New divers safe to dive?

[DivemasterDennis]

It depends. If the conditions are good ( no currents, calm surface, good visibility ), you are in conditions similar to those in which you did your open water dives, you have proper equipment in good repair, and plan you profiles and follow them, stay close to your buddy (10 feet), and stay above 60 feet, then there is no reason for you to not go and have a great dive. Don't get adventurous. But let's face it, 2 people on a dive without a crowd around them, going at your own pace, it doesn't get any better than that. New divers are often the safest- they remember the rules, and follow them.
Don't go crazy, but do go diving!
DivemasterDennis

 

[TSandM]

What Divemaster Dennis said.

I was a horrible student in my OW class, and to this day, maintain that I should not have been certified. But within a few weeks, I had done a couple of shore dives with one of my classmates. We did them in a familiar site, kept them very shallow and kept the navigation simple. They were fun. If you can't do that, your instructor didn't do right by you.

However -- if you are moving to a new place, make sure you get some local information about the dive sites you are considering. Very benign-appearing sites can harbor hidden hazards, if the site is affected by tides, currents, or weather conditions.

 

[fjpatrum]

Hey SB peeps, as a current PADI OW student, and someone who is going to be moving to South Florida in august, i'm wondering about your opinions regarding newly certified OW divers, and their safety.
What I mean is, do you think that newly cert'd divers would be safe to shore dive on their own? (say with another newly cert'd diver as their buddy)

From a by the book perspective, a Certified Open Water diver, as the name implies, should be able to safely dive on their own, right?
or am i over analyzing the name?

I was completely comfortable coming out of OW and willing to dive on my own. Some people need more time with an instructor/experienced person and the only real answer is that you should be capable of it upon finishing OW but it's entirely your choice. South Florida has a couple of really good clubs you can join and meet up with other divers if you feel you need some more experienced person in the water as your buddy. Hell join the club even if you're comfortable with diving on your own... never hurts to have a large group of potential buddies who can show you good places to dive and go out with you all the time.

 

[Jaydubya]

No reason you can't do it, but be cautious with shore dives. They seem easy but surf, surge, tides, and currents all can come into play. Reading conditions at an unfamiliar location can be tricky so it would be best to dive with a local the first couple of times. One of the two times where I have feared for my life while diving was on a shore dive on a wreck in only 20 feet of water. It was dive number 12 for me and my buddy happened to be an Advanced Nitrox instructor but that didn't help since he didn't have any experience with this type of diving.

 

[RU4SKUBA]

I don't think there's any instructor who can provide such superior training as to remove the experience component of the process, so my answer is: "No."

 

[DennisS]

This is a good site for a beginner diver. If you pick a flat day you shouldn't have any problems, maximum depth is about 20 ft but you really have to try for that.

Fill Express -- The Best Shore Dive in Florida

You can even check it out before you leave the house with the beachcam

Windjammer Beach Resort - Live HD Web Cam Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida

 

[blackvans1234]

Hey thanks for all of the feedback guys.
To clarify-
I have gone snorkeling along the beaches of south fl multiple times, to depths up to and past 10 ft (broke my underwater camera that was waterproof to 10 ft- extended warranty = free replacements), and feel pretty comfortable in regards to the currents, visibility etc.
I appreciate all of the different inputs everyone has given me. I am certified in CPR and resusitation (Healthcare Worker)

I will deff (and have been) floating around the FL section of the forums here, and indeed feel as though I should be able to find experienced/helpful buddies.

 

[Avonthediver]

You must get your Experience from somewere..