Certified! Now what?

[TSandM]

I don't know the two of you, but when you say she did this "for you", my immediate thing to offer is that you should find a really patient, sympathetic instructor or DM, and send her off to dive with that person. At the very least, she will have an opportunity to gain comfort without the pressure of trying to perform for you; at best, she may discover an independent reason to like to do this (without which, honestly, she won't do it for very long).

 

[molina67]

All great advice thanks. Will see about linking in to a local group. The Keys sounds great will also look into that for sure. Again thanks for all the advice
I think i'm going to like this place. And yes I do know how to plan dives just where to go and dive. My buddy has a lake/pond on his property but don't think
I would want to dive in it. Again thanks.

 

[Rich Keller]

Do not take the advanced course yet. You are certified, go rent some gear and go dive. Find a lake, quarry or other body of water with conditions similar to what you trained in, plan a dive, and do it. You should have no problem doing this. If you do go back to the shop that trained you and ask for your money back because you did not get the training you paid for. That is the goal of the OW class. At the end of that class you and your buddy (wife) should have the knowledge and skills to plan, carry out, and safely return from a dive without assistance from a dive pro. As long as it's in conditions similar to or better than that in which you were trained. That includes the place you did your OW dives. Go back there and just do a nice easy fun dive. Work on the skills that you just learned. When you have those down you can think about more classes. And AOW is not just about going deep.

+1 Forget additional courses for now and get as many hours in the water as possible. This will make you a better diver then just taking one course after another and having little experience in the water. Once you are comfortable with your gear and what you know you will also have an idea about what areas you are weak in and at that point you will know better what course to take next.

 

[tstormdiver]

Sort of sad when you think about it,...

Although I am not speaking of every shop or instructor, it seems, in the grand scheme of things, once someone is certified, they're on their own. There doesn't seem to be much of a support system to keep them diving after certification, other than classes & a local dive club here & there. I remember when I first started diving 6 yrs ago. Being single & not having any built- in buddies, I wound up having to take lots of courses just to keep diving. After that 1st year, I was able to find some local divers through ScubaBoard & eventually even a local dive club. It would not have taken much for me to have found another hobby & have left diving for good. It was like "here's your card, if you want to dive more, just sign up for "this or that class", other than that, you're on your own". This summer alone, I have taken a few weekends off from teaching, just to dive & have a good time with former students & it seems to help hold their interest in the sport. Sure,... it was the local quarry, but it is still diving. To keep the sport alive, we have to keep people diving after certification, not just keep certifying, or else we'll only have once or twice a year vacation divers.

 

[oly5050user]

As others wrote just go diving..but if she truly is not comfortable about it, then have her take a few adventure dives with an instructor, being that she does not wish to go deeper at this time.You can also do the adventure dives and apply them towards your advance certification. This is a perfect example of what continuing education is about.She meet the objectives for her ow certification,but still not confident enough to enjoy herself.Diving with a
professional now will help he.DO it immediately before too much time passes,as waiting too long will only increase her nervousness about the whle thing.

 

[Scubadreaminn]

All the advice that's been given warrants great merit.. Yes you need to keep diving, but do not force your wife to do it as that will only cause issues down the road/river. Look for local meetup groups and clubs as they are a great way to get more comfortable with diving w/o even getting in the water, of course nothing can give you more practice and experience than actual diving. Social groups get you excited about diving by sharing stories and gaining new friends. I continue to see many training organizations, cattle students in and out, then many of these people are left stranded. Maybe they dont have the funds to do more classes, but are not 100% confident in their skills to do on their own, whatever the reason may be, it is sad. If you would like to plan a trip to FL, by all means your welcome here: Scuba Dream'inn we are located in the middle of many Florida springs (no sharks) and as a PADI OWSI, I cater to patience and individual needs. I dont do big classes and dont have a retail shop, most of the time Im just a dive guide as all I want out of my customers is safety, experience, confidence to keep diving within their comfort zone adn by all means have TONS of FUN... Another place that I like to frequently dive is WPB, great diving that is hard to beat. Yes the Keys are great, but when you factor in the cost savings of WPB versus Keys, its a hard to beat WPB.

My morning coffee thoughts,

Michael

 

[cocoajoe]

All the advice that's been given warrants great merit.. Yes you need to keep diving, but do not force your wife to do it as that will only cause issues down the road/river. Look for local meetup groups and clubs as they are a great way to get more comfortable with diving w/o even getting in the water, of course nothing can give you more practice and experience than actual diving. Social groups get you excited about diving by sharing stories and gaining new friends. I continue to see many training organizations, cattle students in and out, then many of these people are left stranded. Maybe they dont have the funds to do more classes, but are not 100% confident in their skills to do on their own, whatever the reason may be, it is sad. If you would like to plan a trip to FL, by all means your welcome here: Scuba Dream'inn we are located in the middle of many Florida springs (no sharks) and as a PADI OWSI, I cater to patience and individual needs. I dont do big classes and dont have a retail shop, most of the time Im just a dive guide as all I want out of my customers is safety, experience, confidence to keep diving within their comfort zone adn by all means have TONS of FUN... Another place that I like to frequently dive is WPB, great diving that is hard to beat. Yes the Keys are great, but when you factor in the cost savings of WPB versus Keys, its a hard to beat WPB.

My morning coffee thoughts,

Michael

+1 on WPB. If you can go as far as Tampa, go a few more miles and go to WPB. Actually, it's Rivera Beach but everybody says West Palm. I like the Narcosis and they have an excellent site with dive log, pics, etc.

 

[TMHeimer]

All good advice. I may put in a plug for Emerald Coast Scuba in Destin on the FL panhandle. I did a lot of courses and some other charters with them. The PPB course was excellent. They do courses over winter, but the boats don't go out 'til April.

 

[rhwestfall]

as much as I despise the watered down OW certification (there should be more in the curriculum) you should go diving, go diving, go diving. Real world experiences is what it is about right now for you. Jim Lapenta (as well as others) has said volumes here. AOW is fine next step because it gets you in the water if you can't find better alternatives, but the rest should happen after you "know how to dive"....

GO GET WET!!!!!

 

[Tessunderwater]

I agree with most of the other posts. Definitely get out there and dive and if you haven't purchased your own gear yet I recommend doing so, even if it's just a piece at a time. Find out where your local dive spots are and hit up the board for other divers who have been there and would show you around. The more you dive, the more your comfort level goes up. I've been certified for a year and I'm finishing my advanced course this weekend. Good luck and if your in the gulf coast area hit me up and i'll be glad to show you around the local spots.