Do you think computers encourage risky diving in new/ young divers?

[Edward3c]

The whole BSAC club concept sounds really nice from my perspective. Pity we don't have anything like that in these parts.

According to the BSAC Website, Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort is a BSAC Premier Centre.

 

[kelemvor]

According to the BSAC Website, Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort is a BSAC Premier Centre.

That's in "Key Largo" which is about 6 hours (by automobile) south of "Largo" where I live.

 

[Edward3c]

From the UK Largo could mean ...

 

[Khrissi]

" It's not just to certify more divers and sell more gear."........... Oh ! Errrrrrr ! k

 

[KenGordon]

According to the BSAC Website, Amy Slate's Amoray Dive Resort is a BSAC Premier Centre.

He does’t need BSAC training so much as the idea that a bunch of people can do a thing for themselves without money being the driving force.

 

[Blackcrusader]

The whole BSAC club concept sounds really nice from my perspective. Pity we don't have anything like that in these parts.

The two years I had in a BSAC Club was great, we had constant training twice a week and lots of diving boat and shore dives. During the week it was night dives and on weekends day and night dives. You went wreck diving, you went with others who knew the dive site and you didn't need some fancy new bling called a wreck diving certificate specialty card. I must admit there were some dives I was anxious on with experiencing new things like really strong currents and drift diving, my first night dive was actually on a wreck but we stayed on the outside of it. Going off the boat on my first night dive into dark water and following your dive buddy into the dark depths was both exhilarating and a wee bit scary at the same time. You were diving and learning at the same time. All dives had probably at least a 30 minute dive plan briefing as we had to time dives and use our dive planners before the dive. No computers to baby sit you. Also BSAC sports diving DECO was not always planned but if it was you spent the time planning the dive to the minute.

I learned more in those two years of diving than some people do in a decade. Reviewing materials already taught was a good thing. When was the last time a PADI diver ever reviewed their materials in a class setting after they had completed the course.

So lets not rag on too much about the OW and AOW recreational diver that does their one week diving vacation every year. I normally take five trips a year of 10 - 20 days each and do 30 - 50 dives each trip. My Novice Diver BSAC Sports Manual is written in a small font and is 126 pages long and covers such things as rescue navigation ropes and knots, hypoxia hyperventilation and all sorts of nice things not thoroughly covered by PADI in basic courses.

Plus my instructor was the head of a commercial diving operation for Shell and I am sure we probably learned some things that weren't covered in some training manuals lol.

 

[Catito]

Answer to the OP: No.

I regularly lead inexperienced divers on local dives after they get their open water certifications, so I see a good sampling of the species.

New divers are so focused on the basics of seeing, breathing, getting neutral and getting horizontal under water that they are unaware of the information available on their computers or what it means. Most will not check their depth or pressure without prompting.

Today was a typical example. Young couple around 30 years old. They've been certified two years and they already have eight dives (now ten), including the four in their OW course. They looked at their consoles only when asked to do so. I don't believe either of them processed any information other than tank pressure during the length of our two dives. I guarantee they weren't thinking of ways to game the computer.

Overall, this couple was very normal for new divers. We talked about their responsibilities to themselves and each other, but from the moment their brains came in contact with the salt water, they stopped giving evidence that they were doing any planning or thinking. They were counting on me to keep them safe and in contact with each other in our 15-ft visibility. I did. They tipped well, and they want to go out with me again, at which time, I'll try to get them to broaden their perspective from the diameter of a drinking straw to that of the core of a toilet paper roll.

It takes time to develop situational awareness of the variables that affect your dive.

A new or young diver who tried to use a computer to maximize deep bottom time and ride the NDL up as described in the OP would be unusually precocious.

Certified two years and only 8 dives (?)

 

[Scraps]

Certified two years and only 8 dives (?)

It’s not as uncommon as you’d think.

One of my criticisms of OW courses is that the classes focus on completing the tasks necessary to earn the card and don’t provide a plan for what’s next or how to improve.

Without that plan, many newly certified divers don’t dive again until vacations offer an easy, safe chance to dive.

I did a follow-up email with my classmates 3 years after my second OW class. One had done some diving on a vacation right after the class but hadn’t dove again. One did a couple local dives only. A father-son duo had about ten dives. I was the only one diving regularly.

I’d say I was an exception, but I was in a similar boat after my first OW class 15 years earlier. I did about a dozen dives in the first year, then moved and didn’t dive again for a long time.

 

[boulderjohn]

It’s not as uncommon as you’d think.

One of my criticisms of OW courses is that the classes focus on completing the tasks necessary to earn the card and don’t provide a plan for what’s next or how to improve.

Without that plan, many newly certified divers don’t dive again until vacations offer an easy, safe chance to dive.

I did a follow-up email with my classmates 3 years after my second OW class. One had done some diving on a vacation right after the class but hadn’t dove again. One did a couple local dives only. A father-son duo had about ten dives. I was the only one diving regularly.

I’d say I was an exception, but I was in a similar boat after my first OW class 15 years earlier. I did about a dozen dives in the first year, then moved and didn’t dive again for a long time.

I always asked OW students why they were taking the class. I would guess that the majority were doing it in anticipation of an upcoming vacation to a site known for diving. Putting it another way: their goal for diving was to enjoy a specific vacation to a specific site on a specific date. Their goal for diving was NOT for long term active diving. Why should we be surprised when they do not become long term divers?

I can certainly understand that, because that pretty nearly describes my experience. My wife and I took a trip to Cozumel one year and decided to return there for a week every other year. I decided to get certified so that I could do a couple of days of diving on those trips. I was planning to do 4-6 dives every other year--that's it.

So sometimes people with no intention of long term diving become turned on enough to change their minds, but I would not expect that to be the norm.

 

[TMHeimer]

It’s not as uncommon as you’d think.

One of my criticisms of OW courses is that the classes focus on completing the tasks necessary to earn the card and don’t provide a plan for what’s next or how to improve.

Without that plan, many newly certified divers don’t dive again until vacations offer an easy, safe chance to dive.

I did a follow-up email with my classmates 3 years after my second OW class. One had done some diving on a vacation right after the class but hadn’t dove again. One did a couple local dives only. A father-son duo had about ten dives. I was the only one diving regularly.

I’d say I was an exception, but I was in a similar boat after my first OW class 15 years earlier. I did about a dozen dives in the first year, then moved and didn’t dive again for a long time.

I agree. Unfortunately this seems to be the case a lot-- taking OW in order to do a specific trip or vactions yearly that may include diving. Boulderjohn asked his students about their objectives and found similar results.
I guess this may be tied into the OP question about new & young divers. I've often posted that I took up diving at age 51--only because we moved to the coast. My objective was to dive locally --and far afield only when that opportunity arrived. I maybe gave it a slight thought years before that, but didn't like the idea of just vacation diving once or twice yearly.
Apparently the accident rate for scuba diving hasn't increased over the years even with so many "vacation" divers now. Perhaps that is due in part to extra safety measures taken by tropical ops (such as DM guided group dives) and due to improvements in equipment (ie. divers of yesteryear were more thoroughly trained in OW and dived more regularly, but they faced touchy situations having less knowledge and poorer equipment)?
Anyway, If you dive once a year and something happens, I can't be very sympathetic since I feel that is foolish.