Do I need a Dive Master as a new OW certified?

[Oldbear]

There are ops in the Keys that do not charge for a DM or guide. The only one I dove with so far is Sea Monkeys Watersports at MM80, a very good operator in my opinion. With an experienced buddy you should not need a DM but if you are going to be assigned an instabuddy you have no idea who you will get. If this is just going to be shallow water reef dives you probably do not need a DM but it depends on your comfort level. You are here to enjoy yourself and if having a DM with you that first time will help then do that.

Namerg,

My girlfriend did her OW Dives 1-4 in Chatfield Reservoir and then did her fifth dive in Aurora Reservoir and sixth in Puget Sound. All low viz and cold water in Metro Denver or Seattle. She was excited when she saw two small mouth bass and one crayfish. So I wanted to take her somewhere nice (nice would be good viz, warm water and plenty of biodiversity) to dive. I choose the Florida Keys and just like you I wanted a DM. It was not that we "needed" one it was more that we "wanted" one. It was my first time in the Keys diving and for all practical purposes her first dive trip in open oceans.


I did some research and posted my inquires here on SB. We went with Sea Monkeys based on recommendations for a small dive operator whose dives were lead by a DM. We could not have been more happy with them. We told them ahead of time it was my GFs first time in open oceans and the recommended reefs we went to were fantastic. I could not have done as well as the local DM guiding us.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

~Oldbear~

 

[radtype]

We hired a guide last week for the Blue Heron Bridge. Best thing we could have done. It wasn't because we were nervous, we wanted to enjoy the sea life. We got to see a few sea horses that we would have missed without him.

We went on dive boat out of west palm beach the next day and enjoyed the guide provided by the boat (even nicer when we were visited by a big tiger shark). I'm not afraid of sharks, but ....

i'm an assistant instructor and my wife is a dive master.

 

[Rythmmaker]

So did you go? Did you dive? How did it turn out for you? Can you give us an update on where you dove, who you dove with and your experience?

 

[namerg]

I am going. Next weekend though...

 

[Manneca]

Just to pile on, I have over 500 dives and I don't dive in a new area without a guide. I probably have over 150 Bonaire dives with no guide. But I understand Bonaire. And there are some areas I'd never dive without a guide. Diving has risks.

 

[Bob DBF]

What has worked for me lately is finding a Scubaboard member in the area I'm going to that will dive with me while I'm there. They know the good spots and local conditions, which I can pick up while we chat, and I get to put a face with a screen name.


Bob

 

[Unknown Diver]

I've done half a dozen unguided dives since getting my OW certification. I/we felt entirely confident in both planning and executing those dives (not that they were at all complicated) safely. They went extremely well. We dived as two buddy-pairs, in initially low visibility (10 feet down it opened up to 20-25 feet), with an agreement that as long as we still had our buddies we'd continue our respective dives and if visibility didn't improve once under, we'd abort and wait the day out.

We planned the dive (conservatively), dived the plan, and all of us had our most rewarding dives to that point. And then we had a few repeat, similar dives that went the same way (Hood Canal, Alki, Edmonds, etc.).

Those dives were far more controlled and safer-feeling that a couple we'd done with an operator in Mexico where the DM was super-attentive prior to splashing, and then, once submerged, and then literally didn't look back until long after we'd gone LOA, done our stop, surfaced and signaled the boat.

But ... I'm a conservative type. If I was in any doubt at all, I'd hire a personal DM.

 

[namerg]

Well, here it goes...my first experience in the ocean as a OW Diver.
Pompano Dive Center in Pompano Beach, FL rocked. 5 stars. Awesome customer service and an overall experience.
As a newbie the following was my experience:
*I got some water bottles and some granola bars. More weight in your bag. Well, the boat provided soda, water and chips. I did not know this. Ohh well...first time doing this and part of the planning.
*The PADI Diving Log booklet is useless, it gets wet easily and pages start to fall apart. Everybody uses Dive Computers. But, instead of logging into the hardcover, i think just write it in your smartphone things like: Depth of the dives, Thickness of the wetsuit, Type of wetsuit, weights, temperature...just the environment variables.
*Put some sun protection, i did not put enough on my neck...it was not fun after the dives.
*The first dive was a wreck dive, 75ft aprox. The two dive masters jump first to anchor the boat and position the mooring buoy then one stays in the boat and the other one jumps in. We were three in the water: Dive Master, my buddy and myself. Well, i did not enjoyed because i did not have enough weight so it was hard to maintain buoyancy and ended up in the surface after 10minutes, dived down to look my buddies but could not find them so I went up.
*Be aware of using an underwater camera on small/portable tripod, so i had the camera attached to the tripod and inside zip pocket in front of your BCD, by the big strap on your belly. Well, the camera got loose of the tripod and Good Bye.. I saw it by myself saying good bye to me I had the Nikon AW100 underwater camera. Ohh, well lesson learned. I will not use a tripod, I will use some sort of elastic long thread that I can clip on the BCD.
*Hard to get the fins out while in the water, the dive master who stayed on the boat helped me to take the fins out. (Need to practice this more)
*Second dive was a reef. 45ft-55ft, got more weight, 14 lbs..i enjoyed this one more, i was able to maintain buoyancy, of course you have to play with the inflator and De-inflator until you get it. I felt more comfortable on this one. I did not get lost, i was with the whole group. But, I consumed more air quickly than the others. Dive Masters said, once you reach 1000 psi we will go up. Sadly, i was the first one to reach 1000 psi, so Dive Master gave instructions to the other divers and she went up with me. By the way, we did not anchor the boat instead the Dive Master took a Diving flag and the reel. *On this dive I used my GoPro and was perfectly fine and perfectly clipped on the BCD. But, because of the case, no sound from underwater.
*Geez, the boat moves from the left to ride with angles of 45 degrees approximately. I felt nauseous, so I did it. Yes, i did. Sorry. Don't laugh (I guess, next time I have to take the magic pill)
*The reef dive is like flying on top of a planet, colorful small fish, lobsters, really cool.
*And yes, having a dive master in the ocean gives tons of confidence. You feel safe.
*It is easy to forget or miss the safety stop (3 minutes at 15ft below surface). Because i went up with the dive master, she grabbed me and waited the 3min. Of course, thanks to her dive computer. (Next time, I must keep an eye on this)

So, I have one question:

Why in the first dive (Wreck), the boat was anchored and in the second dive (reef) was not ?

I hope my experience helps others. Thank you, thank you so much for your comments, advices, and so on.

Would i want to do it again ? Yes, but it takes time to polish the skills.

Of course, any feedback for the future will be appreciated.

Happy Diving,
G

 

[James R]

Admittedly, I didn't read all 47 previous posts.

That said, when I go on trips I always take the dive guide option if it's available. Not because I need him/her, but because they (usually) know where the critters I want to see are found. In Indonesia (Lembeh) last year, a couple didn't want to follow the guides, stating that they were experienced divers and just wanted to dive and find their own critters. Later on the dive boat, they were upset that they didn't see the pygmy seahorses or the hairy frogfish. So, pay all the money to go half way around the world, but wont take the dive guide, then pissy about not finding stuff. Ridiculous.

 

[boulderjohn]

Why in the first dive (Wreck), the boat was anchored and in the second dive (reef) was not ?

On the first dive, the point was to see the wreck, and the wreck doesn't move. The DMs hooked a line to the wreck to make sure that divers could descend down the line to find the wreck and ascend up the line to find the boat.

The second dive was what is called a drift dive. The purpose is to let you explore the reef by going with the flow of the current. You might not have realized there was a current--it can be very slight at times. In that case, you are dropping on a big reef, so there is no danger of missing it. You don't need a descent line. You then don't have to worry about finding the boat on the way up, because the boat is following your flag as you drift and will find you. If there is a more perceptible current, the dive would have been unpleasant if the boat were moored, because you would have had to fight that current to get back to the boat, and you would have had to have good navigation skills to find the mooring line while fighting that current.