Is it part of the standards and mentioned specifically in the agencies' outline, in NAUI it is.
It was in my PADI manual.
of brand loyalty. There's just not much difference agency to agency. There's a huge difference instructor to instructor, even within the same agency. No agency has adequate quality control, so choose your instructor wisely. Personally, I would not base my decision on how an instructor pukes under water.
Lest anyone be deceived: no agency certifies any diver. What you learn and how you learn is is entirely up to the instructor. Ergo, a class is only as good as the instructor that is teaching it. I was a NAUI instructor and left them because I didn't like their 'quality' and felt that they stopped being a leader in the industry. The reason I like online learning for academics is that everyone is given a considerably more standard knowledge base. No, instructor egos don't get stroked this way, so there's a lot of opposition to it. They don't get to play 'sage on the stage' or beguile you with tales of daring do. They'll do enough of that in the pool and on the boat ride out to the check out dives.
I do wonder how many times
@BurhanMuntasser has puked underwater? How many different ways has he tried? People can get so focused on the proper way to do something having never had to do in real life. Those of us who've had to puke, and even fewer who have done on multiple occasions know it's really no big deal. I've never had an inkling to gasp in air after I've puked on the hard or in the water. We're getting all worked up over pretty much nothing.
I've told this story before, but I had been hired to guide a family in the Keys one afternoon many years ago. A bunch of ScubaBoarders had come down for the morning dives on the Speigle Grove and the Benwood. It was a tad rough, but it seemed that I was only nauseous on the bottom, not on the boat. While we were tucked under the bow of the Benwood, I puked and I was engulfed by yellowtails. On the way over the side of that wreck, I puked again and boy did those stupid fish love it. I shook my head and headed to the dive boat. I don't need this and I ended my dive.
On the boat, I was feeling horrible. There was no surge below when I puked, so I was pretty confident I was getting sick. I called my significant other to tell her to cancel the afternoon guide but no can do. There was no one available to replace me and she met me at the dock with all sorts of remedies for flu, mal d'mare and what have you. I helped the family on the boat and to get all their stuff together and did my best to be cheerful. Once we splashed though, I felt the world start to spin. 5 or so minutes into the dive, I really became disoriented so I grabbed a big rock, spit out my reg, tucked my chin into my chest and let her rip under me. As bad as the yellowtails were on the Benwood, they were worse here. I rinsed out my mouth, put my reg in as fish engulfed me, swatting me with their tails and I tried to act like nothing happened. Yes, I was trying to keep the family from seeing me be sick as I felt it was the professional thing to do. A few minutes later, and I had to find another boulder to grab and the feeding frenzy was on once more. I repeated this at least a half a dozen times and never once wanted to spew through my reg. The family was agog when we got on the boat as they described all the fish around me. Me? I wanted to rid the reef of yellowtails at this point. I resented those bastards. The second dive was just as bad. When I got to dry heaving, I just wanted to die. But I didn't. Boy did I hate those yellowtails.
At the dock, I did my best to work through the fog that had descended on me and helped the family pack their gear and leave the rental stuff... and then the guy gave me the biggest tip I've ever gotten for a single afternoon of diving. He called me the "fish whisperer" and was amazed at how I would stop and pray and then they would swarm all over me. No, they never knew I was sick as a dog. They never saw the puke. I had kept my contract in spite of feeling like crap. I don't recommend it.
I still resent those yellowtails!
