43 replies to this topic

[uwfan]

And tech divers, and cave divers, and wreck divers, etc., etc., etc.

I know you all are out there...I was reminded of it last night when someone told me I had essentially already "drank the Koolaid"....

What made you decide to train beyond an advanced open water level? Was it a specific type of diving you wanted to do? Did a change in where you live require a different type of diving? What do/did a more advanced level of diving let you do, or was there a fear or phobia you wanted to overcome?

I was so excited about diving when I first started, but had limited funds so I did one trip and waited another year before I knew I'd be able to afford another trip. I thought perhaps I might dive the (then) Texas lakes and mudholes but barely made it through PADI's Advanced Open Water for several reasons - I was cold in the water, my wetsuit floated my legs like corks, and navigating in near 0 vis freaked me out. I went on another Cozy dive after the course, but was convinced (then) that I was a warm water wuss. Now...well, I'm not so sure... funds are different, I live at a higher altitude, and am thinking about working on those fears. I think I might want to take an altitude specialty, but that would mean learning dry suit (warmth is my FRIEND), and what about those caves and wrecks and things really deep???

So give me some of your thoughts, why'd you do it? What did advanced training let you do or help you overcome?

[BubbleBoy]

Good question.

For me it was mostly a need to refresh and upgrade my skills to meet the conditions we often dive in the northeast.

Up here, it's mostly about wreck diving in relatively deep, dark, cold water. Specialty training in deep, wreck, night, and drysuit skills is important.

I also think its just a good idea to take a training course once in a while, whether you think you need it or not. Many of the advanced courses also revisit and reinforce basic skills too.

Edited by BubbleBoy, 10 September 2008 - 06:43 AM.

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

I am seriously considering limited vis class, only because that is the only type of local diving available. Still don't understand the purpose of diving if you can't see anything, but I guess the class will teach me "why"! I just need to find a way to dive in between my trips to far-away clear, warm waters.

[shadragon]

I just realized that I didn't know enough to be confident in my abilities. I took my AOW within a few weeks of my OW and followed that up with a Deep Diver course soon after. With training came the confidence. Then I went onto Rescue as I was told it was the best course to take (and it is IMHO). I was not truly comfortable in the water until dive #60 or so. The remainder of my courses were for aspects of diving I wanted to pursue like Wreck, Night, Solo, etc.

[WreckWench]

I am seriously considering limited vis class, only because that is the only type of local diving available. Still don't understand the purpose of diving if you can't see anything, but I guess the class will teach me "why"! I just need to find a way to dive in between my trips to far-away clear, warm waters.

SEEING is a relative term. Even in low or limited vis you can see the macro (small) stuff. Of course this skill is PERFECT for diving the Cooper River in SC looking for prehistoric shark teeth, fossils and artifacts!

[PerroneFord]

I never took AOW.

[WreckWench]

I never took AOW.

But you did take fundies and other tech classes.

[bottomtime]

location, springs, n caves
location, rivers, swift n dark
location, north florida
location, saltwater 1 hr east or west
to enjoy,all locations and do it safely

a diver should always be learning as well as ?????

the babes

[PerroneFord]

But you did take fundies and other tech classes.

True, but Fundies wouldn't even quality for AOW. Basic buoyancy, fin kicks, gas management, air sharing, max depth 30ft.

Adv. Nitrox was a bit different.

[WreckWench]

But you did take fundies and other tech classes.

True, but Fundies wouldn't even quality for AOW. Basic buoyancy, fin kicks, gas management, air sharing, max depth 30ft.

Adv. Nitrox was a bit different.

However it is additional training and for many advanced training. I think that was the purpose of her question...why you took add'l and/or advanced training? And I believe in your case it was to dive caves and be a better diver.

[uwfan]

But you did take fundies and other tech classes.

True, but Fundies wouldn't even quality for AOW. Basic buoyancy, fin kicks, gas management, air sharing, max depth 30ft.

Adv. Nitrox was a bit different.

However it is additional training and for many advanced training. I think that was the purpose of her question...why you took add'l and/or advanced training? And I believe in your case it was to dive caves and be a better diver.

Yep, that's why I asked - what kind of caves/ cave systems are in your area? What did those additional trainings do for your diving and what kinds of environments can you dive now that you couldn't before? Would love names of caves or places you dive too...exploring just what might or might not make me ....go to the DARK side!!

[georoc01]

For me, I took my AOW when I did because my gf at the time was doing her OW class and figured I might as well take a class that weekend too. It was kind of an eye opener of how little I knew about diving.

So after that, I decided to finish the specialties off to get more bottom time with my instructor. Added dry suit after freezing in Lake Tahoe in the middle of July.

Then what I really needed to do was get some dives under my belt with an experienced diver. This is where the rent a buddy program with single divers kicked in. Spending a week working on bouyancy and breathing really accelerated my skills. Doing 22 dives in a week on a liveaboard really helped too.

So my goals for this year were to get over 100 dives and do my rescue class. For $50 more with my LDS, I did it as Ultimate rescue, which included the DAN O2 classes, Hazardous Marine Life, and AED course.

While we were in Bonaire this year, we were talking about what our next dream trip would be. Truk came up as the next once in a lifetime trip. We talked about it some more during the North Carolina trip as OTW Diver was teaching his students. Doing online research on this trip, the boat supports tec diving so it just makes sense that this would be the next extension of my training.

So my first step was to get a BP/Wing & doubles. Now once I get that configured and comfortable diving them, the next step will be to take the tec classes prior to the trip in January 2011 (Hopefully!).

[PerroneFord]

Yep, that's why I asked - what kind of caves/ cave systems are in your area? What did those additional trainings do for your diving and what kinds of environments can you dive now that you couldn't before? Would love names of caves or places you dive too...exploring just what might or might not make me ....go to the DARK side!!

North Florida is home to the deepest, and most extensive cave systems in the world. The only 2 longer cave systems are in Mexcio, and they run at less than 1/3 the depth. My additional training allowed me to no t suck so bad in the water. I was a terrible diver, and I am marginally better now. Because so much of the local diving is spring/cavern/cave based, it made sense for me to pursue the certs so that I could dive locally, without having to drive past all this stuff to dive OW sites.

Some of the places I dive:

Morrison Springs (OW/Cavern)
Vortex Springs (on very rare occasion) (OW/Cavern/Cave)
Jackson Blue (cavern/cave)
Madison Blue (Cavern/Cave)
Wakulla (Cavern/Cave... DEEP in many instances)
Peacock Springs (OW/Cavern/Cave)
Ginnie Springs (OW/Cavern... Cave onsite but I hate it.)
Manatee Springs (OW, Cavern/Cave)
Oriskany (Worlds largest Aircraft Carrier... ~220ft to the bottom)
Panama City (OW, Wrecks)

All of these sites are 40-120 minutes away from my house.

I would not recommend that anyone pursue overhead or decompression diving. It's dangerous, hugely expensive, and excessively demanding. The unprepared die regularly trying to do these dives and mistakes can cost you big time. If you MUST pursue this type of diving to see the things you want to see, proceed with extreme caution, get the best training you can get, buy the best gear you can afford, and keep your wits about you. Not trying to scare anyone, just offering a dose of reality to those who see this type of training as an "extension" to their OW specialty training. You'll spend more time unlearning the stuff you learned in OW than anything else.

Hard lesson #1: The surface does NOT exist. There is no CESA, there is no ascent to escape trouble. Underwater problems MUST be solved underwater.
Hard lesson #2: There is no such thing as a buddy. There is team, and there is solo. I can count on one hand the solo guys I know who've survived more than 10 years.

I wish I got enjoyment out of the shallow reef dives that most people seem to enjoy. The advantages are numerous.

[VADiver]

For me the decision was easy…I wanted to look at all the cool broken things on the bottom; unfortunately all the wrecks I wanted to dive were beyond my training and experience. Once I decided where I wanted to go with my diving I began to look into classes that would take me there.

I took my AOW, NITROX and rescue but these were not the classes I needed for the diving I wanted to do. Or, more appropriately, the classes didn’t give me the comfort level or any new skills I needed to undertake the kind of diving I wanted to do. There was something lacking.

I began to look into more advanced diving classes and ended up taking a diving fundamentals course that made me really look at and evaluate my then current skill-set and decide how I wanted to proceed. Since then I have take courses to build upon that initial training, but as Perrone alluded to, it’s a long, expensive road. But, in the end there is no other way to go if you want quality training to prepare you for the deeper longer dives where there is no direct exit to the surface.

As for dry suit and scooter training—those courses/training dives were taken once I decided I needed a dry suit to safely complete some of the dives I wanted to hit. But then that’s the gear route and out of the realm of this thread.

Bottom line—you need to personally decide where you want to go with your diving. If you feel pressured to by your buddies to go beyond your comfort level, find a new group of divers—they aren’t safe. But one you decide to pursue the more advanced dives, take it slow and develop your skills. As I said it’s not a race to the finish, but a wonderful journey.

Good luck with whatever path you decide to take.

Vinny