What do you do to improve your awareness?

[Adobo]

I took a class recently where the instructor showed an amazing amount of awareness. He knew all kinds of detail regarding the dive, what each diver was doing during key situations and vital data (such as time, gas, landmarks) at crucial times. It was like he had eyes on the back of his head and a photographic memory to boot. Part of what I learned in the class is that awareness is a good thing to develop, regardless of the type of diving one does.

As a new(ish) diver, I am working on improving my awareness. Any tips or suggestions on what you have done to elevate your awareness level?

 

[Garrobo]

Speed.

 

[300bar]

A lot of dives.

 

[Rick Inman]

Awareness is intentional. If you just go into the dive responding and reacting rather than with a plan and intent as to what you will be aware of, you will come out with a random memory of the dive.

I have to discipline myself to form the habit of looking with intent at my buddy, at my environment, at my system, and then at the sights around me. And doing it all through the dive. But once I have the habit, it becomes second nature. And then it's amazing how many times I'll talk about something that happened during the dive that other divers - sometimes even my buddy right next to me - didn't notice.

Try this. If you have a backup light attached to your kit where it can be seen, turn it on during the dive and see how long it takes your buddy to notice it - of if they do at all. You might be surprised...

 

[neil]

Speed.

And practice. And some are just better at it naturally, like any other skill.

 

[Adobo]

And practice. And some are just better at it naturally, like any other skill.

What do you practice?

 

[Ben_ca]

Awareness is intentional. If you just go into the dive responding and reacting rather than with a plan and intent as to what you will be aware of, you will come out with a random memory of the dive.

I have to discipline myself to form the habit of looking with intent at my buddy, at my environment, at my system, and then at the sights around me. And doing it all through the dive. But once I have the habit, it becomes second nature. And then it's amazing how many times I'll talk about something that happened during the dive that other divers - sometimes even my buddy right next to me - didn't notice.

Try this. If you have a backup light attached to your kit where it can be seen, turn it on during the dive and see how long it takes your buddy to notice it - of if they do at all. You might be surprised...

hmmm yeah thats why my backup light was on...i was testing you!

 

[TSandM]

That's one of the things I've seen suggested -- Tell your buddies you need awareness lessons, and have them do stuff like have something hanging out of their pockets, or a backup light on, or when you're gearing up, leaving a hose unattached. Have them signal you underwater and count the seconds until you react.

How you create that mental recording of the dive, I don't know. I'm working on that very hard myself. So far, I can "record" about three or four points, where I can tell you afterward the depth, time, gas and what we were doing. More than that, and I start to lose them. I think that's something that probably benefits from practice -- You just keep trying to add more data points, and see if you can hold onto them.

 

[Adobo]

Yes, I think some of the "leave lights on" suggestions are pretty good at helping make sure our team awareness is good.

I am also trying to work out the best way to get other types of awareness as well. As an example, how much gas and time did it take me to get to a way point? Because if I am planning on exiting from the same spot that I descended (like an anchor line), then I know I might need roughly the same to get back. Of course, other things will factor in but I think that baseline knowledge is where one starts.

 

[willembad]

I had the privilage to dive with Tim Higgs of Abaco Dive Adventures on the 16th - 18th of this month. We were a 5 person group (4 new OW and our instructor, though he was on vacation with us ) and on the first dive Tim ask us to signal 1500 psi. Of course I was the one to signal first and he acknowledged, only to continue as if it didn't happen. We finished the dive under the boat at 15 fsw on a sandy spot with me at 600 psi.

Every dive after the first we got a perfect tour, at a perfect pace and ended each dive with me at the end of my gas without him ever looking or asking. Heck, he didn't even act like we were there, as I never saw him looking around at us at all (he was taking pictures of the reef), but he could tell every detail of the dive at the end for all of us!

After I questioned him about it, he told me that his cave diving training (instructor) taught him to be completely aware at all times, and he also recommended we take the course, even if we have no interest in cave diving. I'm sure the fact that he was born in the house down the street from where he now lives in Marsh Harbour doesn't hurt him (thousands of dives) but he insists that he really learned to dive during that course.

All I know is that I would like to be able to be so in tune with what's going on during a dive.

Willem