I decided a few months ago to sign up for an Open Water Certification course at a local PADI dive shop. I had been considering this for some years and finally decided if I ever wanted to scuba dive, I should get off the dime and do it.
I took a private class because my work schedule made it impossible to take the regular 5-week class. My instructor was very patient and encouraging and I did quite well in the theory and pool work portion of the course. Then I went to the open water dive weekend at the end of October.
Things did not go well there.
My instructor was not there. He told me I'd do just fine, that I knew the skills and would have no problems. Since there were a number of other instructors and dive masters going on the trip, this seemed entirely reasonable, although I thought at the time that I would be more comfortable working with the instructor I knew. But I didn't want to cause difficulty and it shouldn't have mattered anyway.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. The day of the first dive it was raining heavily. We had to descend to the beach, carrying our gear, over a fairly challenging (for me, at least) "stair" of very slippery rocks. By the time I got all my gear down, which took three trips, I was exhausted, soaked and cold.
I then put on all the gear for the very first time. In the pool, of course, I had worn no wetsuit , hood or gloves. The 7ml farmer jane, gloves and hood were not only uncomfortable, but made it nearly impossible for me to do things I had done easily in the pool. I couldn't even get my fins on. When we all floated on our backs to get use to the water, I couldn't get vertical again. I couldn't get my legs down at all and had to have someone help me up. This produced a great deal of anxiety. Nothing seemed to fit. The unfamiliar gear, the extra weight (lots of extra weight), the rain - I was just overwhelmed. I felt clumsy. I tried to soldier on, but one of the instructors finally called it. I packed up, carried my gear back up the damned rocks and went home.
The shop has been very supportive throughout. I have been offered, and accepted, another two pool sessions which I will complete in January. These will be free of charge. The difficulty is, I have been advised to go someplace warm for my certification dives.
I have some problems with this. First, I've already paid for certification locally and going to another shop will entail paying again for the same thing. This isn't an insurmountable problem, but it does rankle a bit. The private class was not cheap. Second, and most importantly, I live in Oregon. Getting certified to dive in warm water will mean not being able to dive locally. I can't afford to go to a warm water destination with any frequency and I really don't want to be a vacation-only diver. I've been told I should get more experience before trying cold water again, but how am I going to get experience if I have to travel long distances to dive?
Any thoughts? Does this just happen sometimes? Is the shop being reasonable? Should I just suck it up, complete the extra pool sessions and head for warm water? Any suggestions for alternatives?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
I took a private class because my work schedule made it impossible to take the regular 5-week class. My instructor was very patient and encouraging and I did quite well in the theory and pool work portion of the course. Then I went to the open water dive weekend at the end of October.
Things did not go well there.
My instructor was not there. He told me I'd do just fine, that I knew the skills and would have no problems. Since there were a number of other instructors and dive masters going on the trip, this seemed entirely reasonable, although I thought at the time that I would be more comfortable working with the instructor I knew. But I didn't want to cause difficulty and it shouldn't have mattered anyway.
I live in the Pacific Northwest. The day of the first dive it was raining heavily. We had to descend to the beach, carrying our gear, over a fairly challenging (for me, at least) "stair" of very slippery rocks. By the time I got all my gear down, which took three trips, I was exhausted, soaked and cold.
I then put on all the gear for the very first time. In the pool, of course, I had worn no wetsuit , hood or gloves. The 7ml farmer jane, gloves and hood were not only uncomfortable, but made it nearly impossible for me to do things I had done easily in the pool. I couldn't even get my fins on. When we all floated on our backs to get use to the water, I couldn't get vertical again. I couldn't get my legs down at all and had to have someone help me up. This produced a great deal of anxiety. Nothing seemed to fit. The unfamiliar gear, the extra weight (lots of extra weight), the rain - I was just overwhelmed. I felt clumsy. I tried to soldier on, but one of the instructors finally called it. I packed up, carried my gear back up the damned rocks and went home.
The shop has been very supportive throughout. I have been offered, and accepted, another two pool sessions which I will complete in January. These will be free of charge. The difficulty is, I have been advised to go someplace warm for my certification dives.
I have some problems with this. First, I've already paid for certification locally and going to another shop will entail paying again for the same thing. This isn't an insurmountable problem, but it does rankle a bit. The private class was not cheap. Second, and most importantly, I live in Oregon. Getting certified to dive in warm water will mean not being able to dive locally. I can't afford to go to a warm water destination with any frequency and I really don't want to be a vacation-only diver. I've been told I should get more experience before trying cold water again, but how am I going to get experience if I have to travel long distances to dive?
Any thoughts? Does this just happen sometimes? Is the shop being reasonable? Should I just suck it up, complete the extra pool sessions and head for warm water? Any suggestions for alternatives?
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Like it's an easy way to get your certification....when they know your choices for weekend diving involves COLD water.
Good luck and safe diving....
