My Diving Experiences

Wasn't quite sure where to put this topic, but since it's sort of relationship related, this was as good as anything. :)

My possible new beau is an avid scuba diver. I did some googling and it was interesting reading. He's actually a recently certified dry suit diver. Anyway, I thought I'd do some reading since it's a big interest of his. He's not said anything that he would like me to try it yet (sort of early for that), but I've got one heck of a strong fear of deep water. I don't like being in water deeper than I can stand in with my head out of the water. I can swim, but learned as a teenager. Come to think of it, I'm fine on boats and other floaty things on the Great Lakes. It's swimming pools that seem to trigger the fear, now that I think about it. Anyway, I've come a lot of blogs and such online from people who used learning to scuba dive as a way of conquering their fear.

The other issue is a strange one. I have an extremely strong gag reflex. I have to have an empty stomach (other than water or tea) when I have a dentist appointment. A couple of years they did impressions for something and my breakfast of cereal and milk came up, all over me. The heaving didn't stop until my stomach was empty and beyond. I'm wondering if the mouthpiece (regulator?) used in scuba diving would set off my gag reflex. I have a "flipper" from the dentist to cover a missing tooth (needs an implant and they are thousands of dollars). The flipper covers a good portion of the roof of my mouth. It hits the spot towards the back of the roof of my mouth that triggers my gag reflex. I can't wear it, as a result.

Any ideas or thoughts? Thanks!

Go take a look at the mouthpiece of the regulator - it doesn't go into your mouth much at all. You hold it in place with your teeth, and only a teeny bit extends past the area of the tooth.

There is no way I would do scuba diving. I would be perfectly happy snorkeling, though, and you can see a fair bit snorkeling.

I've never done snorkeling either. I've never been to the tropical places I associate with snorkeling. I don't think there's much snorkeling done on the Great Lakes! ;)

Thanks, Bae. I've not seen one in person yet so I couldn't tell much from pictures.

Just cause he likes something doesn't mean you have to. That's as silly as saying he should give up scuba cause it makes you gag.

You are two separate people who can have two separate groups of interests.

This is, I'm convinced, why my husband and I are still happy after 35 years of marriage. We don't do everything together. In fact he's taking two vacations this year without me. It's to places I don't want to go. Doesn't mean he can't.

It is early days for this, but good for you to want to explore his likes/interests.

My son is a dive instructor. If you get a good one, they can work with you to overcome any fears. Here in Florida, most all the lessons are done in swimming pools, then the check out dive is done in open water (frequently lakes, fresh water springs or the ocean). If a pool is a problem but a lake is not, again a good instructor should accommodate.

Hubby has a strong gag reflex, too. He has cut off the "ears" of his snorkel and regulator. You must then ensure you hold them in place with your lips - not a very secure placement, but doable.

Also, what tammy said. ...

And:

I don't dive, but am happy to be the spotter who stays on the boat and makes sure everyone is ok.

I grew up on a lake but don't like to be under water very far. I attribute that to my older brother holding me under against my will and feeling like I was drowning. so I know just what you mean about that. My sister had the gag reflex you mention so could not wear top dentures and had to get all implants.

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Originally Posted by Tammy

Just cause he likes something doesn't mean you have to. That's as silly as saying he should give up scuba cause it makes you gag.

You are two separate people who can have two separate groups of interests.

This is, I'm convinced, why my husband and I are still happy after 35 years of marriage. We don't do everything together. In fact he's taking two vacations this year without me. It's to places I don't want to go. Doesn't mean he can't.

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I didn't said I had to do it. However, even if nothing happens, I've learned something new from my research. I enjoy learning new things. So maybe the guy and I get together, and he wants to keep the diving hobby with himself and his buddies. That's fine, I'm got my own stuff. But if he asked if I was interested, I can say I've done research and yes or no on whether I want to try it or not. I could also talk halfway intelligently about it.

He was talking about diving at lunch on Saturday and mentioned having to ascend slowly. "Yes, to prevent the bends" I commented. He looked surprised and said I know my stuff. I had been really into the space program when I was in school and did a lot of reading on it. There seems to be some information crossover between diving and the space program.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

I grew up on a lake but don't like to be under water very far. I attribute that to my older brother holding me under against my will and feeling like I was drowning. so I know just what you mean about that. My sister had the gag reflex you mention so could not wear top dentures and had to get all implants.

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I learned to swim as a teenager via a class at the Y. The regular parks and rec dept swim lessons when I was 5 or 6 just didn't "take" for some reason. Anyway, in the Y class, at the end of the first class meeting, they literally pushed you off the low diving board into the deep end. An instructor was down below with a bunch of kick boards floating around to grab onto. I think that's what got my fear going, more than anything else. Plus, I remember seeing a 20/20 story 25+ years ago about pool drains that had too much suction and would rip out the insides of kids who sat on them (there's wasn't an auto shut down on the system like has to exist now). Stupid thing, but it freaked me out. Still kind of does. Pools don't have these kinds of drains anymore, regulations don't allow them, but dang, why that has stayed with me all this time, I have no clue. Lakes (I've never been on the ocean, just stuck my toes in the Atlantic last year) don't have drains. ;)

Well that's just abuse. You'd think the Y would know better. Wow.

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Originally Posted by Tammy

Well that's just abuse. You'd think the Y would know better. Wow.

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This was about 1982 or so.

Somewhere else I hang out online, that has a number of divers, suggested I check out a "Discover Scuba" class offered by a lot of dive shops. It's about an hour and you just get introduced to the basics, how you breathe underwater, etc. Might be something to check out just for the experience of it.

I'm signed up for a Discover Scuba course in a couple of weeks. It's done in a pool. I'm actually really looking forward to it and excited to try it. My guy is very excited I'm trying this. I simply told him his talk about it piqued my interest, I did research, and decided to try it. He's great at answering questions. So who knows what will happen once I try it. At worst, I've tried something new. At best, I have another hobby! :)

Sounds like fun and that you are ready for a new adventure.

Yay!

Intro class is tomorrow evening (got rescheduled from original date). I'm so looking forward to it. I'll have the instructor to myself. :)

As someone who almost drowned at age 20 because I didn't know how to deal with an undertow in the ocean I also now have a fear of open water (I'm fine with pools) that didn't exist before. I have, however, done 2 intro to Scuba classes/dives while on vacation in a couple of tropical locations and have really enjoyed it. I know everyone is different but for me about 2 minutes after I get under the water I totally forget about it because there's so much to see.

Good luck and hope you have fun tomorrow!

Took me about 20 minutes to get the underwater breathing thing down, and a bit more to get the buoyancy thing down, but once I did, I was cruising around the pool. They had to kick me out! I'm signing up for the certification class on Saturday! I'm glad I did the Discover Scuba class first, so I could get a taste of it, without being thrown into the deep end (so to speak) in the open water class (the certification class). The first pool day of an OW class was going on at the same time. There was a woman, a little older than me, so early 50s, taking the OW class with her husband. She was really scared. What really frightened her was the thought of going in the deep end and having to stay down, not being able to come up when she wanted. So, she was sent over to the instructor doing my Discover Scuba class. It was nice to have a buddy. She had the mask clearing down cold and I sort of stink at it.

We stayed in the shallow end (no deeper than 5'), which was fine with me. When I got near the drop off for the deep end, it was almost like staring into the abyss! I have to admit I was somewhat scared at first, but I got over it.

Sounds like a good class and program that really meets people where they are and takes them slowly to enjoyment of scuba. Good!

Signed up for my certification class today, combined with dry suit cert. Doing the online learning option, with a 3 hour classroom review of digital learning. This and the pool dives will be done by the end of this month. Check out dives are mid-September (Sat & Sun, 2 each day) with the dry suit dive also done the Sunday of that weekend. There's a BBQ the shop does after the OW dives are done on the Sunday of that weekend.

The check out dives are at a local quarry, about 90 minutes south of Chicago. I'll be certified in time to do the underwater pumpkin carving at the quarry if I want to. Sounds like fun!

Forgot to mention, the first couple of times I had the regulator in my mouth, I *did* start gagging. But I figured out where to place it and then it didn't happen.

When I was at the dive shop yesterday, the husband of the frightened woman was there, turning in her rental gear. She had decided not to continue on with the class.

I'm working on my online work for the open water cert this week (classroom review is next Monday) and reading the dry suit book and doing the test for that, as well. I ended up buying the book for the dry suit cert, as it's just easier. We need to print out everything from the OW online learning and when you figure in printer ink and paper, having the book is nicer.

I hadn't read this thread before as no knowledge of scuba diving, but I decided to check it out today.
I had a very similar experience with boyfriend. He has a motorcycle and I'm really phobic about speed and most things with physical danger, so I never thought I'd get on the motorcycle with him.
But we decided to start really slow and give it a shot. He was really sensitive to my fears and we researched it (he hadn't had a passenger before either) and very slowly got me accustomed to it, and I ended up liking it a lot, even considering getting my own bike eventually. We still have only gone to 90 k/hr (max speed limit where we lived before) so I'm nervous about 110k/hr that is the limit here, but hopefully I'll get used to that too.

Anyhow, moral is it's great when a new person encourages us to or just gives us a reason to get out of our comfort zone and we gain a new experience because of it.

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Originally Posted by Kestra

I hadn't read this thread before as no knowledge of scuba diving, but I decided to check it out today.
I had a very similar experience with boyfriend. He has a motorcycle and I'm really phobic about speed and most things with physical danger, so I never thought I'd get on the motorcycle with him.
But we decided to start really slow and give it a shot. He was really sensitive to my fears and we researched it (he hadn't had a passenger before either) and very slowly got me accustomed to it, and I ended up liking it a lot, even considering getting my own bike eventually. We still have only gone to 90 k/hr (max speed limit where we lived before) so I'm nervous about 110k/hr that is the limit here, but hopefully I'll get used to that too.

Anyhow, moral is it's great when a new person encourages us to or just gives us a reason to get out of our comfort zone and we gain a new experience because of it.

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Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself now! I'd not get on a motorcycle, for the sole reason of other drivers acting stupid around them.

It's interesting how many older women have told me they had wanted to try diving when they were younger, but never did or chickened out.

My guy friend is super excited that I'm getting into diving. He said it's fun for him, too, seeing my enthusiasm. :)

I had my classroom session and pool work this week. So much fun! But a lot of work, too. Definitely a stretch for me, but in a good way.

You have to do a 200 meter regular swim or 300 meters with mask, snorkel, and fins. Thought latter would be easier as it's all legs. Wrong! Couldn't get comfortable with breathing through snorkel and it meant I had to look down into the water - deep end fears. Aborted that after half a length and did regular swim. Dang near did me in. I was the slowest. Apologized to the other 3 in class for holding them up. Instructor did it with me. Urging me on, but also I think he wanted to make sure I didn't drown! I did it mainly on my back, no back stroke, just kicking and moving my hands to push me through the water. When instructor asked what the problem was, I told him about deep end fears.

But I was totally fine underwater in the deep end. Sat on the bottom in 12 feet of water and just chilled! :). I was near a drain, too (they had low square plastic covers over drains with a solid top and small slits in the sides, so nothing scary about them.

A couple of the skills caused me issues, but with a little extra attention from the instructors and I got through it.

Actual cert dives at the local quarry are in about 3 weeks.

Tradd,that is amazing progress, you are going after ths thing!

As for the gagging issue, I bought my own regulator set and had it fitted with a smaller mouthpiece. No more gagging.

You are making it work for you! It is wonderful to hear that you are succeeding in overcoming your fears and letting others know what is possible.

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Originally Posted by Tradd

As for the gagging issue, I bought my own regulator set and had it fitted with a smaller mouthpiece. No more gagging.

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I sure wish we had a "like" button! Nice job, Tradd !

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Originally Posted by lmerullo

I sure wish we had a "like" button! Nice job, Tradd !

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:cool::D

Thank you! This is a huge personal accomplishment for me, in much the same way passing the customs broker license exam and getting my license was. But this is it in a different way, because I stared some fears in the face. The gal instructor asked me yesterday what I was going to do in the quarry when I was looking at jumping in where the depth was 20 feet. I told her that since it's not a pool, I don't have issues. She was amazed I had no issues underwater, but that the issues were all on the surface.

Certification dives are this weekend!

I've teamed up with someone local off a diving forum to go diving the 24th and I'm doing a Lake Michigan dive on either the 25th or the following weekend (my guy friend is doing the Lake Michigan charter with me! :)). Not far off Hammond, IN, there are a number of wrecks in shallow water, just perfect for newbies.

That's terrific, I know you'll do well. I had no idea there were that many wrecks that a new diver could go check out.

Well, my cert dives were supposed to be last weekend, but I only got 1 of 5 done.

Saturday was a perfect storm of discombobulation. I slept badly, got to the quarry to encounter a long check in line, and then was behind in getting my gear set up. Visibility was very bad, arms length. Lot of divers churning things up, plus there was a lot of rain the night before. I was unable to get comfortable in the water. Tried to descend with group on Dive 1, but it wasn't happening. After trying several more times, instructor had me get out of the water and take my gear off to take a break. She tried solo with just me after the group had done that dive, but it just wasn't happening. I hung out the rest of the day, as there was some other land stuff it was good for me to be in on. Instructor told me to have a good dinner and a lot of sleep. Made all the difference.

On Sunday, I completed Dive 1 solo with an instructor. He was great and was the one who did the pool swim with me. He's a firefighter/rescue diver and used to dealing with nervous people. Took me in the shallows and got me comfortable. Then we went on a tour of part of the quarry. Let me hold his hand at the beginning when I was a bit nervous. But once we got going I was fine. Got about 22 feet down. The tour was a sneaky way of getting me to the training platform (think big wooden deck on the bottom) to do some skills (flood mask and clear it, take regulator out of mouth, let it go, and find it).

We got partway into Dive 2 when we had to stop as instructor was having issues with his ear.

I was so happy to get past the hurdle. Viz was much better on Sunday, about 10 feet. I go back on the 1st and 2nd to finish up my other 4 dives.

I have all my own equipment now (except for tanks, which are easy to rent) including a drysuit. I do not fit into stock sizes and the rental drysuit I used for one session in the pool just did not fit. Let's just say my own was not cheap, but once you have your equipment and maintain it, you're good. Drysuit was custom, but the custom fit was only $150 over stock size pricing, which was a bargain compared with some of the other manufacturers (Bae, I went with USIA, based in Oregon). To dive up here in any comfort, you need to dive dry. My dive shop is their biggest dealer and somehow got the manufacturer to have it done in time for my dives last weekend. Black with purple accents. :)

I'll post an update after next weekend.

Tradd, that is all good. Is it realistic to think that you could get all of your certification dives in on one weekend, or even two weekends? Seems fast to me.

But you are goong at a good pace.

After you are certified, what does that mean? That you can go out by yourself on dives? Or?

Yes, many people do get all the dives done in one weekend. But some have issues like I did and have to go back another time to finish.

Think of the cert like the gun FOID card (can't buy ammo, shoot at the range, etc.) in IL. You can't rent hear, get air tanks filled, dive off a charter boat (the CG checks), or dive at controlled sites (like the quarries) without being certified. Too dangerous and opens up liability issues if dive shops rent gear to people who aren't certified or boats let people dive from them. The only difference is if you can show you're diving under the immediate supervision of an instructor.

You don't dive by yourself. Have to have a buddy.

More details later, but just a quick update. I passed all my dives and got certification today! Yay! Instructors were fab.

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Originally Posted by Tradd

More details later, but just a quick update. I passed all my dives and got certification today! Yay! Instructors were fab.

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That's terrific, very big accomplishment!