What to do at the end of your course

  KARAPAT DIVE

  Centro buceo  Gran  Canaria

I just finished my diving course And now what do I do?


You get all excited about the Open Water Diver course ... The diving instructor puts you in the water, tortures you by forcing you to do all the exercises you should master, fill your head with all the information you should know (under pressure, there is not much time), and a few days and several exams later ... tachán, he kicks you out of the dive center giving you a pat on the back and saying: “Hala kid, what are you already a diver! Congratulations!"

After the initial surprise (and it is that, to recognize it, there was some time when you doubted that you were going to get to pass the course), the idea penetrates your head and: “Yuhuuu! I'm already a diver! ” So you go home driving the 400 km back, you flood your facebook with the photos of the course (much more if during the course they made you a photo underwater) and during the next months you dedicate yourself to giving the rod to all your Friends: “Guys, you have to try it, it's amazing! You can not imagine the feeling of being underwater ... You float! As if you were in space! (You only say this if the buoyancy control has been especially good for you), and there are spectacular creatures in the background (there you are thinking of nudibranchs), and a peace, and! some super cool bugs! ... We even have our secret language! (This is where you do the diver's ok and they all look at you weird) You have to try it! In this dive center (where you've done it, of course)! That is the best!"

And suddenly, once the initial emotion passes, you ask yourself: "And now what do I do?"


So here are some tips so you do not feel lost about the next steps to continue diving.

Buy diving equipment

I know what you are thinking ... "I just spent a paste on the course and the first thing you want me to do is buy more things?" Yes.

You need some diving goggles. A mask (that now that you are a diver you have to get used to speaking in the language of divers). And not just any diving mask, a mask that seals you well. And that mask that seals you well will not always have it among the rental team, so it is better that you take it from home.

You also need some booties and I think the reason is obvious. Yes, part has to do with the smell.

If you have doubts better a little broad than a little fair. With the water the skin softens and any chafing will become a wound. Another thing that can annoy your immersion.

Neither of these two items are expensive and wear a comfortable mask and booties and you will really improve the quality of your dives.

From there my advice is that you buy a piece of equipment every time you do a diving trip (or take the opportunity to go for Christmas and birthdays between diving trips). Computer, neoprene, regulator, jacket, fins ... without hurry. If you dive very often you will take advantage of having your own equipment. And if you are one of those who only dive one week a year on vacation, you will complete it more calmly.

In any case, and that you will see over time, it is much more comfortable to dive with your team. It always weighs the same, so you don't have to adjust buoyancy every time; the valves are always in the same place allowing you to find them quickly when you need them; And it's exactly your size.

I would recommend some brand, but we still don't have sponsors for this article OR :)

Dive back to the same place where you did the diving course

Although once you finish the course you are already an autonomous diver and in theory you only need a guide to go crazy to go diving, surely there is something that you still do not feel comfortable at all. Or with the one you still need. And you still have a lot of rookie diver mistakes to make. Don't worry, that is fixed with practice. But in the meantime, it doesn't hurt that you return a couple of times to the same dive center where you took the course.

Your instructor is always going to be your instructor, he knows you, he knows what foot you are limping on and he is going to recommend you the best dives appropriate to your level. And as he has taken care of you, he will be more aware of you than any guide you just met.

Make new friends, dive!

This does not mean that you should stop talking to your old friends (in addition, eventually you will end up attracting them to the dark side) but it will allow you to talk hours and hours of your trips underwater without eventually finding everyone an excuse to be in another site. You will not find anything difficult since the divers are all very majetes and as you have already seen, we love to share our passion for the underwater world, tell anecdotes and comment on the latest dives in front of a deco-birra like the one that most.

So talk to the divers at the end of the dive, stay with the decorators if they get teased and sign up for the hangouts and diver events. Don't cut yourself because you don't know anyone yet. In a couple of hours you will have solved it.

In addition, while your old friends decide to enter the sea, you can start making your diving trips with the new ones, that although traveling alone also has its point, traveling with friends is always more fun.

Find new dive sites

Every time you dive in the same place, the dive is different: with the seasons, species and sizes change. In summer there are a lot of fry, in autumn huge banks of young people, in winter larger adults ... Migratory species are only at certain times and even light, visibility and vegetation vary. The better you know a dive, the more you enjoy it ... But there is a whole underwater world out there and is waiting for you to discover it!

So when you feel more loose you will want to start traveling and meet new dive sites. Research, find out, ask: Although there are great destinations for which you will have to save, there are also many others at your fingertips, not for cheaper, less spectacular.

Keep training

And with this I don't just want to say that you do more diving courses, but also. As they say "one course a year does not hurt". But don't stay there: complement it with other means: dedicate an immersion from time to time to improve your buoyancy, review the exercises, reread the book and the material of your diving course, investigate, talk with other divers, exchange anecdotes , search online, read our articles on tips and tricks of diving ...

Join the facebook community I just finished my diving course And now what do I do?

Ask and listen. If you have any questions, do not keep it, ask your instructor or the guide ... even if it seems a bit absurd to you, surely you have heard it a lot of times
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