SCUBA....your thoughts??

I wanted to open a thread about SCUBA....since I have not seen one yet on ATS.

I was "certified" back in 2004. I did the "POOL" skills, then went to Hawai[i for the final "OPEN WATER" Dive, and skills test...... (THAT is a whole other story....we did the [skills], on the bottom (at 60 feet)......but, unlike in the pool.....there was a "wave surge".....which wore me out!

(You who SCUBA will get it, I hope!!!)

This is embarrassing for me to reveal.....but when I did my "Open Water Certification"....I passed, but.....well, (I didn't "in my mind).

Well....I have revealed my innermost thoughts,,,,,


I have SUCH a huge fear of drowning.......I have LEARNED to fly (and well...been there, done THAT!!), I have taken ALL of the SCUBA lessons....and I KNOW the SCUBA skills....but still, even though I am perfectly at ease in an airplane....being underwater scares the CR$%P out of me!!!!

I WANT to SCUBA!!!.....(without fear).....I am just afraid....right now.....

I'm not SCUBA certified, but I do free dive for abalone off the California coast.
Drowning shouldn't be a large concern for you. Even at 60 ft. you should be able to make it back to the surface in 20 seconds or so.
If it makes you feel better, I always worry about finding a dead body while I'm diving. Not a rational fear, but that's it for me.
It should be running into sharks, but it's finding a dead body. Go figure

Originally posted by randomtangentsrme
I'm not SCUBA certified, but I do free dive for abalone off the California coast.
Drowning shouldn't be a large concern for you. Even at 60 ft. you should be able to make it back to the surface in 20 seconds or so.
If it makes you feel better, I always worry about finding a dead body while I'm diving. Not a rational fear, but that's it for me.
It should be running into sharks, but it's finding a dead body. Go figure

It's interesting you should say that, I have been scuba diving a couple of times and snorkling a massive number of times too, but as it happens I too, am more afraid of finding a dead body than anything else. Like you say, should be sharks and whatnot, but no, it's bodies.

Scuba diving scares the crap out of me because of when wearing a mask with limited field of view.

But,with My experience with it,I was in full gear with a friend who was training me,in a river that suddenly dropped 40 feet.
with alligators somewhere nearby and boats overhead.
Not a good experience.
Would probably enjoy it more in the open clear ocean .

reply to post by AtlantisX99


Oh good.
Next time my Dad gives me crap about it, I can tell him I'm not alone.

reply to post by ProudBird


Yup////I actually have a "weaknezz

OK!!!!

I af\mit it!!!

Am afrrad of DRWONINGQQQQ

OK?// I admit that fear

thank for making me realise its not just me then op

Originally posted by ProudBird
I wanted to open a thread about SCUBA....since I have not seen one yet on ATS.

I was "certified" back in 2004. I did the "POOL" skills, then went to Hawai[i for the final "OPEN WATER" Dive, and skills test...... (THAT is a whole other story....we did the [skills], on the bottom (at 60 feet)......but, unlike in the pool.....there was a "wave surge".....which wore me out!

(You who SCUBA will get it, I hope!!!)

This is embarrassing for me to reveal.....but when I did my "Open Water Certification"....I passed, but.....well, (I didn't "in my mind).

Well....I have revealed my innermost thoughts,,,,,


I have SUCH a huge fear of drowning.......I have LEARNED to fly (and well...been there, done THAT!!), I have taken ALL of the SCUBA lessons....and I KNOW the SCUBA skills....but still, even though I am perfectly at ease in an airplane....being underwater scares the CR$%P out of me!!!!

I WANT to SCUBA!!!.....(without fear).....I am just afraid....right now.....

Since you're a photographer why don't you take some pics of underwater things and post them here when you get the chance?

And when are you going to take up skydiving? Then you can really claim to have been there and done everything.

Just a note. Caps are so unDave.

reply to post by LilDudeissocool


The acronym "SCUBA" is for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.... (Might want to learn something, before accusing someone of using "all caps".....OK??)

OH and......read the DAMN OP (which you "quoted")......geeze......I mean, when did comprehension fail so BADLY!!???????

reply to post by gambon


Hey, and "hello".....gambon....

Did you, as well, find that being "Open Water Certified" meant that.....despite all of the training (which I GOT< clearly)....didn't prepare you for the actual open water dives???

ALL of the training was in a swimming pool (in my experience).

And, yeah....the "skills" demo was at about 35 feet...in the OPEN ocean. The thing is, the OCEAN has surges and currents....all things taught.....but......when you have to breathe through a regulator.....AND when you can't breathe faster (because of the regulator).....yeah, it gets a bit stressful.........

I need to DE-stress.....to enjoy the SCUBA experience more.......(I guess).......

Originally posted by ProudBird
reply to post by LilDudeissocool

 

The acronym "SCUBA" is for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.... (Might want to learn something, before accusing someone of using "all caps".....OK??)

OH and......read the DAMN OP (which you "quoted")......geeze......I mean, when did comprehension fail so BADLY!!???????

Gee-wizz is that the only thing you capped? I was not even talking about where you wrote SCUBA. I was simply giving some friendly advice about "words" you had written in caps.

As far as my said lack of comprehension in concerned we are all works in progress including you. Speaking for myself, I fail to understand what you think I didn't comprehend per se', but I don't give a rat's ---, so don't feel the need to explain, Just add it to the pile of my lack of comprehension skills you claim I lack.

,
Have a great day... .

reply to post by LilDudeissocool

Gee-wizz is that the only thing you capped?

Yeah.....it was.

Oh, and By The Way......oh, never-mind.......(Gee-Whiz) has an 'h' in it....(although, to YOUR credit.....it "varies").....

BACK to SCUBA!!

Any experiences to share???? (please)?????

I mean (intend) any UNDERWATER experiences?? (please)?????

I have an "Open Water" certification......do you??

If so, then we can proceed......oh and By The Way......I also am a certified pilot (please note other threads....)

(An ATP).....enough for you to know, if you know how to know (and the Internet is at your fingertips.....).....

Originally posted by ProudBird
reply to post by LilDudeissocool

 

Gee-wizz is that the only thing you capped?

Yeah.....it was.

Oh, and By The Way......oh, never-mind.......(Gee-Whiz) has an 'h' in it....(although, to YOUR credit.....it "varies").....

BACK to SCUBA!!

Any experiences to share???? (please)?????

I mean (intend) any UNDERWATER experiences?? (please)?????

I have an "Open Water" certification......do you??

If so, then we can proceed......oh and By The Way......I also am a certified pilot (please note other threads....)

(An ATP).....enough for you to know, if you know how to know (and the Internet is at your fingertips.....).....

edit on Mon 9 April 2012 by ProudBird because: (no reason given)

> "SUCH" "THAT" "I WANT" you to understand is that you did in fact use caps other than for acronyms.

> I appreciate the spelling lesson.

> No I am not a pilot. Btw I don't see the relevance to ant content. Why you even mentioned such a thing I have no idea except maybe you want to communicate you engage in many adventurous activities. I think that's cool. With that I just wanted to know if you ever considered skydiving if you do not already do so. I admire you doing so much in your life. That was the spirit from my end.

> I have taken dive lessons some years ago. No I didn't complete my certification process as some unexpected more important commitments arose at the time for me. Now that I have more leisure time to spare, I am thinking about going ahead with retaking, and this time completing, the training so to obtain my certification, but that's not why I posted.

I simply wondered through here as it sounded like an interesting thread and read through it. Thought I would say a hello to ya and move on. I offered some constructive criticism within what I consider a friendly post to you, and it appears to me now that I have offended you which was not my intent. Seems like you didn't want me to post anything period, so again, Have a nice day. Sorry I annoyed you.

Later

I love scuba,
Ive only been to Australian dive spots, ie Ningaloo and Great Barrier reef.
I've dived rotto quite a bit and also Albany and various ship wrecks.
One hiccup Ive had with scuba ( a self inflicted hiccup )

Me and a friend joined a group diving the HMAS Perth in Albany. Its in 35-45m of water.
It was a 3 day trip. So the first day we dived, it was awesome. That night we all went to dinner at a restaurant.
Me and my buddy bought a 2nd hand copy of trivial pursuit and found a couple of girls wanting to stay up, drink red wine and play the game.
Bonsai I thought.

So we played.. we drunk.. and before we realized it 3 bottles of red later it was 3am... CRAP! We had to be awake at 6am to board the bus for the boat for day 2.

Anyway, we go to bed... only for the alarm to wake us up 3hrs later.. woefully hungover and drunk.

on the bus, on the boat... it turned out to be a VERY choppy day.

Anyways im on the boat feeling very sorry for myself, the hangover, the sea sickness i can taste redwine in every burp it was horrible. Barely holding my stomach down i figured, once i hit that cold water ill be fine.
So we rig up, we dive in. Its so choppy, im taking in mouthfuls of water trying to get to the diving point..

3,2,1... DOWN!

we drop... 5, 10, 15m, 20m, 30m.. theres the ship.

... I believe it only took 3-4 minutes before the wine, the hangover the sea sickness and the salt water got the better of me. The entire contents of my stomach came up and out..

you try throwing up 30m down.

it went through my regs, all over my air hose.. meaning every breathe of oxygen i took in from then on was a bitter wine taste...

but i did manage to remove my regs a few times, which created this large red cloud around my head.

the fish though it was burley and came from all around to eat it.

yes.. it wasnt my best dive!

I've been certified since the mid-90's and I had a similar experience. I did my classroom testing in NJ and my open water certs on the Palancar reef off of Mexico. We did the entire exercise at about 40' and then proceeded the next day to regualr dives. There is nothing that prepares you for a 3 knot tidal surge as it pulls you down the reef front. I forgot we were in national park and went to grab onto a nearby rock only to have it open its mouth (it was a rock fish).

Since then I usually go diving each year and it is always a great experience. Then only think that makes it more enjoyable is getting more bottom time. Eventually you will not even realize you are underwater.

Do some more snorkeling first...then SCUBA should be a lot more comfortable. I haven't done SCUBA often (and not certified, though I'd like to at some point...basically did it when I was younger, with my father), but I do snorkel a lot in rivers and in the Caribbean when vacationing. The only difference is a bit more gear, and the weight of the tanks on your back. The biggest thing is to just do it with a group of people. That should allay any fears of something happening to you...as even if you got knocked up against something, they could get you to safety.

you try throwing up 30m down.

it went through my regs, all over my air hose.. meaning every breathe of oxygen i took in from then on was a bitter wine taste...

Oh, that is horrible! I'll bet it was like chumming the waters!

reply to post by Gazrok


At my certain "peril"LOL.....joking, of course>.....th4ere is a rather large difference between SCUBA training, and simple "snorkeling"....


IF you have the chance to do a full SCUBA excercise? Then, you would know.

(Setting aside a "snorkel" experience....here are a few REAL SCUBA training centers:

[url=http://www.padi.com/scuba/]PADI.com[/com]

(PADI Is the best course, to learn.....search for a local PADI-certified school near you)

Spend a few bucks, and decide it it is "right" for you> Only YOU can judge, for yourself.....,

SCUBA involves a bit more than "snorkeling"...although "snorkeling" can involve minor dips under the surface....You MUST (when 'snorkeling' still hold your breath).

SCUBA is, of course...."Self Contained Under-water Breathing Apparatus"......"SCUBA" IIf you do these skills, then you are "certified".....as in "certified".....doesn't mean I have conquered any primal "fears"!!!

A fear of "drowning" for one. BUT, I have no "fear" of flying.......this in important to understand......

Great to see a SCUBA thread.

I used to be big into surfing but I got older then I started scuba diving after taking courses in Honduras. I have dived all through Central America and one of my favorite spots is Bocas Del Toro in Panama for the reefs and affordability. I plan on getting my dive masters and possibly instructors soon. In a few years I may just buy a sailboat and start doing Scuba tours in that area as a crusty gringo but it’s still in planning stages.