Certified and Dangerous. Where do we go from here?

[ScooterTDI]

Yesterday, my wife and I "completed" our OW dives and were certified. We really should have been failed. It was the typical e-learning, then one weekend confined training, and finally one weekend OW dives.

I was able to do most things well enough, except hovering. I could maintain position (depth), but not orientation. I couldn't go more than 10 sec with out sculling to maintain a horizontal orientation.

My wife was much worse. During confined training, she bolted for the surface twice during mask flood/removal. We went to the pool for about 3-4 hours after the first confined water session and worked through this step-by-step until she had gotten it down. She has no problems with mask flood/clearing now.

In the 2 weeks between confined and OW sessions, my wife and I went to the pool nearly every night and work on her kick strokes. She has the typical bicycle-riding stroke and we got here to keep her legs straight, but only when she was consciously focusing on that. I kind of knew that she would revert back to the bicycle kick during the OW dives.

The first OW dive was a "fun" dive in the quarry. My wife freaked a bit during this dive and the instructor had to hold her hand the entire time. Later, she said that she had felt like crying during much of the dive.

The second dive went smoother, but she was unable to do a normal swimming ascent because her kick strokes were so ineffective that she didn't go anywhere. It looked as if she was climbing an invisible set of stairs very rapidly. Eventually, she just squirted a bunch of air in here BCD and pretty much just floated up. She knows that she should swim up and not float up, but she seemed unable to focus on kicking effectively. She has done this numerous times during the confined water and I have noticed and discussed it with her repeatedly (the instructor never said a word about that issue to her).

On the second day of OW, things got really bad. The scariest part was during her navigational swim. She was supposed to keep the heading and I was supposed to watch depth and let her know when to turn. She kept gradually descending and I kept letting her know that she needed to start swimming up, but she seemed oblivious. We arrive back at the platform, but were about 20 ft too deep. She sees a mooring line for the floating platform and starts descending along it because she seems to think it is the line above the platform that leads to the barrel floats at the surface. At this point, I can barely see the DM that was following us and I can barely see my wife. Both are ~10 ft. from me on either side and the visibility that day was 10 ft. I am about halfway between the DM and my wife, so I know the DM cannot see my wife anymore and the instructor is still sitting on the platform. The DM starts going up to the platform for some reason. I realize that I am the only one who can still locate my wife and she is still descending away from me. I dart down and grab her by the BCD and drag her up to the platform.

I am a little exhausted at this point and as I was swimming her up to the platform I felt like I was approaching panic. Seeing my wife drift into darkness along with overbreathing my reg and snorting a bunch of water out of my mask had me almost to the point of losing it. Realizing that I had to calm myself, I knelt on the platform, closed my eyes, and forced myself to slow my breathing. A few second later I was able to recompose myselfand that is the only thing I felt good about during this dive.

Somehow this was considered a successful completetion of the task and we finished the dive with a "fun" swim in which we toured the quarry wall in single file. My wife was behind me and following too closely. After getting accidently kicked in the face she started sinking and clinging to the quarry wall. The DM grabbed her this time before she disappeared and held her hand and dragged her along the rest of the dive.

Unfortunately, we were both certified. My wife was very happy about this and I was extremely dismayed. On the drive home, I had to tell her that I didn't feel comfortable diving with her and I wasn't sure if I ever really would.

So where do we go from here?

Take OW dives again? I feel like the compressed format given by all the local dive shops is insufficient to really give us enough experience to safely dive even if we take it 5 times.

Hire an instructor for private sessions? After seeing both an instructor and a DM lose my wife in the quarry, I don't feel like they can really prevent us from hurting ourselves.

Any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks for any input you can provide. We both really want to learn to be good divers, but right now the path to that goal seems more dangerous than ever.

 

[pchris2]

On the drive home, I had to tell her that I didn't feel comfortable diving with her and I wasn't sure if I ever really would.

First, I just hope you have a big couch to sleep on haha. My girlfriend just got certified, and while she isn't that bad I'm still going to have a dive master dive with her for the first part of our keys trip in 2 weeks. She agrees that she would like a more experienced diver with her for a bit, so it works out. Maybe you can do that?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

This post highlights the point that I have been stressing. The 2.5 day open water course is insufficient for a lot of people. SCUBA is not anything you can learn in a crash course. Dive instructors and certification agencies dont have a choice. Since the market is small and profit margins are so narrow, they have no choice but to sell us a SCUBA diver certification which is self study followed by a pool day and 2 days of diving.

Here is what I would suggest:

1). Treat your OW course simply as an "intro to scuba."
2. Hire a divemaster for supervised dives.
3. Keep working with the dive master until you feel you can get in the water and be proficient.

All the best man. Just dont give up on it because once you find that you are confident a new world will open up.

 

[fjpatrum]

You know the skills but you just need practice. I'd honestly look in your local area for some mentors and go from there. Conversely, sign up for an AOW class and talk to the instructor before the class begins and see if you can get some dives in with him/her before the class officially starts. That way you're with an instructor but not taking up class time to work on skills that you should already be comfortable with before the class begins.

Keep practicing in pools also and, if you have the opportunity, take some videos of yourselves. It's a lot easier to explain (to your wife for example) the problems with kick styles when you can actually see yourself doing them wrong (and right).

 

[parzdiver]

Welcome to the wonderful world of scuba diving. Unfortunately you had a bad experience with an open water class that just churned you through the process. After the dive (particularly the Nav dive) did the instructor do any debrief to discuss what happened? If not, you need to find some further instruction. While you probably don't need to do the entire class again (assuming you understand the theory), finding a DM to run you through the paces is probably a good idea. Have the DM do a couple dives working with the two of you completely apart. It is often easier to take constructive criticism from a professional than it is from a spouse (trust me).

Also, the Open Water class has a lot of stuff happening in a short period of time. Only practicing those skills will get them down pat. Don't dismiss your wife as a dive buddy so quickly, the task loading of a new diver is extensive and much will be missed. After a few more dives, she will get more comfortable and be a better diver, as will you.

Depending on where you are, many quarries have many groups that dive there. Find a local club that you can meet new people and do more dives with experienced divers. I am going to again recommend you and your wife do some dives apart from each other to gain confidence without the baggage that comes with being married.

Good luck!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Sad to read stories like this ... because the unfortunate fact is that when people are uncomfortable diving, they find reasons not to do it ... and over time, other activities come along that cause you to decide to never do it again.

To answer the "what next" question ... my advice would be to do some remedial work in a pool. First off, don't hire the same instructor ... or even the same dive shop, because they apparently allow their instructors to qualify students who aren't comfortable with what they're doing yet.

You needed more pool time before your checkout dives ... and you still do. Find an instructor or DM who is willing to take you back to confined water and let both of you get more comfortable with those basic skills. Find someone who can help your wife work on a decent fin kick ... it'll make her diving experience a lot easier when she develops a motor that's running smoothly. Then once you're comfortable with the basics, try a supervised dive or two in the quarry.

And whatever you do ... DON'T let anyone talk you into signing up for AOW until you get these issues worked out. Five more dives with an instructor may sound like a nice approach to fixing the problem ... but you'll almost certainly come out of those five dives feeling like you didn't learn anything.

Get the basics squared away first ... then move on to the next class. And for goodness sakes, shop around for a new instructor ... from your description it sounds like you didn't buy training so much as just go through the motions and collect a c-card.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Blackwood]

Does your wife want to dive or, like many significant others, is she doing it because you want to?

If the former, I'd suggest doing extensive research online (regional forums) to find a well qualified highly rated instructor with whom to have her repeat the confined and open water portions of the course (I'm assuming the academics are in order).

If the latter, recognize that diving isn't for everyone and maybe that includes your wife. Find a buddy and go diving - it seems you did well in a particularly stressful situation. A mentor can help you work on your weighting and balance (the root of your sculling problem).

 

[*dave*]

The first OW dive was a "fun" dive in the quarry. My wife freaked a bit during this dive and the instructor had to hold her hand the entire time. Later, she said that she had felt like crying during much of the dive.

Wow, that's not good.

Unfortunately, I think this is a sign of her having been rushed through the "program". Everyone learns and adapts to the new environment/experience at a different rate.

Her kick should have been sorted out prior to OW. An inefficient kick is easy to spot and usually pretty easy to resolve. That this wasn't resolved prior to OW, is a concern. Checkouts are a time for the instructor to observe and evaluate the student's skills in the context of an independent diver. Instructors should not be inflating BCDs, holding student's hands or explaining how to put a rig together. If they are, the student is not ready to be in OW. The student knows this at some level and is rightly uncomfortable, at best.

Any advice on how to proceed?

I would advise your wife to find a good instructor who will work one on one with her in the pool. A good instructor will help her build confidence in her abilities and this will greatly lower her apprehension in OW. She needs more time, or just maybe, this sport is not for her.

I'd advise you to go easy with trying to expedite your wife's entry into diving. Sometimes, the worst elements in a marriage seem to come out when a husband tries to help his wife along. If she's doing this because she really wants to, that's great. If she's doing it because you want her to or she thinks you'll be disappointed if she doesn't..... I only mention this because I've seen three couples split after certification and it was like watching a slow motion train wreck from orientation to checkouts. They were all qualified divers, though.

 

[Cixelsyd]

You sound fine. Some skills to work on, but overall, no major issues from your description. In fact, you probably went above and beyond having to monitor your wife along with trying to think about your skills.

You wife, though, shouldn't have been certified. Does she have issues swimming normally in a pool? Swimming with fins is a different movement than swimming without, but I've never heard of "stair stepping" movements. Even if she swam like she does in a pool without fins, she should still get forward movement, just less efficiently. For her not to go anywhere, there is a serious technique breakdown. Sounds like she's bending her knees far too much and trying to "push" with the fin. Are her legs not strong enough to move the fins normally? What type of fins are they? She might benefit from swimming laps with fins and a snorkel in a long pool, just to get that part down. Then, I'd say its back to the pool with a different instructor for some one on one focus on what her issues are.

 

[Sinbad Scuba]

I am not sure if you have any travel plans. I will dive with you and your wife at no cost in Thailand. You only have to pay for your dives. The water is warm, so you have less wet suit and weight to deal with. Visibility varies from 20 to 75 feet, depending on the day, so you worry less about losing each other. There is plenty to see while you work on your buoyancy. You will never get back into diving if you dont enjoy it, and you clearly dont. I hope you can come here and enjoy it.

Finally, as much as I hate to suggest this, contact the certifying agency and make them aware of your experience. All certifying agencies want to know if instructors are certifying individuals that are not going to be safe divers. They all have internal quality control mechanisms.