How is YOUR diving etiquette?.......

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've got ~50, and I still think of myself as new. That's what sort of makes me laugh about some of the cert levels.

You can get advanced after what, 25? Master after 50? I forget exact #'s, but I wouldn't consider myself a few classroom hours away from really being a "master diver" but I could certainly pay my $400 and get the card that says so...

Of my 50, maybe a little more than 1/2 have been open ocean dives. Others have been local lake (which here means large pond at 30', I don't mean large lakes). I have learned something from every dive but I can't, and wouldn't, really claim my experience level to be "master"ful...

I frankly think the experience bar should be higher for advanced levels of certification. This may help to quell the know-it-all 50 dive guy.

JMHO.

You can get "Advanced" certification at nine dives ... having done no dives outside of an instructor's supervision.

But it's not really about certifications. Some folks obsess about them, others get an OW card and never give it a second thought. It's about attitude, the desire to improve your skills, and developing an awareness of what "else" there is to learn about.

Not meaning to pick on the "50-dive" types out there ... it's just one of several plateau points that tend to lead to people overestimating their skills and getting complacent with the level of diving they attempt to do. And like all stereotypes, it applies more to a class than to individuals.

Like I said, human nature makes us pretty predictable sometimes ... speaking strictly as someone who's "been there" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[adventurelarry]

I'm a new diver. I've got less than 10 dives logged now. I've been on a boat and my instructor "coached" me on etiquitte before we ever boarded. Of course, she didn't cover ever little detail. The next time I was on the boat, without her around, I was watching everyone else to see how they did things and when unclear I asked why? I'm still learning, but since I am inexperienced part of my learning comes by observation and engaging in "meaningful" discussions about how/why things are done.

Reading this article was good for me and I think the author's "rant" was more of her personality coming into the article. I think she did a great job and made it a jovial read because of her personality.

I look forward to getting out on the water again......soon, I hope.

 

[mikemill]

That's the good thing about trim, if you are out of trim, you can always go out and find more trim

:rofl2:

 

[Herk_Man]

Finally, flippers? fins? who cares. I call my flippers flippers. It's just a word.

Amen brother! I'm really more interested in how you dive and how safe you are. You want to jump in with your flippers, goggles and breathing tube but you follow the dive plan, know your emergency procedures, and are an overall good buddy, than I could care less what you call your gear.

People get so full of themselves. And they are usually the ones that just annoy the rest of us with all of their lies on the boat.

 

[Hatul]

How is what you call your flippers relevant to anything?

 

[Meggie66]

I'm relatively new at this diving lark, and while I know there are obnoxious people out there, I think when most people breach ettiquette it's because they don't know better, not because they're trying to be annoying. I've had the benefit of diving with several more experienced divers who were so lovely and patient with me, and have gently let me know if I'm doing the wrong thing. I take it as my responsibility to study how others do things and find out as much as I can about how to do things correctly, but I don't know everything, or anywhere near it (don't tell my husband). Personally, if I'm messing up, I'd far prefer a friendly correction than to have people sit there and silently fume .

As well as flippers and goggles, how about calling your BC a life jacket? (I've heard it!)

 

[Quero]

Yuck! What an arrogant, holier-than-thou piece of writing! Despite the fact that the points the author makes have some validity, the manner in which Stacey Amberson states these points is extremely grating. I think she needs to review her own etiquette in giving advice.

 

[jmasin]

Not meaning to pick on the "50-dive" types out there ... it's just one of several plateau points that tend to lead to people overestimating their skills and getting complacent with the level of diving they attempt to do. And like all stereotypes, it applies more to a class than to individuals.

Like I said, human nature makes us pretty predictable sometimes ... speaking strictly as someone who's "been there" ...

I certainly didn't take it that way. I'm a 50-dive-r and I know what you mean.

My wife and I are about diving and learning/getting experience. I personally don't see the point in shelling out the $400+ for a few specialty classes to get the cards. Not that I wouldn't learn from the class, I'm sure I would, but I'd rather do $400 worth of diving!

I'm still new, so can claim to still have a new diver opinion And when I saw how few dives you needed for some cert levels I fairly quickly, right, wrong or otherwise, concluded they were of lesser meaning than I first thought. The fact I could technically be called a "Master Diver" (whatever that really means) makes me chuckle...

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Unfortunately, the internet has democratized media to the point where "writers" don't know the difference between "ascetics" and "aesthetics."

Thank you!

 

[Doc Harry]

I thought that the article was interesting but had very little to do with diving.

An article about diving etiquette should have included many other important items such as:

-Don't wash your mask in the camera tank
-If you're sea-sick, vomit overboard, not on your fellow divers
-Don't wash your face in the camera tank
-Don't set up your regulator on someone else's Nitrox cylinder
-Don't rinse your BC in the camera tank
-Stand out of the way when divers in full gear need to get by
-Don't spit in the camera tank
-When you park at a popular dive spot, don't block the entrance
-Don't wash your hair in the camera tank