I am still at that stage, where having done only around 100 dives, I try to get in to the water whenever possible, and that includes the sea and puddles, and I enjoy all the dives i do. All trainees in our club follow the usual path of pool/Leybourne/guildy or stony then Bovisand and it seems to work. Last weekends conditions where not great but the would be OD's did great, so the puddle dives certainly helped. With Leybourne only 10 minutes down the road it is very convenient to grab the kit and jump in for some training. I was able to build up on my skills by diving in the sea and having to deal with currents and surges, but was glad that my initial skills were taught in calmer and safer conditions. All said and done i have done roughly two thirds of my dives in the sea and have had some fantastic dives yet a highlight will always be going under at stony and actually seeing fish for the very first time
