ATTENTION SCUBA LADIES! Womens only dive charter help/advice!

[harlieclements]

Hello! My name is Harlie Clements, I am 19 years old and have been scuba diving for 3 years now ,it is a great passion of mine! I am currently working towards my bachelor of science majoring in marine biology in Tauranga, New Zealand.

A requirement of this degree is for students to initiate, organise and research a personal project in a marine related field. My project is focused on a feasibility study of of a womens only dive charter operation.
Through market research the aim of this study is to attempt to plan a successful and unique, women only diving charter operation.. This unique diving operation will be specific to womens needs and limitations while diving, committed to keeping women in the water while offering enrichment activities that will expand knowledge and keep women healthy and interested in diving.
Research would indicate the demand for this operation and what options it could provide for women in diving.

When I am out on the water, all my cares and worries are whipped away and my mind becomes peaceful. It is hard to escape that commotion that goes on in our heads and yet we need to. I have realized there is a real value in providing opportunities for women to tap into this.

My vision is to create an experience for women that offers them the chance to take time out for themselves, meet other like-minded women while having an underwater adventure that allows them to feel re-energized and renewed.

I have created a survey for you all you scuba babes out there to help with the market research side of this report. If ladies wouldn't mind spending some time to fill out my questionnaire it would be a great help to me in determining the viability of my study!

This questionnaire is aimed at ladies who have already gained a diving certificate. A link to the questionnaire is below.

www . surveymonkey . com/s/L3QQPYM 

sorry for the broken URL just copy and paste that and delete the spaces between and it should work! Thanks! xxxx

Thank you very much for your time!

Harlie Clements.

[ScubaBB]

Hi Harlie,

Great plan. I will fill in the survey. Put it on AAD too, I saw you there as new member.

[harlieclements]

Thank you very much!

[pixiefish]

I have filled in the survey. I'm interested to know what limitations you feel women have when diving that men don't?

[harlieclements]

One of the major limitations that I have found when compared to male dive buddies is equipment! Manufacturers of dive gear think they are meeting the market needs of women by having all pink sets of dive gear - they underestimate the variety of women around - lets face it it's not particularly a good look in a wetsuit with 15kg of lead around your middle. They also advertise women's gear using tiny models - whose bodies are a lot different to the average woman diver. Sex sells! apparently. Women arn't as physically strong (generally) as men and are often not given alternative ways of doing things in the water. For example - putting on your gear in water at the suraface, entries and exits - there are ways to make it easier - it doesn't have to be about brute strength.
When diving with a large group of men I have also found a deterrent to be the pace in which dives progress! It seems to me that men are keen to dive to as deep as possible for as long as possible in search of the biggest crayfish, in the past this has left me feeling pressured and uncomfortable as I have been stuck with this particular dive buddy. Research shows women are more conservative safety-wise than men, less likely to take risks. Also a sway towards photography and environment.
I think the idea that women want more luxury than men in diving is a myth - I think both want things like warm water showwers on board and reasonable toilets, nice food/catering etc.
These limitations are just from my own experience and I cannot speak for every girl diver out there! The angle I am taking for my project is looking at taking the competition out, having progressive dives - i.e. shallower dives, environmental aspects - learning what is down there etc.

I would be very interested to hear if you have found any of these to be a problem during your dives?

[harlieclements]

Women's scuba diving questionarre Survey this is the link that works!

[ScubaBB]

I understand that you're stating that female divers want an other kind of environment (diveschool, diveclub, live-on-board) for their dives; non-competitive, aim on environment, comfort in entering/leaving the water, easy-going and no-stress.

I agree with you that this group of divers exist, and probably is significant. But I wonder whether this group of divers is limited to female divers.

[emoreira]

What's the idea behind a "womens only dive charter" ?
There is no "mens only dive charter".
If only 25 % (average) of the divers are women, why make such an exclusive charter ? Get more female divers, that's it.
I have no distinction if my insta buddy is a woman or a man, it's a diver. Of course, as there are more male divers than female divers, in most cases my insta buddy is a man. My frecuent buddy is a man.
Woman say that they have limitations with dive gear. It´s a market and trends are defined by use and money. If there are few female divers, gear will be limited.
I also agree with ScubaBB. I enjoy/prefer a dive charter where there is non-competitive, aim to environment, comfort in entering/leaving the water, easy-going and no-stress and (added by me) respect for each other, no matter gender, religion, human race, skin colour, mother lenguage and country of origin. And I'm still a man. There is no need to be a woman to prefer a dive charter like this.

[bwade]

I understand that you're stating that female divers want an other kind of environment (diveschool, diveclub, live-on-board) for their dives; non-competitive, aim on environment, comfort in entering/leaving the water, easy-going and no-stress.

I agree with you that this group of divers exist, and probably is significant. But I wonder whether this group of divers is limited to female divers.

Yes, there's a very large group of divers for whom the above criteria apply. I for one roll my eyes at those who 'talk up their game' and basically just annoy those of us who DO enjoy diving for the sheer enjoyment of the underwater world.

Cheers,
Bruce

[bwade]

Harlie Clements : good luck with your research and career path !

All the best,
Bruce