Questions After Free Intro to Scuba Class

[dwallace]

I agree with Mike D; an intro to Scuba is just that - an introduction. There are a lot of different skills that are needed to Scuba dive. These skills are difficult to master in a one hour session. Buoyancy is a skill that takes newly certified divers a few dives to master and comes with practice. The problem with your ears is also something that your body needs to get used to; after a few sessions in the pool your ears usually adjust to the pressure and you are able to equalize more easily.

If you are still unsure about enrolling in a full certification course you could try another pool introduction (possibly private) to see if you will adjust to being underwater.

Don't give up!

 

[pjones]

One thing that helped me and might help you with the equalizing problem is to equalize early and often. As I'm getting ready to descend I equalize my ears before they touch the water and at least every 3 feet on the way down. When I was training for my open water certification I was trying to equalize my ears starting at around 3 feet of depth but found that it was already too much pressure on my ears to achieve this properly. It wasn't until the open water dives that I figured this out and it got easier to the point where I could descend with the class as they went down. You may also be happy to know that as you go deeper the pressure on your ears doesn't change as quickly with variations in your depth and the equalization thing becomes easier as well. the first 15 feet or so are the worst and unfortunately thats all that the average pool has to offer... :-(

 

[PUFFY_SANCHEZ]

Thats for all the insight. I am still debating on whether I want to try it again. The thing that is scaring me the most is that I will only be diving a handful of times a year. I am worried that I will forget everything I learned. Maybe its like riding a bike, I don't know.

 

[DiverDean59]

Thats for all the insight. I am still debating on whether I want to try it again. The thing that is scaring me the most is that I will only be diving a handful of times a year. I am worried that I will forget everything I learned. Maybe its like riding a bike, I don't know.

I don't get to dive nearly as often as I would like but our LDS lets us use the pool when they are teaching a class and I use that opportunity to keep up on my skills. In fact I was just in the pool this weekend brushing up on my skills.

 

[otterdive]

Hi Puffy, and welcome to the Board! How many people were in your intro? I want to make sure that you did not feel rushed to descend. If so, consider taking a private lesson, or intro. Equalization should never be painful, although, as posters have mentioned, there can be a 'popping' sensation. If you had pain, try to stay in the shallows so you can enjoy the sensation of breathing underwater without worrying. Try to go a bit deeper slowly. If you have pain, or difficulty after you have been in the water for a while, you may have some kind of blockage in your tubes. Have it checked out by a doctor to be sure. Most adults, who are not congested, are eventually able to equalize.

I hope you stick with it!

 

[PUFFY_SANCHEZ]

Hi Puffy, and welcome to the Board! How many people were in your intro? I want to make sure that you did not feel rushed to descend. If so, consider taking a private lesson, or intro. Equalization should never be painful, although, as posters have mentioned, there can be a 'popping' sensation. If you had pain, try to stay in the shallows so you can enjoy the sensation of breathing underwater without worrying. Try to go a bit deeper slowly. If you have pain, or difficulty after you have been in the water for a while, you may have some kind of blockage in your tubes. Have it checked out by a doctor to be sure. Most adults, who are not congested, are eventually able to equalize.

I hope you stick with it!

It was just me and my fiance. During certification do you typically work on buoyancy in the shallow end before the deep end? It seems to me like that make sense, but we were all of sudden in the deep end. My ears started to hurt I was trying to equalize, then I slowly came to the surface because it was too much.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

I often have a problem with Scuba intros - they can do more damage than good if they are rushed, etc. Equalisation is a skill in itself and is often unfamiliar to people. When I teach a beginners level class I spend a good while talking about the physiology of the ears as well as equalisation techniques. I find it helps people a lot to understand properly what they are trying to achieve and how they are doing it as well as the techniques for achieving it. Without this I find the occurrence of eq. problems is much higher. I also make sure everyone in the class understands that we are all different. Some people find it easy at first, some difficult. Like everything with patience, a good understanding, and practice it will come.

And yes, in a try out dive experience you would expect some time in the shallow end, where you can stand up if needed, before gradually moving deeper. And I do mean gradually with regular checks with the client to make sure ears, mask, reg, etc are all good. In other words that they are happy, comfortable and safe.

On the other hand, buoyancy training on a try out dive is something that is sometimes done and often not. Regardless of this the instructor should be in a position to directly intervene on your behalf. For me in a try out dive that typically means I have physical contact with the client.

I hope your experience doesn't turn you away from something you have always wanted to do. You are in the right place to get some good advise and hopefully people here can help you to find a suitable trainer in your area.

 

[Crowley]

There are pros and cons, as always, to the idea of scuba diving intros.

The obvious point of an intro is to get people interested in being underwater in a safe environment and hope to progress to a certifcation course. Happiness for the diver and business for the dive centre. Many people are just interested in the experience in the same way that in Thailand you might book an Elephant ride - something great to do on holiday. Many people are already intrigued and interested because they watched the Discovery Channel and want to be sure if they like it before committing several hundred dollars to training and books and equipment.

Intro divers are clearly not expected to have perfect buoyancy, neither are they necessarily required to learn it, in that an intro dive might be an instructor towing you around a pool or shallow reef for 20 minutes whilst looking after everything else on the customer's behalf. It has to be said that this is often abused by dive centres in resort locations as an easy way to make money. Many people in my location treat it as a "test drive" - if you're going to buy your first car it would be nice to take it for a spin first, right?

As with Rob in Utila, my dive centre requires me to have physical contact with the "intro" at all times. And equalization techiniques and signals to indicate problems are very clearly and repeatedly explained.

Equalisation and buoyancy problems can be overcome with training (of course) so don't let that put you off. The big question has to be did you enjoy being underwater with the fish and the coral? I should also point out that on an intro dive it is likely you were overweighted by the instructor - it's easier for the instructor to keep an overweighted person off the bottom than it is to keep an underweighted person from floating to the surface, assuming the instructor has to hold onto the intro diver at all times.

There are many reasons people find it difficult to equalise. Some are pyschosomatic - people are afraid and therefore can't - and some are physiological. The various tubes and pipes in the ears and sinuses are subject to all sorts of vagaries including malformed eustachian tubes, polyp growth in the sinus cavities, excessive mucus production, prior infection scars, etc. etc. Most can be corrected with minor surgery if necessary.

Perhaps try another intro in a different location. Perhaps see a doctor and get your head x-rayed. Don't let it put you off diving - but if it turns out diving is not for you, then so be it, it's not for everyone.

Good luck and safe diving.

C.

 

[boulderjohn]

When I started diving, equalization was a very serious problem for me. In my OW class, everyone had to wait for me to descend on every dive. I was really feeling the peer pressure, but I had the good sense not to let peer pressure push me into a painful descent and subsequent ear surgery.

I have had some sinus problems my whole life, and that was the issue. It was so bad an instructor even told me that I may have to reconsider diving altogether.

Believe it or not, I got a great tip from a Blue Book travel booklet for Cozumel, which said the time to start equalizing on a dive trip is before you get there. Following that advice, I started practicing equalizing around the home, in the car, on the plane--whenever I thought of it. When I arrived at a dive destination, I would immediately go snorkeling and practice equalizing as I dived as deeply as I could, going repeatedly deeper and deeper.That helped get me ready for the dives that started the next day.

Soon I found that things were not so bad, and I especially learned that on a dive vacation it got better day by day. The second day was not so tough as the first, and the from the third day on things went pretty well.

Today I have no trouble whatsoever. That is not because I have learned some magical secret. It is because I dive a lot, so my ears are experienced and are ready to go at the slightest change of pressure. I barely have to make any effort at all to equalize.

Finally, as others have said, in terms of buoyancy and equalizing, you will never have it any harder than in the first 15 feet of the dive, the depth of a typical pool. It all gets easier as you get deeper. When I was at my worst in terms of equalizing, I found that once I was able to equalize in the 15-20 foot region, I was usually pretty good for the rest of the dive, no matter how deep I went.


EDIT: Oh, and, my original plan was to go on one vacation every other year.

 

[otterdive]

Equalisation is a skill in itself and is often unfamiliar to people.

Absolutely right! Unless you have some sort of physiological problem with your sinuses, or tubes, you should be able to learn to equalize. I hope you enjoyed the experience, or think you might in the future, to want to continue. Part of your responsibility is to ALWAYS let your instructor know how you feel. Diving should not hurt. Take it easy and you will be able to do it with some practice.