My Discover Scuba Diving Experience

[Jersey]

I think your experience is fairly common. During a trip to the Caribbean I saw divers having a blast maybe 50 feet down, closer to the reef and fish while I was getting bashed about the surface snorkeling in a squall. Decided right then and there I wanted to be with those guys. Came home, got certified locally at Dutch Springs in PA. I suggest getting certified locally if possible. You learn to manage with things like thicker wetsuits, more weight, gloves, hoods. You can then spend vacation diving, not certifying.

You don't need to jump on a plane to experience warm water - the gulf stream off the coast of Carolina in the summer is warm and Florida is just down 95.

 

[Neilwood]

It sounds like the scuba hook has well and truly attached itself. Sounds like you had fun despite a couple of issues.

I personally would agree with your proposed route to qualification - do a course at home and then enjoy the diving at the resort without having to lose time to coursework. It also means you can iron out any minor issues such as mask clears etc before they affect a resort dive that you have paid for. 10 minutes (or however long it takes) in a pool with an instructor is better than losing that same time from a dive IMHO. The other positive about learning to dive at home is that the gear is likely to be bulkier than at a resort (for most of us anyway) so you learn how to dive in harder conditions and then when you get to the resort it is a lot easier. I certainly found this to be the case as I did my OW/AOW in the UK (murky waters with limited vis and a thick 7mm wetsuit/hood/gloves) and when I went abroad it was amazing diving with what basically equated to a skin with no hood or gloves.

Scuba can be expensive but it doesn't have to be especially if you are doing it infrequently. Rental gear is not normally too expensive.

 

[lv2dive]

I completely agree with this!!! My first dive was a DSD - almost 20 years ago now that I think about it - and although I'm a total water person, I really didn't enjoy that first dive. It was a boat dive and the water was really choppy and I'm pretty sure I was overweighted. Everyone waited on the surface for the rest of the group to get off the boat so we could descend together,. I was one of the first in the water and I felt like I was kicking for hours to stay on the surface! (don't know if my BC was fully inflated or not) I did, however, enjoy the dive. But waiting to get back on the boat I did not enjoy the surface experience again.

I was at a Sandals and diving was included. That first afternoon I decided I was not going to dive the next day even though it was free, I had just had enough. The next morning, however, I awoke and realized I should give it another shot. ( i'm not one to give up on things easily!) Anyway, that day, the ocean was as smooth as glass and I had an incredible experience and never looked back.

'Course, these days I prefer diving in sweet water over that stingy stuff!

...Too bad you couldn't take advantage of multiple dives with the instructor after the first dive. After the first dive things start to slow down a bit...

 

[JohnRVA]

Thanks for all of the replies. I guess the scuba hook has attached itself. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on, watching lots of videos, and I'm just dying to go again. Wish I could have a do over on my trip to Roatan, but such is life...

 

[stuartv]

You can have a do over. Just not today.... ;-)

 

[cipherbreak]

All the horror DSD experiences I've heard/read about have been in the ocean. Several people have died as a result.

People who have very little instruction have no business being in the ocean. Pool is the best place for a DSD.

That's probably because you seem to spend more time in scubaboard than scuba diving. All the horror OW experiences I've heard/read about have been in the ocean. Several experienced divers have died in the ocean as well.

I would never waste my time and money doing DSD on a pool. A pool offers less risk but much less reward. The few times I've taken resort charters that also bring DSD groups, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and have a great time. I'm in the military and have had my fair share of "high-risk" training. I would not consider DSD as such. But as with any training, it somewhat depends on the instructor(s) and the trainee(s). I'm sure some people could die crossing the street during street-crossing training.

 

[Marie13]

And just where do you live? Somewhere tropical?

DSD are only done in pools in my area of the Midwest. I doubt anyone would be doing DSDs on Lake Michigan - or any of the Great Lakes.

And as for spending a lot of time on SB, well, that's what cold climate divers do in the winter. Our dive season at the local quarry opened last Saturday. 46 degree water on the shallow side, 42 on the deep. I was out diving and will be this weekend.

 

[cipherbreak]

And just where do you live? Somewhere tropical?

DSD are only done in pools in my area of the Midwest. I doubt anyone would be doing DSDs on Lake Michigan - or any of the Great Lakes.

And as for spending a lot of time on SB, well, that's what cold climate divers do in the winter. Our dive season at the local quarry opened last Saturday. 46 degree water on the shallow side, 42 on the deep. I was out diving and will be this weekend.

So you live in the Midwest and doubt anyone would be doing DSDs on any of the Great Lakes. Sounds great. I don't live in the tropics. My climate is not as cold as yours but I still have a lengthy "off season".

But I know for a fact that "People who have very little instruction have no business being in the ocean. Pool is the best place for a DSD." is an outlandish claim. DSD (in the right OW environment and under the right conditions) is safe and effective. DSD is not Russian Roulette. It is not even as dangerous as a tandem skydive. It allows people to enjoy the ocean, have fun, learn about their environment, and figure out whether scuba diving is something they want to pursue further.

 

[dmaziuk]

Why would you do a DSD in The lakes? It's dark, you need a 7 mil or a drysuit, and most stuff to see is below the DSD depth limit anyway.

 

[TMHeimer]

I wasn't aware the Great Lakes were so dark. I have swam there and thought that they were OK--especially L. Superior, though I've never dived those lakes. As far as the argument about pool vs. open water, I've mentioned I agree with Marie13. I recall an instructor a couple of years ago saying that PADI has found that there is a quite a bit higher accident rate in DSD vs. OW courses. I assume he was not talking about in the pool. Anyone else hear that?

We all know that if done correctly and with the proper ratios of instructor to students and nothing bad happens that DSD can be a great way for someone to find out what it's all about. If.........