I would love to start with a nice shore dive - but where we live the water is about the color of chocolate milk until you get offshore - sometimes 15 miles or so, sometimes farther.
Found a post several years old here on the forum talking about a 1st saltwater dive - 4 new divers, 2 master divers went out in the Gulf to do a rig dive - apparently it was rough due to a hurricane somewhere in the Gulf - really, and they went anyway? Apparently her (?) mask dislodged when she jumped in and she used up quite a bit of air because of nerves - so ended up running out on the safety stop - then got "banged up" trying to get back in the boat (due to hurricane induced waves) - but apparently she thought this was a "normal" dive. I would seriously question the judgment of anyone who went out into the Gulf while a hurricane was out there churning the water up - but to take four new divers out in that? did they just feel they couldn't cancel because these people had paid for a dive trip? I think I'd rather go without a master diver if they do things like that