Had my first ocean dive

[Guy Alcala]

I wanted to comment on a couple of suggestions mentioned in the thread. First, as to doing OW checkouts as boat dives, I don't know of any local instructors who do so, and think it would be a really bad idea for many students. One of the biggest stress factors for new students is descending. Add to that the limited vis that we normally have in Monterey, and panic is just a short step away. Unless the depth is (typically) 15' or less, you're not going to see the bottom from the boat.

That's before you get into issues of students with limited buoyancy skills while the instructor's trying to maintain sight of them all. And it also assumes that the boat is going to be less stressful and easier for a student to enter/exit from. On a calm day, maybe, but on a typical Monterey Bay day, even if the student isn't seasick, there may be a current which requires them to swim fairly hard to get to the anchor line, and coming back aboard they have to try and negotiate a ladder which may be heaving up and down several feet, or else have to try and host themselves over the side of an inflatable either with gear, or after doffing it and (hopefully) clipping everything off first, for later retrieval.

IMO, doing OW checkout from a boat in Monterey is a really bad idea, except on really clam days, and you can't pick those.

Re finned versus finless entries, Most of us who dive here regularly walk in carrying our fins and then fin up, unless we're at a site were the surf's rougher. At Breakwater, I never fin up on the beach; at Monastery I often do. But I never walk backwards, which is a great way to be smacked by a wave you don't see coming (and presenting the largest surface area to it); I shuffle sideways, allowing me to see both the beach and the oncoming waves, and presenting the minimum surface to the waves.

Guy

 

[xyrandomyx]

I wanted to comment on a couple of suggestions mentioned in the thread. First, as to doing OW checkouts as boat dives, I don't know of any local instructors who do so, and think it would be a really bad idea for many students. One of the biggest stress factors for new students is descending. Add to that the limited vis that we normally have in Monterey, and panic is just a short step away. Unless the depth is (typically) 15' or less, you're not going to see the bottom from the boat.

That's before you get into issues of students with limited buoyancy skills while the instructor's trying to maintain sight of them all. And it also assumes that the boat is going to be less stressful and easier for a student to enter/exit from. On a calm day, maybe, but on a typical Monterey Bay day, even if the student isn't seasick, there may be a current which requires them to swim fairly hard to get to the anchor line, and coming back aboard they have to try and negotiate a ladder which may be heaving up and down several feet, or else have to try and host themselves over the side of an inflatable either with gear, or after doffing it and (hopefully) clipping everything off first, for later retrieval.

IMO, doing OW checkout from a boat in Monterey is a really bad idea, except on really clam days, and you can't pick those.

Re finned versus finless entries, Most of us who dive here regularly walk in carrying our fins and then fin up, unless we're at a site were the surf's rougher. At Breakwater, I never fin up on the beach; at Monastery I often do. But I never walk backwards, which is a great way to be smacked by a wave you don't see coming (and presenting the largest surface area to it); I shuffle sideways, allowing me to see both the beach and the oncoming waves, and presenting the minimum surface to the waves.

Guy

Sorry for being quite a bit off-topic here (not sure if it'd be better to start a new thread?), but how rough would the surf be before you fin up on the beach? I realise it's a bit hard to quantify, size of the waves only tells part of the story. I'm just wondering so I can keep it mind when doing shore dives here. That said, I'm probably going to be with more experienced divers when trying out a new site, so my best bet will probably be to ask them.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Sorry for being quite a bit off-topic here (not sure if it'd be better to start a new thread?), but how rough would the surf be before you fin up on the beach? I realise it's a bit hard to quantify, size of the waves only tells part of the story. I'm just wondering so I can keep it mind when doing shore dives here. That said, I'm probably going to be with more experienced divers when trying out a new site, so my best bet will probably be to ask them.

@xyrandomyx: Monastery Beach is a special case when it comes to shore diving. Waves break very close to shore, and the sand drops off very quickly. These conditions determine when/where finning up is appropriate. On a related note, at Monastery, crawling out with fins still attached is a very common exit.

At my local shore dive site (La Jolla Shores), if the surf is so rough that I can't walk out and fin up beyond the surf zone, then I ain't diving.

The best advice we can give you is, for a given shore dive site, ask what experienced local divers do and why they do it. Then make your own decision. Whatever you decide, I recommend always keeping an eye on the ocean and have your reg handy in case you get rolled. Large waves can come when you least expect them.

Have fun out there...

 

[spectrum]

LupitaM

I'm sorry your entry into diving was such a mess.

It sounds like your instructor should look for other more gainful employment.

Rough water entry is not a open water diver criteria. I frequently hear of cases where students are subjected to dives beyond their training, skill and comfort levels. Stretch goals are one thing but nobody needs to be terrified the first time out.

There really is no need to enter backwards with fins on and it brings it's own set of hazards. Your should be practicing fin donning in the pool. If the conditions are too severe to repeat this in chest deep water (where an inflated BC will hold you upright) then it is not the day for your check-out dives. There are instances when the student may be very comfortable and in a hurry but I don't hear that from you.

You have already invested in this game and by now know you can do it. You just need to finish learning how to do it enjoyably. Don't waste another year, it's only April. Go elsewhere, find an instructor with a compatible poolside manner and become a diver.

There's no need to take this to warm water though you may want to wait a few months. Becoming an active local diver is the key be becoming safe & proficient.

Good luck and dive safe.
Pete

 

[Metalhead_1982]

My wife had a not-so-pleasant experience on our first OW dive. we were in shallow water and the surge made her ill and we had to cut the dive short.

She has been apprehensive about diving, even though she wants to do it as a hobby, and this experience did not help her confidence.

The next day we went out to a different place that was more calm and we had a better dive plan and things went really well for us. She was telling someone at the dive shop afterwards she is glad we went out and she had a good experience because she could have easily hung up the gear for good after an initial bad experience.

I can not be much help since I am also new to this hobby but I noticed having confidence with the instructor/buddy and a solid plan help to relieve the anxiety that is associated with a bad dive experience.

Good luck!

 

[xyrandomyx]

@xyrandomyx: Monastery Beach is a special case when it comes to shore diving. Waves break very close to shore, and the sand drops off very quickly. These conditions determine when/where finning up is appropriate. On a related note, at Monastery, crawling out with fins still attached is a very common exit.

At my local shore dive site (La Jolla Shores), if the surf is so rough that I can't walk out and fin up beyond the surf zone, then I ain't diving.

The best advice we can give you is, for a given shore dive site, ask what experienced local divers do and why they do it. Then make your own decision. Whatever you decide, I recommend always keeping an eye on the ocean and have your reg handy in case you get rolled. Large waves can come when you least expect them.

Have fun out there...

OK, Monastery Beach sounds quite tricky. The coast I dive is almost entirely gently sloping shore (the other side of the peninsula's different, but that's mostly boat dives).

Thanks. Ask the locals seems like the only good plan.

 

[Guy Alcala]

OK, Monastery Beach sounds quite tricky. The coast I dive is almost entirely gently sloping shore (the other side of the peninsula's different, but that's mostly boat dives).

Thanks. Ask the locals seems like the only good plan.

Right. Most of the dive sites in Monterey (east of Point Pinos) have sheltered, shallow sloping sandy (h'mm, alliteration) beaches, and thus spilling breakers, i.e. a wide surf zone with waves breaking at various depths as they reach bottom, and from side to side. You often have a long walk out until you reach waist to chest height, and most people find it much easier to put their fins on when their weight is supported by the BC.

Monastery beach (southwest of Pt. Pinos), as mentioned, has a very steep slope both above and below the waterline, and is totally exposed to northwest swells. Consequently, the surf zone is extremely narrow, usually 5-10 feet wide, and the waves break quite violently (known as plunging breakers) on days when the surf's more than about 1.5 feet high. On days when the surf's just ankle-biters you can easily walk in and out; above that, I prefer to be completely geared up so I can quickly traverse the surf zone, rather than possibly getting trapped in it and slammed by one or more waves. You often get rolled when that happens, your regs get filled with sand and often free-flow, and if you don't have a hand covering them you may have your reg and/or mask yanked out of your mouth/off your face.

One of the unofficial local names for Monastery beach is 'Mortuary' beach, as generally we average about 1 death a year there, tourists and/or divers. Probably thanks to improved signage pushed by a local diver, we haven't lost any divers there for the past couple of years, but tourists are still getting caught. And in a Monterey Open Water class, you _will_ be taught to do the 'Monastery crawl' exit, regardless of whether or not you ever intend to dive there. Even more benign training sites like the Breakwater can be very rough on some days.

Another poster stated that rough water entries and exits aren't required for open water certification; that may be so, but if you get certified in Monterey you've got about a 1/3rd chance of having to do rough water entry and/or exit on your open water days. If you and your instructor can agree to postpone the OW part of the class if conditions bother you, great. Since the OP lives in Monterey, she can probably do that. But most people taking a class in Monterey have come from somewhere else in Northern California, and postponement is expensive and inconvenient if not impossible, so the instructor ends up doing the class in non-ideal conditions. The downside is that some people may be so terrified by the expereince that they abandon diving, thinking it's always like that. The upside is that if you've been trained in Monterey and have experience with rough water, surf, cold, lots of weight etc., you can dive just about anywhere, and can laugh at all the warm, calm, tropical-only divers

Guy

 

[xyrandomyx]

Ah, I hear the same boast from divers here: 'if you can dive here, you can dive anywhere'. I haven't experienced anything I'd really call 'rough', but it's certainly rougher than the tropical waters I've been in even on a good day. It's pretty cold, 7mm wetsuits or dry-suits are the standard. All the shore dives involve getting through surf. You guys have kelp too, don't you? You'd probably feel pretty at home here.

 

[fnfalman]

Ah, I hear the same boast from divers here: 'if you can dive here, you can dive anywhere'. I haven't experienced anything I'd really call 'rough', but it's certainly rougher than the tropical waters I've been in even on a good day. It's pretty cold, 7mm wetsuits or dry-suits are the standard. All the shore dives involve getting through surf. You guys have kelp too, don't you? You'd probably feel pretty at home here.

Sounds like it.

 

[DrKevbo]

I introduced my daughter to diving in Bonaire. She came a newbie and left a diver for life. Its a great little island with fantastic infrastructure for diving. There is a lot of shore diving, but some are VERY easy in and out. also there is the boat option. I have dove a lot of locations. Just got back from FIJi and preparing for Raja Ampat. Keep comming back to Bonaire though. They say it is the home of freedom diving and they mean it.
I sit at my desk
The cold rain hits the window
The fluorescent light reflects of my hand
I see a dark spot I pick and I worry
Another urchin spine comes out of my hand


Let me go back to the shores of Bonaire now
Let me go back to the waters so clear
Let me go back to the reefs of Bonaire now
Let me go back to the magic that is so far from here.

The jellyfish stings are starting to fade now
The mosquito bites are crusted and dry
The fire coral gash is starting to mend now
But the skin on my knee may never return


Let me go back to the shores of Bonaire now
Let me go back to the waters so clear
Let me go back to be part of the wonder
Let me go back down under the sea

Now I know where a fire worm gets its name from
The itch and the burn is a unique pain
0A The bot fly larvae is starting to hatch now
A cute souvenir that you can bring home on the plane.

Let me go back to the shores of Bonaire now
Let me explore the deep and the blue
Let me go back to the beautiful coral
Let me go back to share it with you

All of these pains are fading away now
The beauty of the islands is a faint after glow
The only real pain that continues to grow
Is the sense of the loss when I am away.

God let me go back to the shores of Bonaire now
Let me go back to rub salt in my wounds
Let re rediscover the wonders of nature
Let me recharge the fire in my sole