Hi, all. I'm writing on behalf of my daughter, 20. She began Scuba lessons last week at our local dive center. The first days she took class there were 18 students and one instructor. The second day the class had 20 students. The third day, at the pool, there was her classroom instructor and 3 assistants.
Although she is an excellent snorkel- and skin diver, as she was raised in Key West and has had a lot of experience in the water, plus she does other watersports--the large class and crowded pool setting made her nervous. She was overwhelmed and she felt things were going too quickly, as she had lots of questions. She didn't "get" the dive tables. Also, there were 2 bad incidents at the pools: her BC exploded, (which they replaced) and then an O-ring snapped and her regulator exploded(?) --made a loud pop, and also had to be replaced. This happened while she was entering the pool. The instructors told her this was happening because the weather was really hot. Also, the instructor weighted her, but she still couldn't get down, so the instructor held her hand to keep her submerged.
Everything went downhill from there. Underwater daughter panicked, she was wondering when/if the next bad thing was going to happen. She couldn't focus and she forgot to purge her regulator....you can guess the rest.
She's really upset, because she's been wanting to dive for years, and she considers herself a failure. I told her my experience is that it took me a month--a month! while working on a boat, and having a one- on one- sessions with the first mate (a DM) to get me comfortable with diving and the terminology, dive tables, etc. I have a friend who was in a group of 3, who did the course over three weekends, then spent 3 more weekends in the pool then a weekend on OW work. My nephew took a class while at college and he spent the entire semester learning scuba.
I have emphasized to daughter that scuba is something that should not be rushed, a lot of it is based upon confidence, built on a firm foundation of knowledge, and had I known this 4 day course was going to be so big and impersonal I would never have suggested it.
Daughter is now planning a trip to Roatan/Utila this summer (along with the highlands of Honduras) and she wants to dive, but she may need to go at a slower pace than is normal, because she wants to re-build her confidence. Is this possible?? Also, she has no desire to dive beyond 30 feet, absolutely none. No wreck diving, no cave diving, no thrill- seeking--just the desire to however around a reef and observe the colorful marine life.
Any suggestions?
Although she is an excellent snorkel- and skin diver, as she was raised in Key West and has had a lot of experience in the water, plus she does other watersports--the large class and crowded pool setting made her nervous. She was overwhelmed and she felt things were going too quickly, as she had lots of questions. She didn't "get" the dive tables. Also, there were 2 bad incidents at the pools: her BC exploded, (which they replaced) and then an O-ring snapped and her regulator exploded(?) --made a loud pop, and also had to be replaced. This happened while she was entering the pool. The instructors told her this was happening because the weather was really hot. Also, the instructor weighted her, but she still couldn't get down, so the instructor held her hand to keep her submerged.
Everything went downhill from there. Underwater daughter panicked, she was wondering when/if the next bad thing was going to happen. She couldn't focus and she forgot to purge her regulator....you can guess the rest.
She's really upset, because she's been wanting to dive for years, and she considers herself a failure. I told her my experience is that it took me a month--a month! while working on a boat, and having a one- on one- sessions with the first mate (a DM) to get me comfortable with diving and the terminology, dive tables, etc. I have a friend who was in a group of 3, who did the course over three weekends, then spent 3 more weekends in the pool then a weekend on OW work. My nephew took a class while at college and he spent the entire semester learning scuba.
I have emphasized to daughter that scuba is something that should not be rushed, a lot of it is based upon confidence, built on a firm foundation of knowledge, and had I known this 4 day course was going to be so big and impersonal I would never have suggested it.
Daughter is now planning a trip to Roatan/Utila this summer (along with the highlands of Honduras) and she wants to dive, but she may need to go at a slower pace than is normal, because she wants to re-build her confidence. Is this possible?? Also, she has no desire to dive beyond 30 feet, absolutely none. No wreck diving, no cave diving, no thrill- seeking--just the desire to however around a reef and observe the colorful marine life.
Any suggestions?