1st Dive without instructor

[TSandM]

Well, first, congratulations on getting your first unsupervised dives in!

But some advice to make those dives more fun . . . See if you can find a good Marine Life ID class to take. I'll bet even the places where you were diving that seemed uninteresting had a lot of living things that were either too well camouflaged for you to spot them, or didn't seem interesting because you didn't know anything about them. My Marine ID class had the theme, "I want to show people there's more in Puget Sound than Wolf Eels and Octopus", and it worked; I see a lot more, and appreciate it more, for having taken the class.

That said, not all dives are going to be productive of tons of exciting things. But they're still diving!

 

[parrottheaddiver]

congrats on your dive, sounds like you had fun!

 

[on_two_wheels]

Congratulations. Keep it up.

Whereabouts in SoCal are you?

Corona....between Anaheim and Riverside where the 15 and 91 fwys intersect.

Well, first, congratulations on getting your first unsupervised dives in!

But some advice to make those dives more fun . . . See if you can find a good Marine Life ID class to take.

That said, not all dives are going to be productive of tons of exciting things. But they're still diving!

Well, I could have done the AWARE Fish ID specialty but I figure that's stuff I'll learn with experience anyway. I did an "adventure dive on this topic but found it pretty much useless. I did buy a chart of fish local to Catalina, though. I'll keep checking that after dives.

Thanks all!! I definitely have no qualms about staying within my limits or fantasy about what they really are. One question that came up for both my dive buddy and myself is about planning. The first dive was about 40 ft. The second, we went one way and it was mostly 25-30 ft and not much there. So I asked the DM and he suggested going the other way. Well, most of what there was to see was deeper than 40 ft. Here's the question:

If you dive to 40 ft, then the boat relocates and the best dive is deeper (say 60 ft), is that any concern if your SI is long enough to bring you back to pressure group B, like I was after my first dive? I know you're supposed to dive the deepest dive first but given this scenario, what are the concerns?

 

[fisheater]

One question that came up for both my dive buddy and myself is about planning. The first dive was about 40 ft. The second, we went one way and it was mostly 25-30 ft and not much there. So I asked the DM and he suggested going the other way. Well, most of what there was to see was deeper than 40 ft. Here's the question:

If you dive to 40 ft, then the boat relocates and the best dive is deeper (say 60 ft), is that any concern if your SI is long enough to bring you back to pressure group B, like I was after my first dive? I know you're supposed to dive the deepest dive first but given this scenario, what are the concerns?

I might get flamed on this, but from what I've been able to learn from multiple sources, there are no studies supporting the "deep dive first" procedure. In other words, no one has shown that diving deep after diving shallow is any more dangerous than diving deep and then diving shallow.

That said, the lack of definitive scientific evidence doesn't mean that the "dive deep first" advice is wrong. In fact, most experts "feel" that it's the best policy.

The bottom line is that you should probably try to follow the "deep first" policy. However, if that's not going to work for you, you're not likely to encounter problems doing it in reverse. Just make sure that you follow proper techniques to stay well within your NDL limits.

 

[TSandM]

There was a Smithsonian workshop reported in 2000 on the subject of reverse profiles. The proceedings are available through the Rubicon Research Repository (link to abstract is HERE). They concluded that there was no evidence to indicate significantly increased risk from diving reverse profiles as long as the dives were shallow and the depth differences were less than 40 feet.

There was a recent paper involving guinea pigs that showed more significant problems, but there were methodological issues with the study.

Most models will give you definitely shorter no-deco times if you dive reverse profiles.

 

[TNdiver6387]

I think alot of the reasoning for that being said is exactly what TSandM mentioned that doing deeper dives after shallower dives generally gives you shorter bottom times than doing the deeper dives first. Its not as much a safety issue as a convience issue.

 

[Walter]

I think alot of the reasoning for that being said is exactly what TSandM mentioned that doing deeper dives after shallower dives generally gives you shorter bottom times than doing the deeper dives first. Its not as much a safety issue as a convience issue.

Exactly right.

 

[spectrum]

Bravo, good call on staying in your comfot zone. As a new diver being neutral in the water column should be plenty of excitement for a while, Critters are a bonus.

Those are just the sort of dives your training should have prepared you and a peer to make. Congratulations on jumping out of the nest.

If shore diving sites are in your area they are also a nice way to make lots of affordable dives at your own pace.

Pete

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Well done!

I think you are demonstrating a good, safe attitude combined with a willingness to ask questions and continue learning... this will payoff throughout your diving career.

Safe Diving!

 

[neil]

If that wasn't enough, there was nothing there for the beginner really. If we wanted to spend the whole time in the kelp, sure.

Hey, it's all ABOUT the kelp. Get in there and look around. It's not going to bite and you can still stay with your buddy, it's not that thick. There's more going on in there than you can imagine, have fun!