Newly Certified and going to Coz for the 1st Time

[Christi]

Not this one; it is far better to be overweighted than underweighted. In fact, many DM's diving Cozumel routinely dive overweighted because they are carrying extra weights to give their charges should they need it.

You can achieve neutral buoyancy at any depth if you are (within reason) overweighted, but not if you are underweighted. We start out overweighted for safety; as we gain experience, we drop weight to approach that ideal weight which will give us the easiest maintained buoyancy, but we approach it from the safe (heavy) side. This will happen as you learn to relax underwater; when you are tense it is a natural reaction to keep more air in your lungs, and that means you'll need more weight.

When it's right, you'll know it. You'll be able to achieve that state at depth where you'll do minor ascents and descents by simply modulating the residual air in your lungs and without touching your inflator valve, you'll be able to hang at the safety stop with your BC fully deflated, and you'll be able to ascend to the surface after the stop without moving a muscle other than your diaphragm.

I actually couldn't agree with ggunn more. I would much rather overweight a student/new diver (within reason) and have him/her comfortable and safe over having them constantly fighting to stay down or worse, shooting to the surface because they don't have enough weight. Of course we work with divers to achieve that perfect weighting, but we do it gradually. Taking 4 pounds away at once is too big of a gap. I typically take weight away a pound or two at a time at most.

While we're on the subject, don't pay attention to what the PADI buoyancy weighting guideline says either...if I followed that, I would be wearing about 12 pounds more than I do...and that's the case with MOST divers.

Also to address Wayne's comment about the "staged" ascent. That's actually very common and not unique to your DM. It's also built into most Cozumel dive profiles...when following a multi-level profile...as most dives allow for here. I don't think you'll find anyone here that thinks it's ok or even normal to go straight from 80' to the safety stop.

Wayne, as you gain more diving experience, you'll find alot of these things become second nature to you and are actually the norm.

Have fin and be safe! It sounds like you learned alot on this trip and that's always great to hear

 

[ottawascubalady]

This forum is great! Everything they said above....dito. I went to Coz after just getting my OW and had 7 fantastic drift dives. Another diver convinced me to do a night dive and I'll never regret it. Do it. Stay close to the DM and acend with him/her. Always check your air. Relax and enjoy the scenery, it's gorgeous! I do know this year that I'll be buying a sausage of my own, there were a lot of boats overhead. I enjoyed the diving in Coz so much, I'm going back late March. Enjoy your trip and diving.

 

[waynel]

As usual, Gordon hits the mark dead on, and thank you Gordon for the honesty. He's right. I started "too heavy" and ended up where the "chart" said I should be for max weight given my build and wet suit thickness. You'll know you're figuring this "buoyancy thing" out when you start discovering exactly what Gordon said, controlling your buoyancy with just YOUR LUNGS. I'm at that point know where I seldom touch the inflator valve. Just a very short burst or two after I level off and determine if I'm sinking or rising. As I get more experienced and drop more lead, there will be dives (depending on depth, current, etc.) where I won't even have to use the BC other than to deflate to descend...Very important point Gordon makes...COMPLETELY deflate your BC before you start any ascent to a safety stop. Remember, your wet suit will start picking up buoyancy, even your "empty" tank will pick positive buoyancy. Actually that's what happened when I blew my safety stop, I was down to 200psi and that tank became like a cork (and I was underweighted for my experience level).

RE depth Sounds like you haven't been to 80' yet but unless I look at my depth gauge, I can't tell the difference between 60' and 80' and you won't either. Regardless of depth our number one concern (on no deco dives) is air. The standard DM message there is if you get to 700 psi, signal the dive master. Ours simply did a quick survey of divers' remaining air and paired the 700 psi reaming diver with someone close to the same psi and they safety stopped and surfaced together. If he doesn't, you ask your buddy or some other diver their remaining air. Point is, unless I'm bone dry, I won't surface alone. It's best to have another air source with you at all times (i.e. another diver). One final suggestion, and I've since this happen in the Keys as well...don't rely on that deckhand to open the valve on your first stage (on the tank). We have two situations on this trip where I diver descended and on the bottom was sucking on the reg, getting little air and his gauge laid down. Why? His tank was opened only a quarter turn instead of fully open and a quarter turn back. This happened twice on the second day. I think it's because before that we were diving from two boats with 8 on each boat and had to take a larger boat for all 16 on a rough day. Too many divers to keep up with for one deckhand. When you are geared up and ready to go, ask the diver next to you to check the valve to make sure it's fully opened just before you get off that bench.

 

[Fordan]

I just got back from my first trip to Coz on Saturday 2/24 (I'll be posting a trip report later). At the time I went I'd only had about 18 dives and I am OW and AOW certified.

Basically the same here, except I got back 2/4 and had 17 dives.

You will be diving with at least 2 DM's one leading and the other tailing the group.

Not 100% true. Most of my dives were done with only one DM in the water, but it was off a boat that only takes 6-8 divers out at a time. The only real rule is the marine park regulation requiring divers to dive with a DM, and limiting the number of divers per DM (I believe 6:1).

with. Even though the group is going to 80 feet we still had divers hover over us at the depth they felt comfortable. Don't push yourself and always stay with you buddy. The second dives were always around 40-60 feet depending on the reef.

Discuss this with your DM before you do it... If the current is mild, probably not an issue as long as the DM can see you, but if the current is stronger, being above the reef and shallower can push you along faster than the group. Being down closer to the reefs also gives you the ability to duck behind one out of the current if it has pushed you ahead to allow the rest of the group to catch up.

I'm not saying to go deeper than you're comfortable with, but staying shallow may help with one issue but cause problems with another.

In terms of night dives, they're great! Didn't get to do one in Cozumel, but they were great fun in Australia. Just make sure you get training or shown how before you do one... Not a huge amount of material, but stuff you should know.

An AOW before going with deep and night dives would be a plus. May not be possible, but if it is, it may help you with your concerns.

 

[banff50]

Thanks for all the help. My OW dives are this weekend. I'm not too worried at this point about going to 80' depth, except for getting Narced.

I'm mainly worried about doing a night dive for the first time. I probably won't have time to do an AOW class before then, so I'm just considering finding something super easy for a night dive. I heard night dives are pretty sweet during a full moon. Is that when there is the most phosphorous?

 

[ggunn]

I'm mainly worried about doing a night dive for the first time. I probably won't have time to do an AOW class before then, so I'm just considering finding something super easy for a night dive. I heard night dives are pretty sweet during a full moon. Is that when there is the most phosphorous?

Most night dives are done at Paradise or Chankanaab Shallows, which are both in the 30-40 foot range. You won't be going to a wall or anything deep at night. Alternatively, you can arrange for a night shore dive with Blue Angel at Caribe Blu, but there won't be as much to see there. Where are you staying? If you are on the water, I'd advise going for a night snork with lights first to get the feel of what it's like out there at night.

The phosphorescence is most notable on the darkest nights, but I don't think lighting conditions have much to do with the amount of it, though. It's all good; I like the moonless nights the best.

 

[MMM]

Would this be a good spot for a quick discussion about managing a safety stop when you find you are too light? It's happened to me a couple of times (usually on the first dive of my trip). But you shouldn't get to 15 feet and then go "uh-oh". So I'll start.

1. Drop a bit lower - approx 20 feet....especially if there are lots of waves or surge. My computer won't start my 3 minute countdown unless I'm at 19 feet or higher, but yours may differ. Point is, it can make a big difference in your ability to hold your stop.
2. Turn yourself upside down. You can fin down and hold your stop from the "wrong" direction. It's a bit more work and you'll burn a bit more air. Watch your ascent rate once you've completed your stop and you turn around to go up; you should go up largely horizontal instead of vertical (see below).
3. Hold your stop in a horizontal position. For some reason a vertical position makes you more "cork-like".
4. Look into using steel tanks.

Others?

 

[diver 85]

It can be a zoo out there...be careful.....good dive shops will start together & the 1st man/woman down to 1000 ends it for the group & therefore the dive......That's why who we dive with keeps people of similar experience together for a morning of diving......

 

[diver 85]

Thanks for all the help. My OW dives are this weekend. I'm not too worried at this point about going to 80' depth, except for getting Narced.

I'm mainly worried about doing a night dive for the first time. I probably won't have time to do an AOW class before then, so I'm just considering finding something super easy for a night dive. I heard night dives are pretty sweet during a full moon. Is that when there is the most phosphorous?

DON'T WORRY about depth....10/~13 of our 1st dives we(wife, daughter & myself) made after OW cert. were 90 to 120 ft--& none of us felt uncomfortable, @all........It's all part of your training, @ least it was when we were cert.........

 

[ggunn]

It can be a zoo out there...be careful.....good dive shops will start together & the 1st man/woman down to 1000 ends it for the group & therefore the dive......That's why who we dive with keeps people of similar experience together for a morning of diving......

No way. I dive with Blue Angel, and their policy (which is widespread amongst Coz dive ops) is whoever gets to 700 psi first starts their ascent with their buddy, and the DM will deploy his buoy for them, but the dive continues. On one dive last year, my wife and I were the only experienced divers aboard, and we were down a good 15-20 minutes longer than the rest of the group.