How do experienced divers define "What is Advanced Diving?"

[Thalassamania]

Frankly I have never considered the question and now that I do I think it has no meaning what-so-ever. I have never thought of myself as an "advanced" diver, though I expect that I did wake up one morning and find that the rest of the world thought me an expert, and after some years of that I learned to go along, if just out of habit.

 

[TSandM]

I don't think of myself as an advanced diver. I do think of myself as an experienced diver, in the environments where I have a lot of experience. In novel environments, I can be awfully close to a beginner again.

I think advanced TOPICS are the ones that go beyond the basic mechanics of executing uncomplicated dives. Beyond basic buoyancy and stability in the water, basic navigation, safety stops and "back on the boat with 500 psi".

 

[beautybelow]

To quote Lefty Kreh, who is undoubtably an expert in his field as well as many other things:

"An X spurt is an unknown object that squirts out a liquid when put under pressure"

 

[DevonDiver]

Ex = Former, has been, no longer
Spurt = A drip under pressure.

 

[lmorin]

I don't think of myself as an advanced diver. I do think of myself as an experienced diver, in the environments where I have a lot of experience. In novel environments, I can be awfully close to a beginner again.

I think advanced TOPICS are the ones that go beyond the basic mechanics of executing uncomplicated dives. Beyond basic buoyancy and stability in the water, basic navigation, safety stops and "back on the boat with 500 psi".

I like this classification and terminology.

 

[Jax]

I think these questions will reveal some perspective and attitudes if they are allowed to develop. After all, we have some that call themselves advanced because they dive deep on air, yet there are others that disagree.

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[Colliam7]

OK you advanced scuba divers; looking into your past, when did you think you had earned the title "advanced diver?"

Although 'when' could be a point in time, or 'when' could be a point in performance, I will use only the latter criterion. For me, feeling that I was an 'advanced' diver did not come until I felt that I could absolutely control my position in the vertical water column, and in the horizontal plane. So, it was a matter of both a) buoyancy control and trim conrol, as well as b) propulsion techniques.

Definitely, a particular level of comfort was associated with that feeling, a (self-perceived) ability to keep my head in stressful situations was associated with that feeling, a certain ability to analyze problems was associated with that feeling, etc., etc. (there are a number of additional attributes). But, when I reached the point that I felt I was in reasonable control of my underwater position, which didn't occur until well after my 250th dive, I felt I had reached a point to consider myself 'advanced'. At the same time, I am sensitive to an interesting distinction that TS&M raised - 'advanced' vs 'experienced'. I slightly lean toward 'advanced' but appreciate the subtle differentiation.

 

[elan]

For me one would be advanced when they understand what dives are above their abilities and do not attempt to do them.

 

[Adobo]

I am also having a tough time wrapping my head around the question.

Consider an alternate question. What do I consider to be an advanced driver?
- Someone who has been driving for 25 years. So from this perspective, maybe.
- What if this person hasn't been instructed on driving cars in race tracks? With my many years of driving around, he could probably take an SUV to a race track and drive it really fast and not have an accident. Maybe the trained racers will tell him that he is foolish for driving on race track with the wrong equipment with insufficient training. Even the properly trained and equipped teenage racer who has only had a driver's license for a couple of years might consider me foolish. (And he would probably be right.) So from this perspective, maybe not.
- But even if he had training in racing cars, what if he doesn't have training in driving commercials vehicles - buses, big rigs, whatever. So even if he had both of the above, still maybe not.
- But even if he had all that training and experience listed above, he still probably would struggle to drive in the streets of Ho Chi Minh city. Ref: Part 2 of 3D Driving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - YouTube

A person can tell you what he has been trained to do and what he has experience doing.
- basic training in driving small personal vehicles.
- driving for 25 years.
- driven in sun, rain, sleet, snow and ice.
- clean driving record.
- etc

Similarly, a diver can produce a list of dive training and experience.

However, i think the question of what is an advanced diver (and what is an advanced driver) is too ambiguous. Any answer given, provided that caveats were provided, would probably be a decent answer.

 

[Hank49]

I considered myself kind of advanced a few years ago living here, after having been an instructor for about 6 years and certified for 12 or so.
I have my own boat, compressor, tanks and gear and more than just occasionally, I take out friends from the mainland US or guests of the owner of the farm...for a dive.
There was no shop backing me up. The people were dependent on my boat and my boating skills to get us out safely, dive and come home. Minimum travel was 14 miles to the reef. I had to determine the conditions and decide if we should even go, then assess the conditions at the sites and figure out by talking to them how they could dive....having never seen them in the water, and conduct a safe, fun dive.
Somewhere along in these experiences I realized how little many "divers" really know and that compared to them I was pretty much a badass expert.
Yesterday I took some guys "snorkeling" who wanted to try free dive spearfishing. Oh brother....Rough seas and strong current at the spot....nothing for experienced watermen but I felt like a mother hen keeping these two guys in line. When you compare skills developed after 34 years of surfing, body surfing, diving and free dive spearfishing, the skill level becomes very apparent when you're in the water with some total newbs to the sea.