How do basic/novice/inexperienced divers define "What is Advanced Diving?"

[Herb-alaska]

I am pretty sure you would not

You can probably find posts of me giving some advice, some asking for advice, and some debating. But none where I considered myself advanced. Experienced maybe, in the type of diving I do. Advanced, no.

and iN my opinion this is why Randy will live to become an old diver. I think that new divers need to hear that even people with a lot of bottom time do not consider themselves advanced divers

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I am pretty sure you would not

You can probably find posts of me giving some advice, some asking for advice, and some debating. But none where I considered myself advanced. Experienced maybe, in the type of diving I do. Advanced, no.

Perhaps if you look at the title of this thread ...

[h=1]How do basic/novice/inexperienced divers define "What is Advanced Diving?"[/h]
... and then look at your post above ...

"Experienced maybe, in the type of diving I do."

You know this thread is not the one intended for your level of experience; but you want to argue ...

... I am taking my time and now I just completed my DM course and I am very happy to said at this stage, I am prepared to be a DM because I actually know how to positioned myself to watch, render assistance if and when necessary and be out of the way at the same time. This is just a very small part of what I have learnt and trust me, you are not going to learn about this just taking courses. You need to go out and dive, A LOT!

 

[Juardis]

OK, there are three pieces to this posting; this thread here in Basic Scuba Discussions (for divers who don't feel they are advanced divers), a thread in Advanced Scuba Discussions (for divers who do feel they are advanced divers) and a thread in Technical Diving Specialties (for divers who make technical dives).

OK you basic scuba divers; looking into your future, what do you think would earn you the title "advanced diver?"

So, please answer the question in the proper forum; the question is slightly different in each different forum; this question is for those who have not got there yet (100+ dives ).

I believe I fit the qualifications for posting in this thread. Not only do I not feel like an advanced diver, I am NOT an advanced diver, and I'm OK with that. To earn the title of advanced diver, I feel like I should be able to safely plan and execute any and all types of dives. Deep dives, wet suit dives, cave dives, wreck penetration dives, nitrox certified, night diving....all of that. When I can safely do any and all of those dives, I'll consider myself advanced. Note that I may not consider myself good at it, just that I can do it safely. There's a distinction.

Now, even though you didn't ask, the difference between advanced and experienced IMHO is that experienced divers have had to overcome problems or have learned to avoid them to begin with. Experienced divers can multi-task and maintain perfect buoyancy. They can react properly to OOA situations, sudden rip currents, malfunctioning equipment, and most importantly, help someone else who's in that situation. In short, they have the diving experience you can only learn by diving. So even if you only have a recreational OW certification, you certainly can be experienced.

Given my definitions, I strive to be experienced, not necessarily advanced.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'm going to do something here that I rarely do, that is explicitly put on by Board Guide hat.

There are a few points that I'd like to make:

Halemano asked that people restrict themselves to responding according to certain criteria. This is done every now and again, and quite often people ignore the criteria, and for that matter the questions, but stay close enough to the theme to not really qualify for being off topic.

There is not a whole lot the we can expect of the Mods in this sort of a circumstance, even if it were a legitimate thing to police, one such thread (not to mention three) would consume a huge amount of what is, in reality, volunteer time.

I don't think that we want to set a precedent that a member should be restricted from providing input on any forum to which they have access...especially if it isn't against TOS. Where the Mods to try to do that here eventually communication will break down as more and more threads start with explicit instructions like 'Former University Diving Safety Officers who live in Hawaii, whose user names begin with the letter T should not comment in the thread. Now that would make me very grumpy.

So try to show Halemano's requests some respect and, hopefully, he will understand that discussions often slip off into alternate and unplanned directions. I think that is one of the beauties of ScubaBoard.

 

[Jax]

NOT answering the OP in this thread . . .


I believe that the OP is looking for the basic divers' opinion of what they would consider advanced. When I first got certified, I thought Nitrox was advanced.

So, it is a fair enough question for those who are basic, although I think the dive count is an artificial limit.

 

[pjhansman]

I'll hit 100 dives next month....most of them in tropical water, but over 20 dry dives in low viz conditions.

I have my AOW Certification, and some day I figure I'll be an advanced diver.

Can't actually say when that will be. I plan on doing some wreck diving at Tobermory next summer....that will help. Definately want to try diving in the PNW. That will also help. And I want to try a Rescue course. I'm certain that will make me a better diver.

Guess it's all relative. Every dive I make I'm more advanced than I was.....but compared to many on this board I'll be a rookie for many years to come.

Matters not to me. Hope I never stop learning.....and hope I always get the same rush.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I believe Advanced Diving is all about experience. However, there are caveats that this experience has to span a little while, such as a year (e.g., not just doing 100 dives in three months) and has to span a few types of dives (e.g., not just shore dives you've done 100 times over, etc.). By spreading the dives throughout a longer period of time, the diver likely will get experience dealing with emergencies in different dive situations.

Advanced divers should also be able to plan dive profiles and lead dives well, using landmarks and/or their compass. They should be able to feel comfortable dealing logically with any stress situations, either for themselves or their buddies. They should be able to use and teach proper scuba habits.