I'm a new diver - OW last summer. This year I started AOW training to prepared for a dive trip coming up. Everything had gone great, but when it was time for my deep dive checkout the following day, I panicked. My mask felt too leaky, the dry air was making me uncomfortable, and the poor visibility scared me. I made it to only 40 ft before I was hyperventilating and abandoned the dive. I really need this certification for my upcoming trip, and need advice. I'll be attempting another deep dive this weekend and am already nervous. Advice please!
Slow down.
Fear is an indicator that you're over-reaching. As divers we learn to push the envelop at a comfortable pace. For some people they can make the deep dive with almost no experience and feel fine. For others they need more time.
There's nothing wrong with you. You just need to take smaller steps. Take more time at depths where you feel comfortable and proceed prgressively deeper as your comfort zone broadens.
That may mean that you don't have your AOW before your trip but my attitude would be that if you're not ready yet then you'll probably have more fun on your trip doing shallower dives anyway.
R..