What prevents you from diving after OW Certification?

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Basking Ridge Diver

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I have been reading a quite a few threads lately about folks looking to advance their training - which is very admirable. I was curious from your perspective as an Open Water diver or recently certified with additional training under your belt - what stops you from finding a dive partner (buddy) and going diving locally? Or does it stop you?

I was thinking is could be - lack of dive buddies, more training required for your for comfort zone, lack of water access, AOW required to do dives that you want to do, need someone to show you the local ropes to diving your area, renting equipment? I had easy access to dive buddies, open water ocean (shore dives), owned my own equipment and I did a lot of diving with my OW certification - so I am wondering what may stop you from diving once you are certified?

There is no right or wrong answer - I was curious.
 
Finding dive buddies and unfamiliar with local dive scene. The same reason I left the sport in the mid 1980's. I got renewed interest, a new OW cert, and I joined a local club because I thought it would solve my problems but was promptly told to get advanced training and it seems to be the end of the season around here.
 
I think difficulty finding dive buddies is the most prevalent answer. Thinking back to when I was a new diver, I found myself limited to diving with others from my OW class. Even when I joined a dive club, it was difficult finding people to dive with. Many of the planned club dives were in areas that weren't suitable for new divers ... and even when they were suitable, most of the folks in the club had regular dive buddies that they preferred to dive with, or just didn't want to be in the water with a new diver. That's one reason why, once I got experience, I started participating in "Big Buddy" programs that paired up new divers with more experienced divers to help the newbs get some experience.

An awful lot of new divers sign up for AOW primarily because that's one of the few options available to them for getting in some dives ... and in a lot of cases, they graduated OW lacking the confidence in their skills to want to get in the water without the presence of a dive professional to keep an eye on them.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
In my case AOW required by the dive op/charter to do specific dives. Nitrox to extend bottom time (not trolling for a nitrox discussion, that's just why I did it :)). The local sites I have access to are not my cup of tea, but others enjoy them, which is great because at least there is a dive community. I do support them and travel with them on occasion.
 
Lack of buddy would be one issue.

For me it is time/logistics. As a single dad, my time is very limited to go diving. Large trips are currently out of the scope, so I'm limited to local spots over a weekend. With the dive season being fairly short here in Texas, primarily summer, and only having every other weekend to myself. Now subtract the weekends when the girlfriend wants to go do something, and well... you get the idea.
 
I think this should be an interesting thread. I have often wondered what kept people from diving after certification.

I think a lot of it is buddies. And not necessarily because they can't find one, but because they are apprehensive to find one.

When I was certified, I didn't know anyone else. My OW class was very small so I didn't get any from there. The LDS had a diver social two weeks after my certification and I attended that and was able to get 3 more dives in. Then a friend from out of town who also just got certified came to visit and we did 3 more.

After that, I used ScubaBoard's regional forum to come up with buddies and I would dive whenever I could. (also an every other week dad)

I had 54 dives in by the time I took AOW/EAN after 11 months. Second year was a mix of fun dives and training dives.

Now I can pull from people I have participated in their classes at the drop of a hat.

It is really just a matter of wanting to put in the effort to find buddies and get the dives in. After a while, your circle grows and you should find it easy to pick up buddies.

For the new diver, keep at it. Post in the local forum here. Join a dive club or meetup group in your area, but don't give up and get discouraged. There may be many experienced divers that don't want to dive with a new diver, but there are also many experienced divers that will and it will give you the opportunity to see how they dive and emulate them if their diving warrants it. (you will know)
 
Yes, my lack of buddy was definitely apprehension on my part. In my AOW I was not even comfortable with the DM I had, so the idea of instabuddy was not something I was prepared for; at least not while I was still getting my feet wet.

I'm more confident now, so this becomes less of an issue, but still plays a role.
 
Looking back to my diving start the primary challenge was finding people to dive with. Nobody wanted a dive buddy that was good for a half hour dive (I was an air guzzler) and was full of questions before and after entering the water. Nobody would ever admit it but I could tell...

On my side, I hated the gear preparation and logistics to get to the shore or dive boat, and back. I had to convince myself that with proper planning this will get easier, which it did. After about 30-40 dives the gear preparation, loading/unloading, and maintenance became an easy routine.

I was fortunate however to be surrounded with patient and knowledgeable divers who supported my obsession with diving and walked me through correcting my training deficiencies on my way to become their regular dive buddy. They also gave me tips on how to organize my gear and transport it. I owe a lot to them and find them the most important factor in being addicted to diving!
 
Right now it's lack of time. My weekends are taken up by my 9 y.o. son's activities. Between a club basketball team, the church basketball team, a little league baseball team for which I'm an assistant coach, and his Cub Scout Pack in which I'm his Cub Master I don't have the free time to dive.

Before when I first certified I didn't have any dive buddies. I did try a local dive club because they meet Saturday mornings but they aren't the safest operation. You really don't have formal dive buddies and the group invariably splits into smaller groups at some point on the reef. You could go missing and nobody would know. I try and avoid them these days unless I bring my own buddy. My certified friends don't want to dive locally in cold California waters and prefer the warm oceans of the Caribbean and are essentially vacation divers.

I did get my now 16 y.o. daughter certified but she also doesn't like local cold water diving. I also have a 26 y.o. nephew now who is certified and would be my local buddy except I don't have the time to go locally.
 
Got OW last June, AOW (with two Gulf dives in between, one shore and one boat) in August. Last weekend I logged my 54th dive. Closest quarry is just over two hours away and honestly, I don't enjoy diving there (too cold, always low viz) so we tend to not dive unless we can go down to the Gulf coast and either do shore dives or find a boat to sign up for. Last year we were all about getting out of our house, as we were living in it during a full kitchen renovation (among other things) so it wasn't hard to convince each other to head South for a long weekend. This year we're paying for that kitchen, so we've only hit the Gulf three times, but we're going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving and I've already got my ten dives scheduled!

I'm lucky that my buddy is my husband, so we know how the other dives and plan out what we're looking to do while we're underwater in between our dives (we've hit most of the dive sites off of Panama City Beach) and we've lucked out and met some awesome local divers that are always willing to either dive with us, or steer us to shops that are hitting the wrecks we like to dive. But cold water? No thanks, I'm a big baby!
 
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