Just took up scuba diving and had my first dive!

[joe yap]

not blaming anything or anyone here.

the incident can easily be avoided with proper decent and ascend line away from pick up point.

i was once nearly ended up into the prop too, trying to pull my tired female student away. she was totally exhausted after the dive. in exchange i got hit on my back spine repeatly by the skin of the boat due to the choppy sea... that is the price to pay...

just sharing my 2 cents...

For drift diving, you won't have a descent line.

[BullTerrier]

Don't worry too much. These accidents are super freaking isolated. But do use your instinct and knowledge learnt during the course. Sound travel a lot faster in water than in the air. If you hear a boat engine running, it'll sound as if it is very close to you anyway. In the first place, if you hear it, do not ascend to surface, hold on to your depth gauge and trust the reading religiously, while staying well below. The surroundings can't tell you much about your depth you are at anyway. Only attempt to surface if the sound of the boat is steady ( meaning the boat is stationery) and quite a distance away. Look above you and check for safety while you ascend, and not just let yourself float up to the surface without looking at where you go.

The only big problem I know is that novice often do not control thier bouyancy well, especially when the tank is depleting. As the air density becomes lesser in the tank as the pressure drops, the bouyancy will increase. As such, be prepared to release more air from your BC. I usually keep myself under negative bouyancy during ascend and usually fin myself upward to the surface. You'll get better depth control in this way. Bouyancy control becomes very much more sensitive towards the last few metres.

Shine your dive torch towards the sky while ascending to let people on the surface know your location. Also, use it to reveal your position after you surface.

Thanks for all the expert advice here Joe. I do intend to rush into things but take my time to get myself trained to be a better diver with safety paramount in my mind at all times.

For now I am just happy looking at other people dive photos and all those colourful marine life.

Is there a good place to go i.e. locally or online to check out dive stuff like masks, suits and so on? Thanks again!

[joe yap]

Thanks for all the expert advice here Joe. I do intend to rush into things but take my time to get myself trained to be a better diver with safety paramount in my mind at all times.

For now I am just happy looking at other people dive photos and all those colourful marine life.

Is there a good place to go i.e. locally or online to check out dive stuff like masks, suits and so on? Thanks again!

Actually, I'm a little off touch as I have not been diving for the last 4 years.
But I do remember certain things to look out for to become a more proficient diver and selecting equipment.

Many people buy wet suit like buying branded stuff. Don't bother to get the most stylo mylo top end fashion wet suit, bacause the moment you donn your BCD, nobody get to see it anyway. Worst still, the moment you start descending, all the wonderful colours on your wetsuit will turn dull and other divers will still got problem recognising you anyway. When you surfaced and it's time to remove the BCD and tank, you'll get too hot after a while and you'll probably take it off anyway.

Things to note about choosing wetsuit is the way the pieces are joined together. Some cheaper ones are held up by glue and something else. They ar not easy to find these days anyway. Most are stitched together anyway. For tropical waters, 2-3mm thick is sufficient. Some cost around or more than $300+ per piece are more of paying for the brand itself.

For masks, the priority is that it should fit your face. I'm sure your instructor has already taught you how to select. Other than that, it may be good to get one with a wider field of vision, but this also means that you'll have more airspace between your face and the mask itself. So when you need to clear the water in your mask, it may take a little more effort. Most models are now come with silicon seal and straps. Rubber ones deteriorates over time much faster.

As for the fins, it may be one of the biggest headache as they comes in all shape and sizes. While many may claim a particular model to be much superior than the rest, it all based down to your own finning style. Some divers prefer speed over efficiency and would use shorter fins or more flexible fins that allows them to kick like swimming for the Olympics. Longer fins tends to be more efficient with long slow strokes, and fast finning with them will almost gurantee your legs to get cramp. I have both standard and a pair of long fins, which the latter one is favoured for free diving. While the latter is very efficient and looks very graceful like a long fish tail, manuovering in tight space can be a problem.

I recommend that if you can borrow or switch fins with your friends to try out different designs before deciding your purchase.

[BullTerrier]

Actually, I'm a little off touch as I have not been diving for the last 4 years.
But I do remember certain things to look out for to become a more proficient diver and selecting equipment.

Many people buy wet suit like buying branded stuff. Don't bother to get the most stylo mylo top end fashion wet suit, bacause the moment you donn your BCD, nobody get to see it anyway. Worst still, the moment you start descending, all the wonderful colours on your wetsuit will turn dull and other divers will still got problem recognising you anyway. When you surfaced and it's time to remove the BCD and tank, you'll get too hot after a while and you'll probably take it off anyway.

Things to note about choosing wetsuit is the way the pieces are joined together. Some cheaper ones are held up by glue and something else. They ar not easy to find these days anyway. Most are stitched together anyway. For tropical waters, 2-3mm thick is sufficient. Some cost around or more than $300+ per piece are more of paying for the brand itself.

For masks, the priority is that it should fit your face. I'm sure your instructor has already taught you how to select. Other than that, it may be good to get one with a wider field of vision, but this also means that you'll have more airspace between your face and the mask itself. So when you need to clear the water in your mask, it may take a little more effort. Most models are now come with silicon seal and straps. Rubber ones deteriorates over time much faster.

As for the fins, it may be one of the biggest headache as they comes in all shape and sizes. While many may claim a particular model to be much superior than the rest, it all based down to your own finning style. Some divers prefer speed over efficiency and would use shorter fins or more flexible fins that allows them to kick like swimming for the Olympics. Longer fins tends to be more efficient with long slow strokes, and fast finning with them will almost gurantee your legs to get cramp. I have both standard and a pair of long fins, which the latter one is favoured for free diving. While the latter is very efficient and looks very graceful like a long fish tail, manuovering in tight space can be a problem.

I recommend that if you can borrow or switch fins with your friends to try out different designs before deciding your purchase.

Thanks so much for your tips Joe. Good points mentioned. I will start by looking at some masks first... then maybe da wetsuit cos the one provided by the school wasnt really my size. Rest of stuff I can look at later stage. Oh and of course, I want to check out some underwater camera cases hehehe...

[joe yap]

Thanks so much for your tips Joe. Good points mentioned. I will start by looking at some masks first... then maybe da wetsuit cos the one provided by the school wasnt really my size. Rest of stuff I can look at later stage. Oh and of course, I want to check out some underwater camera cases hehehe...

Just watch your budget. Many new diver blown thiers by the seduction of the 'Diver fashion' showcases.

[BullTerrier]

Just watch your budget. Many new diver blown thiers by the seduction of the 'Diver fashion' showcases.

No fear here, I quite fashion obiang so wont be blown away by those overly fashion wet suits. I think something simple and functional will be just fine since I dont know how much of it will I be using eventually.