strategy for gaining skills

[philba]

I'm a recently OW certified diver and my goal is to gain enough skills to enjoy scuba trips to places like Cocos Island, Galapagos, Truk, Socorro, Belize and similar. I want to build up the skills necessary to make those kind of dives fun and easy. I'm not there yet. Would like to get your advice.

A bit about me. I'm almost 60, in good health and have the stress test to prove it! I am lucky to be "gainfully unemployed" (i.e. not working but no money worries). Many years ago I had a NAUI cert but let it lapse and only recently completed the PADI OW program. I've done around a total of 20 dives in my life but only a few with those "newfangled" BCDs, AAS and computers. (I have to say, the industry has really advance, I think they are great.) I have been around and in the water for most of my life and am very comfortable under water (at depth, as they say). I live in the Puget Sound region and know there is a lot of diving but, frankly, I'm a cold water wimp. Most of my scuba diving has been in Hawaii.

I think these are the skills I need to work on to reach my goal. Some are pretty obvious. I'd love to get your input and thoughts.
- bouyancy control. I'm getting there. Probably take a course on this
- drift diving. it seems like all the great locations need this to some extent
- deep diving. at least 100'. most of the great location also have dive sites this deep
- handling various currents. I see a lot of sites often had strong currents.
- nitrox. more total bottom time in a day.
- navigation. more than just following a compass direction
- emergency and rescue techniques (not to be a rescue diver but to be a good buddy)
- UW photo and video (yeah, I know this is a lot of bouyancy control)
any other things you think I should work on?

I know this probably means getting an AOW cert with a few extra courses. But it also just means lots of dives in varying conditions and locations. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to take the AOW course, need more dives under my weight belt. I could do this where I live but I'm reluctant to invest in cold water gear and training when my goal is purely tropical. I know a lot of the skills are the same but it seems like a diversion to me.

I do have the time and $$ to travel so I'm looking for a location that would allow me to work on my skills without being over my head (so to speak...). Cost isn't a huge issue though I'm not looking for deluxe. I don't have a lot of time left on this earth so I hope to reach my goal in less than a year.

 

[Ste Wart]

Purely based on your fortunate circumstances why not take a month away where you can dive frequently?

 

[shmuggy]

The best thing to do to get skilled is to go out and do a lot of diving. I would look at a liveaboard where you can do multiple dives a day, not have to worry about other things like meals and you will be around a lot of people who know and love diving. There are lots of LOBs that do not go to challenging locations like Galapagos- look at the Turks and Caicos, Hawaii, Belize. Land based trips to Cozumel, South Florida are also good. Lots of diving should improve your buoyancy control, breathing rate, and general skill level. ln Florida- you can hire DMs to go out with you at a reasonable cost. The same is probably true for California but I am not familiar with things on the West Coast.
As for deeper diving- I really don't think you need a course for that for that. Nitrox- look at the SSI agencies- I used them and they do a good job with the training.
Hope you have fun.

 

[UWRCN]

Ever considered a dry suit? You are in a area where there is great diving year round. Not to mention if you learn to dive these waters the tropics will seem like the pool. Lot of great divers up here to mentor. But if your dead set on warm water only then others might have better advice. Anyway you choose, happy diving!

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[philba]

Edit: I have no idea why I'm getting all my separate responses jammed into one post. sigh...

Purely based on your fortunate circumstances why not take a month away where you can dive frequently?

That's in line with my thinking. Because of commitments, I am only able to do a week at a time but that's still pretty good.




---------- Post added February 9th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ----------

The best thing to do to get skilled is to go out and do a lot of diving. I would look at a liveaboard where you can do multiple dives a day, not have to worry about other things like meals and you will be around a lot of people who know and love diving. There are lots of LOBs that do not go to challenging locations like Galapagos- look at the Turks and Caicos, Hawaii, Belize. Land based trips to Cozumel, South Florida are also good. Lots of diving should improve your buoyancy control, breathing rate, and general skill level. ln Florida- you can hire DMs to go out with you at a reasonable cost. The same is probably true for California but I am not familiar with things on the West Coast.
As for deeper diving- I really don't think you need a course for that for that. Nitrox- look at the SSI agencies- I used them and they do a good job with the training.
Hope you have fun.

Trying to reply again - weirdness in the intertubes or something...

Thanks. Yes, I need to get mileage. (er, depthage?)

I really like the idea of a liveaboard but think at this point my lack of skills would be a drag to the rest of the guests. A liveaboard is definitely on my bucket list.

I'm looking at taking my girlfriend (who also dives) to Truneffe Island Resort but she works so it's not going to be soon. TIR looks great for my needs though is a little more high end that I would do by myself.

---------- Post added February 9th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ----------

UWCRN - thanks. Yeah, I've thought about a drysuit. I have several friends that dive in the sound with dry suits and they all tell me it's really easy. I've even talked to a number of divers at the Edmonds park and they are all pretty positive too. Still... Guess I'm kind of stuck on dealing with it. I'm a volunteer beach naturalist so I know there's a lot of cool stuff out there (Puget Sound really is a pretty fantastic ecosystem). My girlfriend wants to dive in the sound so I may get pushed that way anyway. Yeah, I'm torn...

 

[Allan C Smith]

Dive Dive Dive.Tthe more you dive the better your skills will become. Make a goal to dive once a week. Get a dry Suit. And on the note of live aboard s Most If not all will have an instructor on board that will help you through your advanced training. In addition most Dives on LOBs are unguided so you would't be slowing any one down. Join a local dive club and I bet you will find a buddy or two in you same situation to go on trips with. Most of all keep diving. Cert cards are great but they are a poor substitute for experience.

 

[decompression]

Extreme scuba makeover from Unified Team Diving, instead of practising bad habits (assumed), reinforce positive ones.

 

[rongoodman]

Extreme scuba makeover from Unified Team Diving, instead of practising bad habits (assumed), reinforce positive ones.

Whether it's with UTD, GUE, or someone else, spending some time in the water with a good mentor will show you a lot--you will see what good trim, buoyancy control, and precise finning look like. You could spend weeks on a liveaboard or in a resort setting and never be exposed to these skills, or you might see them on your first dive--it's hit or miss.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

PhilBa wouldn't happen to be your old MSFT email name, would it?

I'm looking to get some pool practice around Seattle - posted looking for suggestions in the PNW forum but haven't learned anything yet. I want to do some drills before I'm back in Coz in April and won't be nearly as inclined to practice flooding, air-sharing etc when I'm diving for fun.

 

[UWRCN]

Edit: I have no idea why I'm getting all my separate responses jammed into one post. sigh...


That's in line with my thinking. Because of commitments, I am only able to do a week at a time but that's still pretty good.




---------- Post added February 9th, 2013 at 12:05 PM ----------



Trying to reply again - weirdness in the intertubes or something...

Thanks. Yes, I need to get mileage. (er, depthage?)

I really like the idea of a liveaboard but think at this point my lack of skills would be a drag to the rest of the guests. A liveaboard is definitely on my bucket list.

I'm looking at taking my girlfriend (who also dives) to Truneffe Island Resort but she works so it's not going to be soon. TIR looks great for my needs though is a little more high end that I would do by myself.

---------- Post added February 9th, 2013 at 12:18 PM ----------

UWCRN - thanks. Yeah, I've thought about a drysuit. I have several friends that dive in the sound with dry suits and they all tell me it's really easy. I've even talked to a number of divers at the Edmonds park and they are all pretty positive too. Still... Guess I'm kind of stuck on dealing with it. I'm a volunteer beach naturalist so I know there's a lot of cool stuff out there (Puget Sound really is a pretty fantastic ecosystem). My girlfriend wants to dive in the sound so I may get pushed that way anyway. Yeah, I'm torn...

Drysuits are a great thing, with the proper set up you should never be cold with any rec dive profile. It takes a little to get use to but once you do you will love it. There are shops here that rent drysuits. This will give you a general idea of how they feel in the water, but is no substitute for your own 100% fitting suit. Check out the NWDC board hope we can turn you into a sound diver.

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