Resort Discover Scuba Debate

What would you have said?

I went to lunch with 2 co-workers the other day. One, a female, is getting married next month and honeymooning in the Caribbean. We got into a general conversation about diving, she is interested but a little nervous, and was asking for advice.

The other person with us has done a couple different Resort Discover Scuba dives. He is young, athletic, very bright, and basically a natural at anything he tries.

I began by advising her she really needed to take an instruction course and if possible complete her certification before she leaves. I did mention she could start here and complete her training on vacation, if need be.

The other person suggested the resort dive option he did. I then started explaining why I wouldn't recommend this, that there are a lot of serious issues that require good training. The other person then mentioned that they would only take you down to about 30 feet so it was not a big issue. I countered with the "the biggest pressure change occurs from 30 feet up and the risks of DCS, AGE, CAGE, Lung expansion injury,etc.

At this point 2 things happened that made me decide to drop the topic. First, The other person stated, "Yes, but really how often does that ever happen, etc."

And she then said that she was really nervous about diving.

First, I did not want to scare her anymore, I hope that she will take the sport up, and making it sound like "facing death" type exciting was not IMHO very productive.

Second, I know the other person (non certified diver) is incorrect in his cavellier approach, but I don't have any real statistics to support my argument.

So rather than venture down a path where I was uninformed, and not going to achieve either goal, I decided I would seek advice here.

Anyone??

i agree with you

if she's nervous, a quick resort lecture followed by a dive may be too much for her; it will do nothing to lower her anxiety and will likely raise it

what she needs is the time of a longer class to absorb the idea of being underwater, the practice in a pool, and then to venture out into a "real" dive so she can ease into the diving

i would use this as the selling point of a real class

also, point out that accidents are rare, but they most often happen because of inadequate training. point out that if she's going to go diving, it will really help her be safer if she has a real class under her belt

that said, i think for the right person resort dives can be a great thing. that's how i got started diving.

Assuming she can be open to another discussion on the topic, I'd simply describe that while scuba is generally a very safe sport, different people need differing amounts of time to learn and master the skills needed. If she happens to be a bit nervous - a perfectly natural feeling to have about going underwater for the first time, then perhaps a basic certification course is a better alternative for her. Not everyone, as H2Andy suggests, can have a positive experience with the way the very brief resort course are presently structured. I taught resort courses as part of my job on Grand Cayman in the mid 80's and while most people did just fine with them, some needed extra supervision.

Lee

newmanl:

I taught resort courses as part of my job on Grand Cayman in the mid 80's

Click to expand...

a great instructor makes an enormous difference. i still remember my instructor's name (Steve) and keep the card i got that day

it means a lot to me

Again, bang on H2Andy. I never did a resort course, but my o/w instructor was amazing - he started out as my dive instructor, but quickly became my mentor and friend. Sadly, he passed in November 2002, his name was Norm. I still have the engraved 2lb lead weight he awarded to highest score in the course (1978).

Lee

In general how safe is Discover Scuba? It seems to be pretty common, but even 30 feet is deep enough to get into trouble (well DCS would be difficult to get at this depth, but there's still a lot that could go wrong). I feel like even my OW left out A LOT of things I wish I knew for my first open water dive (a lot of it I learned on here). So I guess I don't understand how an hour or two lecture and quick pool session can really get people ready for open water diving (even to 30 feet with a dive master)?

Note: this post isn't an opinion one way or the other, just curious how this works, since my gut says "this sounds like a bad idea".

because of the close supervision, discover scuba / resort dives are pretty safe

you have to remember, you're not really diving. someone is basically holding your hand the whole time, even adjusting your bouyancy if needed

Coldwater_Canuck,

You're absolutely right, but the reason the resort courses work for the most part is because the equipment rarely fails, there's an abundance of supervison (at least there used to be) and the dive conditions are as optimal as possible - warm, clear water with interesting stuff (fishes, mostly) to distract the participates from thinking of anything that might lead to trouble. Think of it as a tandem jump in skydiving.

Resort courses were the first thing they made us teach after our instructors course - the problem was that we explained so much and worked on skills to the level that we joked about having to actually certify them at the end!

Obviously, the resort course/discover scuba things work best with those already comfortable in the water, those more nervous or prone to panic should either take a full cert course or take up skydiving... (just kidding).

In my very limited experience, I'd suggest to her that she see if there are any shops near her that do a Discover Scuba in a pool. That way she would get to try scuba before she goes and see how she likes it. If she enjoys it, she can either do the class before she goes or do the Discover Scuba again at the resort (but not just in the pool this time) without being as nervous about it as she would be since she's tried it before. And if she doesn't enjoy it, it'll be easier to bail out at a pool than the ocean and she won't be wasting time on her honeymoon.

Sharkbully:

...we got into a general conversation about diving, she is interested but a little nervous, and was asking for advice.

The other person with us has done a couple different Resort Discover Scuba dives {and recommended that approach}.

I began by advising her she really needed to take an instruction course {and recommended that approach}.

So rather than venture down a path where I was uninformed, and not going to achieve either goal, I decided I would seek advice here.

Anyone??

Click to expand...

Coldwater_Canuck:

In general how safe is Discover Scuba? It seems to be pretty common, but even 30 feet is deep enough to get into trouble?

Note: this post isn't an opinion one way or the other, just curious how this works, since my gut says "this sounds like a bad idea".

Click to expand...

I see the usual suspects have weighed in. Here's my two cents from an instructors point of view (bet you guess wrong before you read this!).

I suggest the resort experience!

Here's my personal experiences and why I think that. I had a couple that was going to get married and wanted to dive on their honeymoon. The groom, a pilot just back from Iraq, really wanted to do this. Lots of his friends dove! The bride, a nurse, had reservations, but wanted to share lifes experiences with her future husband. Her family, kept bring up the doom and gloom and 'you're gonna die' theme. They had a family friend that died while diving...

During the course of the first day's OW session (which was only a week before their wedding, as if she didn't have enought to worry about!) I couldn't get her past flooding her mask. This is a common enough problem with new divers. They decided to interurpt training and wait until they got back from their honeymoon.

On their honeymoon, they did a guided dive with an instructor. No skills, just sightseeing at 40 feet. She was fine, she had a blast! (Of course she wasn't challenged)

They got back, they called me and we went to finish up the certification. Long story short she bolted to the surface from 25 feet during the air share. No medical issues but... Up until then I'd hold on to a student's harness when they did the mask clear but not the air share. Now, as you can guess, I hold on to their harness for the air share too.

The big difference, as I see it, is during a discover scuba dive there are no skills. That can make all the difference in the world.

Let 'em find out if it's really something they want to do before they invest the time and the money in it.

And for all you out there that would like to say maybe I wasn't the best teacher for her... maybe not. Not all students respond positively to the same teaching methods. Maybe mine weren't right for her. I've only had 2 people who didn't pass my OW course (after however many trys it took them) she being one of them. She was able to complete the skills for PADI Scuba Diver, which requires you to dive with an instructor or Dive Master.

So back to the recommendation... Try before you buy!

Bet you never thought you'd hear an instructor say that... heheheh

Be safe and have fun in the water. Bruce