New Diver - Liveaboard - Guide or No Guide

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terri717

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My husband and I are new OW divers. We received our certification this summer, 2013, and we have only done 1 dive since. The main reason we became certified is because we are going to the Great Barrier Reef off of Cairns in February 2014. I've heard liveaboards are the best as you're not as rushed and you don't have to spend a lot of time traveling to/from the outer reef. One of the biggest things I'm having trouble deciding on is if we should pick a liveaboard that offers guided dives or not. After speaking with multiple dive contacts in Cairns it seems the concensus is that the liveaboards that offer guided dives are more crowded sites and not as great of reef sites. The other dive operator I'm considering goes to "the best" reef sites, but doesn't offer guided dives.

Since we've never dove without a guide or dive master, I'm a little worried about going "unguided" and getting lost underwater. Any advice for unguided dives?
 
I can't imagine being a new diver and jumping in at an unfamiliar reef without a guide. That literally seems insane. A dive guide can help you navigate the reef, identify small critters and provide a level of safety. As a new diver, I can't imagine you will be underwhelmed by the GBR's more popular sites. I'm curious what others think.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
I want someone familiar with the sites to show me the best stuff when I'm new to the area, & I've been at this for a while :)
Rick
 
With your level of experience, they will most likely insist that you be accompanied by at DM/Instructor for at least the first few dives.
 
As a new diver diving in unfamiliar dive sites, it is HIGHLY recommended that you dive with a dive guide. As well as the reasons listed above, your dive guide will most likely also be the person saving your life when things go wrong. Most dive guides that I know of are all dive masters and above, and they are ALL trained to handle novice divers and safe divers. I felt dive guides are like the life-guards at a swimming pool. You are always responsible for your own safety. However, if you do mess up, the dive guide is there to increase your chances of survival.

There is a scenario. Imagine you and your husband are diving alone and all of a sudden, your husband started convulsing underwater. His reg fell out of his mouth. He is also losing his buoyancy and started an uncontrolled descend. You have 10 seconds to figure out what to do and implement your plan. GO!

I believe that nobody should be diving without a guide unless both buddy got rescue diver training.

However, I am a little concerned that if you do decided to join a more crowded live-aboard, that live-aboard may not be able to provide you and your husband with the supervision needed for a newly minted OW diver. I remember my first dive vacation to the Maldives after getting my OW. My family (11 of us) all dove together and the resort assigned two dive masters to supervise us.
 
I can see wanting a guide to show you the cool stuff. But wanting/needing a DM (which is often different than a guide) to "save your life when things go wrong" or "provide a level of safety" or "increase your chances of survival" or otherwise "supervise" you is really a bit much.

That any new divers expect this, or recommend that others need this, is really sad.

[shakehead]
 
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As above- never ever impute any duty or service to a "dive guide" or "dive master". Internationally, the basic service is "follow me, stay with me, we'll get picked-up with no problem if you do". That's about the beginning and end of the offering.

You are lucky if they show you (or are able to find) the cool stuff, never assume that they are watching over you and are aware of your situation. They usually can be relied upon to get your carcass back onto the pick-up boat.

That brings up another consideration. You are making a huge leap into "advanced diving".

Advanced Diving, using my definition, is any dive where you have multiple new situations to deal with. The general character of liveaboard diving presents a newer diver with several (likely) never-before seen circumstances. Everything from transferring to and from a dive tender, back-rolls on command, instantaneous descents in current, current diving, shooting an SMB from 15fsw and hanging below the swells until the pickup boat approaches, quickly and efficiently crawling aboard, getting small and out of the way, plus the additional issues presented by doing an SI on a rocking ship.

With less than maybe 20 logged dives, I don't know many divers who have ever had the ability to discern the difference between "more crowded sites and not as great of reef sites...(and) "the best" reef sites. Some may say that is harsh, most with experience look at it as plain fact.

Lots going on. Take the tour... until you're ready to lead it. If you follow the DM like a puppy, you're likely to actually see something and grow to be an old dog.


 
I may be way off here but I've never been involve with an operation that doesn't have a DM in the water. If there are really live-aboards that offer no guides, I would not be too anxious to jump in the water with them. That said, it really depends on your comfort and what can be seen at each site. Often I'll tag along with the guide if he promises to find that special sight. On most dives, I wouldn't be too concerned about getting lost but I wouldn't want to miss the whale shark just because I headed the wrong way.
 
I love having a local guide because they can spot so much and maybe tell me later what that critter was, maybe even what it was doing & why. I had the luxury of learning to dive in a club atmosphere and prob not being the most experienced diver in a pair/threesome until about my 30th dive. It's not about not being independent & taking responsibility for yourself, it's about the fact that you should never dive w/o some local knowledge. That's a basic rule & theme from Ange's Diver Down, and too many incident reports to count. The local knowledge might be in your head after doing your homework, but you will get a lot more out of it if the local knowledge is in your dive group. Try to hire a guide or DM and enjoy everything their presence can offer; doing so doesn't make you one iota a lesser diver.
 
I may be way off here but I've never been involve with an operation that doesn't have a DM in the water. If there are really live-aboards that offer no guides, I would not be too anxious to jump in the water with them.

Well, except that one in Mona.... Actually, I guess we did have guides (sort of) in Mona.

Terri, let me give you some perspective as a USA based liveaboard owner. We expect our guests to come to us knowing how to dive, and not needing a DM in the water. That's a good thing, because we don't provide one. We get a lot of divers right out of Open Water class, and we do our best to help them, but you need to have basic skills down pat before getting on a liveaboard. You will certainly be a better diver after doing 22 or 27 dives in a row for a week.

My first liveaboard on the GBR was the Taka. It was a 3 day trip out of Cairns, I had maybe 20 dives when I booked it. There were no in-water guides, in fact, the deckhands weren't certified divemasters. This was in 1995 or 1994, so it was a while back, but I remember it as a completely mediocre experience, both the boat and the diving. So much so that I left Cairns and went to Papua New Guinea for another week, which was outstanding. I'm told that Taka has stepped up their game a bunch since.

A guide can point out interesting things, after all, many have dives the same old same old reef a hundred times. Please don't rely on a guide as a substitute for diving skills. You need to have those before you book.
 

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