worst experience or feeling?

[Subaqua]

Reading the other posts about accident and diving, that question came to me : What are your worst experience or feeling while diving and how did you manage to solve the problem?

I'm still a newbie and except for a little bit of anxiety during my first dives, I did not have (fortunately) to solve problem under water. I just think that your experiences could benefit to others, and who knows, maybe help them if the same thing happens to them.

[scubasavvy]

Mmm...dry mouth has been the worst thing that has happened to me thus far. In more experienced divers, you wouldn't think this causes much of a problem, but with a new diver it could get pretty interesting. I had dry mouth and started to cough with my reg, which just dried out my mouth even more. It was pretty funny now that I think about it...

[ScubaGir1]

During my open water I became so cold I stopped moving. I held on to the base of some giant kelp (we were in the kelp forest). I was becoming so tired and shivering so bad. But after a little longer, I wasn't feeling the cold anymore The instructor came over to me and spun be around so fast it scared me. He looked me in the eyes for a few seconds and signaled me to get out. I got out on the boat, and sat on the deck for awhile, and then fell asleep for about 3 hours.

My problem was not realizing how cold I had become, and not telling anyone how bad it had gotten for me. NOW, I know my limits and dive with a hooded vest. The hooded vest has been by far the best investment so far!!

[jo8243]

For many people the answer might be "Panic Attack". DAN magazine had a long article on phobias recently.

[Black-Gorrilla]

worst thing i've had to deal with, was a crappy buddy, and having to deal with some jelllie fish on the way to the boat, and since i dive in shorts and a rash guard only, i had to be cautios to not get stung.

[thesmoothdome]

I've been in a few sketchy situations, but even then never had a "bad feeling." No matter how bad or stressful the situation was, I just relied on my training and my instincts to do the right thing.

The worst experience I ever had was the night I made my first dry suit dive and over inflated it at 100 feet only to find myself on the surface about 20 seconds later. Not smart from start to finish, but even then there was no sense of panic or worry. Weird. I know.

[wxboy911]

The worst feeling for me so far is getting motion sick while on my first boat dive in the Gulf of Mexico. The boat ride was awful but I did manage to dive which worked out great because there are no waves on the bottom.

[Kokomo]

During my second checkout dive I couldn't clear my ears and it hurt really bad. My nose even started bleeding. I took some Sudafed before the next dive and things were much better.

[diverdad]

My worst experience was my discover scuba dive. I did real well in the pool nice boat ride out to the dive spot. I back rolled out of the boat and started to descend. I make it down 15 to 20 feet before i really looked down when i did i got a bad case of vertigo and started to panic. Well needless to say that my dive was over. Talk about being upset i was mad at myself for not being able to go though this dive. It just made me more determined to get certified.

[bversteegh]

Throwing up under water. I went through about 2 years of getting sick underwater fairly regularly - maybe 2 or 3 times in a week of diving (never on the boat). Tried everything; and even considered giving up diving.

Finally decided it was my regulator breathing just a little wet - really too little to notice (which I had serviced several times over this period - techs always said it was OK). Finally realized I always got sick at the end of longer dives - and it had to be buildup of salt water over a dive. Finally wised up and bought a new regulator, hasn't happened since.