Newbie Ocean Diver

[sean03]

Hi All,

I am just about to start out on my Ocean Diver course & was wondering if anyone had any tips? I will be doing 2 theroy lessons first & then pool training & has anyone done the new theroy syllabus? if so what's it like & the exam?

Sorry if i post daft questions but would rather be safe

Have a good day

[Nickpicks]

Tips: Listen and learn. Pool training wise, take as much time as you need, even if that means spending a whole pool session getting a basic thing like mask clearing done right.

Our latest group of ODs did the new syllabus ( I think they were guinea pigs before it was on general release). They seemed happy with it and no one had any problems with the exam.

Exam wise, you should be fine if you listen and ask questions about anything you don't understand.

No worries about asking daft questions, although if you read around this forum, the answers are usually:

Get a mask that fits your face.
A drysuit (that fits) rather than a wetsuit.
Apeks ATX40/DS4.


and later on:
You need a rebreather.

Most importantly - have fun!

[sean03]

Cheers & thankyou for your reply, have read loads of tips about "newbie kit" so a little bit more won't hurt

[Wardy_uk]

I remember starting out like you, just over a year ago, and asking the same advice.

Best bit I got, was come up as many times as you go down....

[Gareth J]

Reinforcing the comment about pool practice.

In our climate, especially as we go into the winter.

It is MUCH easier, and MUCH more comfortable to learn, practice and master the skills in the pool, rather than wait until you move to open water.

1. The water is warmer!
2. The water is potentially clearer.
3. You have minimal equipment.
4. You have bare hands and face rather than gloves and a hood.

The intention is that you master the skills in sheltered water (the pool). THEN, you add kit, wetsuits/drysuits, gloves, hood etc. THEN you take a skill you ALREADY know and adapt to the new conditions, additional complications of gloves and hood etc.
(If you can between completing the pool lessons and moving to open water, practice the skills again in the pool with gloves and a hood.)

Gareth

[Tim Digger]

Pool time is Golden get as much as you can in water and do as many tasks as you can practice in the pool while hovering with neutral buoyancy, use a spell checker for Theory :-)

[MattS]

Hi All,

...was wondering if anyone had any tips?

1. Don't over-think it. My most oft repeated phrase while teaching practical lessons, "Deal with what is in front of you."

2. Courses are a beginning, not an ending. Learning to scuba dive is all about continual practice and refinement. Pool lessons teach just enough to start open water lessons with some semblance of safety. Open water lessons teach what you may achieve. You really learn to dive after the course finishes and you are with a buddy rather than an instructor.

3. Use your pool time to learn to do at least, "One skill well."

Practical skills can be split roughly in two:
i) "Arts" like buoyancy control, finning, awareness.
Despite the liberal use of the word "mastery", the arts take 100s of dives to develop, so don't worry too much about them just now - It all changes when you get to open water anyway.

ii) "Mechanicals" like mask clearing, DV retrieval.
The mechanicals are simple muscle action and co-ordination. If you pick a skill like mask clearing, repeat it 6 to 12 times a lesson, most people are able to progress from impossible, to smooth and instinctive, within 8 x 1hr pool sessions. When you get bored of getting this one skill right, that is for the good.

4. Always remember, you are not learning to dive in a swimming pool - You are in a swimming pool learning to dive.
Pool lessons are an important step but I am firmly of the opinion brand new divers can spend too long on pool lessons, especially when they start out this time of year. If you get too comfortable and start believing you are a masterful diver, based on long hours in a swimming pool, the transition to open water can comes as a shock which knocks back confidence.

I don't really have a 5 just some general advice. Diving is 2 parts confidence and 1 part ability. Ideally you always want to be moving forward. Don't be overly critical or frustrated by an apparent lack of progress. Some things will come easier than others but keep practising, keep refining, it will all come eventually. Don't be surprised to find 'eventually' can mean 100s of dives. Realise what you might do poorly but focus on what you do right.

5. Never forget you are doing this for enjoyment. Have fun.

[snowman]

Pool time is Golden

But beware if the water is!

M

[Edward3c]

5. Never forget you are doing this for enjoyment. Have fun.

That's the one to remember.

[Jay_Benson]

Hi Sean - welcome to TDF

Ask questions - both here and of your instructor. Better to ask and know than not ask and not know.

As regards kit - one of the things our club suggest is to talk to members about their diving set up and why they chose it. We often lend our kit to other members to try out as long as it gets looked after - no-one wants you to buy kit that you don't like when you get to use it (apart from shops).

Above all remember diving is supposed to be fun. There is a time investment but the learning should be fun - and challenging to an extent - but when you have qualified it gets better as you learn more - the learning never stops really.

[Turbanator]

Always preface a question to your instructor with, "I read on a forum..." or "It said on the internet...", because instructors really like that you've researched elsewhere 😂😂😂😂

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Darren A]

Always preface a question to your instructor with, "I read on a forum..." or "It said on the internet...", because instructors really like that you've researched elsewhere 😂😂😂😂

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Or even better - 'Tel said......'

[Vanny]

Almost like , I was advised to buy this at the dive show

[Tel]

Or even better - 'Tel said......'

Damn right That way you don't end up with a whole load of crap.

Tel says buy FA until you know if it's BS

[F.P.]

Don't be rushed in completing your practical skills...

Equally from yourself and your peers (other people in the training group).

A good instructor will not want to be doing any skill half well.
Yes you will move onto new skills all the time but you will also revisit every skill several times in your diving career...

I still like to check that I can clear a mask in the pool (and in open water!) after 40+ years of enjoying the sport.