Things I learned in first 20 dives

[Insta-Gator]

The boat bungie cord that holds the geared up tank in place goes on AFTER your regulator !

Don't hold any grudges with boat crew that was a bit stern with you, they probably
needed to be at that point !

Too funny. Been there, done that.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Will you have service though out in the ocean? Depending obviously on where you are diving.

If you had watched the beginning of Hawaii 5-O a few weeks ago you would have seen a mom ignoring her daughter because mom was on her cell phone, while they were on a submarine tour!

Seriously, you will not get service while in an Atlantis Submarine looking at the YO-257 wreck, but there is service from the surface of the ocean at nearly all popular dive sites in the State of Hawaii. :cool2:

 

[Jason3213]

Calming yourself on the way to a dive sites helps your dive.


after a couple days it didnt matter as much but this was key to an awesome week of diving and will always be on the top of my prep list. Thanks Tess

 

[Tessunderwater]

after a couple days it didnt matter as much but this was key to an awesome week of diving and will always be on the top of my prep list. Thanks Tess

No problem, the more I dive the more i seem to learn and while I was bouncing off the walls excited to go dive, I did have to teach myself to get into zen mode.

 

[Bogie]

No burritos before a dive.

 

[Antarctic-Adventurer]

There are some great points to remember in this thread.

The most important lesson I learnt in my first 20 dives was to double check that your SPG returns to 0 with an empty tank BEFORE you dive with it. On one of my first few dives I ran out of air with 30 bar "remaining" at 15 metres in a strong current. 30 was the new 0. Luckily I had paid attention to the 'keep your buddy at arm's length' mantra on my OW course because I needed him!

 

[Crush]

Unless you are diving very cold water and the ambient temperature is near freezing, it is always a good idea to take one final, sharp inhalation on your regulator while looking at your pressure gauge just before you jump in. Of course you checked that your tank valve was fully open before you put it on your BCD. Of course you did a buddy check, and your buddy would have caught it. Of course leaving your tank off is an amateur mistake. But if not, while standing at the edge of the boat you can quietly ask the boat hand to open your tank and later slip them a fiver for being quiet about it.

A lift wing full of air before you jump will also help in the above case.

 

[Crush]

If you are used to ascending on a line, practice your blue water ascents.

If you are used to blue water ascents, practice looking up as you ascend on a line. The surface may still be 40 feet away, but kicking fins or a tank may be only inches from your head.

 

[drdaddy]

Ky-Buck,
I just wanted to thank you. I really enjoyed reading your list and thinking about them "in action".
Though I must tell you - I still dive wet in water in the upper 40s (49 degrees F yesterday), so I didn't fully understand the drysuit comments.
Thank you again, you gave me something to do while waiting for the "grandbaby" to await before going back to the living room.

 

[myscubastory.com]

You defo have a learnt a lot - and you seem to retain things ! thats not the case for most dive students!


Regards,