First dive trip post OW

[george_austin]

Many years ago, a long time instructor told me " there's really not anything 600 yards away from the boat that isn't right under it as well" - very true. Good oppo to set yourself up a little navigation drill by using the anchor line as a reference and shooting bearings and counting kicks -reversing and coming back to the anchor. Kinda fun. Builds confidence.

Many, many of us long time SoCal active divers dive solo but I strongly recommend against this until you have several hundred dives in all types of conditions, and with training - beach, boat, good vis, no vis, high current, slack current, shallow, deep, wrecks, reefs, etc. - you're just adding a layer of anxiety that is unnecessary at this point and frankly - not as fun.
One goal you're going to shoot for, maybe the primary, is buoyancy. Dial it in to where you are correct trim (horizontal) - at say, 30+fsw, hovering and with as little (or no) air in your BC. Don't worry, it ain't going to happen this weekend ) - especially with an aluminum tank.
Watch where you put your hands - the California Scorpionfish is expert at camouflage and will truly ruin your day if he pokes you. As well, you may encounter at Catalina the Electric Torpedo Ray - Look but do not approach (Black with white spots) kind if a fish type end on their tails. Get a local marine life picture book - most of our local boats have one in the galley area.
Hope you have a great time! Don't worry about all the sea lions - they just want to play!

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

Hey, have a great time, but I would not suggest getting your tanks so low. I ran into a little bit of trouble doing that at catalina dive park. Sometimes conditions change and its good to not to worry about pulling it so close with air

 

[JBFG]

How was it?!?

 

[Neilwood]

Spill the beans - let us know how the trip went.

 

[TheHuth]

It was absolutely amazing!!! We did a 3 dive series. My first dive, the tank was a bit low, and I was figuring out my gear. It was only a 15 minute dive because I burned up the air really quick. But dives 2 and 3 were awesome. Each was about a half hour. All of them were in the 50' range. One dropped down to 60'. I was really lucky. I got buddied up with a guy who really knew what he was doing. He took me out, showed me a good time, and really watched out for me. It was really neat to see all the training come together. By the third dive I was moving really smoothly in the water. Air lasted for a very long time. We did some nav and went pretty far.

Every person on the boat was really cool. It was a great deal all around. I cant wait to go out and do it again. I think its only going to get better from here.

Also worth noting. I wore a 7mil wetsuit with a hooded vest. The water temps were low 60's. I felt nice and cozy.

 

[JBFG]

Good stuff!
keep working on those skills. your ger will become 2nd nature to you as well.

 

[Neilwood]

It was absolutely amazing!!! We did a 3 dive series. My first dive, the tank was a bit low, and I was figuring out my gear. It was only a 15 minute dive because I burned up the air really quick. But dives 2 and 3 were awesome. Each was about a half hour. All of them were in the 50' range. One dropped down to 60'. I was really lucky. I got buddied up with a guy who really knew what he was doing. He took me out, showed me a good time, and really watched out for me. It was really neat to see all the training come together. By the third dive I was moving really smoothly in the water. Air lasted for a very long time. We did some nav and went pretty far.

Every person on the boat was really cool. It was a great deal all around. I cant wait to go out and do it again. I think its only going to get better from here.

Also worth noting. I wore a 7mil wetsuit with a hooded vest. The water temps were low 60's. I felt nice and cozy.

Great feeling doing your first OW dives after certification isn't it? I certainly found it to be. Completely different to doing a course.

I think you will find your gas lasting a lot longer the more you dive - first dive I did post cert was pretty short as well but nearly doubled by the end of my 4th as you get more comfortable with what you are doing. Getting a good buddy is a large part of it as it does help you relax and get used to it.

 

[TheHuth]

It was night and day different than the OW class dives. I had a great instructor, so i'm not knocking him at all. There was just allot going on, and everything was done expeditiously. So there was little time to get comfortable. Also, its all done over two back to back days, so there wasnt much time for things to sink in. I waited a month between then and now, and I could tell that I was much better and getting my gear together, put on, and getting in the water.

It was really a great day. I had so much fun. I think the next dive is going to be even better.

 

[Gareth J]

Anything you learnt/ where surprised by/ was markedly different to your experience of shore diving / being in a lesson, that you might want to pass on to other new divers?

 

[TheHuth]

I actually have not yet done a shore dive. I should do that soon, just so I have the experience of it. There was allot that was different on this dive. My OW dives were all with an instructor and 3 or 4 other people. PADI has limitations on those dives; first 2 are to no more than 40 feet, and bottom time cant exceed 20 mins. Since you are performing skills on those dives, with the restrictions in place, you have no freedom to just enjoy diving. Even more so, you're just getting to learn how to use the gear (and not well). I know personally I was task loaded to the max.

So this dive series was very different. First, I bought all my own gear. Thats important because it all fit perfectly. I also bought steel tanks, which allowed me to shed about 6 pounds. I also used weight integrated, so I did not have to pull on a belt. I had a whole month to plan my dive, which allowed ample time for everything to sink in to my brain. By the time I got on the boat, I had my gear set up in a matter of minutes. By the time they opened the gate to jump out, I was one of the first in the water, and was totally comfortable waiting for my buddy. I had a 7mm wetsuit along with a hooded vest, so I was much warmer. The only time limitation was the amount of air in my tank. And since there was no agenda, I was able to just cruise around and enjoy the experience.

The only major change was that I bought a dive computer before the dive. Essentially I added one new task to my dive, which was monitoring that. I'm glad I did, because my buddy insisted on safety stops (which is really good). The computer gave me a really good heads up on what we were doing.