Just Certified: What an experience!

[don Francisco]

H2odiver, congrats on your certification & best wishes for a great trip for you & your son. Your trip will be nothing like your training. Since you're having a private DM, ask for his help with weighting & bouyancy/trim or any other lingering questions. This will accelerate your growth & improvement on your first dives.

A small note, dive tanks are made of stern stuff. Don't worry about them exploding if they hit because you wimp out on the giant stride. At the pool where they teach, the edge has a few good size chips from tanks hitting. All that happens is that the diver gets a major league jolt.
In any case, the secret to a giant stride is making it giant. Look out from the boat to the island or the horizon & step out as if trying to make it there. My wife is the master of the stride & manages to enter the water about 8 feet from the boat. When I'm in first, I give her PLENTY of room.

So relax & enjoy your trip. If you get at all nervous, remember Roosevelt's words from when he got certified: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself!"

 

[Goldendive]

Congratulations on your and your son's certification! I had a bad experience whilst doing my Open water course in that with the first ocean dive, the sea was rough as, and after a bad jump in where the current quickly took us away from the dive bouy, we had to clamber back onto the boat to jump in again. by that stage, I was so exhausted after getting bashed against the boat in the waves that I thought I couldn't do it. It was scarey. But down I went, did the dive, and now, diving in water not so rough is almost a breeze (it was THAT rough)! I think it's a good idea to go out again with the dive master until your conidence comes back. And it will. All the best with it.
relics1

 

[jenlaur]

I read TS and M's journal and about choked on my drink I was laughing so hard. And I was laughing because I felt like I was reading about myself. I read a couple of passages out loud and my 16 year old said, "That sounds just like you, Mom." I went through many of the things she went through in many of the same ways. We were suppose to have our last OW check out this past weekend but the seas were too high. I kept myself up half the night worrying about it. And the only thing I'm worried about is the mask off skill. While I can do it, it causes me great anxiety. I have told my husband 3 times during this course that I had had enough, I was done. Like someone said before I think that diving will be little like class. It will be so much more fun. And I can see it get easier each time. We already have 3 dive trips scheduled.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

Congratulations. You know, there are those who are instant rock stars, and those who work at it. Working at it is worth it. I think that you had the best of all possible conditions to have your first experience in the open water. No, really. Because when you learn in freezing cold, and crap vis, you really go uphill from there.

One story. I had a master diver with over 300 logged dives come on a wreck dive with us last summer. He got down to only about 10 meters and panicked and tried to bolt for the surface. A DM grabbed him on the way up and escorted him safely topside. He had Never dived in anything but warm water with clear carribean-like visibility. A little murk and dark just freaked him out. And him with that much experience.....
My twelve year old son and ten year old daughter both certified in a December 12th dive, at 19 degree celsius water temp. Vis was less than a meter, and a nice current running. Holding hands and you couldn't see past the elbow. Yes it was scary, yes, navigation was rough, yes, kidsicles.
On the other hand, changing conditions, low vis, low light, any of it, don't faze them.
My students usually have warm waters most of the year (except December -Feb), but conditions here in Kuwait are erratic and can change very quickly. I know that those who start here and get their 1st season of diving here, can go anywhere in the world and handle any conditions. It really is better. Plus the good and great diving is even more fantastic.
So, know that it's okay to be afraid, to the extent that it makes you focussed. Train, trust your training, and practice your responses- stop, breathe, think, act. You recognize the beginnings of panic, and head off the response. You will be fine if you keep at it. This takes work and experience. You've got support, remember- your LDS, dive friends, mentors, DMs at the LDS, this board. The dive community is incredibly helpful all over the world.
And on a side note- I HATED taking my mask off. Or I used to. Practice, practice, practice. Focus on your breathing, instead of hurrying. Take your time. I was a hopeless nose-holder then, I am an instructor now..... Don't give up.
Zen

 

[CamG]

Welcome to the awesome world of diving H20! It sounds like you have encountered some diving character builders. You have recieved some extremely good advice and I want to encourage you by saying many if not all of us have been where you are right now! Don't loose heart and explain to your son that kids are quicker to pick things up and mom just needs more practice! No biggie. My first dive in mid-water was simularly unnerving but that is the joy of computers and guages. Adverse conditions teach us the most, train constantly, always be ready to learn! I would like to take a moment to mention wieghting, this is a issues for 90% of begining divers and if we were honest probably over half of certified divers. Diving is so so much easier once you are properly wieghted. If possible find a instructor, divemaster, etc. who will give private lessons for you and ask him to go over proper wieghting and trim. This could resolve alot of issues with feeling comfortable. Then just dive as much and often as you can, I know how you feel and it get's better! Hang in there and keep us posted on your progress. CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

 

[H2odiving]

H2odiving,

Congratulations to you and your son.

I have to ask... What happened to the dreaded mask skill?

Next time you feel lost in a murky water column remember to look at your depth gauge.

I assume you did equalize your ears and mask as soon as you felt the depth mounting.

A friend that became a diver told me that dive training is nothing like diving and he was right. Kudos for taking those first dives in your more challenging home waters. As a parent child (assumed) buddy team being with a DM and staying conservative are the way to go. Have a great time!

I do hope that you will both follow through and be active local divers. That is where you will build skill and become better and safer divers. Conditions are probably better at other times or places. Also with a little seasoning limited visibility can make for enjoyable dives too.

Please take a moment to add some meat to your profile when you can. It really helps other provide helpful advice.

Congratulations again and dive safe.

Pete

I got that mask off without too much anxiety and didn't choke putting it back on. I was so relieved. As far as being conservative, I just don't see ever diving any time soon without the assistance of a dive master assigned to just me and my son. Even if we were in a group I wouldn't feel comfortable at this point. My son is 15 and though he is doing a great job, I don't expect him to be proficient at taking care of his mom who could possibly be a loose cannon in an emergency situation. He wants to go on to eventually being a rescue diver, perhaps at that point I would consider us diving in a group situation.