Scuba diving questions?

Question

Hi all,
I'm really considering getting my open water license from my college. It'd be $160 for the lessons and $160 for a two-day trip to Florida, where we'd do four dives and snorkel on Rainbow River with manatees. This sounds like a great deal financially.

1) What does the "zero gravity" thing feel like? It just feels like you're weightless when you dive?

2) What are the chances of my hose rupturing underwater? Or my air tank suddenly letting out all the air? Or my belt falling off and me ascending quickly? The instructor mentioned all of the above last night; how prevalent does this happen?

3) Is the pressure from going down into the water obvious when you dive? Ex: Do you get lightheaded, dizzy, or do your ears pop?

Answer 1

I have PADI's advanced open water certification and I dive in the caribbeans the most.

The cost of your classes is par with other dive shop classes. Some shops up north go to rock quarries to do the check out dives, so if you can do it in Florida's warm waters, then consider yourself lucky.

You are not completely in zero gravity. It will take you a while to get your bouyancy control working. Humans in general float on the surface. That's why you will have weight belts with weights to help you sink. Plus the weight of the gear and tanks will help you sink. But then once you are down, you use up your air in the tank and makes you float up, so you have adjust your bouyancy constantly.
Floating is awesome feeling.. controlled by your breathing (breath in you float, exhale, you sink) but it is a very serene and calm feeling to be in the water.

All your emergency questions will be answered in class. but don't worry too much about emergencies. Hose rupturing is very rare if you have a well maintained equipment (which most Dive shops do) If you want to purchase, then just make sure you get a brand that is recognized as a major brand, such as Aqualung, Mare, Seaquest..etc. You almost always dive with a buddy, so if your tank hose busts, then you'll share your air with your buddy, every diver has two breathing apparatus, main regulator and an octopus (usually bright yellow in color) as a spare in case of an emergency. Diving accidents are very rare due to equipment failure. You should not be worried about equipment failure as much as failing to dive properly,

About every 10 to 15 feet, the pressure on your ears will make your ears hurt. You equalize by pinching your nose and blowing out of them to press your ear drums out. Very few people have equalization problem but when you are sick with a cold or take medication for it, it maybe harder to equalize, so don't dive when you have a head cold, congestion...etc.

As an open water diver, you probably won't go more than 80 feet under water at first. At this level you, as long as you do a 3 minute safety stop about 15 to 20 feet, you shouldn't have any problems with dizzyness or other diving related illness.

Now I say all this in general, everyone's body type and shape is different so I can't guarantee that you'll have the same reaction to diving as the rest, but with good dive course and if you follow your dive master when diving, you won't encounter too much. Diving is safe until people start freelancing. Follow the instructions of dive masters since they know the dive site and the area and can tell you what the water/ current condition and dive site is like so that you can have a safe dive.

See you underwater!

Answer 2

Lots of good answers so far, so I'll just add the following regarding your second question. Your instructor should always be providing information on which of these events are avoidable and controllable (nearly all are) vs. which one's are not, and how your skills and confidence in equipment will help mitigate these issues. Their job is not to scare you or ruin your confidence, but to make you aware of the issues, understand the importance of developing skills and familiarity with your equipment, and then to help you develop all of the above. By the time you hit open water the first time you should feel nervous but confident.

If you don't feel like you are getting all of the above from your instructor, then move on! It's not about the money, it's about feeling comfortable about participating in the most amazing activity on the planet IMHO ;-)

a) Your hose will rupture on the boat, not underwater, unless your diving with old and poor equipment. Inspect your gear!!! Own your gear if possible and service it annually.

b) Ditto on losing all the air from your tank.

c) The pressure is felt in your sinuses the most, thereby connecting to your ears and requiring that you "clear" your ears every few feet on the way down. These are basic skills you will be taught. Most important is developing the skill to control your descent so that you can avoid building up the pressure in your sinuses too rapidly.

Basically: relax and enjoy the new sport, but make sure you are working with competent instructors that others have reviewed and recommended.

Answer 3

Zero Gravity is awesome, you are weightless once you get underwater and get your buoyancy neutral (which takes practice).

If you use good equipment, I wouldn't worry about too many problems. Make sure everything is up to date with their inspections. Each piece can have its own inspection sticker (bc, reg, tank, etc). You will have a buddy, so if you loose air, they should help you. If your belt falls off, try to catch it or your buddy and dump all your air in your bc. Your instructor will go over all this with you. When you have questions, be sure and ask them. If you are embarrassed, write them down, and ask later.

Pressure in the water is different. You won't feel it squeezing your body but you will notice your belt and other equipment gets loose. You will feel pressure in your ears and sinuses that your instructor will teach you to handle. It is not that big of a deal once you learn to equalize everything. You might also get a mask squeeze, but just breath out through your nose to get relief.

Your ears might pop, etc but that is all ok. You might get lightheaded from going deep(getting narked), but you won't be doing that until you have advanced training. Your instructor will surely cover all this info during class. Just remember that scuba is a equipment intensive sport and there is always more to learn. The open water course is just the beginning to a whole new world.

Have fun if you decide to do it. I personally think it is the best sport on earth.

Answer 4

1) feels just like swimming

2) I've done 200 dives and these have never happened on my dives, however we take care to ensure it doesn't. Hoses usually bubble for a long time before they rupture so there is plenty of warning to get them fixed.

3) The pressure will only be obvious in your ears on the first few dives as these should be comparitively shallow. When you go deeper allof these things can happen - solution is not to go deeper.

If you can swim and meet all the other criteria do the course. It will make holidays more fun in the future.

Answer 5

I got certified in college as well. Of course, I had to do my open water in lakes in Southern Idaho. Once the ice melted off. So, Florida is definitely good. Plus, diving with manatees is fun (although it is shallow - take extra weight).

1. You normally don't feel like 'zero gravity', even though you do try to get neutrally bouyant when diving. You know you've got it right when you move up and down slightly in time with your breathing. You can get the 'zero gravity' feeling while going over walls, etc.

2. I've never had a hose rupture. My dive buddy had his tank foul up in the Galapagos, due to rust. So, he couldn't breath, but the tank still had all of its air. As for weight belts falling off, it happens. In general, it happens upon entry into the water, so that's not a big issue. At depth, since you compress, your belt can come lose. Heck, you can even bump it. But, in general, you can control what happens. And, heck, you can get out of control with your weight belt on (try dry suits and ice diving). You just need to practice, practice, practice.

3. Pressure increases as you go down, just like it decreases when you go up (in airplanes, for example). You work to keep your ears equalized, normally by swallowing or such. There are times, usually when over 100 feet down, where I can feel the weight of the water above me, but other times you don't notice. It could be tied to narcosis.

It's well worth doing.

Answer 6

Scuba tank gas is a mixture of compressed nitrogen ~79% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen. Similar to air that we are breathing. Other mix like nitrox, only changes the % content of Oxygen ranging from 21% to 40% depending on type of type you will be doing. Of course there are advance trix mix of Helium, Oxygen and nitrogen to go deeper and longer dives. But this are specialized mix and for Technical diving only.

Answer 7

ever jumped on a trampoline... when you are between going up and down... that's what weightless feels like...
equipment malfunctions are rare but do happen... that's why we always have a back-up and a buddy when we dive...
dive pressure is only obvious if you have difficulty equalizing... otherwise it's hard to tell the difference between 10 feet and 70 feet of depth... and as a beginning diver, you should't be going any deeper than about 30 ft until you get a little bottom time ...
if you ask me... go for it... I got my o/w cert as part of a college phys ed credit... then advanced on to advanced diver and rescue diver... been to jamaica, florida keys, miami... but do most of my diving in the northeast... cold and dark but lotsa sea life...
good luck

Answer 8

i think that that is a great deal and u should definatly do it. so to answer your questions
1)it doesn't really feel like a lack of gravity. it feels more like floating. you are suspended in the water. its really cool
2)of all those questions, really really small. There are lots of requirments for equiptment and if they are providing it, it is very unlikly that anything will break. Plus, if your weight belf falls off, you can just deflate your BCD and slow your accent
3)the pressure is obvious. you can feel it in your ears. its just like going up in an airplane. as long as you can pop your ears to equalize the pressure, it will not be uncomfortable at all

hope those answers help!

Answer 9

you're not ready, save your money, too many questions, don't even know you can swim, you obviously are not confident in the swimming pool