Panicked on my second open water dive.

[Greg Doyle]

Greg, Did you ever find out why the pool was at 92 degrees? I would think this situation would've come up with other students before you.

Yes, they use the pool to teach babies how to swim and get comfortable in the water.
Maybe they should come up with a dry suit for infants?

I remember reading in a David Poyer novel how the overhead for a dive shop pool is a loss leader. I'm sure they're making up for the loss with baby swim class.
(By the way, YES, I'm a Tiller Galloway fan)
G

 

[cipherbreak]

You have already received plenty of solid advice but I'll offer my two cents:

To trust in yourself and your ability to use the equipment and execute the drills, you need to be confident. Confidence comes from experience. It seems to me you never gained the confidence necessary to move past confined dives and into open water. That is NOT your fault. To get certified, you must complete a series of tasks and drills in open water, under specified conditions. What gets you there is not necessarily 2 confined sessions. It is something your instructor should be able to determine after assessing your skills and communicating with you.

Here’s my straightforward recommendation: You took the time to come here and seek our advice, so this is something you really want to do. Find different dive center and be honest with them about how you felt in the water, the difficulties you've had, and your expectations. That will help the shop pair you with the right instructor. They will take it from there.

Believe me, I've seen OW students not get in the water at all their first time out and eventually heard they got certified. You already did better than that.

 

[RayfromTX]

There is a tremendous amount of intellectual knowledge involved in learning to use scuba. The thing that isn't intellectual and that seems very important to me is this. When you internalize the feeling that no matter what happens, if you have a working air supply in your mouth, you are ok and you have time to stop and just breathe and relax. That's it. Just stop and breathe and relax. Now you can think more clearly because there is no panic or need to rush. No mask? You have air. No buddy in sight? You have air. No visibility? You have air. That means you have time to slow down and think it through. That means no flight to the surface, no brain lock, no freak out. Breathe and think about your options. Breathe and remember what you were taught. Breathe. Simple. Really.

 

[TMHeimer]

There is a tremendous amount of intellectual knowledge involved in learning to use scuba. The thing that isn't intellectual and that seems very important to me is this. When you internalize the feeling that no matter what happens, if you have a working air supply in your mouth, you are ok and you have time to stop and just breathe and relax. That's it. Just stop and breathe and relax. Now you can think more clearly because there is no panic or need to rush. No mask? You have air. No buddy in sight? You have air. No visibility? You have air. That means you have time to slow down and think it through. That means no flight to the surface, no brain lock, no freak out. Breathe and think about your options. Breathe and remember what you were taught. Breathe. Simple. Really.

Right. Air is step one always. My best example was years ago when I developed cramps in both legs and both arms (didn't think that's possible). Was before I started taking potassium pills and before using split fins--now I very rarely cramp at all. Fortunately I was on the way back in and only in 8-9' of water. Was my first of two dives on one tank, so I knew at least half a tank was left, but of course checked to see the exact amount. Made it to the surface somehow, took a compass reading to shore, back to the bottom and pulled myself home on the bottom. Had I been low on air I probably would've stayed on the surface and did my best, or waved for help. But checking air first gave me the best option.

 

[Neilwood]

There is a tremendous amount of intellectual knowledge involved in learning to use scuba. The thing that isn't intellectual and that seems very important to me is this. When you internalize the feeling that no matter what happens, if you have a working air supply in your mouth, you are ok and you have time to stop and just breathe and relax. That's it. Just stop and breathe and relax. Now you can think more clearly because there is no panic or need to rush. No mask? You have air. No buddy in sight? You have air. No visibility? You have air. That means you have time to slow down and think it through. That means no flight to the surface, no brain lock, no freak out. Breathe and think about your options. Breathe and remember what you were taught. Breathe. Simple. Really.

Agree wholeheartedly with this - apart from the obvious medical issues such as heart attack etc, the only true emergency in scuba is lack of air.

Should anything go wrong, stop, breathe and think before acting. Even a catastrophic hose failure or freeflowing reg is not catastrophic as you will, even on a cylinder close to reserve, have time to think and then act by finding your buddy or starting an ascent.

 

[george_austin]

More pool time. More pool time More pool time. Be prepared next time for that "yellow" regulator - in most cases they are going to be somewhat more difficult to breathe from as they are detuned so as to not free flow - really just for emergency use only. Another piece of useless gear. 3 foot vis is not appropriate for training new divers. JMHO

 

[Hou s4m]

I still dive with a little sense of fear. I think it helps keep me alert.
The first thing to do under water... is stay calm and keep breathing.

On my scuba 3rd trip i took my wife for her OW. she had 3 pool sessions just to build confidence. When at the island, shore dives were OK, everything went well until we got to boat dive at a site with 40ft depth. I swam away with the leisure group. 50mins later when I got back to the boat, she was throwing up couple of times. she hyperventilated and had partially fainted underwater. the DM assisting the Instructor made the rescue and surfaced her. i learned that she panicked, felt cloustrophobic, then hyperventilated. it was a beautiful 100ft viz that day, and she could see the boat. she thought she could just breach and gasp for air. The instructor didn't pass her. until today i'm still trying to re-built her courage. all that outdoor, hiking, mountaineering, taekwondo, could not prepare her for being underwater.

What i learn during my OW days and i still keep today, is to remain calm, know your equipment, and trust your buddy. know everybody in your diving group. Learn about the site and get as much info from the DM. Observe the landscape, positions of the wall, bouy line, anything. Go down slowly, remember to equalise. stay in group. Eventually you'll get the hang of it. its like riding a bike, or playing a piano. you cannot unlearn it. but beware... scuba diving... its addictive!

Hope u have a great and fun trip.