How NOT to start scuba diving

[uboettger]

Thanks for your feedback.

My choice to do it right during that vacation was not influenced by a cheap price. The course price I paid was not specifically low - but I did learn that later on while I was back home again.

@yle:

Don't worry, but I still feel that I could have had a better start. A year later, in January 2007, I gave it another chance, this time in Hurghada, Egypt. I went to dive with a well-known German dive center that I had researched on the internet before. They took care about me. I did an AOWD course that included all the OWD skills again. I got a lot of advice in and out of the water. They had time for me, and from that point on it really got me.

---------- Post added November 9th, 2015 at 10:02 PM ----------

@kelemvor: No, PADI does not allow to fulfill requirements for OWD courses while no instructor is present ... It was - like many of the things taking place in that course - a violation of standards. Not that I knew that by 2006 ...

 

[kevindsingleton]

Absolutely agree. But how do you defeat the "how much does it cost?" mindset that seems to drive most people?

What if you collect half of the cost, up front, and the remainder is paid after the course is complete? You could even offer to make the second payment a voluntary amount, and everyone pays what they think the training is worth?

 

[PilotGimbal]

What if you collect half of the cost, up front, and the remainder is paid after the course is complete? You could even offer to make the second payment a voluntary amount, and everyone pays what they think the training is worth?

I'd be all over that. Being able to split the payment up would make it easier for some people to justify the cost.

 

[k ellis]

Inspired by a report about starting scuba diving training a couple of posts ago here is my story about how NOT to start scuba diving.

From my early childhood on I loved being in the water. I learned how to swim at an early age. My parents gave me a mask and a snorkel, later on some fins. From that point on they could hardly get my out of the water during vacation times. Growing up I always wanted but never managed to get proper training for scuba diving, not during college times and not in my postdoc program.

In January of 2006 I decided to go on a vacation to the Dominican Republic. Since travel times from Europe are a little bit longer than from the U.S. or Canada we decided to stay at a well-known hotel area in Punta Cana for almost 3 weeks. Beforehand it never crossed my mind that there would be an opportunity to find scuba-diving training.

What does the promotion video of a big training agency say these days? Inspiration hit while I was hanging around at the pool when a guy from the hotel dive center showed up with two sets of equipment offering tryout scuba diving in the pool. I liked it very much – and here my mistake began. Instead of postponing my training to the next vacation, getting more information on courses, prerequisites and quality marks for scuba courses I immediately started taking an OWD course with that dive center.

The instructor came from the Netherlands o at least we were able to talk in German. Teaching the theoretical parts was limited to a self-study of the OWD video footage and the book. No class, no real opportunity to ask questions about the things I had seen or that I had read. The 10-minute floating test was not supervised, and I cannot remember whether I had to swim 200 meters at all. Pool sessions were limited to two, and I did not have the feeling that I “mastered” all those exercises. My longest training dive in open waters lasted 32 minutes, and my ears were ringing days after since I had problems to equalize. I did not get any feeling for buoyancy besides I never understood the concept itself. At the end I got my certification and did two or three more dives with that dive center. I never felt well, and I never enjoyed the dives.

Now why did that happen that way? The instructor told me that she was getting paid a low fixed salary. On top of that she had to earn money by collection “points”. Those “points” were awarded by the dive center for guiding dive trips, conducting courses and discover scuba activities at the pool, but also for acquiring new customers or doing work at the dive center. Instead of individually assessing my needs as a customer to get me the training I needed her mind was always focussed on the next opportunity or activity that could get her “points”. I understood her dilemma but the training that I felt was less than poor kept me away from scuba diving at home and for another year.

For all those considering scuba diving training:

After some 400 dives I am still mad at myself that I did not get enough information at the beginning to get training of high quality fitting my needs. So before you decide to take your training in one of these big resort diving centers that you can find in Mexico or the Dominican Republic or at other travel destinations use all available sources to get more information down to your future individual instructor. Use online review platforms or your friends who might recommend a good instructor to you. You usually get just one chance to feel well under the seas.

One thing I will say is when I first did a dive I was scared silly. I could not swim but I figured I had equipment and the discovery dive you did not have to know how to swim to take.

I fell in love and decided to get certified and well I found a center nearby and paid my fees only to discover I had to be able to float and snorkel (Yikes) I went back to try to reason and get my money back but the instructor was a former seal and as such he did not take no for an answer LOL (He is an outstanding instructor by the way he just doesnt believe in quitting)

He stopped what he was doing in his office as he was the owner and put every thing aside and told me to get in the pool. I did so not expecting anything but failure and he showed me how to float. After several failed attempts I decided to listen closely and thought Id just float a little till I got tired get out and go home.

I saw some decorations he had on the ceiling and just started looking at them and without even realizing it I floated past the 10 minute requirement.

Now I dont like using names because to me it can lead to problems but this instructor has some excellent students hes passed and as with many he has some who are negative about him. Asking around I got some reviews that were not good but others were top notch.

I'd say though he changed my entire life and when I say entire I mean literally entire life. I had never been able to swim before ever! I was petrified of water where I could not touch and I had given in to the belief I would never dive.

a few years had gone by and well I decided I wanted to be a dive master but here I was again a weak swimmer. I said bad words to him and I was mean at times and he would look at me and laugh and say are you ready to try again? Well I did and because he believed in me and would not let me quit I am a divermaster today who plays Santa for kids in our Aquarium and I inspire many children while in the tank.

I enjoy spearfishing and many other things I would never have been able too. So sometimes its good to do your homework but dont always base your opinion on what others say or think. You may just miss out on the best instructor youll ever have the opportunity to work with all because of someone elses opinions. And you dont have to pay thousands to get certified he was probably one of the cheapest instructors in the nation. But I learned more from him and his personality then any other instructor has ever taught me.

---------- Post added November 28th, 2015 at 09:41 PM ----------

Now to comment on value. I think most people today are used to the Walmart/Amazon mentality that you get the same product from different stores that does the same thing only you pay less at one store.

Also people are being burnt left and right for money these days and people are becoming more savy. They view things like diving as you learn the basics and then go out on your own in the school of hard knocks and learn on the fly. I sure did but most arent looking for the best instructors they are looking for an instructor who can certify them and get them on their way.

To defeat this one really has to focus on the why should you pick me and convince them your the better pick. Sometimes you can control cost and lower it to an affordable rate and sometimes you have overhead that prevents this. But this is why alot of people are seeking out cheaper courses and its only my opinion and not intended to be presented as fact.

 

[uboettger]

Now your options to choose and pick the right instructor are very limited if a) you (like me) decide to take the course while you are already in a holiday resort and b) if you have no clue beforehand what you have to look for in an instructor to identify her as a good instructor.

 

[FinnMom]

What if you collect half of the cost, up front, and the remainder is paid after the course is complete? You could even offer to make the second payment a voluntary amount, and everyone pays what they think the training is worth?

We have tried this twice and actually it didn't work at all: if offered a helping hand, some folks always have to take the whole arm. Both times we had the class ongoing and then 1 or 2 students hadn't paid by the final due date, still hadn't paid after a weeks grace, then showed up for the next class metting with empty pockets. So now it's the next day of the class and they have arrived w/o the missing payment. Do you bar them from participation and risk having to redo the whole day again with just this 1 or 2 persons? Or do you drop them from the entire class? Dropping them means taking on ill will and bad press in a small community where you need to always build bridges not walls. Or your final option is to continue as though everything is OK and reinforce their idea that they can pay when or if they darn well please. There just aren't any good options at that point.

In the end we always got the money but we always had a ridiculous amount of work getting the last (2nd) payment from 1 or 2 individuals (5-10%). We concluded that it is best to have the whole thing due after the very 1st lecture, which is at least a week before pool sessions and 1-2 months before open water dives. This way we can put the brakes on at a very early stage and before we have invested the time and effort that goes into the pool sessions and open water dives.

BTW in case you wonder why the 1-2 month delay before open water dives. In Finland open water dives always have to be in May or later: we have to wait for the waters to be open before we can do open water dives ;-)

 

[CT-Rich]

Hind sight is always 20/20. If you go on holiday and decide that you want to take scuba lessons, you have no idea about the relative cost of this shop or that one or the quality of the instructor you are going to get, even within a particular shop. It is a shame when someone has a bad experience and decides based on that they aren't going to continue with diving. The same thing can happen with any sport. If you try skiing and have a bad first day, that lodge is going to look very inviting the next day.

But if you wait for everything to be perfect you are never going to get into the water. One of my regrets was that when I had too much hassles find a dive buddy (pre-Internet) I let it get in the way of my getting in the water. I wish I had pushed a little harder to dive, because I really love it, but I let a bunch of things pile up and instead of spinning the wheel and just heading out to the dive site to pot-luck a dive buddy I stayed home, because things weren't perfect. It was a waste. You started diving and in-spite of a less than perfect start you kept with it. A greater shame would have been that you decided that you weren't going to the try-it dive and went home without it. Nothing is perfect and if you wait for perfect seas, perfect visibility, just the right gear, the best dive buddy who thinks just like you, you are going to be sitting on the beach for an awful long time.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Hind sight is always 20/20. If you go on holiday and decide that you want to take scuba lessons, you have no idea about the relative cost of this shop or that one or the quality of the instructor you are going to get, even within a particular shop. It is a shame when someone has a bad experience and decides based on that they aren't going to continue with diving. The same thing can happen with any sport. If you try skiing and have a bad first day, that lodge is going to look very inviting the next day.

But if you wait for everything to be perfect you are never going to get into the water. One of my regrets was that when I had too much hassles find a dive buddy (pre-Internet) I let it get in the way of my getting in the water. I wish I had pushed a little harder to dive, because I really love it, but I let a bunch of things pile up and instead of spinning the wheel and just heading out to the dive site to pot-luck a dive buddy I stayed home, because things weren't perfect. It was a waste. You started diving and in-spite of a less than perfect start you kept with it. A greater shame would have been that you decided that you weren't going to the try-it dive and went home without it. Nothing is perfect and if you wait for perfect seas, perfect visibility, just the right gear, the best dive buddy who thinks just like you, you are going to be sitting on the beach for an awful long time.

Best reply so far Move on learn more blow bubbles have fun but most of all keep thinking that is what keeps you safe

 

[Bob DBF]

Set standards that require an instructor to be present for in water training. I think probably all agencies already do this. Beyond agencies setting standards, you'd need to get governments and regulation involved.

It is easy for an Agency to set standards, unfortunately they have no quality control in place to see if they are being met or enforce them. Unless an instructor has had numerous complaints or a dead body, the Agency has no interest in finding out if any dive "professional" is teaching to standards. Government usually gets involved when self regulation means no regulation, and there is certainly no over site of SCUBA instruction from the examples here.

As for cost, when I finally got around to my OW cert in 1980, the class cost more then than it does many places now and I had all my gear. It probably was less per hour, but a lot more hours. Although I was a diver going into the class, the instructor made it worth my time and money to be there.



Bob
-------------------------------------

That's my point, people, by and large, are not taught that diving can be deadly, they are taught how safe it is, and they are not equipped with the skills, taught and trained to the level required to be useful in an emergency.