Beginner!

[oqy]

Hi all. Am diving in Cozumel this February - I am a novice and wanted any tips for newcomers- i.e. things you wished you knew before your first dive. Just got certification, but any extra bit helps..thanks so much!)

[CyberRat]

The big thing I`ve learned (besides check ALL your gear long before you leave home) is to relax. So often we`d be rushing about, looking for pelagics, that we`d miss all the other sea life. Even on sandy bottom is a wealth of activity, if you know how and where to look. Sometimes I just kneel, lie, or sit on the bottom, being as still as possible. After just a minute or so, all sorts of animals emerge and come check me out. So don`t be in a big hurry.

[purecaca]

and your sense of what`s OK and not. I`ve heard several tales of people blindly following DMs ("oh, they are professional, they know what`s OK") or buddies who dragged them to unreasonable depths, into overhead envrionments, and other places you know better than to go. Trust the little voice that says "dumb idea". Look at your own depth gauge, air gauge and computer or table.
Once you get a few dives in, learning more about what`s there to see means seeing something on every dive. I`ve come up from grat dives and heard people complain that there was "nothing" because they don`t notice anything smaller than a 4 foot long fish. Look around - I`ve also dived with people who were so busy looking at the wall that they missed big pelagics out in the open water.

[petes]

Congratulations on your certification
Top ten in my book...
10) Remember, if you blow chunks...it`s just chum for the fishes...don`t eat alot before you dive 9) Make sure you dive with someone with experience. 8) Triple check ALL YOUR GEAR....ask questions about your gear if you`re renting 7) Don`t rush to see everything...get comfy on your first dive, work on your buoyancy!!! 6) Don`t grab the reef. If nothing else, take a dive knife and run it into the sand for leverage 5) Most critters have teeth...especially the eels. I named a buddy 3 finger Bob after his first dive. 4) Bring along a good looking person of the opposite sex....like me. Just kidding ~ 3) Remember, your first drink of the day means you did your last dive of the day. 2) If you feel water get warm...it`s NOT the thermocline...move away as quickly as possible!!!
And the number one thing to remember... 1) If you feel giddy...it`s just the Nitrogen talkin to ya...
Seriously, go over your training material. If your diving with a computer, still go over your tables.

[RnW]

the surface always appears to be 20ft away.

[Meshad]

If it`s Cozumel then it must be drift diving. When drift diving, avoid swimming against the current (you`ll just get too tired and use too much air). Let yourself be carried along with the current, avoid fighting it. If you need to slow down, find a sandy patch behind a coral or rock outcropping, drop as low as you can (without touching anything if possible) and point your nose at the coral/rock outcropping and kick. If the rock/coral is high enough, you may hardly have to kick at all. The best piece of advise I have ever gotten from anyone about diving is that you will always go wherever your face is pointed so if you want to go up, look up and if you want to go down, look down. I agree with everyone else to take it easy and relax.

[RubyTuesday]

caroline clarke wrote advanced dives go, it`s not the worst either. Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. You are responsible for your own safety. If you fail this responsibility, you`re the one that will suffer, not the DM. Make your own decisions on which dives to do and on how to do them. Many of the dives available in Cozumel are probably beyond your skill level at this point. Save them for a future visit when you`re better prepared to do them safely. 2. Cozumel offers lots of opportunities to go into swim throughs, etc. Avoid them. Any overhead environment carries risks you are unlikely to be ready for just yet. Anybody can do a swim through when nothing goes wrong. Not everybody can handle them when things don`t go just right. 3. One the biggests risks in Cozumel, the one that I think makes diving there a bit more advanced, is also what attracts so many people to the area. The water is very clear and the drop off over the walls is very steep and very deep. It`s spectacular stuff and very distracting. The combination is high risk. Keep a very close eye on your depth guage and your gas supply, much closer than you have had to before. It is very easy to get beyond the depths you`re used to. None of the clues that normally alert us to greater depths are present. You can`t see the bottom, it`s too far away, and you can get very, very deep before the light is dimmed enough to alert your subconsious that you`re deeper than you would normally like. The deeper your are, the faster you`ll use your gas. Until you`ve had a bit more experience, you`re not going to believe how fast your gas supply will be used up when you`re deep. Don`t let yourself be surprised by running low. At least for this trip, think in terms of the rule of thirds. If you start with 3,000 psi, you should probably begin your ascent with about 1,000 psi. At 100 plus feet, it won`t take long to get there. Do not let the fact that others are continuing their dive keep you from ending yours when you should. It`s not rare, or bad, for a newer diver to use air more quickly than a more experienced diver. 4. At the end of a dive, ascend slowly, very slowly, and as you approach the surface, keep an eye out for boats. As important, pay attention to what you hear. Boat motors can be heard a long time before they can be seen. If you hear one getting louder, it`s approaching you. Stay below the surface until you know where it is.
Be safe, enjoy your trip, and tell us about it when you get back.

[yostinso]

to clean up: on my first few dives, I was so excited (nervous?) about making it to the bottom to explore that I found myself shaking putting my kit together. Which means I made newbie mistakes (like forgetting to turn the air on before putting my BC on to go in, stuff like that.)
Focus on the tasks at hand as you do them, don`t think ahead. Don`t try to outswim the entire group or your buddy. This is no longer (if it ever was) about impressing a teacher or a divebuddy, it`s about having fun. The more relaxed you are, the more fun you`ll have. And the less air you`ll use so the more bottom time you`ll get!

[The World Warrior]

I would suggest that you let your divemaster know you are a novice. He/she can be a bit more attentive in keeping and eye on you, and may also offer you various suggestions.
Cozumel can offer conditions -- depth and current -- that may not be "ideal" for a new, relatively inexperienced diver. If you don`t feel comfortable, say on (or return to) the boat. There will be another day.

[daftz]

control, watch your gauges, don`t fight the current, find a good DM. Tell them that you are new. I`ve also had people hire their own DM for the first day, so that they didn`t feel pressure from the group. It was only around $50 for 2 dives or something.
Take the opportunity to do a shore tank before you go out on the boat. Usually they are happy to let you do that. Figure out your buoyancy and get used to the conditions without current and with a bottom under you. Usually one shore tank is included.
If you have any opportunity to dive before you go, do so. Even getting a few more dives in with help a lot.