Newbie looking to go all the way...

[scuba41girl]

DING, DING! You win! I was hoping someone would bring this up.

Sure you can pound out 300 dives in six months in idealic conditions. But what happens when he has his instructor cert, moves back to the UK and now has conditions that warrant dry suit, limited vis, nasty shore entry, rocking boat entry?

How often do you think he will face entering off the boat with 2' swells but have to get back on the boat in 12-15' swells wher the boat prop and ladder on a 65' boat are clearing the water by 4-6'? I've done that diving oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. (Provided a great deal of chum for the fish also).

How about doing Search & Recovery for drowned children?

River diving? Diving in <1' vis at night? Same conditions in 40 degree water? Diving in <1' vis with large creatures that you only get glimpses of fins?

Getting tangled in fishing rigging at 130'+, exceeding NDL and giving your dive computer (and wife) a nervous tick? Spending 2+ hours decompressing in the water?

Dodging jet ski jerks that think your dive marker is a turn buoy for their race?

Getting snagged by Joe Bob or his cousin/brother/dad that thinks he just hooked the local bar record Channel Cat?

Being in 4-5' vis at 60', have a 90lb female student choke, freak and decide that if she tears out your regulator, eyes and testicles, gets a death grip on her power infaltor, these things will get her safely to the surface? Maintain control of her until your other DM arrives to control her, then get your reg, eyes, mask and tesicles back, don't drown yourself and NOT kill her?


Watch a 180 day wonder instructor use the down line you set in the morning, lead his students as they all CRAWL (instructor included) to 90' for their deep dive, then CRAWL (instructor included) back up, surface, go to shore and start debriefing, THEN realize they are short one student? He joined our group by mistake, but never went back to that instructor.

i just about peed myself because it's so true. working on a dive boat, iv'e seen the best and worst instructors. i do agree about varied conditions though. i'm not putting down the caribbean because i love to dive there, but it's not in the same league as northeastern diving.

 

[jbichsel]

Actually Jbichsel the Op is going to experience quite a few of those situations you laid out. You may think that its thailand its "idealic", however Pattaya diving on an average day is pretty crap. the viz is not great quite often as little as 2m.

"Dodging jet ski jerks that think your dive marker is a turn buoy for their race?"
try dodging the thai ones that have an outboard motor on the back, rather than your standard impeller...

"How often do you think he will face entering off the boat with 2' swells but have to get back on the boat in 12-15' swells wher the boat prop and ladder on a 65' boat are clearing the water by 4-6'? I've done that diving oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. (Provided a great deal of chum for the fish also)."
This will happen a few times two him, I done two dives where my gear reeked of sick because I had to swill down the upper deck, and my gear taken a hit from the dirty water!They wont 12'-15' swells but they will be 8'-12'.

"Being in 4-5' vis at 60', have a 90lb female student choke, freak and decide that if she tears out your regulator, eyes and testicles, gets a death grip on her power infaltor, these things will get her safely to the surface? Maintain control of her until your other DM arrives to control her, then get your reg, eyes, mask and tesicles back, don't drown yourself and NOT kill her?"
Everybody has to DM or instruct students who are less than confident for whatever reason, and as I said bad visability is quite common

"How about doing Search & Recovery for drowned children?"
I never saw this is the instructor manual, by the way your not ready to teach people you havent searched for a dead body yet???Whats that all about???

No admittedly I havent pulled all of your senarios out, but I have pulled most. While many people dont approve of this method, it doesnt mean you can give the OP a hard time when in actual fact you know very little about where he is going or who is going to be taught by. Besides this guy is going to dedicate the next 6 months of his life there try not to piss to hard all over his parade! Good luck Scottg and I hope you have a great time.


Freds

Freds,
My comments were not intended to be any sort of list of "requirements" before someone becomes an instructor.

My intent was only to show some various examples of different conditions/scenarios that may be encountered/experienced that may not have been considered.

I also have a great deal of frustration with all the major training agencies, their lack of truely preparing divers, much less instructors by enabling and encouraging "instructor mills" to exist.

I apologize if I offended Scottg or anyone else. That was not my intent. I meant no ill will towards Scottg, just wannted to provide some perspective that maybe this "fast track" method may not be the best option for him or potential future students.

Sorry.

 

[Scotty g]

Let's summarize this thread.

OK, so people will agree and be encouraging, some will not. That's ok - really it is. I am fine to say that i am not offended by anyones comments. There are comments and opinions from a range of divers from newbies to 3000+. Good instructors, bad instructors - they are everywhere.

So anyway, yes i have decided to do this. I have my budget and thankfully have no domestic commitments to hinder my decision for dedicating the coming 6 months to learning. I know it will be hard and i know i'm certain to give it my god damn best attention to become the safest and best diver i can personally be.

I have taken all your points on board and i thank you for the comments. Yes, it's a great thing to do but i asure you that i'm not hiding in cotton wool about the downside of the sport either. I'm more than prepared to hear some terrifying stories - i've read many of them right here these last few months whilst lurking as an unknown.

Scotty

 

[victor]

Scott
My 2pees worth, I sugest this as a schedule.

Do your OW, AOW, Nitrox.
Then take a break and go do some diving (2 weeks or so). Go some where you can do unlimited shore dives as well as boat dives and get some diving in without being led by the hand or following an exercise. I would sugest you rent gear but buy mask fins & a dive computer. Without the computer you will not be able to get enough diving in.

Do your Emergency first response, deep diver & rescue course.
Take another break (2 weeks) to do some more diving. Dive at multiple resorts and with different orginisations, talk to the DM's and instructors about life as a professional. Then decide if this life is really for you

By this time you will have done about 20 dives in courses and maybe another 60+ dives during the breaks. You will still have a lot to learn but at least you will have a little experience to make you decision on whether you want a professional diving qualification or not.

If you decide to continue the DM comes next.
If you decide you need more experience or that teaching diving is not for you, go diving. There are some wonderfull places to dive out there.

Have a fantastic time whatever you decide to do and tell us all about your experiences. :scubadive

 

[BarryNL]

Don't take ANY meds before a dive! Causes major anxiety! If your sick, you shouldn't be in the water anyway...this includes mental illnesses...someone forgot to tell one of the guys in my class that Xanax to calm nerves before/during/after a dive is STUPID!

Alternatively, visit the DAN website for some useful information about various medications and diving.

 

[Scotty g]

Am I missing something? You're committing to a career you know nothing about?

You're going to be an instructor, and you're sure about this, yet you've never dove before?? Perhaps do your OW and _THEN_ decide if you want to go further. It's called one step at a time. I sure hope you have a _lot_ of money to burn.

- ChillyWaters

Just a quick note,

Who said i didn't know nothing about SCUBA? Sure, i dont know much at the moment but i dont believe i have stated that i know nothing about this - yes that would be ludacris if i didn't right?

I also have never stated that i have not 'dove before'. Some weeks back i posted a thread here about a few questions i had about the O/W course (which i am doing in a few weeks).

I define burning money as doing a 'Discover SCUBA diving' course several times a year on every holiday for the last couple of years with nothing to show because i had to take my THEN non-diving girlfriend's lonliness into consideration if i did my O/W on our holidays.

Scotty

p.s oh and kind thanks to the people who have posted some interesting points about etiquitte and some medical points.

 

[scuba41girl]

I define burning money as doing a 'Discover SCUBA diving' course several times a year on every holiday for the last couple of years with nothing to show because i had to take my THEN non-diving girlfriend's lonliness into consideration if i did my O/W on our holidays.

Scotty

why are you not getting certified together?

 

[PerroneFord]

ScottyG,

One thing no one mentioned, but is something which I believe the instructors will agree, is how much you learn about your own instructing, when you take a class from others. I know that resuming dive training after I had spent 12 years instructing in another sport was a revelation. I was able to not only take in the material, I was able to gather in much from the various instructors.

I would hope in your instruction, you have a chance to work with a number of different instructors, learn from their style, demeanor, etc. Not just the book material, but mannerisms.

Again, best of luck to you in this. I may not think it's the best way to go about it, but I respect how you are approaching it. I wish all instructors were this consciencous about it.

 

[jbichsel]

Other things:

Never hesitate to call a dive if conditions warrant.

Never feel bad about calling a dive.

Never make anyone else feel bad for calling a dive.

Don't drink and dive. Sounds simple, but I know some people do it.

Don't smoke pot and dive. Sounds simple, but I know some people do it.

Don't dive with sinus issues.

Don't drink too many carbonated beverages before diving. Can cause cramping.

Eat good, healthy, nutritious food.

Drink plenty of water.

Don't eat food that can give you gas too soon before diving. Can cause some cramping and the fish don't appreciate it.

Don't stick your hands in places you don't know what's in there.

Err on the side of caution.

Don't hand your fins up to someone on the boat in rough seas. Run your arms through the straps. This way if you fall off the ladder, your fins are still with you.

It's not the shark you have to out-swim. It's your buddy. Take necessary steps. (Joke)

Take lots of photos.

Make lots of friends.

 

[fasorud]

Doing 6 days a week, twice a day of what kind of diving? Is there ripping current? Is there a tough shore entry? Are they diving off a RIB? Drift dives? How about diving in cold conditions? Low vis?

Part of diving experience to be an instructor is having VARIED experiences. When someone shows up at this resort from Boston, and wants to get certified, and starts asking questions about drysuits, and thermoclines, is someone who has done all their diving in the Phillipines going to be qualified to answer? When someone from the pacific northwest asks about shore entries, is the instructor going to be able to give a credible answer?

Everyone is new at some point to teaching if they do it. I was at one point as well. But in a sport where a failure can be lethal, I want an instructor who has a bit of experience under their belt. And I don't care if you do 1000 dives in 6 months, it's just not the same.

I wish the original poster all the luck in the world. There are hundreds of instructors out there who've done the same thing. But I honestly don't think it's the best way to go.

Good post Perone. That's exactly what I was talking about which I don't think the original poster understood. Doing 2 dives a day 6 days a week, just showing people around in pristine waters, I can tell you you haven't learned ANYTHING.

The kind of experience I was referring to was dealing with problems that students face during the teaching phase, not guiding around certified divers