Certified and Dangerous. Where do we go from here?

[flots am]

Dive instructors and certification agencies dont have a choice. Since the market is small and profit margins are so narrow, they have no choice but to sell us a SCUBA diver certification which is self study followed by a pool day and 2 days of diving.

FWIW, instructors do have a choice as do students. The instructors choose to take the fast money and the students generally don't know they were cheated until they get out on their own.

flots.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

You know diving is supposed to be fun. It is recreation for most of us after all. It sounds like neither you nor your wife are there yet and that is not surprising since you were asked to learn a lot of new things (PADI has what 20 skills) in a short period of time. I think the biggest problem your wife had was trying to manage multiple new skills all at once. She was just overloaded. More pool time is a good idea. Also do your first ocean dives in a relatively shallow area, say 20 to 30 feet max depth. Find an area with a bottom you do not have to worry about touching with no silt or coral or urchins, sand would be ideal. And an area without currents. Go slowly for both of you, practice some, but look around and keep it interesting it is amazing out there. It takes a lot of people at least 10 dives to get comfortable, and maybe over a 100 to be really proficient. So some time will have to pass before things click. That's normal.

 

[freewillie]

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is a habit, not an act.

Aristotle.

There is no way you and your wife will be proficient divers unless you keep diving. There have been many good suggestions already. While the stress of learning to dive together may bring out the worst in some couples, it may also strengthen others. She certainly seems very excited about diving.

Try practicing skills in confined environment like a pool. Then when feel more comfortable with hired dive instructor. What better place than on vacation in Bonaire? Would be such a shame to go ther after OW cert and just snorkel.

BTW. Took an intro to scuba with my wife when we went to the Great Barrier Reef. My wonderful wife signed us up, I didn't even have to ask. We had very different experiences. I loved it and can't get enough of the sport. She unfortunately never felt very comfortable under water and won't go again. Hopefully with enough practice you will feel comfortable with her as your buddy. One can only wish!

 

[ScubaNurse758]

I must say that this situation reminds me a lot of my girlfriend's recent certification with one huge difference, which I give much respect to her (our) instructor for doing. Our instructor is a friend who is an independent instructor, so he's not answering to anyone to make quotas and move divers along, and I've had the good fortune to be able to dive with an instructor on most all of my dives except a few vacation dives. After going through her pool sessions, which ended up being about 6, far more than most people get, we finally headed to the springs for her OW check-out dives. After the first day I felt she was pretty much on target where she should be. The second day proved to be very different. For some reason, her decent buoyancy control from the day before was gone. I told her she reminded me of a kangaroo bouncing along the bottom. The final straw was the fifth dive of the checkout series, where the zipper broke on her wetsuit and the 64 degree water was too much for her to keep concentration. Thats when he did an admirable thing that I dont think many people experience today..... he told her he wasnt comfortable certifying her as a diver and we collectively made the decision to stop then and come back the next weekend. So we did (with a rented wetsuit for her) and she looked like a completely different diver in the water! On the ride back the first weekend she was depressed and questioning if she would be able to ever get it right. The second weekend she was on top of the world and felt worlds more comfortable with her abilities. Sorry to highjack the thread, but I felt that when people do a good job those stories need to be told too.

I would encourage you to first talk with your wife about her perception of the diving, as you stated that she was happy with being certified, and make sure she sees the areas that need work. I concur with everyone that a mentor or private instructor would do worlds of good to help with her confidence and efficiency in the water, and with your comfort with her as a dive buddy. Lastly, I would encourage you to not wait too long before getting back in the water. One of the worst things for a new diver with problems is to let them linger in their minds for too long, because then what was a realistic problem in the beginning seems like a mountain that's too hard to climb after its grown in their mind for months. Either way, I wish you both the best of luck and hope you get to experience all the amazing sites scuba diving can take you to!

Jordan.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, I guess it comes down to how much "qualification" you think someone needs to swim out and back on a nav course, or take divers on a tour. I passed demonstration quality skills, as well as Rescue, and a number of internships with classes, to get my DM. I think I'm qualified to do those things. I may not be qualified to give classroom presentations, or to evaluate skills, but those things MUST be done by an instructor.

And I will say, although it is going to sound incredibly self-serving, that there are instructors I have seen in the water whose diving skills are such that I would rather be in the water with me . . .

NAUI DM's are allowed to give presentations and demonstrate skills ... they just can't evaluate skills ... an instructor must do that.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

FWIW, instructors do have a choice as do students. The instructors choose to take the fast money and the students generally don't know they were cheated until they get out on their own.

flots.

Well, I'll agree partly ... instructors, dive shops and students DO have a choice ... but most choose for the sake of expediency, not greed. Instructors and shops sell cheap, quick classes for a reason ... because that's what people want to buy. They're not cheating you ... they're selling you what you wanted to buy.

Several years ago I worked for a dive shop that insisted on offering a quality class ... and charging accordingly. People would call the shop inquiring about a class, and when I told them the price they'd ask why it was so much higher than our largest competitor ... a chain of shops that offers OW classes for $129. I'd explain that we offered a more comprehensive curriculum, more pool time, and additional dives if needed. And when I told them the class ran three weeks, minimum, they usually wanted to know why we took so long. Most of those folks ended up taking the cheaper, less comprehensive class from our competitor. It was their choice.

Like it or not, scuba diving is a business. And in order to remain in business, you have to provide what the customer wants to buy. Most folks aren't interested in quality ... they want access to the water for as little money and effort as they can get away with ... and they will always find folks who are willing to sell it to them. For those who insist on quality ... and are willing to pay for it ... there are options available. But if you shop based on the lowest price ... or the quickest class ... then the chances of you receiving quality for your purchase are slim.

Just like it would be with any other product you can buy ... you generally get what you pay for ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ScooterTDI]

First, I just hope you have a big couch to sleep on haha.

It is a little funny, but yes it was very comfortable last night.

Thanks everyone for your help, but it looks like our scuba ambitions (and likely marriage) are dead in the water (pun intended). I don't even think I'll even bother picking up the C-cards from the dive shop when they arrive.

 

[fjpatrum]

It is a little funny, but yes it was very comfortable last night.

Thanks everyone for your help, but it looks like our scuba ambitions (and likely marriage) are dead in the water (pun intended). I don't even think I'll even bother picking up the C-cards from the dive shop when they arrive.

Scooter, might I suggest picking them up. You can always revisit this again in the future and then you'll have your cards available to do a "refresher" if you are so inclined, rather than a full course, which at the very least will be cheaper. That said, I still recommend finding a mentor in your area, even if your wife isn't interested in diving, that doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue it. My wife is not a diver and she has somewhat enthusiastically supported me diving. It often limits how many dives I can get in, but even a couple dives are better than none.

 

[tddfleming]

I have to say I felt very dangerous after I was certified. Not sure of myself or anything that I learned during class. It took several very shallow quarry dives plus pool work to feel as if I could do this. Like you, I felt I should not have passed, but I did. Had issues in the pool performing the skills, could not figure out how to perform them fast enough before I needed a breath. I would hold my finger up to my inst to let him know I would be right back. I would surface take a breath then come back down to try my skill again. When the time quarry was upon us, I could do them, but not as well as I would have liked to do them. Each piece of it had to be thought out and then done, one section at a time. I am still no where near where I would like to be, but I have not given up. One advantage I had compared to you, is that my husband and I did our courses seperate. I did mine one month ahead of him. This just meant that he could still live without me killing him. However, I did the course with my daughter, if I could do it over, I would do the course myself, with no one there with me. NO one to worry about. Things that I did to attempt to fix my issues is to take some small extra classes, like nav. The one big thing that I did, was go to the quarry with just my daughter and myself, left hubby at home and we just did as we pleased. Stay shallow, just swam, no tasks, just us, looking at the fish and swimming. This one little thing, made me realize I had it in me. It also confirmed that daughter had it in her as well.

I think your comment to your wife about not diving with her will be a hard one to take back. I am sure she is hurt by this comment. This will be a long road to recovery here. One of the other things that I am doing for myself, is taking a class in PA to just work on skills like kicks and boyounany, again, leaving everyone at home. This will just be a me thing.

If I were you I would pick up the cards and just sleep on it for a while.

Now that both husband and myself are certified there is still plenty to disagree about when it comes to diving. Not if we will dive together, but who is right, how far buddies should be from each other, how things are done. Just remember, she is always right, no matter what. Now, if I could only get my husband to internalize this, we would be fine.

Good luck!

 

[TSandM]

To tddfleming's post, I will add that my husband and I basically didn't dive together for the first six months. He was a much better diver, having done it before, but he didn't want to honor my requests about HOW we were to dive. So, for six months or so, we went to dive sites and dove with other people. Eventually, I gained confidence and proficiency, and he drank some KoolAid, and now we dive together fairly well, so long as he lets me navigate