Am I Happy with my course?

I really don't know. I had a NAUI OW course last summer. It lasted five days. We had six dives in the bay, and four more boat dives.
Since then I made five more dives (one river dive, and four boat ones).
Everything seems OK, we have covered everything but something is missing.

I've been climbing for many years know, and can do knots with one hand in my sleep. I know equipment, I know what and why. If I do something in a way that is not recommended by instructors then I know why they are recommending it, and why I choose not to do it that way.

In diving that is what I miss. Equipment is still strange to me, and changes every time I dive (I have to rent). A lot of questions remained unanswered. I have downloaded US Navy Diving Manual and found many answers there.

My LDS gives me a chance to use a pool once a week virtually free of charge (yearly fee approx 30$)

What surprises me is that there are no other divers. Nobody is trying to improve his/hers skill. Last time I tried to clear my mask while floating/hovering instead of kneeling. First time it was disaster. Then I realized that I had stopped breathing and therefore surfaced. Next time was much better.

So my question is - what is wrong with diving/divers? Nobody wants to learn, nobody wants to improve.

Thx for comments

Can it be it is still winter and people wait until the water is a bit warmer?

Or maybe they prefer spending a bit more money and go to a proper club?

With close to very little experience as you seem to have, things need to be repeated ad nauseam, but the more you dive the more they will become clearer and appear logical just as anything related to rock climbing seems to you (I know it doesn't to me )

Yes, it is winter, but pool is nice and warm.

Cocerning the club - there is nothing wrong with it. All clubs here have more or less similar prices for local people (if 30$ looks strange)

I often notice recreational divers do not try very hard to improve their skills... But I think I found the answer, with the help of my... Dad ! (yep - you'll find out why)

My Dad loves to dive, he's not very good at it since he only has his OW Padi C-Card. We learned to dive together. And after the OW, I almost immediatly took the AOW Class but he didn't. I practiced a lot (in swimming pools and in the Open Sea too), whereas he just kept on diving from time to time.

But last summer, I was working in a dice center as a DM (even if I don't have the Certification to -- I KNOW IT'S ILLEGAL-- I have 160 dives, he only has 30) and my Dad came to visit. He wanted to dive, so I planned it for him. Unfortunately, I was to be the guide in that dive, (we were 4 : me, my OW Dad and another AOW couple) but since the two remaining divers were experienced, I told them I was gonna look after my Dad a bit more than after them - they were OK with that.

U/W, I was terrified... My Dad was just doing stupid things all through the dive... he had forgotten how to kick properly, he constantly had water in his mask and was unable t clear it properly, he had a VERY LOUSY air consumption and didn't signal when half tank was reached etc etc etc...

When the dive was over, I asked him why he was so poor-skilled... And he just told me "You know, it's just a holiday-thing to me..."

He didn't understand the risk he represented, for other divers as well as for himself...

I think this kind of attitude is unfortunately too common in the diving world.

svidlano once bubbled...

I've been climbing for many years know, and can do knots with one hand in my sleep. I know equipment, I know what and why. If I do something in a way that is not recommended by instructors then I know why they are recommending it, and why I choose not to do it that way...........
...........

In diving that is what I miss. Equipment is still strange to me, and changes every time I dive (I have to rent).



So my question is - what is wrong with diving/divers? Nobody wants to learn, nobody wants to improve.

Thx for comments

Click to expand...

svidlano - I think you answered one of your questions. you gotta get out and dive to get to know your equipment, and you have to get your OWN equipment in order to become intimately fimiliar with it. Dive dude, then go dive some more. With only 15 dives under your weightbelt, your still learning and improving on the basics that were taught in your class (like how to breathe underwater)...... the rest comes with experience and a little practise

I used to wonder why (I think its like 80-90% - but I may be off here) basic OW divers never take any additional training - AOW, Rescue....... whatever. But then I realized not everyone is as fanatical about diving as I/we am/are. Many people don't have the time, and only dive 10 times a year. Others only dive on vacations 1 a year........ different strokes (no DIR pun intended) for different folks..... you can't make people do it.

I've got no doubt there are other trained and fanatical divers around you - it takes time to find good buddies. Keep looking and keep learning....... the questions and concerns you have are pointing you down the right road........

SS

Amanda speaks volumes for what I see in OW situations. A lot of people are only interested in getting certified so they can go dive in the caribbean on their holiday. And then again on subsequent vacations in years to come. Many people view it as a leisure activity and in many facets diving is leisure, but it can very easily be life-threatening leisure, which unfortunately most people just don't get. There are a lot of issues here, and I could probably go on for pages.....

However...you seem to be the kind of diver who wants to look after his own safety. I wish we could get that across to everyone who gets a c-card...keep it up my man....you'll quickly learn who you should and shouldn't dive with.

-TT

Amanda once bubbled...


When the dive was over, I asked him why he was so poor-skilled... And he just told me "You know, it's just a holiday-thing to me..."

He didn't understand the risk he represented, for other divers as well as for himself...

I think this kind of attitude is unfortunately too common in the diving world.

Click to expand...

Well said Amanda..... I'm starting to see this more and more. Where I live it is extremely hard to get additional training above OW - like 4-5 hour drive to another LDS for training. But some do it, and many don't.......Can we do anything about it, or do we just try to avoid being in these situations........ ?

SS

This summer I'm gonna work in another dive center, and they oblige every diver who has only an OW and / or hasn't dive for more than 3 months to do a "rehabilitation" (it's probably not the right word in English, but I think you'll get what I mean anyway ) before being allowed to follow other divers on other dives...

I love that system, but it doesn't resolve the probleme, it just "minimizes" the consequences (excuse my english, I'm sleepy today )

Amanda,

what agency do you dive with?

chiara once bubbled...
what agency do you dive with?

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You mean the one the dive center dives with ? PADI / FFESSM (the french thing)

I KNOW it's illegal... I normally don't guide people u/w... I just gear them up, sometimes do their briefings, and do the "baptisms" (the very first dive a person does).

I swear I do it right and never put anyone in danger.