Very nervous about "deep" dives

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diver84

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First: please remember that depth is all relative to a new diver

My wife and I have each been active snorkelers for our entire lives. While on vacation in Aruba this past summer, I decided to take the next step and I took a resort course. The dive was simple and we basically sat down at 30 feet for about 20 minutes and then went back up. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I want both of us to get certified before our next tropical vacation.

What my wife and I really want to get out of this is simply the ability to do very shallow dives (15'-30') that will allow us to see more of the reef than we would at the surface. Neither of us has much interest in diving to deeper wrecks, wall dives, etc. As I read more about PADI certification, it appears that the instructor can take you down to 60 feet and have you perform all the skills at that depth. I'm a little nervous about doing skills at that depth (hey, it's all relative), as I'm afraid that I'll panic and do something stupid. I was perfectly calm during my resort course, but I had stayed within reasonable distance of the surface, which provided a (possibly silly) peace of mind. I'm very aware that some of the biggest risks are from 0-30' depth, but I'm more concerned that I will panic when I get too far from the surface.

Do you think scuba is for me?
 
First off, take a look at this article: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ng/287780-how-find-excellent-scuba-class.html

Secondly, a new open water diver will be certified to dive to a depth up to 60'. Most of your training will occur much shallower. Initial training is done in a pool. Once you've shown proficiency in there, you will move on to what is called "confined open water" for your final checkout dives.

Read the article and talk to the instructor about your concerns. Finding a good teacher and having them evaluate you will be much more informative than a bunch of us guessing here on the board.
 
First: please remember that depth is all relative to a new diver

My wife and I have each been active snorkelers for our entire lives. While on vacation in Aruba this past summer, I decided to take the next step and I took a resort course. The dive was simple and we basically sat down at 30 feet for about 20 minutes and then went back up. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I want both of us to get certified before our next tropical vacation.

What my wife and I really want to get out of this is simply the ability to do very shallow dives (15'-30') that will allow us to see more of the reef than we would at the surface. Neither of us has much interest in diving to deeper wrecks, wall dives, etc. As I read more about PADI certification, it appears that the instructor can take you down to 60 feet and have you perform all the skills at that depth. I'm a little nervous about doing skills at that depth (hey, it's all relative), as I'm afraid that I'll panic and do something stupid. I was perfectly calm during my resort course, but I had stayed within reasonable distance of the surface, which provided a (possibly silly) peace of mind. I'm very aware that some of the biggest risks are from 0-30' depth, but I'm more concerned that I will panic when I get too far from the surface.

Do you think scuba is for me?

Maybe, maybe not. Like anything else increased goals with regard to speed, heights and our case depths are accomplished with proper training utilizing progressive methedology whereas the goal desired is accomplished on an incremental basis. As you mentioned, you were perfectly calm during your limited diving in shalower depths so I would say you have a much better chance of taking to the sport including diving deeper depths than the average guy off the street with no experience what so ever taking a open water scuba course. After certification I highly recomend continuing with your training (advanced open water, nitrox, etc in order to gain further knowledge and experience making you much more comfortable diving at any depths. Lasty, keep active with Scubaboard as reading about other's mishaps, bad experiences including deaths along with the playing out of countless what if senarios will make you a much better, safer and more comfortable diver. One last point, I highly recomend reading the book Diver Down by Michael Ange which covers the sport in general and includes many post diving accident evaluations with the thought in mind for the reader to avoid similar such mistakes. He is active on Scubaboard (just posted today on industry related discussions). Good luck! Scott :wink:
 
I certainly think scuba is for both you and your wife and to calm you down you are not alone, there are plenty of new divers (me included) who prefer to stay in the shallow waters less than 50’ and enjoy the rich coral reefs at shallow depth i.e. 5 to 12meter (15 to 40&#8217:wink:.
I got certified this year and did my open water skills at 6 to 10meter depth. Upon completion of my open water certification I received a questionnaire from padi which indicated that the open water skills must be completed at a minimum depth of (only) 5meter.
Maybe you should discuss your concern about doing skills at depth to your instructor.
Hope that helps and good luck to both of you.
 
You are feeling Normal Anxieties, Go and try it in an Open water class, I think you will find it fun, and I know that I don't take my Open water students deeper then 20-30 feet, and I think most Instructors do the same.

Most New divers don't go running off to 60 feet and they should Not, You work your way into that Depth and only if you feel comfortable doing so, Go and talk to your Local dive shop Instructor and see what he/she is willing to do for you!

If you talk to an Instructor that won't meet your needs , Go on to another one, You will find an Instructor that will work with you on your terms/Needs and that way you can progress at your own comfort level!

If I can be of any assistance, Please feel free to contact me Via PM, And I will do everything I can to point you into the Right Direction!
 
There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing only shallow reef dives. It's your sport, do what you want.
 
Thanks Doc... So well put, and true to the fact!

Thanks. This is a great sport no matter what you do. I can spend 2 hours in 20 feet of water with my nose buried in the sand and have a good time. It's a great sport no matter how you look at it.
 
First: please remember that depth is all relative to a new diver

My wife and I have each been active snorkelers for our entire lives. While on vacation in Aruba this past summer, I decided to take the next step and I took a resort course. The dive was simple and we basically sat down at 30 feet for about 20 minutes and then went back up. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I want both of us to get certified before our next tropical vacation.

What my wife and I really want to get out of this is simply the ability to do very shallow dives (15'-30') that will allow us to see more of the reef than we would at the surface. Neither of us has much interest in diving to deeper wrecks, wall dives, etc. As I read more about PADI certification, it appears that the instructor can take you down to 60 feet and have you perform all the skills at that depth. I'm a little nervous about doing skills at that depth (hey, it's all relative), as I'm afraid that I'll panic and do something stupid. I was perfectly calm during my resort course, but I had stayed within reasonable distance of the surface, which provided a (possibly silly) peace of mind. I'm very aware that some of the biggest risks are from 0-30' depth, but I'm more concerned that I will panic when I get too far from the surface.

Do you think scuba is for me?


I would think it unlikely that they would require you to perform the skills at that depth due to the increased risk if something did go wrong.

As others have stated you will be asked to perform the skills satisfactorily in the pool and then progress to open water and redo the skills.
I have never heard of anyone being required to perform the skills at depth in OW certification, from memory on my OW it was done at around 20 feet, so you wont be thrown in at the deep end so to speak.

The only way to know for sure if SCUBA is for you is to give it a try, I think it would be a fairly safe bet that you would be fine and become another one of the many addicts that hang out on this forum.

Happy Diving :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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