How long were you a "newbie"?

[seadog]

Just wondering how long it took until you thought you actually were a DIVER?
I know it took about 35 dives before I finally had most things worked out = bouyancy, trim, gear configuration, air consumption (could last as long as most on a dive), etc.

 

[chiara]

I am still a newbie at some things: strong currents, wrecks, underwater photography.

That said, I did my first dive on 16th, April 2000, and have 182 dives (and I started my Assistant Instructor course on Wednesday).

 

[Walter]

Dive number 55, I had not yet completed (I only had 8 of the 10 required dives finished) my Silver Advanced nor started my SLAM class. I was in the uncomfortable position of leading a group of less experienced divers on a night dive and I preformed my first rescue. That was the dive that told me I was moving into a new level. I still had much to learn, I had not arrived, but I was on my way.

 

[SARmedic]

Can't tell you what dive number, but it was probably 25-35 dives in No Cal. You start to feel very comfortable, no butterflies, and everything is second nature.

It probably has to do with where you dive. I would feel like a newbie cave diving, since I have never done it before, even with my hundreds of dives.

When I was in IDC in FL, I went on a casual dive with another instructor one day. We went to sign up for the boat and they said there were 3'-5' swells and only 15' of vis. The captain asked me where I was from and I said No Cal. He said, Oh, you will love it, LOL.

The other IDC candidate I was with was a FL native, and I could see that she was uncomfortable diving in those conditions, but she wanted to go. We went diving and she stayed right next to me, I navigated, and we got back to the anchor line about 35 min later. She said "how did you get us back here?" I am used to diving in conditions much worse than that, so navigation in poor vis is easy for me now. She was not good with it though because she had always dove in very good conditions and didn't use her compass and navigation skills much. Think about it, do you use a compass walking down the street when you can see for miles?

To make a long story longer, it has to do with the conditions you dive in and are used to.

 

[Big-t-2538]

I don't know how long it took me to feel like I wasn't a "newbie". The only piece of advice I have to you is this: Once you feel like things are becoming second nature or routine is when you need to sit down and critique yourself and the skill involved. Keep practicing OOA's....do very thurough buddy checks...do dives without computers...do a bunch of bouyancy drills, etc. The more you practice the basics the sooner you will feel comfortable underwater.

 

[SARmedic]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
I don't know how long it took me to feel like I wasn't a "newbie". The only piece of advice I have to you is this: Once you feel like things are becoming second nature or routine is when you need to sit down and critique yourself and the skill involved. Keep practicing OOA's....do very thurough buddy checks...do dives without computers...do a bunch of bouyancy drills, etc. The more you practice the basics the sooner you will feel comfortable underwater.

:bonk:

You WANT it to be like second nature. Do you want to wonder how to dump air from your bcd if you need to do it in a hurry? Do you want to have to think for a few minutes how to recover your regulator? No. You want to be able to do it without thinking HOW to do it, and just do it.

I never said anything about not practicing your skills or not doing buddy checks. On the contrary, why do you think you practice? It is so that things do become like second nature, that's the whole point of practicing.

 

[Uncle Pug]

I used to be a very good diver... and had been for a loooooong time... with mucho dives under the weightbelt aggressively diving some very difficult sites.

Then I took a DIRf and became a newbie all over again.
Then I took GUE Tech 1 and became a newbie all over again.

I still feel like a newbie on some dives.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
I used to be a very good diver... and had been for a loooooong time... with mucho dives under the weightbelt aggressively diving some very difficult sites.

Then I took a DIRf and became a newbie all over again.
Then I took GUE Tech 1 and became a newbie all over again.

I still feel like a newbie on some dives.

The risk of continuouse improvement is always being reminded that you need to improve.

 

[Wreck/Tec]

Be away from the water for awhile and you will realize that you aren't as good as you thought you were! Never let your skills down, practice them and gear familiarization constantly.....
Wreck/Tec

 

[Lead_carrier]

I'm stil a newbie and an instructor with 250 dives or so in all sorts of conditions. I still go over my gear like it was my first dive everytime I get in the water. IMHO, when I don't feel like a newbie that will make me feel complacent and I will be taking a chance on getting someone hurt, maybe even hurting myself. That's when I will hang up my fins.