First Dive w/o a DM

[elan]

I think many people put too much trust into the DMs. With this kind of trust it seems that DM is just an abbreviation for God I believe some DMs are very good but do not forget that technically a PADI DM can have only 60 dives or so to be called as a DM At this level the diver has not figured out yet the basics himself

 

[rcs9250]

In 1973 we did two OW check out dives to finish certification. My brother and I did it together. I bought dive gear when I signed up. My brother didn't have gear of his own. Still doesn't. A couple weeks later I was at a cook out where they had a pond. I had my gear in the trunk and jumped in solo. Water was chocolate milk. Loved every second of it. Still do. Viz doesn't matter. I'm netrally buoyant not feeling gravity , that's the thrill for me.
I don't recommend solo diving but I did it. When you are 19 years old your bullet proof ya know.

 

[fnfalman]

scolds me for diving with a camera while I'm new to everything

In this particular case, she's entirely correct. You need to pay attention to yourself and to your buddy. Leave the camera be until you can handle yourself fairly well underwater.

And no need for DM... if done carefully and with conscious awareness of what you are going to do.

DM or not, that's what you're suppose to be doing anyway if you've passed OW class.

With an OW cert, the diver may not be an expert in anything, but at least should know diving basics, to include simple azimuth shooting with the compass and checking on gauges. If a diver, even after OW class, can't remember to check the SPG or dive computer often enough to not run out of air or to not exceed a certain depth, then something is seriously wrong.

 

[Pudsky]

My first dive W/O a divemaster or instructor present was dive five for me. I did my first two OW checkout dives in a lake in Ft. Myers FL. My last two checkout dives were in Pompano Beach, FL. The next day after certification, my friend and I (he had about 9 or 10 dives at that point) felt comfortable enough to go out with the same dive operator I did my OW cert with and dive on our own. We went on two reef dives down to 55' to 57', and both felt completly comfortable and confident. The dives went without incident and we had a blast, and I am totally hooked on this scuba thing. For sure it you are confident in yourself and have a competent partner go ahead and do it. But if you feel that you will be more comfortable to dive with a DM, go ahead and do it.

 

[mudhole]

You're all a bunch of anti- (alphabet soup) rebels. You're supposed to be enslaved to the master of the "Patches". You can only be safe if you're surrounded by more and more patches. The patch printers have told me so.

My early dives were about 2 years before certification. . . you learned to dive by going out with the divers in your club. My first instructor just waded into the end of a small cove. And, I could do anything I wanted in the whole cove. . . Shallow water, sand bottom, it didn't take long to learn to work with the equipment in such a boring spot. More dives, better dive locations, there was simplicity to build skills, but excitement as I explored more and more.

We rebels from the (alphabet police) each broken away from long lines of the enslaved, and we want all the rest of the bubble blowers to join in the revolution. All the usual suspects have jumped into the fray, and if we all stick together we can break the back of the card after card police enslaving divers.

 

[captndale]

I was certified in 1973. After 14 weeks of classes taught by the dive club at the local YMCA our instructor took us out to the quarry to do our "check out" dives. With the instructor standing on shore and directing everything, club members who had been certified the year before ran us through a few skills. The next weekend I was off diving in one of the nearby lakes buddied up with two of the other students I had checked out with.

 

[awakefie]

I think my buddy and I did our first unsupervised dive about an hour after our final OW dive. Then we did our next 6 unsupervised dives the next weekend.

 

[Atomic_Diver]

Have Fun!

 

[BettyRubble]

Jen if you don't have a local dive club, feel free to look up the DNY forum and joins us. We are divers from New York, New Jersey, Delaware and 20 other states who dive locally and do trips together. We hit Dutch Springs near Allentown often too.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I am going to again point to this thread I started last year:http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ering-diving/283566-who-responsible-what.html

I see many have similar attitudes about diving with a buddy independently after certification. What does dismay me and actually anger me is that there are still posts like this. It is just more evidence that although there are those of us who teach and try to instill in our students that they are responsible for themselves, many still do not.

That they will issue a card to someone who is not comfortable in the water and has doubts regarding their abilities is a disgrace. One thing that I also try to instill is good judgment. Hiring a DM when in a new place because you want one is very different than needing one. If you really need one and the conditions are equal to or better than that in which you trained I think you need to find a more benign site or just sit by the pool. There is absolutely no reason a certified PROPERLY trained diver should require a DM to lead them around, hold their hand, etc.

I am fortunate that as an instructor I don't have to follow a DM around and would never dive with an op that required me to. But then again I felt this way before even starting my DM training. I have little tolerance for UW tourists and do not train people to be such. That there are places that do is also sad and a clear indication of the greed that runs many such places as opposed to wanting to create safe, skilled, competent, and confident divers.

Look at your classes, where were they lacking? How long did they last? 3 days. That is not a dive course. That is a way by an unscrupulous individual or entity to separate you from your money. Would you be satisfied with a driving course taught the same way? Here ya go. it;s ok if traffic, freeways, and someone passing you scares the crap out of you. You can now take 2 tons of steel that is quite capable of killing you and many other people out any time you want.

I am almost to the point of saying you know what? You got what you wanted, quick, easy, and of little educational value. So go ahead, just don't make me have to fill out an accident report or look at your corpse on the way back in. I will continue to create divers who I'd allow my son, daughter, or any other loved one to dive with right out of OW class without me or any other pro in the water.