TheDivingBear
Registered
Hi all. I am enrolled in a OW PADI course and am not having fun. We (my wife and I) both thought this would be a fun thing to do, diving and getting certified before we go on vacation. My wife loves the water and I really enjoyed snorkeling and skin diving in the Carribean.
However, we've had 4 classroom sessions and only two pool sessions (out of 5). Our first session included our swimming test, so we crammed all the session one skills into 20 minutes. What has this to do with mouth breathing?
Simple, I am one and I had thought that breathing off a regulator would be second nature. However, it is proving to be more difficult for me than I thought. And, we are getting no practice time in the water to get comfortable. One of the first things we did the second night was mask removal. I barely got the chance to practice the mask clearing. I feel like I am sucking air out of the regulator instead of breathing and that makes me feel anxious. This is not fun.
I contacted one of the shops Dive Instructors and, after he talked to the shop owner (which I understand), he told me that it takes time and it is normal to have some anxiety. While I agree SOME is normal, I just cannot get comfortable enough to relax and enjoy it.
Any suggestions? I read the post by WolfGirl and while similar, the situations are different.
The Diving Bear
However, we've had 4 classroom sessions and only two pool sessions (out of 5). Our first session included our swimming test, so we crammed all the session one skills into 20 minutes. What has this to do with mouth breathing?
Simple, I am one and I had thought that breathing off a regulator would be second nature. However, it is proving to be more difficult for me than I thought. And, we are getting no practice time in the water to get comfortable. One of the first things we did the second night was mask removal. I barely got the chance to practice the mask clearing. I feel like I am sucking air out of the regulator instead of breathing and that makes me feel anxious. This is not fun.
I contacted one of the shops Dive Instructors and, after he talked to the shop owner (which I understand), he told me that it takes time and it is normal to have some anxiety. While I agree SOME is normal, I just cannot get comfortable enough to relax and enjoy it.
Any suggestions? I read the post by WolfGirl and while similar, the situations are different.
The Diving Bear