A Divers Paradigm

[ScubaSam]

Same here, thought I'd be a warm water vacation diver when I got my OW, thought I'd never need AOW cause I'll stay above 60ft. On my first post-OW dive vacation, I found myself at 85 ft, (no lectures, please, it was 100ft viz in Curacao and I was a stupid newbie) so decided to take AOW after that vacation, which was followed by Rescue. Next vacation, I fell in love with the cenotes, so now I want to dive caverns and caves.

Tech gear along with tech and cave classes are on the immediate horizon but I'm taking it slowly for two reasons 1) There is much to learn, endless amounts to learn so I expect to be learning for the rest of my life and 2) Gear and classes are freaking expensive!

Scuba humbles me while shattering all my preconceived notions about diving and about my abilities.

 

[CamG]

Greetings JJhill and I think you have hit the diving nail on the head! I to love diving for just that reason, there is always more to learn and experience. I am eager to learn more so it is easy to read, research, talk, go to the dive shop and buy new gear, and then dive - dive - dive! I have come to appreciate good vis, bad vis., and no vis! All are equally fun to dive with the right dive buddies and training. I like to look at diving and we as divers are in a constant state of evolution. We are always learning new things, striving to be the best diver we can. I do not plan on stopping and God willing I will be diving till my grand kids help me to and from the dock / boat. No joke but nothing else in my experience compares with diving. And I mean any diving; Rec. , Tech. , and all the others in between..{Wreck, Cave, Ice} There are so many different ways to get wet, a lifetime is just a good start. I started a little late so pardon my urgency to make the most out of it!
A wise educator once told me one should never stop learning and desiring for more.
We all are on individual learning curves and the more we learn the more we see we need to know. Sounds like a vicious cycle but it really is awesome it keeps our ego's in check. Well most of ours anyway, I can not speak for everyone. Not trying to instigate anything but just have a little fun. Divers are a amazing group of people that make up a incredible diverse section of the worlds population. It makes for never a dull moment when we meet and share our experiences. One thing is for sure the gleam in our eyes speaks for its self! Love to dive - dive to live!
CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[Sas]

I think I've had the opposite experience. I was awful in the water from day one, always felt I was a terrible diver and now I don't think I'm too bad I don't mean I think I am experienced (I've only been diving 18months), but just that I can feel completely comfortable underwater now.

But still, if I go into a new type of dive environment or try to learn a new skill I go back to being awful... I am just not a natural when it comes to learning new practical skills. Theory, no dramas, but practical stuff takes me about ten times as long as everyone else to learn. I think that is one of the attractions of diving - it is challenging and I have always been attracted to things that I find hard.

 

[SurDo2]

I know everything...

 

[DevonDiver]

I am constantly amazed how much more there is to learn about this sport. It seems the more experience I get the more about the sport opens up and I realize how much more there is to it...... I've come to realize that instead of knowing it all like I thought I did when I finished my open water course a few years ago in reality, I don't know jack about diving and I wouldn't have it any other way.

That's a great revelation....and it is significant of an excellent attitude towards the sport. I am sure you will have many years of progressive improvement and discovery ahead of you

I find that there are many 'stages' in a person's diving development where it is easy for them to 'plateau' and think they know it all. AOW, DM and Instructor levels are especially prone to this. In essense, they grow to become a big fish in a little pond.

In my experience, there is always a bigger pond...and bigger fish. And it is the bigger fish who can force us to learn, progress and develop.

 

[dwhthediver]

Could not agree more with the OP, I am still learning on every dive, even when teaching, I still try to find ways to get better trim, use less air, be more helpful, and more safe, this is one of the reasons I love this sport so much, the more the curtain is rolled away, the more you realize that the curtain stretches to infinity and there is much more to learn. You have the right attitude, and keep divng and keep learning.

 

[Dr Neil]

Ones thirst for knowledge differentiates the "casual" participant from the true "student of the game."

I had a revelation many years ago when I earned an advanced degree. It scared the daylights out of me when it hit.... just how much I didn't know. I am a student of diving, but just lurking around on SB is a lesson learned in just how much more there is to learn about diving.

So much to dive and so little time. My bucket list just keeps growing.

 

[ScubaSam]

Ones thirst for knowledge differentiates the "casual" participant from the true "student of the game."

I had a revelation many years ago when I earned an advanced degree. It scared the daylights out of me when it hit.... just how much I didn't know. I am a student of diving, but just lurking around on SB is a lesson learned in just how much more there is to learn about diving.

So much to dive and so little time. My bucket list just keeps growing.

Yep, I def know how you feel. I'm a professional diving student who will never stop learning and never stop taking classes. Did you just hear that sound, it was my wallet squeaking. May have to sell a kidney soon, do I really need two?

 

[kanonfodr]

Yep, I def know how you feel. I'm a professional diving student who will never stop learning and never stop taking classes. Did you just hear that sound, it was my wallet squeaking. May have to sell a kidney soon, do I really need two?

Wow...that sounds like a cool job. How's the market for it?

As far as my diving revelations, they mostly occured in Lake Travis. I cut my diving teeth in the warm, clear waters of Hawaii. Sinking into the green, silty waters of Lake Travis I felt like I couldn't do anything right. It was still a blast, trying to improve myself rapidly in just 4 short dives and it let me know right there that Hawaii is way too easy to dive in. Needless to say, I am looking forward to going back in December and seeing if I can't check out some winter diving, Texas style. I'm also trying to find some training to take over my long holiday that month as well. Any takers on the west coast??

Peace,
Greg

 

[HJeffreyM]

Just a quick question for the thread:

I'm AOW and Nitrox certifiied and approaching 50 dives. Almost all of my experience so far has been warm water, excellent vis vacation diving from both shore and boat. I've been to a max depth of 105fsw.

I wonder what is the mad rush some divers have to move so quickly from recreational to "tech" diving? I'm not saying you shouldn't be learning something every time you dive...but I think a lot of people bypass much of what we dive for as recreational divers in the persuit of "deeper and longer."

All of our training in recreational diving tells us NOT to exceed the parameters of recreational diving...we all know what those limits are. Yet the first thing so many divers want to do after some advanced recreational training is to figure out how to exceed those limits.

There are so many places to go and so many things to see <130fsw. What's the rush to go >130fsw where there's little light, less coral, etc? If it's done correctly, planned deco diving is so much about the equipment, gas management, and the dive plan that there's little time to...actually enjoy the dive...go sightseeing. What's the attraction?

Finally, deep, tech, wreck and cavern diving put you in a whole different risk category. You are putting yourself in the realm of pro divers, generally without the support structure upon which pro divers rely. So again, why do it?

I wonder...with less than 200 lifetime dives...have you been everywhere in the world and seen all there is to see and learned all there is to learn <130fsw on one tank?

What's wrong with being a recreational diver?