horrible diving experiences

[DandyDon]

I AGREE!!! I wanted to get in the water so badly that I was willing to be uncomfortable (with a new suit, new hood and mask, and different weight in cold water) just to do it. NOT to mention trusting my buddies TOO much - that will never happen again! I am fully aware that this is a hands on sport and that you must be fully involved in - not just take someone's word for it. I should have never been in a 85 foot spot to begin with and that was the plan - so I didn't even know I was in water that deep. You are right - I could have died!

Yeah, I felt that way my first post-cert dives, and pushed it too hard. Still do a little. I've had one experience much worse than yours, that I survived to learn from. Still want to learn to do this right, and I'm working on it. rofile:

 

[jpedwards]

It only takes one frightening experience to sober you up and put the fear of god into you I like to think that mine made me a much better diver. Glad you made it back from your 'Introduction to Scuba'

Welcome aboard ...

 

[SubMariner]

Moved from Introductions & Greets forum.

 

[Xanthro]

Perhaps that dive was a bit past your level for a first post certification dive. You admit to being overweighted and lacking the control to keep from plummetting past a safe depth.

There's no need to hurry or rush your dive experiences, and doing so almost always ends up being a regrettable dive because you have gone past your comfort level.

Slow down, take some easier dives and enjoy the dive more.

 

[toodive4]

Let me tell you a thing or two about cold. Being a Scuba Instructor in the Northeast US means I know two things - 1. I know LOW VIS and I know COLD. Cold is taking students on their first ever underwater tours wearing farmer johns/janes with 30 lbs of weight, hoods, gloves and boots down to 50 feet where the temperature is a toasty 38 degrees farenheit. To make it all the better, once a student or two stirs the bottom, the vis is quickly diminished to 12 inches or less. Imagine the stress of being responsible for between 2 - 8 students in 38 degree water with virtually no vis... that always makes for a bad dive... The good news is I haven't lost one yet (knocking on wood)... but I have had to drag a few back out of clouds of silt...

Better yet, since I dive for a living - try diving in zero vis at the bottom of the Baltimore Harbor... and then having a big old 5 foot long American Eel decide to wrap himself around your leg like its a propeller shaft. I had an overly friendly Eel make my leg his home when the vis was less than an inch. All I felt was something slithering around my leg... talk about freakin out... That was a weird, strange, scary feeling to have something wrapping around you and you can't see what it is... I finally figured eel when I reached for it and it slithered right off and right past my mask (YIKES.)
Now let me here someone top that...

Or how bout in crystal clear NC while diving on the USS Shurz - I had a Bull Shark take an interest in me. He was circling me like a buzzard circling a dead livestock - each pass getting closer and closer... we locked eyes as I spun 360's to keep an eye on him... finally he came in for a quick close look and I brushed him aside like a matator sidestepping a charging bull (no pun intended.) I took this to mean he didn't like me in his space and I got the hell out of there and right quick like...

OK, now beat that for scary...

Here's the last one... driving up to my mother in laws and having to eat her cooking... oh... sorry, that's not a diving horror...

Happy Diving

Ken

Hi everyone,

I had a horrible diving experience and thought that most of you have too - especially the beginners like me. Write and share your horrible dives. Should make interesting reading!!

Mine was a 44 minute nightmare of clouds of silt and only the sound of my own breathing. I was a maniac - totally out of control with a new suit and hood in 67 degree water - I HATE THE COLD!!! I was overweighted to even get down and when I finally got to around 50 feet, I compressed and dropped like a rock to 84 feet. I was totally over tasked and my inflator was trailing me over my head - I couldn't find it. Good thing that I was with two divers that knew what they were doing.

We were at Alabama blue water and off the left most deck it drops to 85 feet. DON'T EVEN TRY TO GO DOWN THERE - swim way over to the right and then go down. Too much silt to see anything. It was a LOVELY first dive after the cert dives! I would highly recommend getting your worst and most terrifying dive out of the way early on!

 

[Henryville]

One of the little footnotes or rarely read qualifiers in certifications has to do with now being certified for diving in "conditions similar to those with which the diver has experience" or similar language.

I remember being a little put off by a tech instructor I contacted here in the northeast when I first came up here, who said I'd need to get in 25 northeast ocean dives before taking one of his classes. I had a lot of dives in Florida, Mexico, and Hawaii, with currents, on wrecks, deep, etc.

After my first dive in our conditions, I saw his point.

Now I don't fret going out expecting a bottom temp at 40 or below, with less than 5 foot vis, but it's something you want to build up to. Add a drysuit into the mix you described, with another source of buoyancy to manage, and you get the picture.

Conversely, cold water divers who aren't used to current can go down to Florida and get bitten by that, wrongly thinking that that nice, warm, clear water is pretty benign.

Your experience illustrates very well the need to gradually build up experience with different conditions as you pursue diving. Even a seemingly controlled environment like a quarry can get you into trouble if you get loaded up with too many new things going on at once.

Sorry you had a tough one on your first post-cert dive, but chalk it up to experience, write down the lessons learned in your log, go forward and be safe.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

I disagree strongly. By the sound of your description you were literally in over your head and were simply lucky you didn't die. Smart divers dive within their limits and don't do dives that cause their safety to be totally in the hands of others (a.k.a "trust me dives").

I realize you may be taking poetic license in order to get people to post, but I think its bordering on irresponsibility.

I concur.

The divemaster / instructor should not have been doing certs in silt out conditions, nor in water deeper than 33 feet. A good divemaster / instructor would have aborted the dive immediately upon seeing panic or problems with equipment.

Even more so, the diver needs to take the responsibility to abort the dive if feeling uncomfortable and cannot remedy the issue. Too many times, people are unwilling to abort the dive for pride or just to get underwater. As well, I have the most respect for a diver that will abort the dive and not make excuses after.

I've aborted dives ... and am man enough to admit it. My air is also my buddies air, and if I'm out of control, I'm useless to my dive buddy, putting them at risk as well.

Diving is supposed to be fun.... not scary.

Siren, welcome aboard, and I hope your future diving excursions leave you with a big grin on your face in the future. :thumbs-up

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Let me tell you a thing or two about cold. Being a Scuba Instructor in the Northeast US means I know two things - 1. I know LOW VIS and I know COLD. Cold is taking students on their first ever underwater tours wearing farmer johns/janes with 30 lbs of weight, hoods, gloves and boots down to 50 feet where the temperature is a toasty 38 degrees farenheit. To make it all the better, once a student or two stirs the bottom, the vis is quickly diminished to 12 inches or less. Imagine the stress of being responsible for between 2 - 8 students in 38 degree water with virtually no vis... that always makes for a bad dive... The good news is I haven't lost one yet (knocking on wood)... but I have had to drag a few back out of clouds of silt...

Ken... you too?

 

[toodive4]

Indeed - so much fun I just can't give it up

Ken... you too?

 

[m3830431]

Welcome Aboard.

As stated previously I never had a horrible dive, but my worst dive was in a pond that we didn't know. I was only 15 feet deep and no vis after 2 minutes. Try staying down with a 6.5 min farmer jon wetsuit and a half talk of air. We aborted in 35 minutes. No fish no structure, but we got to blow bubbles.