What I recently saw in Bonaire was shocking...

[SeaCobra]

there aren't any pictures of it on Facebook, so it must not have happened.

 

[RJP]

Do not exclude the possibility that such skills were developed subsequent to good, bad, or indifferent instruction.

How is that possible? I thought people who had bad or indifferent instruction died or left diving right after their OW course?


PS - I figured it would be less than an hour before this sentiment was expressed. Looks like you just squeaked in under the wire.

 

[AdivingBel]

Maybe Bonaire doesn't attract as many inexperienced divers as some other places that are easier to get to, with cheaper flights, etc.? It takes some effort to dive Bonaire--not just to get there, but the whole shore diving thing that to inexperienced divers might seem intimidating. I long viewed Bonaire as a place for advanced divers with good skills and deeper pockets than I had. Of course, once I made my first trip there I realized that perception is totally wrong.

I felt the same way. I noticed after I went once, that the skill of the average diver went significantly downhill. Unfortunately I've noticed that in other areas of life. I've come to believe I don't think I would join a club that would have me as a member. Oh the solitude...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I spent a week diving all over the island back in December. During that week I saw hundreds of divers who...

1. Were not bouncing off the bottom
2. Did not drag their regs and gauges across the reef
3. Stayed with the buddy
4. Monitored their gas supply
5. Were able to put their gear together
6. Generally seemed to be fairly skilled divers

From what I observed I can only conclude that these people must have received pretty effective instruction at some point in time.

Just thought that ScubaBoarders would find it interesting that this sort of thing goes on - in the real world - all the time.

:cool2:

Not surprising ... Bonaire attracts a lot of people from Europe ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mjrob]

I spent a week diving all over the island back in December. During that week I saw hundreds of divers who...

1. Were not bouncing off the bottom
2. Did not drag their regs and gauges across the reef
3. Stayed with the buddy
4. Monitored their gas supply
5. Were able to put their gear together
6. Generally seemed to be fairly skilled divers

From what I observed I can only conclude that these people must have received pretty effective instruction at some point in time.

Just thought that ScubaBoarders would find it interesting that this sort of thing goes on - in the real world - all the time.

:cool2:

Liar. I've read this board long enough to know that can't be true.

 

[rhwestfall]

next you are going to tell me the [rotund] French Canadians stopped wearing Speedos......

 

[lmorin]

Only people with their masks on their foreheads...

Better a mask on the head, than left on the shore, as a DM/guide did when escorting us on a night dive at Salt Pier a few years ago. We surface swam to the end of the pier and that is when he discovered his error. Jerk.

 

[boulderjohn]

How is that possible? I thought people who had bad or indifferent instruction died or left diving right after their OW course?

Evidently you have not been reading ScubaBoard enough to know the answer to that.

1. People who receive terrible instruction from incompetent instructors go out on their own and learn to dive properly through experience or sometimes through the help of a non-instructor mentor.
2. Mentors are people who received terrible instruction from incompetent instructors and who learned to dive properly by practicing their terrible skills on their own.
3. Once these people with terrible skills learned from incompetent instructors practice a little, they can become excellent mentors for others with terrible skills.
4. Occasionally a mentor will let it go to his or her head and will become an instructor. Through that process, all diving competence is lost, and they begin to turn out divers with terrible skills.

 

[drbill]

Whew... you must not have seen me!

 

[Hawkwood]

...

From what I observed I can only conclude that these people must have received pretty effective instruction at some point in time.

Just thought that ScubaBoarders would find it interesting that this sort of thing goes on - in the real world - all the time.

:cool2:

Maybe they were all trained by those dozen or so Uber-Instructors we hear about on SB? After all, there are not that many Instructors out there capable of teaching that stuff...or so I read.