were you scared?

[Al Mialkovsky]

My open water dives were a breeze like they are for most people. Your instructor wouldn't consider taking you to the open water if you weren't ready.

Don't think too much, just have fun. It's a blast.

 

[ranger979]

The one "but" I'll add here though, and I don't want to scare you more, is that mask clearing/replacement should be down cold and second nature before ever going to open water.

Mike,

Please excuse my ignorance but I truely don't get this. I have seen many posts implying the importance of mask clearing and lots of posts by people agonizing over there difficulty with clearing masks.

While I think it is an important task to be able to accomplish it wouldn't be one of my top priorities. There seems to be so many other tasks far more important to learn.

What is the worst case scenario for a flooded mask or lost mask, in a recreational OW environment? You can read your instruments and you abort the dive.

What am I missing here? If the person is bolting to the surface over a flooded mask I think there are other issues that need to be addressed.

This could be a case of me not knowing what I don't know. Please enlighten me.

 

[Lisa0825]

I just did my OW cert a little over a week ago. I was a little nervous, but not too much. The only thing I felt stressed about during the dive was that during my first descent, the pressure change caused my mask to feel like it was moving, and when I was halfway down, I was worried about it starting to leak or not being on correctly. I signaled to my dive instructor that I wanted to go back up. I told her what i was feeling, and adjusted the strap a little more, and she talked to me about equalizing it and clearing it and things. I went back down, this time realizing I'd feel the mask adjusting. It went OK.

I really didn't like clearing the mask. I could do it, but I found it difficult. The next day, she brough a purge mask for me to try. I found I could clear it much more easily. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this mask didn't fit me properly, so when I was doing the compass navigation part, everytime I titled my head down a bit, water came in the mask! I got a lot of practice at clearing that day!LOL! For the last dive that day, she tried a second purge mask on me, and it was a perfect match!

When I had to breath without the mask and then replace it, purging it was sooooo easy.


To Range979: To a total beginner, having a flooded mask is very unsettling. I didn't bolt to the top, but I was worried about my mask, and I ascended because of it. Now that I am more secure about both clearing it AND breathing without it, it's not an issue.

 

[Web Monkey]

I am expecting to feel intimidated by the ocean. I also feel scared that I might panick down there and then want to shoot up to the top! hehe

Don't do that.

I also know that there are (obviously) differences in practising in a 8m pool versus diving in a HUGE ocean and small things are going to feel and be much different. I these unkown factors scare me.

Your instructor shouldn't take you much deeper than about 40' (12 meters?), and although the ocean is huge, just make sure you stick with your buddy and your instructor.

As long as you can find the peron holding the dive flag, you're not lost.

Like, will my ears hurt so bad that I can't stand it?

Your ears should never hurt. If you haven't been able to master the skills required to clear your ears, or have a medical problem that makes it difficult/impossible, you need to postpone your open water dives until you get the problem resolved.

Will my throat get that dry that I want to get out?

Your throat won't get any drier than in the pool.

Will I have trouble staying with my buddy?

Make sure that your buddy knows that it's his/her job to stay with you, just as it's your job to stay with him/her. You shouldn't have trouble staying with your buddy even if you stop moving, since your buddy is supposed to be keeping an eye on you.

Will I get lost! (Big worry!! haha)

Not as long as you stay with your buddy and your instructor.

What happens if I feel sea sick

The fish will love you. You can vomit over the side of the boat (down-wind). It's also possible underwater, through your reg, although very few people get seasick underwater.

What if I cant get my mask cleared!!?? (battling with this one!)

You need to be able to clear your mask without it being a big deal. If you need more practice, you might want to pospone your dives until you're comfortable with it.

If your mask leaks (you need to clear it a lot), you need to get it fixed, or find one that fits better. You shouldn't have to clear your mask much more than a couple of times during a dive.

I am even scared of doing a backroll from the boat!! (even though I have done it from the poolside!)

I can't help you there. I've never done a backroll. Unless it's a very small boat, I'm not sure why you would want to. (I'm thinking of how unpleasant a backroll from 5' would be).

Overall I am a person who LOVES being in the water but have had some instances happen to me that reminded me of how dangerous and overpowering water can sometimes be. so I think that is where my fear comes from? I know I'll be fine. I just need people to tell me I'll be fine as well!

Your instructor probably doesn't want to get you killed, since it's bad for business.

Terry

 

[Web Monkey]

It's an instinctive response. When someone gets a mask full of water and it goes up their nose, and maybe down their throat, they feel like their drowning, and the first instinct is to go to where the air is (the surface).

If the diver would stop and think for a second (as the OW training tries to teach), they would realize that they have a whole tank of air, and can easily blow the water out throught heir nose.

It's not a rational thing, it's an "Oh s*it, I'n drowing" thing.

Terry

Mike,

Please excuse my ignorance but I truely don't get this. I have seen many posts implying the importance of mask clearing and lots of posts by people agonizing over there difficulty with clearing masks.

While I think it is an important task to be able to accomplish it wouldn't be one of my top priorities. There seems to be so many other tasks far more important to learn.

What is the worst case scenario for a flooded mask or lost mask, in a recreational OW environment? You can read your instruments and you abort the dive.

What am I missing here? If the person is bolting to the surface over a flooded mask I think there are other issues that need to be addressed.

This could be a case of me not knowing what I don't know. Please enlighten me.

 

[spectrum]

First I think it's often mentioned because having an immersed, unprotected face is counterintuitive and stressful for many new divers. It's mentioned here because many new divers haven't been out with their face in cold open water. Another good reason to start with skin-diving. While the cold won't harm you it does elevate an already exciting dive.

Now why the skill? Speaking for myself I have a hard time with my gauges without bifocal lenses in my mask so a maskless accent would be by gross needle reference at best. What if it's a dive with a more complex ascent? If a fin catches your mask I'd rather get it squared away and complete the dive. Besides it's also a good metric of general comfort in the UW enviornment.

Finally as I read the post she did not bolt for the surface. She had a problem and they went up to deal with it. When in doubt, get out. While it's a check-out dive it's still a learning experience. I will say that her mask should have been better fitted way earlier in the program. It may have been one of her first times in a hood or it could have been a school program that provides all of the personal items to defray student costs. I don't know enough specifics to be other than supportive.

Pete

Mike,

Please excuse my ignorance but I truely don't get this. I have seen many posts implying the importance of mask clearing and lots of posts by people agonizing over there difficulty with clearing masks.

While I think it is an important task to be able to accomplish it wouldn't be one of my top priorities. There seems to be so many other tasks far more important to learn.

What is the worst case scenario for a flooded mask or lost mask, in a recreational OW environment? You can read your instruments and you abort the dive.

What am I missing here? If the person is bolting to the surface over a flooded mask I think there are other issues that need to be addressed.

This could be a case of me not knowing what I don't know. Please enlighten me.

 

[ranger979]

I knew that the original posted didn't mention bolting to the surface after flooding a mask. I believe it was Mike F. who mentioned that he has heard of other students doing this.

I can understand a new diver can be uncomfortable with water filling their masks and water possibly going up their noses, but to me this is more of an issue with being comfortable in the water, rather than an issue of not being able to clear a mask.

I do believe that a diver should be comfortbable enough in the water to be able to take the mask off without it being a big deal before going to OW. Once a diver is to that point, it seems to me that a flooded mask is more of an inconvience than anything else. Sure you can't see clearly but you can see and I would be willing to bet that even divers who struggle with this task can still clear the mask enough to where their eyes are no longer submerged.

Personally, it took me a while before I could completely clear my mask but as long as the water line was below my eyes it didn't bother me much. I am a fairly new diver but I have spent a lot of time swimming underwater with my eyes open so maybe this is why it doesn't seem to be a huge issue.

I will state again that I believe it is comfortablity in the water that matters more than mask clearing per se.

 

[Mike Nelson]

Indeed I was. Picture this: 50 years old. Never learned to swim (or even float) until a couple months ago. Never been in the ocean deeper than ankle depth. First certification dive is in a dry suit, in 50 degree water, low visibility, in Puget Sound (Washington State, USA).

I was quite apprehensive. Yet I got through it. It wasn't what I'd call the most fabulous adventure I've ever had. I did most of the skills correctly the first time, and only had to repeat a couple to get them right. I didn't care for salt water in my mouth, or getting tossed about by waves a bit. I was displeased with myself for getting tired so quickly (longish surface swim) and having to be towed a bit by my instructor.

But I survived it. No real panic situations, although breathing rate did go up a few times. Just tell yourself to remain calm, try to enjoy this foreign world, and concentrate on doing the things you've alreadly learned how to do in the pool. If you start to get nervous, stay busy - check your air pressure, clear your mask, look at the sunlight streaming down. And remember - your instructor and divemasters won't let you drown: it's really bad for business.

One of our divemasters told us that we'll probably look back on these four certification dives as the worst dives we ever made - that it all starts to get better very quickly as we gain confidence and skill. I would tend to believe her.

Good luck! With luck, I'll finish my cert dives next Saturday and will have a new O/W C-card.

 

[TheRedHead]

Well, I was honestly pretty close to terrified when it was time for my OW dives. However I told myself that I had done all this before, I just was doing it in a lake instead of a pool. Did not help much and I also had trouble sleeping. For me the first dive was the toughest and once I got through most of the skills and saw that I really could do them I started to calm down somewhat. I think it was more a fear that I would not be able to actually do the dives and complete the skills. If you could do them in the pool you will be able to do them in open water. Just try to relax and I would agree that it would be a good thing to communicate your concerns to your instructor ahead of time.

That was exactly how I felt! I was afraid of making mistakes. The really funny thing is that I didn't know that you couldn't really "fail" Open Water class. I wondered how many mistakes you could make and still "pass." I also did my OW check dives with a new instructor on a referral so I had no idea of his teaching style. My classroom was SSI and he was a NAUI instructor and I had to do some skills I hadn't practiced in OW class. He was a big guy - 6'3 and 250+ pounds - and I had to tow him around the quarry. I thought I was going to die, but I did it.

Clarrisa, the back-roll entry is a wonderful way to get off the boat. You don't have to worry about falling over trying to shuffle you way to the platform for a giant stride. Just keep a deathgrip on your mask or pull a hood over it.

Don't worry too much....

 

[TheRedHead]

Mike,

While I think it is an important task to be able to accomplish it wouldn't be one of my top priorities. There seems to be so many other tasks far more important to learn.

What is the worst case scenario for a flooded mask or lost mask, in a recreational OW environment? You can read your instruments and you abort the dive.

Defog or not, my mask usually fogs on every dive and I find myself flooding and clearing several times per dive in order to see. It's the OW skill I use the most. I think that regulator retreival while blowing blowing bubbles is an illogical skill. You have an octo very close at hand. It is much easier to grab your octo and breathe from it while you calmly sweep for the reg. There are been instances that divers couldn't find their reg and bolted for the surface, never thinking about breathing from the octo.