rate I wouldn't even be able to get through it in 5 or 6 weeks. He was basically telling me that I had to just get over my fears or quit.

 

At one point, I thought he was really trying to help me work through all of this, because he told me that if I started to freak out to signal to him that I was having problems. I did as he told me, but I had no idea what he was going to do. Instead of doing something to help calm me down, he literally held me under the water so I couldn't get to the top. I started flailing around and begging him to let go of me. I was trying to pull his hands off of me but he was holding on as tight as he could. I really felt like I was going to drown. Obviously that wasn't going to happen since I had the regulator in my mouth, but that is how it felt. It was just a horrific experience. I actually made it through it and was able to calm down and stay under the water, but I just don't think that is the way to get a student through their fears. I can barely think about it now without having a panic attack. It's definitely something I will never forget.

 

As strange as it seems, I was able to start working through my fears shortly after that happened. I had been trying to tell everyone all along that when I was having my episodes of fear overtaking me, it was always when I didn't quite understand exactly what we were supposed to be doing. I think the confusion made me feel like I had no control and because I felt like I didn't have control, I felt like I was going to drown. I just kept pushing the fact that I needed to understand the exercise completely before starting it. For the next skill, my husband walked me through it step by step so I understood exactly what we were doing and oddly enough, I didn't feel the fear before we went down. I was able to get through the exercise, and even do some additional ones, without having any problems at all.

 

During the final confined water session this past Saturday, we didn't have to do some of the skills again since we had already done them, so we were able to just practice working on everything. I was able to really stay under water for considerably longer periods of time without feeling panicked or scared. I was able to practice use of the fins and work on my buoyancy skills and I did really well. I could really feel myself improving and most of the fear was gone. When we did go down to do some additional exercises with the rest of the class, such as taking off our BCD and putting it back on at the bottom of the pool, I did it with no problems. I had struggled considerably from the very beginning with buoyancy problems where I couldn't get myself to the bottom of the pool and I couldn't stay down once they got me down. I was able to overcome that this time too by just having the chance to work on my skills. There was a different assisitant there that we had never met before and he was able to see what was causing some of my buoyancy problems and helped me fix it. I really felt like having the chance to just practice being under water and working on my skills really helped me. I was able to really work through a lot of things during this last confined water session. It was just that I needed the chance to feel comfortable doing this all and realize that I could have control over it and therefore feel safe while down under the water. I'm not saying that there is no fear left at all, but it has certainly decreased significantly.

 

So, as my husband said in another post, we are going this weekend to the Gilboa quarry near Ottawa Ohio for our open water dives. We'll be doing all 4 open water dives over the 2 days and hopefully we'll be certified by the end of the weekend. Once we're certified, I would really like to take a couple of weekends to go to different quarries nearby to just practice our skills. I felt like I made significant strides in just a couple of hours during our final confined water session, so I think I can really make some additional progress if I keep working on my skills over a succession of dives. I really want to feel comfortable when we take our cruise on the Legend in February. We are really looking forward to diving in the Caribbean. I can't wait to go read through your review and see your pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post it for the rest of us to enjoy.

 

Stick with it you can do this im sure of it. Gilboa is a great place to dive there is alot to see which may help take your mind off your fears then also give Whitestar quarry a dive or two it is well worth the trip. Whitestar doesn't offer as much to see as Gilboa but it seems to have better viz then Gilboa because of the makeup of the quarry. Also if your having trouble staying "down" while removing your BCD are you using a weight integrate BCD or a weight belt, naturally if your using a weight integrated BCD you will become positivley bouyant if you remove your BCD. I can't recall removing my BCD at depth but we did at surface and we did remove our weight belt at depth and put it back on.

[CaribKng]

Stick with it you can do this im sure of it. Gilboa is a great place to dive there is alot to see which may help take your mind off your fears then also give Whitestar quarry a dive or two it is well worth the trip. Whitestar doesn't offer as much to see as Gilboa but it seems to have better viz then Gilboa because of the makeup of the quarry. Also if your having trouble staying "down" while removing your BCD are you using a weight integrate BCD or a weight belt, naturally if your using a weight integrated BCD you will become positivley bouyant if you remove your BCD. I can't recall removing my BCD at depth but we did at surface and we did remove our weight belt at depth and put it back on.

 

Our BCD's are weight integrated. We took them off on two drills. Once at the surface and then we had to put it back on by sitting on the tank boot and sliding the BCD up our backs after sliding our arms through it. Then we went to the bottom of the pool and took off the bcd's again. We did not become bouyant because we held the bcd's which had our weights on them. We practiced this while holding the regulator in our mouths (obviously) to simulate the need to untangle it. Overall, it went pretty good.

 

The instructor that we have has his good points, but also has his bad. He does not have the patience that I feel he needs to address the needs of the variety of students in his class. He did not have enough help during the pool sessions to keep on schedule. We fell behind throughout the different classes. I feel his greatest fault was not explaining the different skills ahead of time. During the last pool session, he got upset with everyone coming to the surface, but he never mentioned to everyone to stay at the bottom of the pool.

 

That being said, we are ready for the open water dives and looking forward to getting certified. Once we do that and get our c-cards, we will be trying a different dive shop to do the Peak Performance Bouyancy class so we can get the most out of our trip in February.

[BuzzF117]

Our BCD's are weight integrated. We took them off on two drills. Once at the surface and then we had to put it back on by sitting on the tank boot and sliding the BCD up our backs after sliding our arms through it. Then we went to the bottom of the pool and took off the bcd's again. We did not become bouyant because we held the bcd's which had our weights on them. We practiced this while holding the regulator in our mouths (obviously) to simulate the need to untangle it. Overall, it went pretty good.

 

The instructor that we have has his good points, but also has his bad. He does not have the patience that I feel he needs to address the needs of the variety of students in his class. He did not have enough help during the pool sessions to keep on schedule. We fell behind throughout the different classes. I feel his greatest fault was not explaining the different skills ahead of time. During the last pool session, he got upset with everyone coming to the surface, but he never mentioned to everyone to stay at the bottom of the pool.

 

That being said, we are ready for the open water dives and looking forward to getting certified. Once we do that and get our c-cards, we will be trying a different dive shop to do the Peak Performance Bouyancy class so we can get the most out of our trip in February.

 

I would encourage you to even go as far as getting your advanced open water cert it is just a little more bookwork and five dives two of which will be deep and navigation. When I did my AOW I did in addition to the two required wreck, peak perfromance bouancy and search and recovery. It's not so much what you do it just helps that to me the dives were supervised and I got alot of input from my instructor. If you don't mind my asking what dive shop are you using since your instructor should not be pushing you into the lake and if he forced my wife to stay on the bottom he would have had a huge problem with me. To be honest I would report his actions to the certifying agency he represents if it takes your wife twice as many pool dives as everybody else in the class that shouldn't be a problem as she could just continue with the next class's pool dives.

[CaribKng]

I would encourage you to even go as far as getting your advanced open water cert it is just a little more bookwork and five dives two of which will be deep and navigation. When I did my AOW I did in addition to the two required wreck, peak perfromance bouancy and search and recovery. It's not so much what you do it just helps that to me the dives were supervised and I got alot of input from my instructor. If you don't mind my asking what dive shop are you using since your instructor should not be pushing you into the lake and if he forced my wife to stay on the bottom he would have had a huge problem with me. To be honest I would report his actions to the certifying agency he represents if it takes your wife twice as many pool dives as everybody else in the class that shouldn't be a problem as she could just continue with the next class's pool dives.

 

As far as the dive shop I won't name the name, because they said they would be willing to let her go through with the next class. I really think the problem lies with the instructor, and when we get our evaluation forms, I will be sure to inform Padi then. If they do not send us an evaluation, I do have his Padi instructor number and will be contacting them one way or another.

 

As far as the dive shop is concerned, they have been very helpful and worked with us well. Just don't want to take the chance of having this instructor again.

[CaribQween]

If you don't mind my asking what dive shop are you using since your instructor should not be pushing you into the lake and if he forced my wife to stay on the bottom he would have had a huge problem with me. To be honest I would report his actions to the certifying agency he represents if it takes your wife twice as many pool dives as everybody else in the class that shouldn't be a problem as she could just continue with the next class's pool dives.

 

Thanks. I appreciate the support. I completely agree that the instructor's actions should be reported. The problem is that if someone doesn't say something, he will continue to do it to others. I don't want that to happen to anyone else. Honestly, there were some other things he did that were pretty unacceptable too. He told us the first day of class that he was a dirty old man and he certainly proved that to be a true statement with some of the things he said to a couple of the other women. I think they were so surprised and completely appauled when he made the comments that they just couldn't even say anything. And then when you get into the situation where he is the one that is either going to pass or fail them, they may be afraid to say anything. Frankly, I was so fet up with it that when he made one comment and the gal didn't say anything, I made a comment that she could probably get a sizable discount on the class after that.

 

As my husband said, the dive shop owner and all of the other people that work there have been really great all along. When I first approached them about the medical conditions I'm dealing with, the owner told me that if I needed any extra time that they would certainly work with me and I could take as long as needed to get certified. The shop had even helped me find a doctor that had scuba knowledge and that worked closely with DAN because my own family doctor didn't have any scuba knowledge and didn't want to give me clearance. I certainly wouldn't have any problems working with this shop in the future and actually look forward to working with them. I would just prefer not to take any additional classes with that particular instructor.

 

I think your idea of continuing on to get our advanced open water diver certification once we finish with the OWD course is a great one. I think the more experience we get under the supervision of an instructor, the safer we'll be when we go out to dive on our own. We certainly won't even consider diving without an instructor or divemaster until we log a good number of dives under a variety of conditions. But, considering we've only been in the water four times so far, I feel that we still have the opportunity for a good deal of improvement.

[JayhawkerKC]

I would suggest that you first talk with the owner of the dive shop. I would assume that he is an independent contractor and his actions can have a negative impact on the owner's/store's reputation. His behavior should not be tolerated. I wonder how many newbies that he's scared away from scuba permanently :mad:. Good luck with your open water dives and please keep us posted.

[CaribKng]

Tomorrow we will be on our way to Gilboa :D. I'm very excited not only to be going through this, but also watching my wife conquer alot of her fears and make it to this point.

 

We will have our computer with us. If we can get internet access we will be posting as we go along.

 

Thanks again for all the support and advice.

[topspot]

Good Luck!!! You can do it.:D