View of "deep" and "scary" changing over time?

[JahJahwarrior]

Curious to know how other diver's view of what is deep and what is scary have changed over time, as you got more dives in.

Personally, I breezed through my OW class and was perfectly comfortable going to almost 140 feet in a dark, craphole of a dive with something like 25 or 30 dives under my belt, most of which were to depths of deeper than 60 feet.

However, I recently observed my girlfriend go through her OW class, with a completely different experience. She struggled greatly with task loading, though she managed all of the skills except mask removal without an issue. She eventually got over the mask removal fears, to the extent that she passed the class.

However, I want to be very careful to not push her past her personal limits when I take her diving. She was certified in a place with pretty bad vis for a spring, so I think the clearer water will help put her at ease. I would like to help her become more comfortable with her mask. She also thought that the 20 foot depths they reached in class were "very deep." Problem is, most springs go deeper, to 60 feet or beyond.

That is why I want to know how quickly people became acclimated to the underwater environment, stopped being scared of it, and began to be comfortable going deeper than 20 feet. Hopefully, that will help me to make her diving experiences comfortable, rather than nerve wracking.

[Flatliner]

THE BEST thing you can do is take it WAY slower with her than you think you need to. She is most likely doing it for you which is OK. Learn to enjoy short easy dives and let her drive the development.

[Splitlip]

Hey JahJah.

Interesting post.

I was certified in my teens in the 70's. Nothing and I mean noithing underwater caused me anxt. Although I saw it in friends when I turned them on. Through most of my 30's my diving was limited to vintage equipment dives <25 ft. in the Keys where I would only don my gear to un-rock a Grouper or clean out a honey hole. Solo.

In my 40's when I jumped back in full bore, I would sometimes get anxious and stressed deep and low vis if a 3rd issue or task was added. (Computer crapping out, blown off the reef, lost buddy, buddy issues etc. ) It probably took 25 dives of tuning myself up before I was aware that the ghost was gone. I solo now about 25% of the time.

I say make sure her weight is right (I am sure you are already there, LOL) and just keep working with her. The 25 dives I am talking about can't be spread out like a tourist diver.

Good luck. She has a capable mentor.

[in_cavediver]

Diving screwed up my whole sense of deep. Prior to diving - 20ft was deep. Now, I don't bat an eye at 120'.

When I want a reality check - I look at the taller building around town and think about looking down from the top. Then I realize that I have been deeper than that.

As for comfort - I doubt depth has much to do with it. If someone is thinking 10-20ft is really deep, that tells me they are not comfortable in diving, thier skills or thier equipment. Working on those aspects should cure the 'deep' issues.

[comet24]

Never really thought of any dives as deep in a scary since. I understand the depth and deep when it comes to gas planing but that's about it. Never really been scared in the water but then I spend my younger years growing up in the water swimming competitively and working as a lifeguard during college. Now sometimes in a tight spot in a dark wreck with bad vis. something will brush a leg and my mind will try to play tricks on me. That's not a depth thing because it can happen at 70' as well as 170'.

[JahJahwarrior]

Good feedback, thanks guys!

Working with classes on my way to becoming an instructor has really opened my eyes to things. I just figured everyone would dive as easily as I did...and I've found that to be completely wrong. I've seen some people who amaze me with their comfort underwater, and other people who are virtual trainwrecks with scuba gear on. My girlfriend is somewhere in the middle... She seems to enjoy diving, she might be lying but I don't think she is doing this for me. She wants to work with wildlife and I think the highlight of her year would be watching turtles underwater, or something like a whale shark. She seems to look forwards to that sort of stuff.

I think you are right, as she becomes comfortable with the gear, she'll feel more comfortable no matter what the depth. In class, I had her using a "tech" rig--BP/W, 7' hose, bungeed backup, etc. The instructor insisted on teaching her like she was using a BC though: making her share air through the bungeed backup, for example. He also made me remove the crotch strap, rather than teach her to remove and replace the equipment with the crotch strap added in. For the first day of diving with the crotch strap, I watched and even at the surface I could tell her rig was much more secure than the other divers, no tanks hitting the head here! Second day, when the instructor made me remove the strap, she complained that the rig seemed more difficult, and watching on the surface, it was all over the place compared to a BP/W witha crotch strap. As I am working towards my instructor rating, I would have been in the water with her, but the class was held at a site which limits the class size, and we hit the limit, so I was stuck on the shore.

One huge difference between the class and when we dive: I'll obey the thumb. In classes, I've noticed instructors try to keep students from going ot the surface. I see the point of this:it's a hassle having a student or two give the thumb in the middle of a lesson. But, I think it stresses students to know that they will be scolded for going to the surface if they feel uncomfortable. Personally, my overhead training has me dedicated to turning a dive whenever there is a thumb. So, if she feels uncomfortable, she knows she can turn the dive and I won't give her any grief about it.

I felt really bad about how uncomfortable she seemed in some of the class. Once she managed the drills and was just swimming around for the last dive, she seemed to be having a blast though, huge smile on her face. I'm confident she'll come around. I don't expect her to follow in my footsteps, I just want her to feel comfortable in normal, OW diving situations, so her dreams of seeing turtles and whalesharks can come true, and she will be able to enjoy the moment to the fullest.

Her weighting is not perfect, but we'll work on that. I've found in OW classes, I prefer myself to be overweighted. If I'm neutral, staying on my knees to do drills with students is hard. I think she could lose a few pounds on the belt, but that is one of those things I can't fix until I'm in the water with her. I gave it a lot of thought and tried to get her close enough to properly weighted that she would sink without difficulty, but not be significantly overweighted.

[Splitlip]

Nah. I think the deep thing is the right side of my brain telling me I am in another realm. I know I can swim from ~60ft, so I am still on terra. >60 I don't know. I can swim a couple laps with a full breath, but I "know" when my reg fails, my lungs will be empty.

Originally Posted by in_cavediver

Diving screwed up my whole sense of deep. Prior to diving - 20ft was deep. Now, I don't bat an eye at 120'.

When I want a reality check - I look at the taller building around town and think about looking down from the top. Then I realize that I have been deeper than that.

As for comfort - I doubt depth has much to do with it. If someone is thinking 10-20ft is really deep, that tells me they are not comfortable in diving, thier skills or thier equipment. Working on those aspects should cure the 'deep' issues.

[Jack Hammer]

IME depth isnt always depth and scary is relevant. What I mean by that is not the literal sense of depth but how deep it actually feels in relation to the environment. My open water class was held in less than 10' of vis and the water temps were in the mid 60's (actually pretty warm for around here). Two people panicked and one refused to break the surface. I sucked it up and went down and completed the class. I've had better and Ive had worse dives since.

Saturday I made a dive to 120' feet with 45' vis and 59* water temps with penetration that actually felt shallower and less scary than dives I've made to 20' with 6' of vis and 46* water temps and no penetration. I dove that same wreck to 120' in May in 37* water with 70' vis and it felt a lot deeper scary than it did a few days ago. Clearer warmer water doesn't compare equally to colder murkier water. Like I said, deep and scary are fairly relevant to a lot of things (and I didn't even bring up experience - which can make it more scary or less scary depending on whether you are even aware of dangers).

[Tassie Diver]

It's all relative. Cold and dark will always be "scarier" than warm and bright.

But I think deep is getting deeper. It might be just my perception, but with rec getting more tech, depth limits related to training levels seem to be viewed more as challenges than recommended maxima?

[jugglematt]

i have noted a number of new divers with very good boyancy ,underwater skills and good air consumption .

for me when it changes is when some of these divers are put into an unusual or stressfull situation , the air consumption can drop and it all goes pear shaped , what ive learned is even if divers look very competent when things go ok they may loose it when things go pear shaped .

IMO its best to stretch the boundaries a bit at a time with new divers , to allow them to stretch their comfort level and not freak them out. and there is no compensation for hours unedrwater , getting experence diving and lots of it , will help make new divers more stable.

im fairly un flap able underwater but there have been situations where i was upset or scared underwater, most of the time im able to slow down and think through the problems but when i couldn't do that it was great to have a good buddy there with me to help me out.


thinking through your problems is the goal , when people stop thinking and just react that's scarey
Matt