Discover scuba safety ratios of student to instructor

[LindaSSF]

We went to the Caribbean with a few friends who wanted to try a DSD. The dive op had me (experienced diver), a refresher diver who had been out of the water for 10 years, and three discover divers. 45 minutes of land instructions, then a shore dive into a 10' open water bay (with no waves or current) to do some skills. He overweighted everyone.

The refresher diver did fine in 15' of open water. I stuck next to a nervous discover diver who ultimately did very well with my 1:1 coaching. The other 2 discover divers? One surfaced since she couldn't equalize and ultimately swam 40 meters to shore alone on the surface to sit things out. The other discover diver looked like a bobber, constantly up & down. She complained of some ear barotrauma the next day. The instructor had no way of monitoring everyone.

All were ok, but not because of planning or staffing! I'm not sure what would have happened had I not paired with the nervous discover diver. The poor refresher diver was literally on his own, completely oblivious to the fact that being alone might be a problem.

I won't ever recommend that dive op again for diving, though they have fantastic ocean front apartments that we would certainly use again in the future.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[boulderjohn]

We went to the Caribbean with a few friends who wanted to try a DSD. The dive op had me (experienced diver), a refresher diver who had been out of the water for 10 years, and three discover divers. 45 minutes of land instructions, then a shore dive into a 10' open water bay (with no waves or current) to do some skills. He overweighted everyone.

The refresher diver did fine in 15' of open water. I stuck next to a nervous discover diver who ultimately did very well with my 1:1 coaching. The other 2 discover divers? One surfaced since she couldn't equalize and ultimately swam 40 meters to shore alone on the surface to sit things out. The other discover diver looked like a bobber, constantly up & down. She complained of some ear barotrauma the next day. The instructor had no way of monitoring everyone.

All were ok, but not because of planning or staffing! I'm not sure what would have happened had I not paired with the nervous discover diver. The poor refresher diver was literally on his own, completely oblivious to the fact that being alone might be a problem.

I won't ever recommend that dive op again for diving, though they have fantastic ocean front apartments that we would certainly use again in the future.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The instructor was very lucky nothing happened--standards violations galore if it was a PADI class.

 

[Crowley]

Been absent for a while so though I'd make this my first post returning!

TSandM's post was appropriate to my experience - 4 years in the Red Sea and we had super easy "confined open water" conditions. Flat sandy bottom but still with some nice coral blocks between the surface and 6 metres. Nice training ground, ropes and whatnot to hang on to. I've conducted hundreds of DSDs in that sort of enviroment, both in Sharm and other locations, and the worst injury a student of mine sustained was a mild ear squeeze. I have taken 4 students as a solo instructor and it is possible, but I do not like it. 2, on the other hand, is relatively easy and if necessary, you can hold both students, control their buoyancy and even swim for them if necessary (lots of times). It's not ideal, but with the right conditions and the right instructor it's perfectly safe. Thousands of these were conducted every month in some of the resorts I've worked with a serious injury total of zero. I know people sneer at the concept and its not for everybody (See my blog: DSD = Discover Something Different; Don't Start Diving!)

I have been involved with programmes that did not technically conform to any agency standards, but most of us gave a full DSD briefing anyway, and we very quickly turned all "intro / try dives" into full DSDs to PADI standards. Mostly we never went deeper than about 4 metres, sometimes people didn't enjoy it, often it was a life-changing experience. If you're planning on taking a DSD, or getting your friends, relatives or kids involved, find a reputable centre, and check their program conforms to agency standards at the minimum. If it's happening in the open water then 2:1 student to instructor is a maximum. In a shallow pool, 4 is okay.

I always go back to my course director who spoke some of the truest words I ever heard: "Crowley, never take more DSDs than you have arms"

Cheers