What to Consider as a New Student to Diving?

[perdidochas]

i want to be a dive instructor. do i have to go to a commercial dive school? also i talked to the director at a commercial school and he tried to discourage me from attending said commercial diving is not for woman. is this true?

A dive instructor goes through an Instructor Development Course, not commercial dive school. Commercial diving is basically underwater construction. It is extremely rough physically and requires a lot of muscle strength.

 

[Shark3000]

My wife and I took lessons (she 58), and got a mouthfull of water while performing her first open water dive. SHE WAS DONE. Our instructor was a young go-getter that lacked the finese when dealing with an older apprehensive woman.
Returned and got a 60yr old female instructor who was patient, and took her at a slower pace. SUCCESS.
Remember, that you aren't joining the Marine Corp. Make it a fun experience. Learn at your own speed. BREATHING UNDER WATER IS NOT NATURAL>

Yes diving is for everyone, you did the right thing! You did not give up and tried again with the right person.
I hope your testimony will help others in similar situations. Sometimes a beginner course planned in a short time due to short stay on holiday could give too much pressure.
During all the courses I gave it happened a few times that some students regardless of their age or sex needed a little more time to get rid of a fear to achieve an exercise. Some extra time (sometimes 1 to 1 after the lesson) always solved the problem. So if the tight schedule, the logistic or the instructor is not able to give you this extra time do like "retired's" wife and give yourself another chance to enjoy your new passion.
I am sure you now are enjoying your new hobby and I wish you lots of good dives and fun!

 

[waveriderj]

Morning/afternoon/night everyone,

I'm a resident of the Seattle area and have considered diving as a hobby for a long time. I am looking for quality information on what kind of gear a newbie like me needs to purchase, where the best deal would be and how much does it cost to start this!!

I think personal finances and taking care of the family (I'm a husband w/2 daughters), are what have kept me from looking for more reasons to spend money.. but I'm an active guy looking to live a full life and I think it's time to do something new that I have not yet done.

Feel free to e-mail me as well at waveriderj @ gmail dot com

Cheers!

 

[ligersandtions]

Morning/afternoon/night everyone,

I'm a resident of the Seattle area and have considered diving as a hobby for a long time. I am looking for quality information on what kind of gear a newbie like me needs to purchase, where the best deal would be and how much does it cost to start this!!

I think personal finances and taking care of the family (I'm a husband w/2 daughters), are what have kept me from looking for more reasons to spend money.. but I'm an active guy looking to live a full life and I think it's time to do something new that I have not yet done.

Feel free to e-mail me as well at Cheers!

My best advice for you would be to check out the PNW subforum and talk to people on there regarding best instructor, appropriate gear, future dive buddies, etc. There are A LOT of active divers in Seattle....they will be able to point you in the right direction, hopefully helping you to buy the right set of gear the first time around and getting you set up with a great instructor!

 

[rstofer]

Morning/afternoon/night everyone,

I'm a resident of the Seattle area and have considered diving as a hobby for a long time. I am looking for quality information on what kind of gear a newbie like me needs to purchase, where the best deal would be and how much does it cost to start this!!

Cheers!

It is quite common during OW training to rent equipment. The only things you need to provide are: mask, snorkel, fins, booties and a couple of other small items. These are known as your personal equipment and can cost from about $100 to somewhat over $300 depending on manufacturer and model. Check your LDS for 'package' deals.

Although there is often a mad rush to buy equipment immediately after certification, ask your LDS or instructor about renting the gear you don't own. This way, you can buy in bits and pieces over a long period of time.

My instructor told me, before I ever started, SCUBA Diving is an equipment intensive sport. And good equipment costs a lot of money.

There have been other threads in other subforums of this site that have tackled the order in which to buy gear. There are differing opinions, of course, but considering where you live, you might want to get the drysuit first. You MIGHT be able to get by with a decent wetsuit for a while but everyone from your area that posts here seems to be using a drysuit.

Anyway, my suggestion is to rent what you must in order to get started diving. But, by all means, get started!

Richard

 

[Redhawk]

And get your wife & daughters involved, great family sport! The really expensive equipment can be rented until you can afford to purchase, it can also be purchased in stages so you can realy end up with the equipment that suits your needs.

 

[randallflynns]

Just to know whether he has the passion for driving or not.

 

[mistyeyed]

Thank you so much for this information. I am new to diving, but want to learn more. This has been very helpful!

Mistyeyed

Check out Viscape.com.

Write a destination review, and you could win a trip to Belize or Key West!

 

[Air On]

just curious, is this still possible w/modern tanks? i mean, isn't the pressure of the air being released from the tank pretty high? i thought that the purpose of the first stage and the reg was to reduce the pressure of the air to a level where the diver could breathe it w/o damaging his lungs, etc.?

Yes you can... the point of breathing through your teeth from the bubble stream, NOT directly off the tank so the pressure isn't an issue. Its not much differnt then the free flow reg, accept its a lot more bubbles to suck from.

You can turn the valve down too, its not an all or nothing valve on the tanks.

Thats not really the point though, if you pratice something more difficult, then what you accutaly face will be easier... or at least more farmiliar of a solution.

 

[publicsafetyinstr]

My wife and I took lessons (she 58), and got a mouthfull of water while performing her first openwater dive. SHE WAS DONE. Our instructor was a young go-getter that lacked the finese when dealing with an older apprehensive woman.
Returned and got a 60yr old female instructor who was patient, and took her at a slower pace. SUCCESS.
Remember, that you aren't joining the Marine Corp. Make it a fun experience. Learn at your own speed. BREATHING UNDER WATER IS NOT NATURAL>

So, was this your way of EDUCATING or warning? I am curious, did you speak with the instructor - or did you head to the shop to get your Older instructor?This seems to be a very passive/aggressive post. No offense.

I do wish you both "great diving". I also hope you are treated as well or like this at some point. Thank You.