Dumbest things you've seen a newbie diver do

[wrybosome]

My favorite was watching a vacation diver with a rental shortie. He couldn't get the zipper started once he had the thing on. So instead of taking the instructor's suggestion of taking it off, getting the zipper started, and then pulling it over his thighs, he did an entire dive with the zipper open and his weight belt used as a belt to cinch the thing closed. The zipper went from one shoulder to the bottom of one of the legs. Second dive he gave up and went in his swim trunks.

He said he'd been certified for years.

That's such a great image...I can really picture it clearly. Thanks!

 

[aquaregia]

Left my weight belt on the boat last weekend. Spent sort of a long time trying to descend before I figured it out. Go me.

 

[TeriLeonard]

As a soon to be certified OW diver, I spent an entire day reading this post. I enjoyed the humor and understood the seriousness at the same time. I acknowledge that every time I hit the water, my life is relying on my own training, skills, and abilities. Your stories have allowed me a few checklists to not only avoid embarassment, but dangerous situations as well.

I appreciate your time to put these tales, humorous and tragic, together. Thank you, and I'm sure I'll eventually have some to share as well.

Wonderful! Enjoy your training and remember that the only "stupid question" is the "unasked question". Through your training experiences, and continuing after certifications, be sure to keep asking questions. I still talk with students I certified ten years ago!

Remember to have fun through it all!!!

 

[TeriLeonard]

Left my weight belt on the boat last weekend. Spent sort of a long time trying to descend before I figured it out. Go me.

When I was working through my Divemaster internship I assisted my Instructor (Don) with a night dive at Five Graves here on Maui. There were several divers in the group as well as the two of us. My job was to be the last one to descend and to stay in the rear of the group so that I could keep everyone together, as well as be in a position to help if a problem occurred.

Well, we worked our way down to the water through the rocks in the dark, we all got in, put our fins on, and descended...except me. It took me a while to realize that I had forgotten my weightbelt (BTW: This is an occupational hazard for Divemasters and Instructors. We take care of everyone else and forget about ourselves).

Don appeared at the surface to find out what was the problem. Believe me, the last thing I wanted to happen on this dive was that I would be the one with the problem! When I told him that I had left my weightbelt in my car, he asked if I could get out by myself, retrieve my weights, and return to the dive...I said I could.

Now, he descends back to the group, I work my way back to the entry, by myself, in the dark, (of course I had my light, but it felt freaky!) crawled back up the rocks, and walked back to my car. One more little problem...I could see my weightbelt on the floor of my car, but I had placed my car keys in my Instructor's vehicle!

Now what!?! I didn't want my instructor to be wondering and worrying where was I! So I looked around and found some rocks on the ground and began filling my bcd with them. I looked pretty weird, and of course there would be no opportunity for quick release in the event of a problem during my dive, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So I climbed back down into the water, alone, at night (I had always heard that was when sharks might be lurking about...) and luckily located the dive group by the glow of their lights. I descended to join them...er, attempted to descend! Turns out that rocks here on Maui are volcanic and so are porous. Not much weight to them! I struggled and finally made it down to the group, but I was very buoyant. I searched all around to find more rocks and finally found one big rock that I held onto and carried like a baby in my arms!

Of course, I would not have been much use to myself or to the other divers if a problem occurred, but at least I was down!

So, in spite of all the rocks, I was still having buoyancy problems. Any Instructor will tell you that fighting buoyancy leads to excessive air usage. Yep, I was the FIRST diver to run low on air. I was afraid to tell the Instructor, but when I finally had to do it, I could here him shout "WHAT?" through his regulator.

He made me go to the surface and snorkel above the group until the end of the dive (I could here that JAWS soundtrack in my mind the whole time...).

Well, no sharks showed up (Whew). I survived but I hated that I had been the problem and that I was of little use if someone else had a problem. I thought to myself that I did not deserve to be a Divemaster...But, after all was said and done, I learned from my many mistakes that night (No buddy check on myself before the dive? Exit and enter the water by myself? No quick release for my weight system?).

My instructor assured me that I would make a fine Divemaster regardless of my issues on this dive. Just take what I learned forward through my future experiences and try to not repeat mistakes (too often).

 

[DiveDocMD]

My story is like Teri.

We were diving in Grand Cayman at Old Wreck Head. This is an uncommon dive site since weather and current have to be just right for an anchored boat position. This was the first dive of the afternoon 2 tank. My dive buddy and I had been on the morning 2 tank. The DMs had moved our gear from the morning boat to the afternoon boat.

We're all kitted up and into the water for what looks to be a fantastic dive. It takes me a little effort to get to the bottom. Wondering why, I check my BC weight pockets......EMPTY! The crew had removed weights (keeping them on the boat where they started). No wonder it took so much work to get down. I was 6 pounds short.

Stupidly, instead of making a slow controlled ascent and getting weight, I fill my BC weight pouches with rocks and coral fragments. Of course its no where near 6 pounds. Like the previous poster, I'm low on air way early. Now both my dive buddy and I have to end early.

What a rookie mistake. I'm now sure to check weight before every dive.

 

[Hammerhead]

I completely agree. A few years ago I was on a boat in Fiji. A few of my companions were discussing negative entries. Unknown to them, one of the other passengers decided to try this on his own. Once he jumped in with out inflating his bcd, he did indeed start sinking like a rock. When he tried to take a breath he realized that his air was not turned on.

Fortunately for him, he was a very strong kicker and was able to struggle to the surface. In his moment of panic, he did not think to drop his weights. This is how tragic accidents may happen. He was very lucky.

+1

A female OW diver died here in Hong Kong last year. from all we've been able to ascertain, it seems 99% sure that this is what happened.

Get comfortable diving, and check everything twice as much as normal before doing negative entries. Please.

 

[knfmn]

During my second open water dive for my certification we were practicing switching from our regulators to our buddies octopuses. I switched from my regulator to his octopus with absolutely no problems and was then so pleased with myself that I popped my regulator back in my mouth and took a nice deep breath....without purging the reg. That sucked a little.

Kristopher

 

[bj139]

The night before my certification dives I was trying on a rental wetsuit at the dive shop. I put it on and thought it seemed a little tight on my throat. I went to ask the shop personnel how it fit. They said it fit good but I should turn it around since it was on backwards. It sure was easier to zip up with the zipper on the front. I know surfing wetsuits have the zipper on the back so the surfboard doesn't get scratched. I don't know what could get scratched while diving with a wetsuit. I think this is actually a mistake by the wetsuit manufacturer, not me. I think most divers would be happier with the zipper on front.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

The night before my certification dives I was trying on a rental wetsuit at the dive shop. I put it on and thought it seemed a little tight on my throat. I went to ask the shop personnel how it fit. They said it fit good but I should turn it around since it was on backwards. It sure was easier to zip up with the zipper on the front. I know surfing wetsuits have the zipper on the back so the surfboard doesn't get scratched. I don't know what could get scratched while diving with a wetsuit. I think this is actually a mistake by the wetsuit manufacturer, not me. I think most divers would be happier with the zipper on front.

That is a great story it needs to be posted here!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/near-misses-lessons-learned/140626-close-call-dressing-room.html

 

[tengsr]

It was actually my instructor and me. It was just me and another person getting certified at the time, but she quit, so it was just me. On my final dive the instructor brought me down to 90 feet instead of sixty, and I was sitting there wondering if my depth gauge was broken or something. Then later he said he forgot and just write sixty feet in my log.