New member currently undergoing the openwater course. Last dive tomorrow.

Hi everyone,
My names Stu, I live in Blackpool Lancashire and I am currently undertaking a crash course in diving so as to be able to dive safely in Sharm when I go there a week tomorrow.

I am learning with a company called "The Dive Shop" in Blackpool, a 5 star PADI approved center and I get on really well with the guys there and trust them implicitly... but I have a problem I thought I may be able to seek advise from you guys on.

The confined water courses have been fine, and the theory was fine. All tests passed no problem and the writen exam passed at 98% and the one I got wrong was one where I miss-understood the way they wanted me to represent the answer, Chris said almost everyone got that wrong andf not to worry, so I am happy with my knowledge on that said.

So whats the problem?
Open Water / Depth / Both? Not sure, but on my first dive at Capernwray last Wednesday, all was well until I submerged for the first time and then I absolutely s##t myself. I don't know why but I was suddenly overcome with fear of going down there and was convinced I wouldn't be able to breathe and would drown. I also seemed to lose all control of my Buoyancy and just rolled forwards or backwards no matter what I tried.

The instructor, Karl,, was extremely patient, he talked me round and I eventually managed to do the first two open water dives and as far as Karl is concerned I passed no problem. To be honest, I found that once I was down there, I was ok, my problem was getting down there. And I am dreading going deeper... my last 2 dives are tomorrow morning at 9am.

I have, since my last test, bought my own wetsuit and shorty, Fins, BCD (An Aeris 100), computer (Suunto Vyper Air) and regs (Xpeks XTX50's) so my equipment fears are pretty much laid aside as I am very comfortable in this gear and trust it as its my own. I also got a couple of hours extra pool time in Thursday to familiarise myself with it all.

So why am I still scared? Why am I OK in a pool? is it the depth? The darkness?

Is this a common problem or not?

It's your first time in open water is my guess. Ask your instructor if you can just submerge yourself and just breath in the cooler water. Remember, we are not meant to be underwater, just take your time and don't be afraid to TELL your instructor you have had enough, at ANY time.
Is this shop actually in Poulton? I've not heard of it.

Hi,
Sorry, yes its in Poulton. Oddly, it was the ONLY one I had heard of.
http://www.diveshopuk.com/

So do you think my fear is actually quite common mate?

Yes, the added time pressure isn't going to help. You will be fine with the instructors there watching over you, so try and relax as best you can and most important is you take your instructor to one side before dive one and explain your apprehension. Good luck!

I guess that's the one that asks you to prioritize the ways of emergency ascents or something like that.
Underwater anxiety isn't unusual, especially when you're not used to the environment. I absolutely papped myself on my first try dive in open water. Discuss it with your instructor; talking therapy's work. On step at a time. Even experienced divers can feel anxious, just develop ways to control it. I try and distract myself from thinking about it when I feel it and control my breathing which can become short and shallow.

Thanks for your reply.
Its reassuring to know I am not totally alone in suddenly feeling scared. I am heading to bed now and will pop back tomorrow night and let you know how I get on. I will be either a PADI open water diver, or a failure. LOL

Thanks, and yes, it was indeed that one!
I am going to hit the sack as want to be at Capenwray tomorrow for 8:45 and I am excited so wont get much sleep anyway. Will speak with you guys tomorrow. Hopefully, with my pass.

Good luck. Try not to kick up the bottom or you'll get mauled by a trout

Thanks, will bear it in mind and I have my GoProHD with me so if all else fails I will at least be able to entertain you guys with the footage. LOL

I went through this first post OW dive without an Instructor (one of the forum members was my buddy), Giant Strided into Eccy Delph, not holding onto mask properly, mask on crooked (and partialy flooded) I completely freaked "classic" panicked diver, fixed the mask but was so freaked out I didn't get in that day.
Next time was my 1st day on a UK dive boat, 1st dived my torch dies 2 minutes into it in shit vis, didn't manage to get down (despite jumping in so had to be picked up by the boat) for 2 days.

Hell I binned a dive on Monday because too many things were going wrong and didn't fell "right".

The secret is to get back into the water ASAP (which by the sound of things you did), you'll get over it don't worry.

Hi guys,
The day went well, drove up there with a mixture of good old Bub'le and even some Susan Boyle to keep me calm and concentrated on the job in hand. had been reading these forums all night and had decided there are a great many excellent divers out there who have freaked out once or twice so there was hope for me yet.

Well, as soon as I was suited up I couldnt wait to make a start and once we got in and made a start the whole experience was totally different. I absolutely loved it, we managed a 40 and a 45 min dive and passed with flying colours! Both times I came back up with in excess of 110bar left too so much better on air this time too. Was really proud to get the handshake and congratulations speech, sat in the cafe afterwards for an hour, feeling pleased with myself and watching what was going on... just wishing I could get back in!

I have another dive planned for Wednesday with the shop owner as he is keen for me to enjoy my first ever dive as a certified open water diver, with no stressing about skills and expectations, but for me to have an expert to hand in case of any difficulty. Afgter that, my next dive will be in Sharm next week.

Phew, what a journey, 2 weeks was a tall order whilst also working over 80 hrs a week, but I got there and I am well pleased to have passed over here first and have built a great relationship with an excellent shop and staff too. Will be going to tehir clubnight tomorrow night as well to meet some like minded local folks.

The learning really starts now and this forum and you guys are going to be invaluable I am sure.
Bring on more diving!

Nice one!

Congratulations Stu,

Your main aim not must be to relax and enjoy your diving.

Congrats mate!
Now the fun can begin! Enjoy Sharm too

Well done, have a great time in Sharm but you might notice that all your future holidays have suddenly become more expensive! Safe diving

Well done. I might be up Wed night with Pete off here. If it goes quite dark all of a sudden, that'll be Pete swimming over the top of you.

I did a try dive in Open Water in Cyprus.

The water was crystal clear, warm, there was loads to see and I'd been down for 10 minutes when suddenly I was overcome with panic.

"I've got to get to the surface - I can't breathe underwater!!!!" said part of my brain. At the same time I was thinking "Don't be stupid, you've been under 10 minutes and it's fine" - I managed to overcome the feeling, but it returned a little while later and again I had to rationalise things.

Fortunately the feeling's never returned (so far!), so my guess is that you'll overcome it fairly quickly as long as you don't dwell on it too much.

It's not natural to stay underwater and I guess the self-preservation instinct kicks in until you get used to it.

M

Hi Mate,
I am definately going, I will be there about 2pm awaiting 3 other members from teh local club, but they arent arriving until 3ish so i will likely be over near the cafe somewhere. Would be good to hook up and say hi.

I "think" that is it as I also kept holding my breath and then breathing through my nose and of course getting no air.
I think I just need to keep working hard on programming those two basic instincts out.

I have seen a couple experienced divers freak out. They had both done loads of diving overseas (Red Sea, Mexico, & several other places) ~ blue water. But it was their first time in the UK and I think it was because of the lack of viz (compared to what they were used to).

As for diving in Sharm, you'll love it. I've got a Red Sea trip booked for October & I can't wait to get out there.

Hi,
I had two enjoyable dives on Wednesday at Capernwray but during dive 1 I had another "moment".
All was going really well, there were four of us, two of whome were my instructors, but this time diving in a recreational capacity of course.

We descended nice and gently and one of the ladies with us had equalisation issues so we spent quite some time shallow, which I was very thankfull indeed for as it gave me time to acclimatise and calm myself ready for the task in hand. We headed over to the large passenger plane wreck and I managed to get a video of us and even play about with my new torch. So far so good.

From there we headed across to the "diving belle" for want of a better description as I forget what it actually was. But again, all was well and I was enoying looking at things and using the torch and GoProHD. The lady had an issue and one fo the guys, karl, signalled that he was goi g to head up with her, and we were to carry on, back the way we came, so we turned round. I hadnt given it much head space so didnt think anything bad was happening and was still enjoying the time down there, although maybe a little more anxious as we were down to two, from four.

Suddenly, literally, as the plane came back into view, i was hit by this horrible fear that i couldnt breathe, and that I needed to spit the reg out. I started to panic a little, and was breating really hard and loudly whilst also feeling a little dissorientated. I was holding the reg in my mouth by hand for fear of spitting it out, and looking down to Andy to tell him I needed to go up. He was signalling to come back down, I fought my natural instinct to go up and went down, where we sat on the plane fuselage together looking into each others eyes. I got comfort from this and we slowly headed across the bottom, back to the rocky ascent. By the time the rocks came into view I was feeling a LOT better and had stopped gasping for air and my heart rate was a little more sensible.

As we ascended my computer signalled a stop at 5m and we sat there for the required three minutes, and at this point I was very relaxed and had no problems at all staying down there and was dissapointed to get out.

So, what went wrong in my brain? Over coffeee, I explained the situation to the others and they all collectively agree that it was likely due to the horrendous visibility and perhaps we should stay near some visual references for the next dive. We did just that and I spent the most awsome 41 minutes of my diving hobby to date in the water with no problems at all, I was pleased on that dive that we came back because two others were running lower on air than me.