Upon Entering

[baltimoron]

I agree with all of the above....

but just to add my little bit-

my guess would be that the plus to staying above for a bit would be to make sure that your BC inflates/deflates properly.... It would be really bad to find out that you can't inflate when you are down 100' and holding onto the side of a coral wall...

that's just me though- if the seas are really really choppy, ask the DM what his preference would be, confer with your buddy, and make sure you are all clear.

~~ Zack

 

[keelhaul123]

Personally I usually prefer not to get in the water until my buddy and I are both ready. That way we both get in the water at close to the same time. We both make sure everything is in its place at the surface, and descend down the line (if there is one) at the same time. Go down by yourself and you're diving solo.....fine if thats what you are capable of doing...or dive with a buddy...its up to you. Grant you vis is an issue in this area. Up here in New England, 20 feet vis is a GREAT range....and 5-10 feet is more the norm. So if you jump off the boat and head right down the line you may not see your buddy again until the end of the dive.

 

[keelhaul123]

I guess these things really depend on where you are diving. Here in NC, there is no group diving or DM guides that I've ever encountered. Usually the boat anchors, the captain tells you where the wreck is, you jump in, pop up and give the DM (who usually stays onboard) an okay sign, wait for your buddy, and descend to the wreck. Do your dive, ascend to your safety stop, surface, enter boat. That's how it was done on all my trips to the Keys also. Resort diving may be different...but I don't do resort diving.

Jason

Hey...we do it the same way up here....must be an east coast thing(where the REAL diving is). OK..that should get me in trouble.

 

[Divemastr]

Well, if you head straight to the bottom, sure hope you checked your air to be sure it is on completely before jumping in.... ;>)

 

[Dive-aholic]

We do negative entries as well, but we also haven't done many guided dives. And the last thing we do before kitting up is to make sure air is on.

 

[Buoyant1]

On my last trip, for the first dive, the DM said jump in and go wait by the trail buoy until everyone is in, then we'll signal...the dive after it (same trip) was splash in and we'll meet at the bottom if everything is ok...then we'll keep going


I guess it depends on the situation

 

[RLarsen]

I'm a new diver but I can't imagine not signaling OK to the DM or buddy before descending. To see someone do a giant stride and then immediately disappear underwater would make me nervous, but I'm curious what experienced divers are saying about this.

 

[Charlie99]

I'm a new diver but I can't imagine not signaling OK to the DM or buddy before descending. To see someone do a giant stride and then immediately disappear underwater would make me nervous, but I'm curious what experienced divers are saying about this.

Depends upon your prior agreement. Doing something other than what was briefed/agreed upon is a red flag.

Someone staying on the surface would make me nervous, if the agreement was to immediately head for the anchor line or the bottom.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Negative entries are also typical in some drift dives. Everyone enters roughly at the same time and begins the dive. Waiting at the surface just increases the chance of separation. Besides, it's different and exhilarating to do negative entries. After I did my first negative entry, I didn't want to do positive entries anymore. Of course, sometimes you have to though.

 

[animian2002]

As long as my buddy agrees with me, We will inform the DM and head straight to the bottom and wait for the others. Of course as we are descending, we will check and signal to each other to make sure that we are OK