Your instructor's suggestion to log more time underwater is really what will help you to figure out whether or not diving is something you truly enjoy and would like to pursue!
Most successful divers really "learned" their skills by having adventures (and misadventures) underwater with a buddy. Diving as part of a class, and diving independently with a buddy, are completely different experiences. We instructors are taught to keep things firmly under control after all
. Often you don't end up taking full responsibility for all aspects of your dive when you are taking a class (e.g. specialties) because the point is to focus on a very specific aspect of diving and most of the planning/leading is done for you.
My first few dives without an instructor (with just a buddy) are still some of my most memorable, and not so much in a good way.... Yet I survived, and that fact that I still remember those dives after 700+ others leads me to believe that I probably learned some important things there.
Most successful divers really "learned" their skills by having adventures (and misadventures) underwater with a buddy. Diving as part of a class, and diving independently with a buddy, are completely different experiences. We instructors are taught to keep things firmly under control after all
. Often you don't end up taking full responsibility for all aspects of your dive when you are taking a class (e.g. specialties) because the point is to focus on a very specific aspect of diving and most of the planning/leading is done for you. My first few dives without an instructor (with just a buddy) are still some of my most memorable, and not so much in a good way.... Yet I survived, and that fact that I still remember those dives after 700+ others leads me to believe that I probably learned some important things there
.
