Flashx45
Registered
In 2015 at age 55, I set a goal to obtain a Master Diver Certification before age 60. Considering I received my Open Water cert in 1977, had a total of maybe 15 dives (no one kept logs back then), and haven't been on a dive in 20 years, the Master Diver cert was a good challenge for me.
When I got the Master Dive Cert last July, with 87 dives under my belt, I felt pretty good. Still do. I consider myself a competent diver in the waters of Southern California. I think the Master Diver program put me on a pretty good training path to reintroduce myself to Scuba. It was fun. But the other big benefit from setting this goal was I had the opportunity to dive with a a few people that had a skillset at a whole different level than many other divers. I didn't always get to dive with these kind of people, I mostly dove with "normal" divers like me. But when I ran into one of these special divers, it was....special.
I met these special divers as insta-buddies, instructors (some, not all), people in the dive boat or shore dive I was on (not necessarily my dive buddy). These divers, who I decided to call "Zen Divers," always had every one of these five traits:
1. They did everything methodically, whether putting their gear together or deploying a SMB on a reel. They didn't necessarily move fast, just methodical.
2. They sometimes gave the appearance of nonchalance when diving, but close observation told me they were anything but nonchalant - their situational awareness of what was going on around them was, clearly to me, incredibly high. (Note: I also had insta-dive buddies who gave the impression of nonchalance, and they were. I'm not talking about these people)
3. They moved effortlessly through the water. Perfect buoyancy. Fish.
4. They knew what they did not know. Meaning, they knew they still had things to learn and improve on. They also knew every dive could kill them. On the post dive talk I would be amazed on what they critiqued themselves on as the dive seemed perfect to me.
5. They had dives numbering in the 1000s+. Usually in different conditions, locations,etc. They didn't necessarily have a lot of cert cards, just a lot of dives. One Zen Diver I met only had an Open Water Cert, but he had experience.
So, I decided my next Scuba goal is to become a certified Zen Diver. I think having 1000s+ dives is essential to obtain it, and given my age I might not get there before I give the fins up, but it's still a worthy goal.
When I got the Master Dive Cert last July, with 87 dives under my belt, I felt pretty good. Still do. I consider myself a competent diver in the waters of Southern California. I think the Master Diver program put me on a pretty good training path to reintroduce myself to Scuba. It was fun. But the other big benefit from setting this goal was I had the opportunity to dive with a a few people that had a skillset at a whole different level than many other divers. I didn't always get to dive with these kind of people, I mostly dove with "normal" divers like me. But when I ran into one of these special divers, it was....special.
I met these special divers as insta-buddies, instructors (some, not all), people in the dive boat or shore dive I was on (not necessarily my dive buddy). These divers, who I decided to call "Zen Divers," always had every one of these five traits:
1. They did everything methodically, whether putting their gear together or deploying a SMB on a reel. They didn't necessarily move fast, just methodical.
2. They sometimes gave the appearance of nonchalance when diving, but close observation told me they were anything but nonchalant - their situational awareness of what was going on around them was, clearly to me, incredibly high. (Note: I also had insta-dive buddies who gave the impression of nonchalance, and they were. I'm not talking about these people)
3. They moved effortlessly through the water. Perfect buoyancy. Fish.
4. They knew what they did not know. Meaning, they knew they still had things to learn and improve on. They also knew every dive could kill them. On the post dive talk I would be amazed on what they critiqued themselves on as the dive seemed perfect to me.
5. They had dives numbering in the 1000s+. Usually in different conditions, locations,etc. They didn't necessarily have a lot of cert cards, just a lot of dives. One Zen Diver I met only had an Open Water Cert, but he had experience.
So, I decided my next Scuba goal is to become a certified Zen Diver. I think having 1000s+ dives is essential to obtain it, and given my age I might not get there before I give the fins up, but it's still a worthy goal.
