Failed Open Water Dive

[gypsyjim]

Somehow, adding a wet suit, etc that you have never donned or worn before at all to the mix, just at your first OW dive is surely asking for trouble. A lot unnecessary stress was added to the mix for you.

Take the time to practice your skills in as close to the same conditions a you can. Obviously a pool is not going to be like diving the ocean in your area, but at least if you had the chance to have dived in the wet suit you will be adding one less thing to an already naturally stressful dive. My two kids really struggled to overcome the wet suit issue themselves during their OW training, because the rentals they trained in were never a good fit for them, but once they got a little practice in the pool under their belts in the hated wet suits, they did very well.

Keep trying. My gf was a very insecure beginning diver, and we kid that it took her 5 years, and 5 countries to get her certification, but when she failed to complete her OW the first time around, she went back and tried again. In a week or two now she expects to log her 100th dive, and is super excited about our upcoming trip to Australia later this winter.

 

[Agility]

make sure your wetsuit fits properly
not being able to move to get on your fins might be due to a too small suit

 

[Grover48]

On pool night I would suggest taking a few minutes to get in the water without your BCD. Swim around in the 7 mil wetsuit to get comfortable with the change in mobility. Work on moving your arms and legs in a full range of motion until you are comfortable in the suit. Make sure it fits right and is not too tight. Being too tight makes you exhausted to start with.

Then do the same thing with the BCD on. Reach behind your head to find the tank valve. Can you turn it? If not, why not? Practice the sweep for the regulator hose. Can you reach it? If not, why not? Can you put your fins on and take them off? If not, why not. You need to be able to perform those evolutions in order to dive.

This is your class room, you need to learn. DO NOT accept getting by. Master the techniques. Then you will be comfortable in the water and enjoy this great sport.

 

[Scubanoobi]

I remember how much more difficult it was by simply adding 5mm gloves and a hood (not an issue after getting used to it). I got an extra pool session before the checkout dives specifically to do my skills with the gloves. It helped immensely.

 

[Scubadawg]

Recreational diving in Missouri in the winter months is something I choose not to do, Iv'e done it and only because it was required training for our Rescue/ Recovery team. Just to keep up with my underwater skills or when I got a new piece of equipment, I would head to the local indoor pool to get some practice. At one time I had it written down of what weight I needed in every possible gear configuration I could come up with. Some people at the pool would give me some odd looks while I was changing out different pieces....Pratice makes Perfect, and Perfection takes Practice.
An older but newer diver that was watching me said "I don't worry about having too much weight, I just add air to make up the difference"

 

[Johan Broere]

It seems to me you thought you had to take all the blame. Not so, your instructor and shop should have anticipated some of these problems. After all, they are the professionals. It is ok to help somebody carry the gear. Dive within your experience and capabilities. If you need help, just ask. If you need a rest after a haul like that, you have to learn to take it, enjoy your day and enjoy diving, really, you find the right people to go with and it is fun. Where you went for your dive, I am sure there were people just for the scenery, enjoying the day. Did you? And about this warm water, there are really cheap tickets some days. Greatings from Puerto Vallarta, water temp 82F. Don't give up just because you could not keep up with somebody else theire scedule.

 

[supergaijin]

Ask to take the wetsuit to the lake for a swim and go for a snorkel. I'm sure just getting back in to the water at the same location will remove some stress for next time. This may be tricky if the lake is far away, but I reckon it's in your own interests.

Teaching in NZ, I was also going from pool to a lake. The pool was outside and warmer than the lake for sure, but unless the pool is bathtub warm, there's no reason for not using a 7mm in a pool as preparation for the OW dives.
Maybe lose the hood if it's too warm.

IMO the shop telling you to go somewhere else for the OW dives is ludicrous from a business perspective. However it's good to hear the shop giving you some extra time in the pool at no charge.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

Sorry that your initial experience in OW wasn't fun. Hope it doesn't turn you off to a sport that is very fun. My daughter (adult) and I both got certified about a year-and-a-half ago; I live in Florida, she lives in Oregon. In the subsequent 18 months I've logged about 135 dives, she's logged about 35, and those were all on trips we took to the Bahamas and Mexico and when I flew her down to FL so we could dive the Keys (except for her original OW cert dives) -- she doesn't dive Oregon. In your case, put together the cold and the unfamiliar equipment and that's a full load -- then try to do skills and it's not surprising you had trouble. I agree that the shop is sounding reasonable -- they want you to get certified to they'll have a new customer to sell more gear and trips to. There's no substitute for time in the water and practice -- doing the pool in full gear to get familiar with it sound like an excellent first step, one less piece of task loading when you get to the OW -- then you'll just have the cold and OW.

Personally I wouldn't dive the PNW in anything other than a drysuit, any time of the year; a wetsuit in November sounds bitter.

 

[Mark Derail]

I decided a few months ago to sign up for an Open Water Certification course at a local PADI dive shop. ... and head for warm water? Any suggestions for alternatives?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

YES...head for warm water. Cold water is difficult, however, when you can manage it, you're a better diver for it. Pure-bred cold water divers ARE better than warm-only divers...(sujective, read that as having a broader climate & gear experience)

I know this for a fact, because, I'm a warm-water diver only.
Like you, I didn't quite "make it" in pure cold water. I avoided it completely, got certified down South in ocean (cozumel area).

All is not lost, however, you can dive in "cold water" areas in the summer, with just a 3/5mm or "shorty", no gloves. Just avoid quarries...go for lakes or slow meandering rivers...because quarries have a severe thermocline (goes from cool, cold, near-freezing), that most lakes & rivers, because of current, will be MUCH warmer.
Canals are good & warm too in the summer.
Bonus - no need to buy different gear. I use my 3/5 in the Montreal (Quebec) area in the summer, and down South as protection. Same wetsuit. Same BCD.

My son, a "true" cold-water, braves it out now in a dry suit. I was present at his certification in a quarry, boy that was difficult. He was 18 at the time.

So if you dive down South during the winter on vacation, and with a local dive club in the summer, you can easily do 10+ dives per year, which is plenty to become an "adequate" OW diver, and slowly progress to AOW after 40+ dives (my suggestion).

If you're a young(ish) guy that wants to go ASAP to AOW, Rescue, DM, etc... Only suggestion would be to weight train?

I'm just OW, in the 40-ish dives after three years, and this is just fine by me. Perhaps AOW next summer.

 

[Dhboner]

I wouldn't be happy that the instructor "couldn't make it". You develop a comfort level with an instructor and he/she can be a calming influence on your first open water dives. These first dives can be stressful enough without the added discomfort of "performing" for an instructor you don't know.

I don't like the advice to do your open water dives in warm water. You need to be comfortable and confident in the equipment and conditions in which you will be doing most of your diving.

You have received great advice here...get back in the pool in the 7mm suit, review and practice all your in-water skills and then schedule your open water check-out dives when your original instructor is available and when you feel you ready to try again.

Good luck!

Bob (Toronto)