Making The Scuba Industry Better

[elan]

Just think how convenient it would be for everyone involved (instructors and students) if NO training was involved! What a brilliant idea!

Will students still pay money?

I think it is a great Idea the only thing I woukd like to add is when having a nice relaxing lunch give them a couple glasses of wine. It would serve few purposes.
- relax the students even more so they do not struggle during the bext dives.
- simulate the nitrogen narcosis without going deep . And ad a result sell them another certification in the same day, increasing the revenue.

Polish all this with few shots of vodka at the end of the day to celebrate.

Make alcohol mandatory and this will invrease the revenue even further.


No the OP does not have to pay me royalties for the great idea above. It is all free.

 

[rubixcube]

Don't ya just love these troll threads ? In all seriousness though I think that it would be in the industries best interest to go in the complete opposite direction. Make the classes longer and more thorough with more dives and a greater emphasis on skill. I think that the result would be fewer new divers, but with new divers that have better diving educations, and who would be able to confidently and safely dive a wider and more difficult variety of locations. I also think that those new divers would have a better chance of "sticking" and becoming regular divers. IMHO a handful of dedicated, educated, and frequent divers would be better for the industry than a bucketful of one off and vacation divers.

 

[flots am]

I've had lots of discussions with lots of people over the past three years about how to improve the industry. Improving the industry can mean many different things to many different people, but there is one basic thing the industry can do (and by industry here I mean the training agencies and by extension the RSTC,) to instantly improve the scuba experience for everyone involved - that is cut the required number of open water checkout days from two to one.

I think they should be reduced to one unassisted, unguided 45 minute dive that includes only the instructor trailing behind to observe (not demonstrate) the skills.

Give the students a plastic card with the required skill list, a planned navigation route and watch them.

If they get lost, can't complete the skills properly, or have a deer-in-the-headlights look, it's time for more class and pool time.

flots.

 

[boulderjohn]

A number of years ago I signed up for a dive in Florida, and the only people on the boat other than me were an OW instructor and his student, so I tagged along on their dives. He told me that since they had completed all the skills on the first two dives, they were simply going to be diving on these dives. I was just a DM then, but I still knew that was a standards violation. I didn't tell him.

It was not until I was an instructor and conducted those dives that I realized the importance of doing real dives with skills performed over two days. When I conducted those dives, I could see a very significant improvement over those two days. This was particularly true of the buoyancy skill, which is supposed to be repeated on every dive. If the only thing you are doing on the dives is getting them into the water, doing the skills, and then getting them out, then it doesn't make much difference. If you are truly taking them on dives where they can practice and improve their overall skills, it makes a very big difference.

I even see this in the pool. When I an working with students in the pool, I have them spend as much time as I possibly can just having them swim around and getting used to being underwater. The more time I devote to that, the better they are.

 

[*dave*]

Quality instruction that produces solid, entry level divers with solid foundational skills takes no longer than producing crap. I see instructors attempting to make instruction "fun" and I think that is a mistake. DIVING IS FUN, as long as you have the skill set required to enjoy the dive. I don't do play time and I push students to perform without having had a single complaint from a student in 6 years.

It's about the quality of instruction, not the quantity.

 

[Thalassamania]

Just think how convenient it would be for everyone involved (instructors and students) if NO training was involved! What a brilliant idea!

I know! We can scatter temporary c-cards over the bottom at local dive sites and anyone who can find one, and return unhurt, can mail it to the agency with a check for $99.99 and get their permanent card.

 

[Akimbo]

I know! We can scatter temporary c-cards over the bottom at local dive sites and anyone who can find one, and return unhurt, can mail it to the agency with a check for $99.99 and get their permanent card.

Sounds good until some guy asks the chamber attendant to drop his temporary card in the mail for him. I don’t think you can just shoot the ones that get hurt… can you?

What the heck, it’s easier to just Photoshop one anyway.

 

[endurodog]

I'm not seeing where the OP is saying to water down or lessen the training, he is just looking at combining the training into 1 day. Instead of 2 dives for 2 days one day with 4 dives with a possible longer SI. I can see pros and cons to this but in typical SB fashion any discussion of training goes down the training needs to be longer and more in depth road. Again the OP is not talking about a lessening of the material, it basically comes down to a discussion of what effect would SI have on the students learning and the industry possibly attracting more divers.

On the pro side it may get more people to take classes. On the con side the shorter SI may not allow some to take in the lessons as well. Classes may have to be smaller so that you can fit the dives into the 1 day schedule.

Also classes sizes, location, student/instructor wishes and issues, ect a 2 day class would still be possible, wouldn't have to be 1 day.

Ken I see your point and it bears some civil discussion on the issue.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Wouldn't work for me anyway ... my agency requires a minimum of five dives ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think the two day open water dive schedule is appropriate for what is required. Where I dive it is very cold water. It would be very tough on students to try and do more than two ocean dives. Remember, they are not moving around much during those sessions, they are all hanging on to a line waiting for the instructor to come by and have them do a skill. Most of them are in wetsuits also which combined makes them very cold.
If anything they need to add two more dives for a total of six and include some stuff from AOW.
I think the standards are too low as it is and it sometimes really makes me nervous taking out a brand new diver because I know they weren't taught what they need to know to be comfortable and competent. I just pray everything goes well because I know it can go south very quickly. I see it in their eyes that they are ready to freak any second and holding on to their sanity by a thread.

Scuba in general.
If there was more visual media promoting diving and scuba it would be a stronger sport with more participants.
Back in the day there were adventure shows which featured scuba diving and of course Coustaeu which really got people imaginations burning.
If it wasn't for the TV shows I don't think scuba diving would have been as popular as it was once upon a time. I feel like it's been pushed aside and out of the mainstream by things like snowboarding, mountain biking, wakeboarding, etc. and of course lack of visual promotion.
It seems like there used to be more movies and shows with scuba in them than now. The only thing I've seen recently is a few far and few scenes on CSI Miami and maybe something on Hawaii Five-0 once. Other than that zilch.
Maybe it's a cost and logistics thing with TV show and movie producers?

The second thing is the problems with the internet, LDS's, and manufacturers.
The whole internet vs LDS, pricing , MAP, MARP, and all the games with selling parts etc. absolutely has to go.
Somebody needs to come back down to earth and I'm not quite sure I know exactly who but I know the way it's going it can't continue.
You can't have one person bound by a policy to sell products at 100% retail and then have the same policy setter selling stuff out the back door to internet dealers with no rules or stipulations on what they do with it or what they sell it for, but it's completely unsustainable and the only outcome will be disaster for the LDS.
What it should be is the manufacturer sells everybody the same stuff for the same price and then the retailer can price it and sell it however they want. That's the free market.
The shops should also be able to sell repair/service parts to whoever wants them. There is no other industry that I'm aware of that hoards service parts like the dive industry. The internet is also killing the LDS on this issue as well. I don't know if it's a manufacturer demand or if the LDS's are just being weirdo hoarders but it pisses me off.

I can think of a few other things like getting scuba programs into high schools as a student paid after school activity.

I also think the dive industry in manufacturing has convoluted some gear into something way out beyond what it needs to be with prices just as outlandish. If they want more people to get into the sport then they need to consider simplifying some of the gear back to something more streamlined and usable.
Some of these new jacket BC's are way more complex than they need to be along with other toys.
When people add up what diving will cost them and they see they can't get out of the dive shop for under $3000 that's a deal breaker right there. People just don't have the extra cash for that kind of stuff right now. There needs to be better value if they want to get the average person to become a scuba diver.