I sort of jumped into this SCUBA thing

[Ry_in_spain]

Hi,

I´m requesting the advice of the more experienced divers. I have wanted to SCUBA dive and become certified for a long time. I have tried to enlist in the class at my University back home, but it´s always been full. Currently, I´m spending a year abroad in Granada, Spain. I was walking by and saw a sign advertising the scuba classes. Before this point, my experience with SCUBA was nonexistent.

I knew about the bends and the buddy system and that´s about it. So, I signed up for the classes because it´s something I´ve always wanted to do and what better place to learn than in the Mediterranean. The instructor speaks limited English and I speak pretty good Spanish(but not fluent). I started on Monday and will have my first confined dive tomorrow. I have read the entire dive manual and watched all the videos.

I am the only one at the moment who is being instructed by him. After the videos, he goes through his instructor manual and tells me the same things I´ve read. I honestly feel comftorable with everything I´ve read and if not, he can explain it well enough so I understand. Now I´m wading through here, and reading the post about the different certs. I happen to be doing the PADI cert but I was unaware there were different ones.

The general thought from everyone seems to be that the instructor is the most important part of the certification process. What if your instructor has taken a very passive role in the learning process? Should I worry about my safety underwater?

I feel he is a good instructor but the language is a little bit of a barrier and he seems to be pretty busy outside of the classroom setting. I´ve had about two hours with him over this last week and we´ll be doing all our dives over the weekend. We´ll see how the first two dives go tomorrow, but I´d be interested to know your input on my situation.


One other question I have is that I´m learning everything in metric(depth, temp, etc). I´m going to be here a little while and the calculations aren´t that difficult, but what about when I return to the states? Does most equipment have both metric/imperial formats? You all seem like a friendly bunch and I look forward to your responses.

Ryan

 

[old_mike]

On this side of the pond, everything is in English units of measurement, i.e. pounds per square inch and feet versus bar or meters over where you're taking your lessons. As for the language barrier, unless you have the equipment, it is kind of hard to use the spoken word underwater so i would make very, very sure that everybody going under on that first dive knows which hand signals will be used and what they mean. That is one thing i've noticed in various parts of the world: all hand signals are not universally understood.

As for your instructor being "passive", that worries me. I don't tend to be too passive when teaching things that are inherently risky: i tend to be very very aggressive when instructing people in potentially dangerous activity. I just can't see being passive about someone else's (especially a buddy or student) life and limb! any other opinions on that part????

 

[Iguana Don]

Ry-in-spain

Mike is correct in his evaluation of your situation, but I have to disagree on the equipment part. No, I do not work for Cochran, but at the sound of sounding like a commercial, here it goes. Check out Cochran's line of computers, mine the Gemini Plus Nitrox will be the last dive computer I will ever have to buy, unless I lose it,or the Navy turns loose of its new technology. It can be configured in either imperial or metric by the user, maintains a 312 dive log, monitors & logs your breathing parameter, allows you to congigure your computer to your style of diving, has begining & ending air pressure, allows for a 3 gas mixture dive, has no buttons or touch points to activate it. I cant list all the things it does, but I think this is a remarkable piece of equipment. Also it is an air intergrated, hoseless unit.
They don't advertise much, but I think you should check them out before investing in a computer.
http://www.divecochran.com

 

[Ladydiver]

Hi Ryan,

First of all, congratulations on taking the plunge. I also think Mike makes a good point about your instructor being "passive". It's the instructor's job to make sure everyone is comfortable with what they are learning and have a good handle on the skills needed to dive safely. He should also make the time to answer the questions of his students and continue to go over skills in the confined water sessions until everyone is comfortable and can successfully complete the skills. This is what you are paying him for, after all.

I have a couple of questions for you. Are there any other English speakers in the class? Which facility are you using? Where is "home" and how much longer are you going to be in Spain?

Let me know how the rest of the class goes. If you are still apprehensive about your certification, be sure to talk with the owner of the facility where you are getting your certification. They may be willing to work with you a little more to help you feel comfortable with your skills. I also may be able to help you find another facility, either at home or in Spain, that may be willing to help you out.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Cheers,

 

[Ry_in_spain]

Thank you guys for responding to my post. I´m really not quite sure on the level of training I received. I have nothing else to compare it to. I did all 5 dives this weekend and completed my PADI open water diver certification. I did feel safe underwater with my instructor, but I think the whole process was kind of rushed.

I started class last Monday and was certified by Sunday. I don´t know how classes go elsewhere because I never looked into it. I was the only person that was taking the ¨class¨ at the moment but he told me there would be more this week. My confined water dive wasn´t ¨confined¨ at all. It was just in a calm part of the ocean.

I don´t know how unusual or common this is though. Another thing that was strange was that I did my open water dive(the last one) before I finished with all the training exercises. I did this because my instructor had something else to do and couldn´t be with me for my first open water dive. This was a little frustrtating because I had a buddy I didn´t know, and I had difficulty controlling my buyouncy. I´m still glad I did it because I think I have an excellent grasp of the theory that I read. I´m planning on diving again this weekend so we´ll have to see how it goes.

My ¨home¨ is in Arizona, USA. When I go back I have both the Gulf of California and Pacific ocean very close. I´ll be in Spain until June so I have lots of time to learn more skills. I´m thinking of investing in some equipment, but I do need to be careful about the metric/imperial thing. One computer I was looking into was the Beuchat CX2. This allows the user to switch back and forth which is what I´m looking for. It retails here for $200. Is this a good price? I have no idea.

I checked out Cochran as Don mentioned, but there is no pricing information and it might be a little too advanced for what I´ll be doing. Thanks again for all your advice. I think my training could have been a lot more complete and I plan on taking another certification class when I get back home. But on top of everything,

I loved it in the water!

Awesome experience!

Ryan

 

[Iguana Don]

Ryan,

Beuchat is not one of the mainstream products in the states, even though $200 is a good price, I would hate to see you invest in something you gan't get serviced or repaired, I don't know of any shops that I do busisness with or have visited carry that line, but I did see it once in a large retail sporting goods store. You can contact Cochran through E-mail and ask them for a dealer & pricing, even though there is a lot of information supplied by the computer, use only what you need, the rest will come later & believe me you will want to use it all.

As for your class, I glad it went "well", I did my class work & confined water in a weekend then went to the lake nex weekend,(4' viz) and completed the open water dives. Now that you have the basics out of the way, find you a good buddy & put to practice what you have learned. Get wet as often as you can but stay safe. Also don't worry about your air consumption at first, it will come naturally as you become more & more comfortable with your new environment.

Keep writing as it always good to here from new divers & their new experiences with the "Deep".

 

[old_mike]

don is right! don't scrimp on the computer. That is what i did way back when i got my C-card and I COULD KICK MYSELF for not having purchased something with "growing room".

As i've mentioned before, thats the one thing holding me back from nitrox right now: the fact that i'd have to fork over a few C-notes for another computer!!!

by the way, i've checked out that Cochran website and that computer looks like a real sweetheart!

 

[island girl]

H Ryan

I live in Barcelona... if you want a good dive instructor who speaks brilliant English, try Eva Ribas at Montgo Sub, L'Escala (Girona).
tel
972-770013

go well

 

[bio guy]

Don is right. Find a buddy you can trust and practice your skills safely. When you get back home you can always find a refresher course going on and you can ask the instructor to cover the specific areas you are unsure about.

By the way..welcome to an amazing sport.

Cheers

Bio guy

 

[RC]

Hi Ryan, Welcome to the world of SCUBA
I live in Phoenix also, I'm currently in Honduras.
I was in Phoenix last month and I went to 3 or 4 Scuba stores and bought my gear. I'll be back in AZ in June if you want some info on stores in Phoinix feel free to e-mail me and I can tell you what I've learned. These forums are also a great source of good info. everyone is real cool and you got some really smart guys/gals around here. Enjoy Spain, I miss it.

RC