I now have 50+ total dives, which makes me a complete expert...

It's funny, I've strapped on the gear 60+ times now and I still suck at diving

OK, I am getting better... I don't suck quite as much at buoyancy, I don't suck quite as much at using air, I have been able to drop weight and learned how to not be overweighted...

I have taken a bunch of specialty classes (just for the heck of it) and am only my Rescue Diver cert away from being a "PAID Master Scuba Diver". What an absolute joke that cert card is, even though I am going to get it just for giggles and grins.

I have come to realize a few things, though...

1) All this training and my experience so far tells me that I am still a rank NOOB in the world of diving...

2) I have more training and experience than about 99 percent of the people I have taken my classes with, and am shocked that they consider themselves "advanced" divers.

3) The more I dive, the less I suck.

4) AOW training is nothing more than OW training, Part 2. Being AOW certified doesn't mean squat in determining whether a diver sucks or not.

5) Pools are different than quarries. Quarries are different than the ocean. Cold water is different than warm. Etc. My level of suckage in each situation is directly related to the amount of experience I have at diving in each situation.

6) Time spent in training for emergency situations is NEVER wasted.

7) Most divers I have met who are experienced cold water divers are very, very good at what they do.

8) Vacation only warm water divers generally suck worse than I do... and that's sad.

9) I should still sit down and shut up, because I need to have a lot more experience before I know enough about diving to give even the slightest amount of advice.

Just so you all know where I am at

Not only that...diving Galapagos is whole 'nother ball game and when you dive there, even after being very competent, you'll feel like a complete noob all over again. After more than 200 dives (which still isn't a whole lot) in different environments (cold, warm, drift, shore, boat) I felt like a total spaz in those surges and currents.

Sounds like you're on the right track. Realizing where you are and what your limitations are goes along way to showing you where you ned to improve.

Keep diving, and keep improving.

sabbath999:

1) All this training and my experience so far tells me that I am still a rank NOOB in the world of diving...

2) I have more training and experience than about 99 percent of the people I have taken my classes with, and am shocked that they consider themselves "advanced" divers.

3) The more I dive, the less I suck.

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Congratulations! You've discovered the secret of SCUBA.

And it only gets worse. Just when you think you're doing everything beautifully, you'll dive with someone that's so graceful underwater that by comparison, you look like you're having seizures.

A couple of the guys I dive with have been in the water since dirt was invented and they don't seem to need to move any limbs to move through the water.

I'm pretty sure they just use their mental powers to warp nearby space to make it look like they're moving. It's very humbling.

Terry

Terry is right. The best diver I ever saw was our guide in Thailand. She could float an inch above the sand and not stir up a particle.

Those labels (AOW, MSD etc) in fact do not make much sense to me either. But who cares. As long as you realize where you should work more you are good I pretty much came to realize the same as you did. I have a list of things to work on and it is long and most of it is just plain basics we learned in OW. Cold water and low visibility does change it all a lot. After 30+ dives of which 70% were cold and low vis. I still feel like I'm in my OW dive 2

Keep plugging away---the moment you stop learning, you're either no longer be 'with us' or out of diving........& 20 years from now, some of the same feelings you have now might still be with you......Remember no one knows it all & no one is 'the perfect diver'. I think I learn something new every dive I make.....

Web Monkey:

And it only gets worse. Just when you think you're doing everything beautifully, you'll dive with someone that's so graceful underwater that by comparison, you look like you're having seizures.

A couple of the guys I dive with have been in the water since dirt was invented and they don't seem to need to move any limbs to move through the water.

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I've been out with people like that....they never seem to have to add or dump air to/from anything (wing, drysuit). It's almost as if they don't have to kick to propel themselves....they think it and the water moves for them.


Congrats, Sabbath! I'm right there with you....I've been diving long enough to know that I'm improving, but I still suck. Just wait till someone brings a video on a dive and you see yourself....it can be quite enlightening!

ligersandtions:

Just wait till someone brings a video on a dive and you see yourself....it can be quite enlightening!

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Or FRIGHTENING.

In all seriousness, I we have actually videoed each other so that we could study our form in the water... we both are on a quest to be holes in the water, learning to hover and minimize all movement with absolutely no "flaling around" of any kind. Small, controlled, slow and steady movement and spot-on buoyancy every time in all conditions... that's the goal and I intentionally work on it on every dive.

I want to be "that guy" that others look at and say "man, I wish I could be that guy".

sabbath999 - I agree with you 100%. I just got back from a trip to Key Largo and did dive 100! This was partly a training trip getting my Deep and Wreck merit badges, I mean, Specialties. While I did learn from the formal parts of the class, I learned much more talking to the experienced divers on the trip. I watched what they did, how they handled themselves and how they reacted to different situations. It was a great trip and I learned so much, but the biggest lesson was learning how much I still don't know.