Dumbest things you've seen a newbie diver do

[drbill]

To reiterate something I posted some time back... I expect students and new divers to do things we would call "stupid" and am a lot more forgiving of their errors. It is when seasoned divers including DMs and instructors do stupid things that I truly find them stupid. Of course that's why I dive solo... so no one sees the stupid things I do!

 

[Teamcasa]

To reiterate something I posted some time back... I expect students and new divers to do things we would call "stupid" and am a lot more forgiving of their errors. It is when seasoned divers including DMs and instructors do stupid things that I truly find them stupid. Of course that's why I dive solo... so no one sees the stupid things I do!

Exactly my feeling Bill. New divers are almost expected to do something wacky and unexpected (probably taught by a wacky instructor but when you see a so-called expert diver doing something stupid you just have to shake you head and vow not to dive with them.

 

[oldogre]

On a trip last year, "trainee" dive leader checked everyones details before splashing - all OK. He then checked his own tank - empty! Lots of fun was had by all!

 

[gzr3000]

Last year diving in Thailand with rented gear and an instructor as my buddy. Pre-dive check, everything's fine. Getting in the water and descending, fine. Keeping my buddy informed of my tank pressure, all fine, until next check 80bar, same as it was in previous check.

Buddy: really?
Me:really.
Buddy:OK. Continues the dive.

Me being a newbie (and apparently stupid) thought, well he must know what he's doing. After a while ascending for the safety stop at 5m. Breathing starts to get heavy. Pulling the instructors shoulder and signaling OOA. In comes an octopus (not the instructor's but another diver in our group). The instructor was a bit quiet at the boat trip back.

Lesson learned: pressure gauge fails during dive, dive ends there. And don't trust your buddy (even if he's the instructor) over you're own common sense.

 

[AcDriver]

In aviation we have a saying about new guys......

"Everyone starts in Aviation (Diving) with an empty bag of Skill, and a full bag of Luck.
The idea is to fill the first bag before you empty the second bag."

Personally my first bag is anything but full. But I have used a fair amount from the second bag.

 

[SteveBF]

Being a fairly new diver myself I almost don't feel like I have any business weighing in on this but I will anyway.

Last summer my daughter and I did our first wreck dive. On the boat on the way out we were sitting next to a young guy who regaled us all with stories about the many dives he'd made and all the places he'd been.

On the first wreck he did a giant stride off the back of the boat and lost both of his fins and his weight belt. All of the equipment was rented and the dive boat operators were less than pleased.

My daughter and I are pretty new divers like I said and we always "preflight" each other before entering the water... as a Dad I always feel compelled to check my kid out but this incident really drove the point home and has probably kept both of us from becoming complacent... it only takes a few seconds.

Cheers!
Steve

 

[g1138]

Since this thread's still active guess I'll add my own experience:

Snorkel in the mouth, from the left.
Deflate, dive, inhale.

Smart of me, I know. Friend had just done the same thing during a pool session the previous day and we both had over 30 dives a piece under our belts too.

My eyes shot wide open, my buddy's eye shot wide open. I ended up deploying my Air 2 and we filled the water with a constant stream of bubbles, laughing our butts off for a few minutes.

Don't know if you'd classify me as a new diver at that point, but I would say it was a classic rookie mistake.

 

[sunhook24]

Watched a women in Mexico, lose her weight belt not once, not twice, but three times within 1 dive.

 

[marcosdutra]

on my first open water dive (a lake), I got stuck in the mud and lost my fin

 

[marcosdutra]

a fireman was trying to sink but could not (first open water certificate of the firefighter department from Guilford ct). and his buddy pulled him by the legs, pushed around by the shoulders to try to sink and nothing worked. 20 minutes after he left the water and found that he lost his weight belt