Not Ready to Dive Without a "Dive Guide"?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

If you're coming down here to Florida, get some beach diving in. It's a great place to learn navigation. Due east going out, due west coming in, if you missed the entry/exit spot by a hundred yards, no big deal, must have been a current. Next you can do triangles, Ts, whatever. It's cheap diving, an air fill and parking. You're under 20 ft depth so you can gopher, pop up, look around, see where you are, go back down and set a new course.

Fill Express -- The Best Shore Dive in Florida
 
If I don't feel ready to dive without a guide, that doesn't mean I'm not ready

Sure it does. Nobody is a better judge of "not ready" than the diver. If you think you're not ready to dive on your own, then you aren't ready.

But just for the sake of discussion, let's say you trained someone, and at the end of the course you feel the person is not yet ready. What do you do?

Tell them they're not quite ready for open water yet, and recommend coming in for additional pool sessions.

Do you offer further instruction?
Yes. As much as necessary. You can quit, but you can't fail.

Is this for a fee?
No.

Among your students, how often does this happen?
Not very often. Class is 7 or 8 sessions, which is usually enough, although some have taken significantly longer. Like a lot of things it roughly follows a bell curve.

flots.
 
If I don't feel ready to dive without a guide, that doesn't mean I'm not ready. I'd say if a new diver feels she'd be safer with a guide, that tells me she has some good judgment. Whether she actually needs to have a guide with her, that determination needs to be made by the instructor, not the student.

But just for the sake of discussion, let's say you trained someone, and at the end of the course you feel the person is not yet ready. What do you do? Do you offer further instruction? Is this for a fee? Among your students, how often does this happen?

The fact is that I agree with you. What you have just described is not being incapable of doing a dive on your own but not being quite yet comfortable doing it. BIG DIFFERENCE. If I feel a student is incapable of diving on their own we don't even hit OW for checkouts. We stay in the pool until I feel they are ready. No charge for extra pool sessions. During checkouts if an issue comes up and I see something that does not feel right they do not get a card. We will schedule another dive day. No fee for training but as many of our sites are an hour away I may ask for $20.00 for gas.

I have had a few students who needed extra attention due to issues with a skill, and one because of a know it all husband. I had to get the wife alone to make any progress as he was so intrusive. I have a new approach to that now. I'm the instructor, not you. Either respect that or go away. Same with parents.

Once I feel a diver is capable of diving on their own they get a card. Now at this point if they feel that they WANT a DM, Instructor, or Assistant Instructor for the first few dives then that is using good judgment. They recognize a limitation and take the steps to address it. That is a thinking diver. Thinking divers stay safe. Mindless sheep go to the slaughter.
 
Look into a local dive club. Members are usually willing to share their experience and knowledge of local dive sites. Diving with a group can be a good bridge between DM guided dives and going it on your own. It's also a great way to find new dive buddies.
 
hey there!
since just finished a liveaboard trip with quite some people feeling a bit insecure about their diving skills I really like your honest judgment of your diving skills (since most people will not be able to dive by themselves with an OWD certification. this is exactly why I wrote an article about this topic on my website here.

Feel free to comment and give me feedback :)

thom
 
hey there!
since just finished a liveaboard trip with quite some people feeling a bit insecure about their diving skills I really like your honest judgment of your diving skills (since most people will not be able to dive by themselves with an OWD certification. this is exactly why I wrote an article about this topic on my website here.

Feel free to comment and give me feedback :)

thom

I think it's cool that even people on live-aboards sometimes don't feel secure in their diving skills. I kind of thought the only people who went on live-aboards were seasoned divers. After all, on a live-aboard, all you do is dive. As a new diver, I'm not sure I'd be entertained just diving 24/7.

For me, after only 14 dives, I'm fairly confident in warm, still water with good visibility, as long as I take my time and don't let peer pressure rush me. My confidence diminishes drastically when there is surf or current. Even though I've been engaging in a concerted exercise program, when the water is pushing you I'm not sure all the strength in the world is going to help. What you need there is skill. And that kind of skill can only be acquired through experience. As the people in Japan can tell you, water is an incredibly strong force. Who's that surfer who says that the sea is the great humble-izer? I guess vocabulary is not a prerequisite for surfing, but I have to agree with him about this one. :)
 
Even as an instructor at new dive sites I would usually go out with a guide to show me the best spots and as a new diver a guide will be able to see things that you might miss.

As for how many dives you will need before you feel comfortable that will depend on your experience of dive site variations such as strong currents.

However when you feel ready setting your own tempo for the dives is a great thing.
 
Proceed in stages and aquire experience as your confidence builds, as others have advised.

Also, navigation can sometimes be quite simple. For the first few boat dives, stay close or even on the anchor or shot line. My wife and I found out about the benefits of doing this in the Bahamas. I am an air hoover as I am out of shape, my wife hardly breathes.In order to get a longer dive we decided to hang out on the anchor line. We were on a deeper dive with a group who wanted to see as much as possible. To most people, the amount of real estate covered on a dive equates with seeing more thus a better dive. Everyone hit the bottom and spread out like mad. My wife and I were last in. After the rush, we simply hung on the line and relaxed. All of a sudden the sealife, deciding we weren't pack hunting, came out of their hiding spots. We saw sharks, rays, turtles and smaller fish too. We had a longer dive than I would normally get and saw a great deal of sealife but really went nowhere. Best part is, back on the boat the other divers mentioned not seeing very much in the way of fish on that dive!

Less is sometimes more. I tell that to my wife also in regards to womens bathing suits but I suspect she doesn't really believe me. Would I lie? :eyebrow::eyebrow:
 
...since most people will not be able to dive by themselves with an OWD certification.

By definition, someone with an OW certification should be able to plan an execute dives in the same/similar environment and conditions in which they were trained. Hopefully "most people" are able to do this.

I don't think that people wanting a guide is the same thing as needing someone else to plan and manage their dive for them. I'm a bit nervous for the OP saying that he doesn't need a computer because "the guide will take care of all that" for him. If that is truly the case, I hope that the OP informs the guide of this. Because the guide might think he's merely "a guide" while the OP is of the mistaken belief that the guide is managing the OP's air consumption, depth, bottom time, etc. I would not take that on.
 
First, good for you that you feel this concern and are willing to express it. Second, either find a local diver who is more experienced and willing to take you under their wing for a while as you build experience and confidence. Dive clubs are often a good source to find such people, as are many dive shops which often post notices by people willing to buddy up with less experienced divers.
 

Back
Top Bottom