What to expect on a checkout dive?

[vladimir]

2) the (usually) first dive on an organized trip or series of dives with an operator. In this case, the dive is to make sure all of the equipment is working, properly adjusted, that your weight gets dialed in etc. For the dive leaders it's also a good opportunity to see the level of the group and to get early eyes on potential problems.

R..

Rob (and some others) is correct; in this context it is an opportunity for you to identify any equipment issues and dial in buoyancy, and for the dive operator to assess your comfort in the water and with your equipment, and your control of your buoyancy. In my experience, there has been no overt demonstration of skills required (although that is not always the case). Checkout dives are often conducted in a shallow sandy area to minimize risk to the divers and to the environment.

For divers like me, who often go months between dives, they are a welcome opportunity to shake the rust off--don't view it as a test, or anything to stress over. But there's really no downside to practicing clearing your mask and recovering your regulator, is there?

 

[Tigerman]

Rob (and some others) is correct; in this context it is an opportunity for you to identify any equipment issues and dial in buoyancy, and for the dive operator to assess your comfort in the water and with your equipment, and your control of your buoyancy. In my experience, there has been no overt demonstration of skills required (although that is not always the case). Checkout dives are often conducted in a shallow sandy area to minimize risk to the divers and to the environment.

For divers like me, who often go months between dives, they are a welcome opportunity to shake the rust off--don't view it as a test, or anything to stress over. But there's really no downside to practicing clearing your mask and recovering your regulator, is there?

I have seen people demonstrating skills, but only a few out of the divers on the checkout (Some locations require ALL divers to do checkout dives the first day) and they did not seem to be picked out by random. DM/Instructors who do checkout dives maybe 3-4 times get good at identifying people they should give more attention than the rest.

 

[TSandM]

I think it's easy to get a negative view of "checkout" dives. But I'm glad of them. I appreciate being put in the water in a very benign site, after a long journey, to make sure all my gear is working properly and that I am weighted properly for what are often different tanks and different salinity from what I have at home.

 

[PatW]

I have to do my first resort checkout this December at cocoview. No one in our group will have any trouble as we all have great trim/ buoyancy... But what happens to folks that do the checkout and are horrible? They have paid to dive already and are abroad... Do resorts limit where these divers are allowed to dive, or do they just not let them dive without a DM?

I was at cocoview this year and as a first time visitor, we did a check out dive. It had several purposes. First off we had a short orientation lecture. The lecture was primarily about their boats and the dive sites right off of cocoview. Apparently, there are limited ways to make a landing which I was not aware of in reading the web site. They took us out and we swam by the Prince Albert went to Newman's Wall then over to Cocoview Wall and back to the resort. We had to show elementary skills whilst doing it. One guy managed to burn through his whole tank about 2/3 through which was impressive.

I think they pretty much flag the people who are marginal and give their dive masters and boat crews a heads up. I also think they suggest that these people get properly weighted and some other things.

I suppose that it is possible to be denied diving privileges but I would think anyone who is denied is obviously a menace to themselves and others. Also, the dive shop has good teachers and they can probably get anyone but the terminally inept up to at least passable skill levels.

 

[Juardis]

Thanks all, very helpful. I did my OW certification dives yesterday (passed by the way) so I knew what to expect doing those. What I was asking about was what happens at a resort and what a checkout dive means in that context. We're going to Sandals St. Lucia in a month and they require a checkout dive. I've tried repeatedly to talk to the dive shop but haven't been able to successfully connect with them yet. But the replies here more or less confirm what my initial thoughts were when it comes to checkout dives at a resort.

FWIW, I'll be insisting the DM watch me and my wife closely and ask for easy/benign dive sites for our week there. OW certified does not mean OW competent.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

FWIW, I'll be insisting the DM watch me and my wife closely and ask for easy/benign dive sites for our week there. OW certified does not mean OW competent.

I'm going to disagree with this statement. If you, as a certified OW diver, do not feel capable of planning and safely executing a dive within the guidelines of your certification, then your training is flawed. That is, in part, what being certified means.

That does not mean your bouyancy and trim will be perfect. Nor does it mean that you're an expert. That requires experience and more training. Asking DMs and other experienced divers for tips and pointers is one thing. Asking them to keep an eye on you because you don't feel competent to execute the dive is a good sign that you should not be on that dive.

 

[vladimir]

I'm going to disagree with this statement. If you, as a certified OW diver, do not feel capable of planning and safely executing a dive within the guidelines of your certification, then your training is flawed. That is, in part, what being certified means.

Yeah, well, his training probably is flawed. But I'd rather say sub-optimal. It sounds better, and it also recognizes the reality that he's probably not going to lure Thalassamania out of retirement to get 24 dives and 100 hours of training in to prepare for his trip to Sandals Saint Lucia.

Asking them to keep an eye on your because you don't feel competent to execute the dive is a good sign that you should not be on that dive.

I'd be more concerned if he was highly confident in his abilities after his short course and 4 checkout dives. I think it's a good idea to request easy dives. I also think it's a good strategy to share any concerns he may have with the dive staff at the resort. Relying on the dive staff to keep him safe--that's a bad idea.

 

[Juardis]

I'm going to disagree with this statement. If you, as a certified OW diver, do not feel capable of planning and safely executing a dive within the guidelines of your certification, then your training is flawed. That is, in part, what being certified means.

That does not mean your bouyancy and trim will be perfect. Nor does it mean that you're an expert. That requires experience and more training. Asking DMs and other experienced divers for tips and pointers is one thing. Asking them to keep an eye on you because you don't feel competent to execute the dive is a good sign that you should not be on that dive.

Thanks Dirty-Dog, I appreciate your point of view. No, really, I do. My first salt water dive, not knowing what to expect, having missed a safety stop in my first OW certification dive all lead to doubts. I don't know what I don't know. So I want a DM to keep an eye on me and provide feedback when I get back to the surface on things I need to do to get better, not to keep me from killing myself . And I want easy/benign because, as I said, I don't know what I don't know.

 

[TSandM]

Juardis, I think you have a very good attitude. Not only are you a new diver, but the conditions where you will be diving will be different from the ones where you got certified. It's a very good idea to emphasize to the dive op that you are very new and would like some pretty benign and relatively shallow dives to begin with. There is a lot of fun stuff to see in shallow water in the Caribbean!

Hopefully, you will find, as you do a few dives on your trip, that your confidence improves. But I think it's a rare OW graduate who feels ready to charge out and take on the world. (And I'd worry about one who did!)

 

[Searcaigh]

For me the check out dive after traveling a few thousand miles by air to some new location is welcomed too in that I can double check my gear is working after traveling, plus if allowed it gives me an opportunity to check my camera gear is also functioning correctly.

The Instructor or DM should be assessing primarily buoyancy however on my recent trip to Sipadan we had one diver that was totally new and had no clue about buoyancy and IMHO should not have been allowed to dive at Sipadan until after having some further instruction.