After your ow course, were you able to dive without Dm/instr?

[Dogbowl]

I have yet to dive without a DM. Actually, I have yet to dive without an instructor, which is not to say I haven't done any non-training dives, just so happens all my guides have been overqualified. I would be open to diving without a pro if I had a buddy or group with more experience and familiarity with the dive site, but I haven't found such a person or group yet. Even after doing AOW, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable going with just the friend I got certified with in November (who hasn't dived since; not because she doesn't ever plan to, just because it's cold right now.)

How much this says about my instructors and how much it says about me, I'm not really sure. As I learn more I increasingly feel I did not receive good instruction in my OW class, but I thought my AOW instructors were pretty good. So maybe I lack confidence, or maybe I just suck.

It may not be you, and it may not be your instructors. It’s this thread and the opinions expressed herein. There are many, many more people who have not dived with a DM yet, but it’s unlikely they’ll speak up for fear of embarrassment. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Beginner divers doubting themselves or their instructors based on the opinions and experiences of a very small minority of divers. Just remember that SB is not representative of the general diving population at large.

 

[CathyE]

Most of my diving has been with a guide. They were generally DMs or Instructors.
It's not because I can't dive without them, but I prefer warm water boat dives and a guide usually comes with the boat. I have not been to Florida, it is easier and cheaper to go to the Caribbean.
Here at home and destination shore dives, I like to have a guide the first time I dive a site, after that no problem, my buddy and I will go back by ourselves.
Really tho, the social side of diving is a big thing for some people and some of their group may be pros, does that mean they are afraid or feel unqualified to dive alone? Not in my opinion.

 

[Damselfish]

Lots of people only dive in warm water.

Most warm water places (unlike cold) have dive guides. Sometimes optional, sometimes not - but places where it's optional often don't make that clear and seem to assume most people want to be guided.

Ergo, lots of people wind up diving with guides. I suspect it doesn't occur to some people - no matter their skills, especially early on - to do their own thing because it's not what they're used to or it's easier to just go along.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I have yet to dive without a DM. Actually, I have yet to dive without an instructor, which is not to say I haven't done any non-training dives, just so happens all my guides have been overqualified. I would be open to diving without a pro if I had a buddy or group with more experience and familiarity with the dive site, but I haven't found such a person or group yet. Even after doing AOW, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable going with just the friend I got certified with in November (who hasn't dived since; not because she doesn't ever plan to, just because it's cold right now.)

How much this says about my instructors and how much it says about me, I'm not really sure. As I learn more I increasingly feel I did not receive good instruction in my OW class, but I thought my AOW instructors were pretty good. So maybe I lack confidence, or maybe I just suck.

Don't get a downer on yourself mate. Most divers starting out find themselves in a similar situation to begin with. Anyone who tells you how great they were from the outset is full of crap, we've just forgotten.

Seeing where you're from I bet there's a massive dive club scene you can get involved with that will let you develop and find new buddies.

 

[MichaelMc]

As a kid, we went to the beach often and our condo complex had a pool, 100' from our door, that for a while we lived at during the summers growing up. I would not say I was as much an open water water child as some, but I was very comfortable there. That adds some context to my feeling ready to go unsupervised after OW.

I had multiple summers of playing in the water with goggles or a mask. Adding a snorkel and fins was just a detail, and I'm sure I'd played with both. Adding compressed air and some gear was new and more encumbrance, but I was totally comfortable in the water. I'm sure many others who took to scuba quickly had similar backgrounds.

Making the jump from new to the water to scuba-ready just from OW is a big step. Some agencies teach skin diving. It can be a great first step. Having that water craft down solid (mask/fins/snorkel) before adding breathing compressed air under water and lots of gear is a good thing.

 

[drbill]

Heck, I was able to dive autonomously back in the 1960s BEFORE my OW certification

 

[The Chairman]

Heck, I was able to dive autonomously back in the 1960s BEFORE my OW certification

It was a different, less fearful and far less litigious era. We swam at night in waters we knew had gators and some where we knew there were sharks.

 

[aquacat8]

I had the typical kneeling on the bottom open water PADI instruction, and I was way over weighted. Luckily, afterwards my then-boyfriend, a navy trained diver, went diving with me and got the weight off my belt, bought me a new back inflate bc, and *sigh* this is so sexy: seemed to psychically understand what I was thinking and always knew exactly where the boat or shore was no matter what the viz. A dm would have been a big step down. I miss having a buddy like that! If only he was as sensible on land...

 

[EastEndDiver]

It was a different, less fearful and far less litigious era. We swam at night in waters we knew had gators and some where we knew there were sharks.

Yeah and you could dive a drysuit without having to take classes for it or anything else.

I'm with Dr. Bill on this.

 

[TMHeimer]

As a kid, we went to the beach often and our condo complex had a pool, 100' from our door, that for a while we lived at during the summers growing up. I would not say I was as much an open water water child as some, but I was very comfortable there. That adds some context to my feeling ready to go unsupervised after OW.

I had multiple summers of playing in the water with goggles or a mask. Adding a snorkel and fins was just a detail, and I'm sure I'd played with both. Adding compressed air and some gear was new and more encumbrance, but I was totally comfortable in the water. I'm sure many others who took to scuba quickly had similar backgrounds.

Making the jump from new to the water to scuba-ready just from OW is a big step. Some agencies teach skin diving. It can be a great first step. Having that water craft down solid (mask/fins/snorkel) before adding breathing compressed air under water and lots of gear is a good thing.

Whoa, are these exactly my words or what???
I really don't buy the argument that most divers feel uncomfortable diving with a fellow newbie right after OW. I didn't--now I know I should have. I would imagine every new diver feels at least a bit tentative their first dive unsupervised. Same as their first checkout dive while supervised. I agree that probably no divers were "great" right away. But if you are in a situation like myself and MichaelMc above, it shouldn't take tons of dives to get pretty darn good. If you're jumping right into OW with little "water" backround, I can easily see why someone would be very jittery without a DM, etc.