Dive Mentors and gaining experience

Not all dive training is formal - in a structured class. Much of the informal learning comes from exposure to other divers and dive situations (and some from reading Scubaboard ).

When you were a new(er) diver, did a more experienced diver take you under their wing while you gained experience? What was the most important thing you got out of those dives?

As a more experienced diver now, how have you paid it forward by diving with new divers? What is the most important thing you stress to them?
Please share your experiences.

My wife and I have learned something on every dive we've ever made, certainly not just the ones that were part of a formal class. People like Alvaro from AlwaysDiving.com and Mark from The Dive Bus are always teaching. They're always happy to offer advise and suggestions, and even if you did nothing but watch them, you'd learn something. I can't say we've been under anyones wing, since we're vacation divers, but we certainly learn from the more experienced.

I can't really pay it forward yet, other than trying to show non-divers why they need to dive.

I've learned so much from the many mentors but the first lesson that popped into my head when I read the OP's post was when I joined SB in 2008, I had 30 dives under my belt and one of the best advice I got was from SB member Aaron. He said never lose the ability to call a dive if I am not comfortable. Aaron said that a lot of divers forget this due to pressure by buddies, not wishing to disappoint their buddies or appearing weak.

Aaron said I could call a dive whenever I felt uncomfortable, whether at the shore line, on the boat, at 100ft or at the hotel room. The minute I'm not feeling the dive I must call it. If my buddy or buddies got angry, he said NEVER dive with them again. Last year I called two dives in MA and this year one dive in cave country. My wonderful buddies in all three dives were not angry and understood. How lucky am I to have such awesome buddies.

As for paying it forward, I still consider myself a newbie and have tried to help other newbies who PM me or who I meet at the dive sites. I dived with some divers who needed help with whatever they felt I could help. I've video taped oodles of buddies for review at the surface. I've stressed the importance of good buddy awareness, checking their SPG regularly, getting their weighting right and good buoyancy control.

I'm still learning and not so sure I should be imparting my limited knowledge on others but if they ask all I can offer is my limited experience.

Due to being in the boonies, I never had a mentor, other than instructors from the many courses I have taken--but just for the course itself. My first and only steady dive buddy got certified the same time as me and he's pretty much out of diving for now at least. When I get buddied up on a charter down south I just try to asses the buddy as best as possible.

I am in no position to be anyone's mentor "yet" but I am lucky enough to have an instructor/mentor and now friend that has taught me from the beginning. It is a great feeling to have the guidance and education from someone that has been there. As others have said, just watching many times is an education. I don't feel everyone has the ability to mentor but anyone can offer help. I have generally found most divers to be friendly and sociable and enjoy sharing an experience or offering some assistance.

When I was a beginning diver, I listened eagerly to the words of the more experienced divers I met on the trips. They told me a lot of things. For example, you don't have to plan your dives--just follow the divemaster and do what he says. I learned that buddy checks and good buddy contact are not important. In other words, I learned a whole lot of stuff that was flat wrong, and as a new diver, how was I to distinguish the good advice from the bad?

When I was a beginning skier, I got equally bad help from more experienced skiers, and it took many, many lessons to eradicate (but never completely) the bad habits I developed as a result. As a beginner in any activity, you have to be very careful whom you select as a Mentor.

These days I do try to share what I know. I went diving with a relatively new diver this summer and showed him some things. for example, I showed him how to deploy a DSMB and watched him practice it. I will be diving with another diver next week. I hope the advice I am giving newer divers is better than the advice I got.

I did actually have a dive mentor when I started out... He was curmudgeon of a man, but he was extremely knowledgeable about diving and is one of the first people I turn to when I have a difficult question regarding diving. It is because of him that I work and train as I do, putting everything I can into the courses I teach to turn out the best divers I can. I may not be the most experienced diver/instructor but I think that anyone can help others simply be being supportive, treating people with respect, praising accomplishments, and providing everything they can to provide others with the opportunity to become more proficient.

I am lucky that this summer I had the best mentors that a new and young diver could ask for.I started learning to dive at the very end of June with a club that my schools uses.I always wanted to learn and I am lucky that my mom supports me learning 100%. My experiences with the dive shop the school used was very unsatifactory and left me lacking in skills that a open water diver should have. We looked around for another dive shop and found NORTHWEST SCUBA in Edmonton. They were enthused and very more than willing to teach me to dive.The crew at NW had me in the water and rechecked all my open water skills and completed the missing skills without me even realizing what they were doing.The instructors made sure that having to redo didn't cause me to feel frustrated. They then went on to do my Advanced Open Water course.Since July 1st I have completed other courses all under the great group at Northwest Scuba.They made sure I was aware of dives being offered and invited me on weekends in Jasper as well as our local dives. They made me feel like I belong in diving and for a 16 year old that's great.Never once did my age or being a newbie become a problem.All questions no matter how small were answered without any of that attitude so many adults use with teens. As a result this Sept 11th I will be celebrating my 50th DIVE! Aand becoming a Master Diver !!There is no way I could of done this without the support and wonderful group of divers that mentored me at Northwest Scuba!! Mine and my moms thanks to Ken. Laura, Andrew,Christy, Whitney, Tracy, and Jesse and all the rest at Northwest Scuba. A special thanks to my dive buddy Greg who puts up with me!. YOU ARE ALL THE BEST!!!

My dive mentor is this board.

This board is my mentor. I have learned so much and if I ever have a question, I first search this board for answers. Not having a mentor will not stop me from diving, I enjoy it way too much to allow that to stop just taking it slow until I learn more. My dive buddy is the best in the world... but we were certified together.