Discovery dives and diving

[Marie13]

My DSD was in a pool. That’s pretty much the only way they’re done in the Midwest. Signed up for OW shortly after.

 

[TMHeimer]

Now this thread has me wondering. In my OW certification last year, all the students had done Discover; once in Maui for me and multiple times for the others. The instructor, who I think was thorough, seemed to be relieved that we'd all been exposed to diving. It was a 4-1 ratio class which I have recently learned is not ideal. Do shops/instructors fudge up class sizes to non-optimal ratios based on Discover experience?

The several people that mentioned the ratio thing to me had their experiences in the tropics. The 4-1 ratio not being ideal is just my thought. I imagine many higher up the chain from me feel it is fine. I too wonder about what shops do here (US/Canada) re the ratios. These folks I talked to mentioned ratios of like 8:1 where they were in the tropics..

 

[Altamira]

I set up a Discovery Dive for our granddaughter and a grandson at Barefoot Divers in Roatan about eight years ago. They had a 1:1 instructor/student ratio, and the instructors did a great job both in the academic and diving phases. A side perk was their parents got to snorkel above and watch the whole thing, which was a treat for the entire family. It took for the grandson, and he got certified the next year, and turned out to be a natural at diving. Based on our experience, I am a strong advocate of the DD program, as long as it is conducted properly, and in a professional manner. I was happy to pay for the DD and certs if diving became a "want to do" for them, but was happy that our granddaughter decided diving was not for her without me paying for a full dive course.

 

[Saboteur]

The several people that mentioned the ratio thing to me had their experiences in the tropics. The 4-1 ratio not being ideal is just my thought. I imagine many higher up the chain from me feel it is fine. I too wonder about what shops do here (US/Canada) re the ratios. These folks I talked to mentioned ratios of like 8:1 where they were in the tropics..

I think it all depends on the competency of the DM or instructor. I’ve seen 1 on 1 DSD in open water that did not look safely done IMO.

 

[TMHeimer]

I think it all depends on the competency of the DM or instructor. I’ve seen 1 on 1 DSD in open water that did not look safely done IMO.

Oh I agree 100%. But you'll find that situation with some instructors of OW courses as well. Just like there'll always be a few bad school teachers. When I say I think 1:1 is safe enough I'm assuming instructor competence. 4:1, 2:1 or 8:1 isn't a safe situation even with a great instructor IMO.

 

[Ghost95]

I did my discovery dive on a family vacation at 16 in Cozumel.

The outfit was Dive Paradise I think and the instructor was Mr. (Paul I think) Padilla from what I remember. It was me and another lady. My dad snorkeled around on top. Mr. Padillia was a great instructor. My dad thought he was an excellent instructor, and he would know. Dad was an instructor teaching people to fly for the USMC in Pensacola for years and he didn't give out praise lightly.

Or instructor welcomed us, told us what we would learn, demonstrated what we would learn, taught us, tested us, and took us for a dive. It was seamless and relaxing and made us comfortable.

I would venture to say that that discovery dive taught me more than allot of open water classes do.

Loved it.

 

[mac66]

Now this thread has me wondering. In my OW certification last year, all the students had done Discover; once in Maui for me and multiple times for the others. The instructor, who I think was thorough, seemed to be relieved that we'd all been exposed to diving. It was a 4-1 ratio class which I have recently learned is not ideal. Do shops/instructors fudge up class sizes to non-optimal ratios based on Discover experience?

Doing a discover dive isn't a prerequisit of doing a diving class but I don't see any disadvantage to trying out diving through a discovery dive vs. going into a class cold. The advantage of a DD is that the student feels comfortable enough in the water and had a good enough experience to want to take a class. I think any instructor would appreciate that.

 

[boulderjohn]

Now this thread has me wondering. In my OW certification last year, all the students had done Discover; once in Maui for me and multiple times for the others. The instructor, who I think was thorough, seemed to be relieved that we'd all been exposed to diving. It was a 4-1 ratio class which I have recently learned is not ideal. Do shops/instructors fudge up class sizes to non-optimal ratios based on Discover experience?

I am not sure what you meant by this post. Was your discover scuba class 4-1, or was your OW class 4-1?

For an open water discover scuba class, 4-1 is fairly common in the tropics, but it is not ideal. Some agencies do not allow it, and for others it is the maximum. Pool Discover Scuba allows more.

For an OW class, 4-1 is a fine ratio. No problem there.

Your OW instructor was relieved to hear that you had all done Discover Scubas because it indicated you would likely be comfortable in the water. Students who have good snorkeling or Discover Scuba backgrounds generally breeze through the OW class. Believe it or not, I once had a 50+ year old student who had never had her head under water in her life; the class was Hell for both of us.

The required ratios for an OW class are not changed by virtue of student experience.

 

[Litefoot]

You’re right. I didn’t word that clearly. The OW class instructor was happy we had all done DSD…probably for the reasons you described.

 

[MidOH]

My DSD was in a pool. That’s pretty much the only way they’re done in the Midwest. Signed up for OW shortly after.

Yep, we did the pool thing in Ohio. Dived in 13'. Dived under the people swimming laps.

2 instructors, 8 people diving. But the guy that fixed my octo hose on the surface, came out of nowhere. So no idea how many other pool users were there for watching us.