Introducing myself

[Premier2k]

Hi everyone,

My name is Paul and I am new to diving! I took a 2 hour trial session a couple of weekends ago with my brother just as a bit of fun and something to do and now I'm hooked!! Had the best time ever doing it and going to do my OW course at the end of the month. I'm a little nervous about it all but I'm sure that once I learn some of the basic skills I'll never look back.

Does anyone have any funny/amusing/scary tales or just plain advice when they took their OW?

Thanks everyone, I'm sure I'll have tons and tons of questions if that's ok?

Paul

 

[ajduplessis]

Firstly, welcome to the "underworld"! Diving is fun and will soon become an addiction. I only have some advice. Like anything new in life it is very normal to be nervous. Listen to your instructor, ask all your questions and RELAX!!! What I mean by staying relaxed is that there is NO rush when diving. Everything you do is slow and deliberate, breathing is slow, changes made to buoyancy are slow and takes a couple seconds to take effect, and kicking (propulsion) is slow.

Slow down and enjoy!!!!!

 

[knowone]

As a matter of fact, it's so slow I feel like I'm in a trance

I knew I forgot something, hi I'm Emile from The colony

 

[fresh_fish]

Welcome!! My experience getting certified was that hubby and I did all 4 required dives in 1 weekend. It was a blast, but I think I really did forget more than if they were spread out over 2 weekends. Our first dives after certification were VERY shaky. Just take your time, relax, and know that you ALWAYS have the ability to abort or cancel a dive.

 

[Premier2k]

Thanks everyone!
Couple of questions....

I'm thinking about buying a wetsuit, I've seen this one, O'Neill Psycho II 5/4. As I don't know much about wetsuits I'm not sure whether this is a good one. It's going to be for diving in the UK and occasionally abroad so I wanted a fairly warm one. I know I should prob get a dry suit but that's something I'll invest once I've got my OW and can go on and do dry suit courses etc..

Secondly,
I hear a lot of people mentioning how many dives they've done. Does that figure include the OW course where you have 4/5 seperate dives? or does that 'count' start after the OW course has finished?

Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome!

 

[blackvans1234]

Premier- Try the wetsuit on before you buy it

As for the OW dives, they do count, afterall, you're in open water. IMO, if someone says they don't count, then does diving with a divemaster not count either?
lol

 

[SaltyPirateBastard]

My instructor made sure if anybody put their mask on their forehead during the course, they owed him a beer. Not only does it look silly, but it's a sign you're in distress. Pull it down around your neck!

As long as you're in the water wearing SCUBA, it counts. I have a friend who logged dives that included, but not limited to: scrubbing the bottom of a sailboat in SCUBA and recovering a kayak paddle from 60 ft. depth. My favourite was when he was tanning on the dive boat and when the divers came up and said there were two lionfish below the boat in 90ft, he borrowed somebodies rental gear and dropped down with a spear, killed them both, and came up 5 minutes later. He loved doing these dives and would regularly come up and before removing his gear announce, "Count it!".

 

[MMAIER]

My instructor made sure if anybody put their mask on their forehead during the course, they owed him a beer. Not only does it look silly, but it's a sign you're in distress. Pull it down around your neck!

Any time I put my mask on my forehead my instructor would pull it off and throw it in the water! I still find myself doing it from time to time but from that I learned the ability to dive without a mask, I must have gone in about 30 times to get it.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Thanks everyone!
Couple of questions....

I'm thinking about buying a wetsuit, I've seen this one, O'Neill Psycho II 5/4. As I don't know much about wetsuits I'm not sure whether this is a good one. It's going to be for diving in the UK and occasionally abroad so I wanted a fairly warm one. I know I should prob get a dry suit but that's something I'll invest once I've got my OW and can go on and do dry suit courses etc..

Secondly,
I hear a lot of people mentioning how many dives they've done. Does that figure include the OW course where you have 4/5 seperate dives? or does that 'count' start after the OW course has finished?

Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome!

First off; welcome to the underwater world. As has been said above, an important part of your OW course is to have fun. So make an experience of it, learn something new and enjoy.

Right now who cares about how many dives you have (it should be at least 4 after the course). You are new to the sport, just like I once was. Enjoy and get comfortable. There is a lot of fun to be had while still new with a few dives, so do log them and don't worry about the fellow who has more dives then you. Over time your dive count will tick up anyway, then at some point you may choose to do a more advanced course.

With regard gear, do not buy anything that you can rent or borrow. As part of my course, I was shown what to look for in gear and what the advantages are to different set ups.... and I still wasted a lot of money on gear that does not fit or suit me.

UK diving is generally cold and poor visibility (compared to the Caymans). Generally a dry suit is a must in that part of the world (I have not dived there myself). Dry suits are expensive and I would not purchase one right now. Many shops will rent you one if you need. Also, I find that diving dry and wet are very different experiences that require different skills. You are doing the right thing by taking learning one new skill at a time, first open water, then a dry suit course.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Delete duplicate post