New divers safe to dive?

[blackvans1234]

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?

 

[TMHeimer]

Early on I dived a lot with a fellow Newbie. Neither of us had any Rescue training and I think back to those days. The skills taught in OW will help you with self rescue. But what do you do if your buddy is suddenly unconscious? At least a basic education in those skills should IMO be part of OW class. The safest thing for a new diver is to buddy with a veteran. Of course if the veteran becomes unconscious he is SOL.

 

[scubadobadoo]

If you were given the cert card then technically yes. If you earned it is another discussion.

That said, if you don't feel comfy with a dive then look to hire a guide or get more info about the site from another local and then go have some fun!

 

[elan]

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?

Your question is not put correctly... The divers should be able to dive in the conditions they are trained in.

For example, I did many dives down to 100ft in the lakes with temperatures 37F in a drysuit with doubles and stages and I feel comfortable execurting those dives , BUT I have never done shore dives from a rocky ocean beach with waves. If I decide to do such a dive I would look for an experienced buddy or a guide who can show me around. I'm a newbie in that type of diving so I would not do that kind of dives with someone who has never done it and as newbie as me.

And it's true the other way around. If the person has done thousands of rocky beach dives with superwaives he would beter talk to someone who dove cold water before going on some deep wrecks in the lakes.

 

[g1138]

You're certified to dive in conditions similar to that which you were trained for.
I'll back up what TMHeimer said. If you're not confident or don't have a textbook example of how to rescue an unconscious diver, then you're buddy is basically solo diving to a degree; and vice versa. This is why I hate agencies that skip even the most basic unconscious diver rescue in their OW course.

As for whether you should dive, it's up to you and your risk tolerance. You've got a certification, you've got our opinions. Use your best judgement before and throughout your dives.

 

[fisheater]

Find a dive club that regularly dives in the places you wish to dive.

Good mentors are an important link between formal education and mastery.

 

[DevonDiver]

An OW diver is certified to 'dive indepedantly without supervision, to a maximum recommended depth of 18m/60ft, within the limits of their training and experience'. In addition, the OW diver should apply 'Safe Diving Practices' (the 'Statement of Understanding' that you signed on completion of your training that lists the standards you agree to dive within) to the conduct of their diving.

So, in theory, an OW diver should be safe to conduct independant (unsupervised by a 'pro') diving in conditions equal to, or easier, than what they originallly trained in. They should be safe providing they dive prudently and effectively apply the skills, knowledge and procedures that they learned in their training course.

However, in reality, you may feel apprehension or unease about diving without professional supervision. This may be for general open-water diving as a newly certified diver, or for more complex diving activities as you gain experience. The simple answer is that if you feel happier with professional supervision, then pay for a divemaster to accompany you. Alternatively, find an experienced diver that you trust - who can accompany and mentor you as you gain experience.

In respect of safety - well, that it truly in your own hands. If you are confident that you will apply your training effectively on the dives that you wish to undertake... and that your diving is prudent, conservative and well within your recommended limitations... then you should also be confident about your safety. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution.

 

[rkj1969]

Find a dive club that regularly dives in the places you wish to dive.

Good mentors are an important link between formal education and mastery.

x2

Check in with the local shops once you get to your new city! (or maybe there's a scubaboard forum for that area?)
They may be able to point out the easy sites and/or hook you up with some other divers from the area.
We have a fantastic shore diving "club" here that goes out every weekend and is a great way to learn new sites in a safe way and also to meet more experienced folks to dive with!

In this case, experience with the sites and conditions would matter a lot more than number of dives or even cert level, imo. I'm a Rescue diver with over 150 dives, but I still would never just wander out in a new area and do a shore dive before trying it with someone more familiar with the site!

 

[Petert71]

I'm currently at 24 dives and I look back few months at what I've learned since being certified and cringe at the trouble I could have gotten myself into. On my 10th dive myself and two buddies with similar (in)experience did a boat dive. Nothing bad happened but a lot of bad things could have happened which we could be prevented with my current knowledge level. The problem is you don't know what you don't know, and even if you had the greatest instructor you're still going to not remember things when you might need to.

I'm now worried that I'm a little over confident in my diving. In most cases I could handle myself well and I'm not the sort of guy that panics, but I also don't know what my limits are. My dive instructor dives with me often and tells me he enjoys diving with me because he doesn't have to worry about me. Many of his other students are compenent, but having dived with many myself, they do make me nervous. This is something they'll overcome with expernence.

The advice of joining a dive club is excellent! This will give you plenty of opportunities to dive under reasonable supervision. Stay within the limits of your training and take things slowly. If something goes wrong in 30ft of water you can usually make it to the surface if you have to. If you feel nervous about the dive, follow your instinct and abort it.

 

[JaneMitchell]

This is such a hard question to answer because so many people have such different levels of ability even as newly certified divers. I don't know what happens elsewhere in the world but here in Australia we get our learners permit to learn to drive a car, when we pass that we get 'p' plates that we have to display on the car which basically restricts your driving for about a year until you've built up some experience in all conditions. I always tell my students that when they get their OW certification card they're pretty much on their p plates. Some people are always going to be better than others but I always reckon that you should dive with someone who has dived the area before...or get really good advice about the area from a local before you attempt any kind of adventure. Having all the experience in the world may not help if you get into difficulties in a new site with new conditions. Dive clubs are a great way to meet divers of all levels ... and there's usually someone who will have dived a local site before.