The best question ever answered.

[Pinkpadigal]

I am putting together a checklist of Q & A for new divers. I was wondering if you all could help me.

Think back, before you were certified. Other than, "how much does it cost?", What was the best question you asked that helped you decide to get certified? The key here, is to think like a non-diver. What were some of the things that helped you make the decision to get certified?

I am not interested in the questions that "should" be asked. (there are lists like that floating around on this board and others) What I am interested in is, what inspired you to actually take the step and sign up for the Open Water class?

Thanks!

[Nwbrewer]

I am putting together a checklist of Q & A for new divers. I was wondering if you all could help me.

Think back, before you were certified. Other than, "how much does it cost?", What was the best question you asked that helped you decide to get certified? The key here, is to think like a non-diver. What were some of the things that helped you make the decision to get certified?

I am not interested in the questions that "should" be asked. (there are lists like that floating around on this board and others) What I am interested in is, what inspired you to actually take the step and sign up for the Open Water class?

Thanks!

"Can you actually see anything down there?" / "What do you see down there?"

Lots of people don't know that there really is a lot of cool stuff to see in Puget Sound, and that you actually can SEE down there (well, some days anyway...)

[oregondiver]

Funkydiver just got certified and so when we were researching whether to get him certified he did ask me " is there anything to see?" as NWbrewer pointed out.

Some questions I can thinkg of for those who don't know anything about diving
how long does the certification last?
can I use the certification in warm water (or can I use it only in Washington and I need a new one for different state/country)?
Do I need it if I am going on a cruise (resort diving)?
What if I can't make it to one of the classes, will I have to start over?
What if I can't do the skills?
How far do you have to swim to get certified since I am not a very good swimmer?
Do I really have to go in the cold water (ie this leads into talking about referral course work)?

[loanwolf]

The best thing I have found is to have a short video and show them what they will see out here. And a little of a class what it takes to get certified. Not what they will see in Mexico or some other warm place.

I am a firm believer that a big flat screen TV with a vid looping in the shop is a deal closer.

[lizard0924]

After I got the answers to these questions, I signed up for my OW class on the spot (this after trying a resort course on my honeymoon 10 years earlier, and bailing out 1/2 way thru...right after I tried clearing my mask).

Q: What if I CAN'T ever get comfortable clearing my mask underwater? A: My supremely patient and kind instructor, told me an inspiring story of one of his past students who had the same issue, but successfully overcame the fear and went on to fall in love with diving. He then shared her thank you letter to him that referenced a mask loss issue/successful replacement while night diving with the rays in Hawaii. I was sold that I, too, could do it.

2. Q: Can I get all my gear in pink? A: Yes.

[Mattleycrue76]

One of the most common question/fears that I hear from non divers is about the ability to clear their ears. Seems that there are a LOT of people out there who have tried snorkling or something like that, gone too deep before atttempting to clear, been unable to do so and determined that they are unfortunately in that group of people who "can't " clear their ears.

Fortunately there are actually very few people who can't clear when taught properly and patiently.

[spatman]

What I am interested in is, what inspired you to actually take the step and sign up for the Open Water class?

for me, it wasn't a couple questions that i asked that got me to enroll in an OW class. it was the realization that i can do this, after all.

i had always been around the ocean and loved water. on every tropical vacation, i was constantly snorkeling and freediving as much as i could, often for hours at a stretch. i would sign up for charter boats to take me out to snorkel while other people were diving. for some unconscious reason, i guess i had always thought that scuba was extremely difficult and dangerous, and required extensive training as well.

one winter vacation in puerto rico i signed up for a snorkeling trip. there were a bunch of total yahoo divers on that trip who were fumbling all over themselves setting up their gear and yapping about how hung over they were from the night before. that moment was a turning point for me where i realized that if those dimwits could dive, then i certainly could.

but i didn't pursue it right away. it was on my next vacation to israel that cemented my resolution to become a diver. i was in the process of signing up for another snorkel charter when the shop guy asked me if i wanted to try a "discover scuba" dive with one of the instructors. i said what the hell and signed up. on the way out to the site, the instructor talked to me about the procedures and risks involved, and patiently answered the slew of noob questions about gear and dive physics i threw at him.

long story short, i was hooked after that. i felt so calm and comfortable in the water, was so amazed by ability to actually stay down at 30 feet for more than a minute or so, and also relieved to finally realize that scuba diving isn't quite rocket science.

so as i mentioned, overall i didn't ask outright questions about diving that needed to be answered, but i did have a few internal/unconscious questions that did need answering. they were:

- is it difficult to learn?
- what are the dangers and risks?
- would i be a good diver?
- is this important to me to pursue?

[dwashbur]

The best question for me was one that the instructor actually asked all of us in the class. We had already decided to get certified, but he went around the room and asked each person: "Why do you want to dive?" Until he asked that, I only had a vague notion of what I wanted to do. The question forced me to define more precisely my reasons for doing this, and I think it was a big reason why I went ahead and have stayed with it.

Loose-Ends Dept.: Being a card-carrying nerd, I answered his question with a long dissertation about expanding personal boundaries, the importance of discovery and knowledge in my life, and all that stuff. When he woke up :geek: he looked at my wife and asked her the same question: Why do you want to dive? She replied, "To look at stuff." Wasn't that the same thing I said??????? The only difference was, she took 4 words and I took 4,000..............

[ldevore]

I have a friend who is very interested in learning to dive, so I posed your question to him. Here are his questions:
______________________________________________________________
1) How long does it take to “get certified”? Number of weekends / Number of dives / plain hours.
2) With a busy schedule, can I learn this properly and safely if I only put in one day a week, or better, two weeknights a week?
3) I sail quite a bit and think about diving from the sailboat. What’s required to get into and out of the water? Does an inflatable dinghy work?
4) Knowing this is a somewhat dangerous sport, and that it is generally taught in team or buddy system to decrease the danger, but not always having a diving partner on said sailboat, are there classes for solo diving?
5) Once one owns good equipment, what are the recurring costs and maintenance costs if one dives say weekly and monthly? If taken care of with fresh water rinses, how long does the expensive stuff last?

[dlh]

I constantly get comments and questions from people stating how they are "claustrophobic" and thus scared of diving.

I am always confused about this because I imaging diving to be more like flying and open and free. I think a lot of folks imagine diving more like being buried or perhaps drowned. I try to explain that once you try the gear and understand at a personal level that you can breath and see comfortably under the water that the claustrophobia turns to a feeling of freedom.

[enchantmentdivi]

i had always been around the ocean and loved water. on every tropical vacation, i was constantly snorkeling and freediving as much as i could, often for hours at a stretch. i would sign up for charter boats to take me out to snorkel while other people were diving. for some unconscious reason, i guess i had always thought that scuba was extremely difficult and dangerous, and required extensive training as well.

Ditto. I always thought scuba diving was for "other" people that I thought were somehow "better" me. Looking back, I'm not sure what defined those "other/better" people. On one tropical vacation, I finally hit a wall where snorkeling just wasn't cutting it anymore. The answer to the question that finally sealed the deal for my husband and I to sign up for a class was........."Will I be able to clear my ears since I have so much pain trying to touch the bottom of the deep end of the pool while swimming?" The shop owner gave me a brief explanation of why I would be able to clear while on scuba and assured me that I'd be okay. That did it!

[ArcticDiver]

Actually I had two primary questions:

Before starting: How good a swimmer do I have to be? (I can swim almost literally forever. But, I am s l o w ).

After a couple pool sessions where there had been a lot of gorilla activity: Do I want to do all this stuff; Again?

Oh yes: I get asked all the time about sharks and either how brave, or how stupid I am to dive with them. Fortunately, I already knew about sharks before starting scuba and the subject was reinforced during training.

[Nwbrewer]

I constantly get comments and questions from people stating how they are "claustrophobic" and thus scared of diving.

I am always confused about this because I imaging diving to be more like flying and open and free. I think a lot of folks imagine diving more like being buried or perhaps drowned. I try to explain that once you try the gear and understand at a personal level that you can breath and see comfortably under the water that the claustrophobia turns to a feeling of freedom.

I've heard that one too. The only thing I can think of is there wetsuit/hood thing. Sometimes the mask. I did my first two dives after OW in a BC 2 sizes too small. That was a little claustrophobic.

Really, if everything is fitting right, OW diving should not be claustrophobic, even in Puget Goo.

[lizard0924]

I constantly get comments and questions from people stating how they are "claustrophobic" and thus scared of diving.

I am always confused about this because I imaging diving to be more like flying and open and free. I think a lot of folks imagine diving more like being buried or perhaps drowned. I try to explain that once you try the gear and understand at a personal level that you can breath and see comfortably under the water that the claustrophobia turns to a feeling of freedom.

I've heard that one too. The only thing I can think of is there wetsuit/hood thing. Sometimes the mask. I did my first two dives after OW in a BC 2 sizes too small. That was a little claustrophobic.

Really, if everything is fitting right, OW diving should not be claustrophobic, even in Puget Goo.

I totally get the claustrophobia statements. I felt the same way when I was learning. For me, it had to do with knowing that, if I panicked, I couldn't immediately take deep breaths of fresh air. It took awhile to get past that fear.

[ktb]

It's not really a question, but . . . I *HATE* breathing through my mouth. This may sound weird, but to me, it's the worst part of getting a cold and being stuffy. So I was worried that I would have a hard time breathing through the reg. Of course now, I don't even think about it.

I also understand the claustrophia thing, because I love water, I love swimming, (and now I love scuba), but I have a fear of drowning. Go figure. So there have been times when I can feel the small niggling fear cropping up and just have to start the mantra, "I have air. I can breath. I'm fine." Over and over and over. And I've never panicked. But lizard0924 is right--I think it's more of just not being able to take a breath when I want.

But then again . . . if folks can't conquer their fears enough to even try/experience scuba, then they shouldn't be diving IMHO.

[spatz84]

what do I need to start? that was one of my biggest questions. of course that was followed by how much. but that was a big one for me.

[Pez7378]

For me, The best question ever answered was....

How the Hell am I going to pay for all this?

The answer, SACRIFICE!

Beyond that, the idea of getting certified wasn't an issue. It wasn't as if SCUBA was something I had to be talked into doing. Once I was certified, it became a matter of how can I afford the equipment and how can I keep on diving.

As a newly cert'd diver, I didn't have the confidence or the resources like this Forum to continue diving. There wasn't a bunch of folks like all of you willing to take me and my buddy out and show us how to dive. So I had to wait 10 years, and learn with Fishstiq.

So 10 years later the next best question ever answered was: Who should I learn from.

The answer: NWGratefulDiver

[LCF]

For me, one of the big ones I didn't ask (because I thought I knew the answer) was: Can you dive in Puget Sound and still stay warm?

Five years later, the answer is a qualified "yes". "Warm" is relative, and how long is a critical criterion, but you can stay a lot warmer than you think.

Watching our OW students getting horribly cold in wetsuits and what I consider to be inadequate drysuit undergarments, I wonder how anybody keeps at it. (But then, I got soaking wet and clinically hypothermic during MY ow dives, and I kept at it, so maybe cold water induces some kind of brain injury.)

[ktb]

Watching our OW students getting horribly cold in wetsuits and what I consider to be inadequate drysuit undergarments, I wonder how anybody keeps at it. (But then, I got soaking wet and clinically hypothermic during MY ow dives, and I kept at it, so maybe cold water induces some kind of brain injury.)

It weeds out the wimps.

[BASSMAN]

For me it was just one question:


How Much?



On my 40th birthday, I went to the dive shop with about $400.00 in my pocket, determined to sign up for lessons.
When I asked ,"how much?" They told me $150.00!

I quickly paid them!


And then another scuba diver was born!

Funny thing about that was After I paid them I was talking to Tom Nic and he said, "How Much?"
And he went and paid too!


I think most people think that it will cost allot of money and take a long time to get certified.

Or, that you have to be a great swimmer.

[Gooch]

I was interested in diving for like all my life--seems like I had a G.I. Joe (the big one) with scuba gear and a mini sub and a squid to fight with. I read books about kids diving in Florida from Walt Moray when I was young and they were totally awesome reads for kids.

But I never took that next step toward trying to dive---even the guys in my neighborhood in San Diego would have their wetsuits hanging out to dry and abalone shells in their yard but I never considered that I could do that too. Seemed like I always had an excuse; it's too expensive, I didn't have any friends that dive, the places to dive are too far, I don't have time, on and on. I snorkeled a ton and really loved it but didn't really make that next mental leap that I could do more.

My wife of almost 20 years came to my workplace for lunch with the kids in 2006. She had a really ugly bag- I asked if that was the new fall fashion and she said "yea". We ate lunch and she pushed the bag across the table saying it was for me. Inside was this old but in great shape Nikon Nikonos camera setup with the flash and all. I said, "This is nice, what am I going to do with it?". Then she pushed two tickets to Cozumel with tomorrows date on them across. I was like " I can't go! I don't have any vaction and my boss will freak if I take off at the drop of a hat." She had already worked it all out with him and the kids were going off to grandma's so she worked that out too.

We went and she wanted to do the resort dive course. I got her to do the full dive cert instead and we've been diving pretty steady since.

For us, it's a way to re-connect and share things we like to do together. It seems like so many folks I know wind up with the couples diverging in their hobbies and pastimes.

So for me, it was just getting that extra "push" to get into the water that I needed. Once I was there, I was hooked.

[mz53480]

...Think back, before you were certified. Other than, "how much does it cost?", What was the best question you asked that helped you decide to get certified?...

I am always very safety concious, so my questions/concerns were related to dive safety.
But the one question that finalized it for me was when I asked if I could still drink beer after diving and the answer was yes. Hence, here I am.
:occasion5:

[Pinkpadigal]

Thanks everyone so far! Keep them coming!

[Agent 47]

The ones I always got while working at different shops.
1.What is there to see around here?
2. isn't the water cold?
3. how much does it cost?
4. how long can you stay down with a tank?

[Dashrynn]

all these neat stories give me a reason to ramble.

Being a natural adventurer, scuba diving was on my list for a long time, i wanted to be a navy diver but lacked the motivation to work my body out that much. That being said, i also do ALOT of research on anything i do. So naturally i already knew alot about scuba before even taking the course but, i still had some gray spots. So i asked these questions.

1. how much?? im not rich but what do i need to spend more on and what can i skimp on? im poor but i love the water, i remember as a kid swimming in rivers and lakes for hours.

2. what type of people are in the dive community? will i fit in? originally i thought ALL divers are built like a football player and im the odd one.

3. can i benefit any from taking scuba lessons? can i make money? i like making money....

4. is air expensive? kind of but its cheaper than visiting disney land and funner

5. will sharks attack me? im not scared but hey i dont wanna be forced to fight a shark

6. is the equipment heavy? it sure does look heavy...

these are all pretty stupid but hey when you're on a low income, its money questions that matter the most.