Did My First Scuba Diving Today

[Laurie_S]

We had our first pool session today in my scuba diving class. I had a lot of problems with buoyancy at first, either popping to the surface or going over sideways. The instructors kept adding weights and moving them around and finally got me steady. My biggest problem is getting used to the bubbles coming out in front of me from the regulator. I don't know why, but it bothers me. But, it was fun and I'm going back tomorrow for the written test and another pool session.

[GrabberOrange69]

Thats awesome - Birthday present?

I've always wanted to SCUBA, but have only snorkled in Hawaii and Guam. Where are you going to do the "real" SCUBA?

[aslan]

That is so cool! I wonder if the bouyancy problem is related to your hip replacement? LOL
Stan

[Laurie_S]

Originally Posted by GrabberOrange69

Thats awesome - Birthday present?

I've always wanted to SCUBA, but have only snorkled in Hawaii and Guam. Where are you going to do the "real" SCUBA?

I'm going to San Carlos, Mexico over Thanksgiving and could get as many as seven dives. I'll be certified down there and then have some fun dives, including a night dive.

[Laurie_S]

Originally Posted by aslan

That is so cool! I wonder if the bouyancy problem is related to your hip replacement? LOL
Stan

You know, I thought about that when I started turning over to the left, but then I flipped back over to the right. The weights weren't in the right place, plus the buoyance compensator wasn't snug enough. I'll get it yet.

[71Boss351]

Laurie,
My son and I certified about 10 years ago....I haven't gotten to dive as much as I would like, but it is a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have.
Rich

[trialsguy]

Its tricky at first getting everything lined out with the weights and the BC. It changes all over if you plan on using a wet suit or a shorty suit that adds buoyancy to you. Make sure you are clear on exactly how much weight you are using and write it down in your dive log what your dive equipment consist of for that dive. This will save you some surface time once you get down on your trip. Once you get a few dives under your belt you will know what weights will be needed for what suit you are wearing and wont have to refer to your dive log. Have you had to remove your mask underwater and then put it back on and clear it? My wife had a little bit of trouble with this until the instructor told her to focus on her breathing first then a use her dive buddy for a visual reference making her keep her eyes open, she would pull her mask of then close her eyes and hold her breath even though she had the regulator in her mouth. Piece of cake though once she relaxed and focused on what she was doing. Relax and have some fun, its a blast.

[Laurie_S]

Yes, we had to take our masks off today and clear them. I wear contacts, so I had to keep my eyes closed, which made it harder. We also practiced sharing air and losing our regulator. I have my own equipment now and am diving with a a 3 mil suit which was very comfortable. The head instructor and another student were freezing, so it was interesting to see our differences. Hopefully, tomorrow it will go easier.

[trialsguy]

Ah heck you got it made then. Have you taken off your tank and bc in the pool yet? For some reason I struggled with that, I kept getting tangled up with the spare air regulator when I flipped it up over my head putting it back on.

I hadnt considered the contact challenge will you have to worry about them at deeper depths? I cant remember if any of the people that we dove with had contacts, There was one guy that had prescription lens built into his mask

[Laurie_S]

I passed the written test this morning, and will headed to the pool shortly to do more work. My eye doctor gave me a bunch of soft contact lenses to use when I dive. My own gas permeable are fine also, since they gas off, but they're a lot more expensive to lose since they are bifocal contacts. We haven't taken off the tank yet, but we did practice sharing air yesterday. That went well for me.

[09Frank65]

Laurie,

Did my certification dives last weekend. What a blast!

On the down side - I popped blood vessels in my inner ear on both sides and now the inner ears are filled with blood. I had a head cold that I thought I was over. Never felt a thing except some minor pressure where I had to go up a couple of feet, clear and then continue down.

I have to go see an ENT guy on Tuesday to tell me if there was some other reason for it and whether I'll be able to dive again.

Figures. After diving "unofficially" for 20 years I blow out my ears getting certified.

[Maxum96]

Congrats Laurie! It takes a little while to get used to wearing scuba gear and being underwater. But after a while you feel comfortable. I've been diving for over 26 years, but my wife just got certified last year before our trip to Mexico. She did the same as you. Book and pool work here, checkout dives in Mexico. I went with her on her checkout dives. I saw more animal life on those dives than I'd ever seen before! Here's a picture of her first dive after being certified. It was taken in Cozumel.

[Laurie_S]

The pool session was great today, I now feel very comfortable with everything. The funny thing is what got me over the hurdle was when we had to swim the length of the pool underwater without a mask. All three of us wear contacts so we had to keep our eyes closed and feel our way with the tile stripes. Once I couldn't see the exhaust bubbles, I was fine. One of the other students said he had the same problem. The exhaust doesn't bother me anymore now. So far, my ears have been good, so hopefully I won't have problems with them.

We head down to San Carlos on Thursday to do our open water portion of the class.

[Maxum96]

Have fun! You'll be spoiled diving down there.

[trialsguy]

So cool, we plan on getting my daughter certified, she is old enough to do the youth certification now... Now I am very interested to hear about you multifocal contact lens but I will start a new thread