Diving!

alexchern75

alexchern75

New member
Hey guys!
Just wondering how eveyone was doing.
I just finished my confined water dives at the Dolphin diving school this past weekend, it was awesome, except for a slight problem with having taken off my contacts and not giving myself time to adjust before trying the mask off swimming around the pool thing :P
I'm happy to say that once my eyes adjusted I was able to do it easily and later for extra credit I did it again with my eyes closed wich was a big deal since Im a little claustrophobic, I just concentrated on breathing slow and it worked like a charm :)

next weekend I'm doing the Monterey dive so I can get my certification, I am extremely excited, and nervous at the same time...do you experienced guys have any good advise?
anyone been certified recently?
what will I experience?
Is the confined water dive more difficult than the ocean one?
 
Hey Alex,

Congratulation! That is totally awesome. I was certified a few months ago - but went through all the certification class again because of Sierra.

Just a few thing. When you are in the ocean - you won't want to open your eyes. I have no problem opening my eyes in the pool - but in salt water, your eyes are really going to sting. I don't know how bad your vision is, but you may consider not wearing glasses. My eyes are -2.0 and I don't wear contacts when diving. Remember - everything is magnified underwater.

Regarding wetsuit - make sure you get wetsuits that fight tightly against you. If your wetsuit is loose fitting, you will definitely be cold. If you are going to Breakwater (Coast Guard Pier) - bring quarters with you. There are nice hot shower facilities.

If it's cold, bring some money to get a nice hot cup of hot chocolate at the deli on the pier. The deli on the pier also has a great deal on tri-tip sandwiches ($7). Last - drink a lot of juices or Gatorade the night before so that you are well hydrated. Also - in cold water, your calves are more likely to cramp up, so stretch them out well before going into the water.

Being nervous is perfectly normal. But if you just stay calm - it's going to be awesome!

BTW - Stacy, Sierra, and I are going to be at breakwater on Sunday. So we might run into you out there. Ryan and Arlan might be going as well.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask or give me a call.

Minh

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=964437
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=914615
 
Forgot to mention - if your wetsuit fits you well, you won't be that cold in the water when you are moving. When you got to the bottom and wait to do you skills, just dont' sit idle. You'll get cold. Instead, try to move around a little (trust me - it helps).

On the second dive day - your suit will probably be a little wet. Damp wetsuits aren't the easiest to get into. Bring yourself a bottle of baby shampoo. Go to the shower, turn on the hot water, lather yourself up, and you should slide into the dry suit. The hot water will also make it a lot more pleasant to get into vs getting into a cold damp wetsuit.

I don't know if you have already made hotel arrangement. But check into the Travelodge. They have a diver discount that is only $55 or $60 a night.

Last - on NOv 18th - 19th (my birthday) - a few of us will be diving Monterey. On Saturday - we are doing a boat dive. I don't know if you are going to be ready for that. However, if you want to join us on Sunday (or Saturday) - let me know.
 
awesome! Ill be the one looking seriously nervous :)
that is a great point about the contacts, my prescription is very slight so i may not use them either.
how is the visibility in monterey? usually
i dont think ill have much of a problem with the suit, the thing is pretty darn tight. Do you remember which of all of the skills U and Sierra had to perform? how deep was the practice site?
and what did she find easier, the pool or the ocean?
I got really comfortable in the pool, I just don't like the unkown.
I really appreciated the advice, I'm going to increase my water intake today so by next weekend ill be more water than air :P

Ok, so If I don't drown I'll be looking forward to going diving with you guys some more :). I hope to see some fish :)
 
Alex -

the depth is about 20 - 30 feet. When we were out there two weekends ago - the visibility was horrible - maybe 10 feet at most. Our instructor commented that that was probably one of the worst weekend he has seen out at Breakwater. However, I have been out there at other times, and visibility was 25 feet. Just remember that when all of you are down there, visibility is going to be pretty bad from all the students kicking up silt.

I believe you are going to do the same skills as those that were done in the pool. The pool is definitely easier than the ocean because you don't have the wetsuit, the gloves, and cold water. In addition, the visibility at the pool is MUCH better. One skill that will be different is removal of the mask. At Monterey, you're going to get a slight shock when the cold water hit your face. Also - putting the mask on is a little more difficult because of the hood and the mask skirt.

The only thing I didn't like was that they let the student descend using the float line. I found that that made it really hard to equalize and hold the inflator hose at the same time. When Sierra did her class, I made her descend without holding the line. The trick is to just let enough air out of your BC so that you start sinking. Then kick to control your descend. That way you can equalize with right hand while using your left hand to control the inflator. BTW - don't let all of the air out of your BCD. Chances are you will be overweight, so just let enough air out so that your start sinking.

If you want to see fish - the best place to do it is along the rockwall. If you're lucky, you'll probably see some sea lions zoom past you. If you're up to diving on Sunday after your class, let me know and we can take you out to the rockwall.

Last - I don't know how bad your sinus is. But I always take Flonase and sudaphed 12 hours (not the Sudaphed PE) on the day of my dives. The reason why is that it helps opens up my sinus - even if I am not having sinus problem that day. My wife does the same thing even though she doesn't have allergies, and she said it makes it easier for her to equalize.

I will be the guy in black neoprene (unless my drysuit comes in first). Oh - I will be driving a bluish green Acura MDX. If you see me, come on up and say hi.

BTW - who is your instructor? Also - it's perfectly normal to be nervous. Most students are nervous and do just fine!

Minh
 
Thanks Minh, snd bug. I his name is Richard something :) I'm pretty sure we'll be there with a silver mercedes suv, I dont think we are taking the car, so if you see that, then it might be us. I think seeing a friendly experienced face can only help.
Just the thought of not being able to see scares me a bit, so I have to spend all week visualizing calm deep breathing, and stuff. lol
 
Make sure there is no trapped air in your hood and/or put a little hole to let the air out. You will also find that eventually you'll need less weight for your wetsuite as you figure out how to controll your breathing and get trapped air out of your suite.

Have fun!!

PS The advanced courses are fun too. e.g. Night diving, zero viz navigation, recovery, boat-channel diving, etc.

Scott
 
They're not going to throw anything new at you, so just focus on your breathing. You're going to be pretty amped even without any anxiety. I found that counting slowly to four on the inhale and slowly to five on the exhale mellowed me out.
Have fun!
 
awesome!!!, I decided to do my own cold water training this evening, I waited till sunset and headed off to the pool...t-shirt, shorts, snorkle and fins....60 degree water. People must have thought I was out of my mind...so I swam and swam till I was warm enough to operate...did some mask clearing practice (not easy task while using a snorkle) I had to clear the mask and make sure that I had enough air to clear the snorkle, I also did a lot of eyes closed stuff to make myself comfortable about low visibility....I feel better. so I'll practice some more during this week. Wish I would have rented the BCD, regs, and tank for a whole week. oh well. this is better than just sitting here anxious all week :)
The 4 in 5 out advice was great, that relaxed me just sitting here...I'm going to be a counting fool this weekend, Thanks!
 
Hey Alex,

Nice to see more mars members get certified. I did my openwater dives at MacAbee beach in Monterey. My experience was fantastic. I was nervous too. We kicked out for what seemed like quite a ways. Then when it was my turn. I decended with a couple other guys. It was freaky because the vis was so so and I could not see the bottom on the way down. I wondered how far I would decend before hitting the ground. I just breathed and relaxed as best I could. Then came the huge suprise that has had me diving since then. (98') I hit the sandy bottom and felt like I was dropped into an alien world. Nowhere else on the planet will you be litterally surrounded with more life. Sea stars everywhere. Macro algae everywhere swaying in the surge. I will never forget the first fish I saw ever durring my first ocean dive. Senioritas. (almost like a wrase, slender and kinda long) Two of them were schooling near a rock outcropping right next to me. I instantly became so fascinated with the marine life I had to bring myself back to reallity and finish my check out dives. However, for me, being in the ocean for the first few times was some nervous experiences. It is indeed another world. An extreme unknown. The amazing experience felt like it was "the missing interest" in my life. What a great personal accomplishment it was for me. I hope you have a great dive. The vis was about 15'. Not TOO bad. The water is indeed cold but if your wet suit is tight, you will be fine. Us reefers have a huge running start to SCUBA that others dont. We come stock with an edge of understanding, facscination, and appreciation for marine life.

One last thing. I was having clearing trouble durring my pool dives. I learned to clear on every exhale of my decents even if I didnt really feel a sqeeze. If you wait for too much pressure to biuld on your ears before clearing you will not ba able to clear unless you accend. I didnt realize at first that there should bo NO discomfort in your ears while diving.! If there is, you are not "cleared".

I hope this helps!
 
When you have your wetsuit on, you're going to be much warmer in the 50F water than being in 60F water with just a t-shirt. The cold part will be when you get out of the water and a breeze is blowing. :D Don't forget to bring a towel to dry off. I also carry a thermos with hot water so that I can make hot chocolate (or hot tea) if the weather is really cold. But two weekends ago - the weather was quite warm when we exited the water.

People have given you great breathing exercise to relax. However, don't worry too much about burning through air on your OW checkout dive. You won't be underwater too long, so burning through your air won't be a problem.

Scott also reminded me of something you probably have not experienced yet. Some people find it a little more difficult to equalize with a hood on. I found that the easiest thing to do is occasionally pull the hood out to let some water into the hood.

Oh - also bring snack food for the surface interval. You will have about an hour to 1.5 hours between dives. Chances are that you'll be hungry, so bring snack food. A lot of people recommend banana because it helps with cramping (although I am not quite convinced it's true, but I still eat bananas before each dive).

BTW - bring your camera. There are quite a few sea lions on the pier right now, so you'll be able to get some great shot. Then later on, purchase a nice underwater housing for your camera. :D

Robertloop best summarizes what your first experience might be like. You're instructor will probably take you around for a little underwater tour. And if you catch me on Sunday, and you want to do a third dive in a day, I'd be more than happy to go with you.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8491649#post8491649 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefugee
Alex -

the depth is about 20 - 30 feet. When we were out there two weekends ago - the visibility was horrible - maybe 10 feet at most. Our instructor commented that that was probably one of the worst weekend he has seen out at Breakwater. However, I have been out there at other times, and visibility was 25 feet. Just remember that when all of you are down there, visibility is going to be pretty bad from all the students kicking up silt.

I believe you are going to do the same skills as those that were done in the pool. The pool is definitely easier than the ocean because you don't have the wetsuit, the gloves, and cold water. In addition, the visibility at the pool is MUCH better. One skill that will be different is removal of the mask. At Monterey, you're going to get a slight shock when the cold water hit your face. Also - putting the mask on is a little more difficult because of the hood and the mask skirt.

The only thing I didn't like was that they let the student descend using the float line. I found that that made it really hard to equalize and hold the inflator hose at the same time. When Sierra did her class, I made her descend without holding the line. The trick is to just let enough air out of your BC so that you start sinking. Then kick to control your descend. That way you can equalize with right hand while using your left hand to control the inflator. BTW - don't let all of the air out of your BCD. Chances are you will be overweight, so just let enough air out so that your start sinking.

If you want to see fish - the best place to do it is along the rockwall. If you're lucky, you'll probably see some sea lions zoom past you. If you're up to diving on Sunday after your class, let me know and we can take you out to the rockwall.

Last - I don't know how bad your sinus is. But I always take Flonase and sudaphed 12 hours (not the Sudaphed PE) on the day of my dives. The reason why is that it helps opens up my sinus - even if I am not having sinus problem that day. My wife does the same thing even though she doesn't have allergies, and she said it makes it easier for her to equalize.

I will be the guy in black neoprene (unless my drysuit comes in first). Oh - I will be driving a bluish green Acura MDX. If you see me, come on up and say hi.

BTW - who is your instructor? Also - it's perfectly normal to be nervous. Most students are nervous and do just fine!

Minh
Click to expand...

Your daughters DM allowed her not to use the rope? I wouldn't go around talking about that one, it's not to kosher amongst DM's and Instructors to do what they did ;)

I suprised the Instructor said that was the worst day he's ever seen at the BW. The BW is used when no otehr spot is divable, so many diver there in 3-5' vis :lol: IMO your instructor was simply lying to make the students not feel cheated :D I know we used to do stuff like that. "Your the best group we've ever had" kinda stuff :D
 
Hey Alex

I saw Minh's comment on salt water in the eyes. My experience has been that a little really stings but flooding your mask doesn't sting nearly so much. I think it has to do with the mix of air and salt water vs all salt water.

I don't know if any one covered this but you will find that for your first few dives you are going to need much more weight than is recommended. With a full wet suit on I'd guess your recommened weight is around 20 lbs. You'll probably need more like 30 to get down the first few dives. Most divers drop about 10 lbs off in their first 20 dives.

Carrying all that gear can be a pain. A trick I've seen a couple of people use is to attach their fins to the lowest "D" rings on their BC with those spring loaded clips you see at Home Depot for a buck or two. The cheap ones will rust out quickly but at a buck or two they are cheap to replace.

Have fun.
 
More good info, Thanks! I can't wait till Sat, I just want to do it now and bypass the week of waiting for the unknown :)
 
Man I wish i could be there. This Saturday is the last one I have to work for the next couple months. Be sure to update the thread when you get back! And be it known that we expect a full report! If nothing else you will have your dive log to look at.

It would be fun to set up a Monterey Express boat dive for MARS members! Or even a simple shore dive monterey trip. I know a few great spots. That would be so much fun.
 
Robert - I was thinking about a MARS dive at Pt. Lobos would be awesome. The only thing with Pt. Lobos is that we have to plan the dive way in advance (2+ months) since they limit it to only 15 pairs (30 people) per day.

The only time of the year I probably won't dive is around April through late June due to allergies. :P
 
I've been there once. One of the best dives. We were there when alot of jellies washed in. Then we saw a mola mola. (ocean sunfish)

I'm on board for that idea. I will take off work if needed. Your right about the booking though. Some times they are booked, sometimes not. If I remember right we can check the website.

Ok. That's two for point lobos so far!! Its an easy dive too. New commers welcome. :)
 
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