Discovery dives and diving

[mac66]

I did a discover dive at the age of 64 in 2018.

Got certified and dived 6 times in 2019 then covid hit. Started diving again in Dec 2020 and now have 26 dives, all while on cruises.

Anyway...just returned from a cruise to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize and Roatan with my brothers and their wives. I talked my brothers (66 and 58 years old) into doing a discovery dive in Roatan. I dived while they were doing the instruction and then we all went out and dived together on my second dive. It was a lot of fun seeing them try it.

In that most discovery dives are just some onshore instruction, practice in shallow water and then a short dive, adding another "real" dive to the equation was interesting. It was also interesting watching them cope with bouyancy and trim. My 58 y/o brother did better (by not very much) than my 66 y/o brother who was all over the place. Both were athletic in their younger days. Neither had any problems going underwater or equalizing ears,

I don't think either one will take up diving but both said they enjoyed it and would do it again. I was proud of them for trying it.

BTW, I've met people on cruises who only do discovery dives. Some have more dives than me. They never get certified but are happy doing discovery dives as an activity.

 

[TMHeimer]

I may be recalling incorrectly, but I think I read somewhere that Discovery Dives have the highest % of dive accidents. After that I believe it was accidents by very experienced divers (over confidence/getting slack on things, cutting corners). Be that as it may, I have read about and talked with some who described discovery dives where the ratio of students to instructor violated standards, and where other standards may have been violated. I believe the PADI standard ratios are 4:1 for instructors, 2:1 for divemaster led dives. Even those ratios seem unrealistic to me. The instructor is supposed to be within reach of all students at all time-- really? with 4 students? If one bolts to the surface you'd be out of reach with the one on the bottom if you went after him-- even if you had only 2 students.

I'm not putting it down completely. I know a vast majority of divers got their start that way and swear by it, saying they'd probably never taken the OW course if it weren't for the DSD they did. Just throwing out my thoughts to ponder if someone is considering doing a DSD. I think a 1 to 1 ratio would be safe enough.

 

[Compressor]

If a discovery diving course is done with care, it has great benefits for both diver and dive shop. Sometimes they are rushed and I've seen some dangerous things done but fortunately without injury or worse.

 

[Catito]

I may be recalling incorrectly, but I think I read somewhere that Discovery Dives have the highest % of dive accidents. After that I believe it was accidents by very experienced divers (over confidence/getting slack on things, cutting corners). Be that as it may, I have read about and talked with some who described discovery dives where the ratio of students to instructor violated standards, and where other standards may have been violated. I believe the PADI standard ratios are 4:1 for instructors, 2:1 for divemaster led dives. Even those ratios seem unrealistic to me. The instructor is supposed to be within reach of all students at all time-- really? with 4 students? If one bolts to the surface you'd be out of reach with the one on the bottom if you went after him-- even if you had only 2 students.

I'm not putting it down completely. I know a vast majority of divers got their start that way and swear by it, saying they'd probably never taken the OW course if it weren't for the DSD they did. Just throwing out my thoughts to ponder if someone is considering doing a DSD. I think a 1 to 1 ratio would be safe enough.

I did one in the Caymans early on. Scared the life out of me. I knew that the only way I would ever dive again would be via a certification course. I tell everyone who is considering diving to never take a Discover Scuba course.

 

[Litefoot]

I did a discover dive at the age of 64 in 2018.

Got certified and dived 6 times in 2019 then covid hit. Started diving again in Dec 2020 and now have 26 dives, all while on cruises.

Anyway...just returned from a cruise to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize and Roatan with my brothers and their wives. I talked my brothers (66 and 58 years old) into doing a discovery dive in Roatan. I dived while they were doing the instruction and then we all went out and dived together on my second dive. It was a lot of fun seeing them try it.

In that most discovery dives are just some onshore instruction, practice in shallow water and then a short dive, adding another "real" dive to the equation was interesting. It was also interesting watching them cope with bouyancy and trim. My 58 y/o brother did better (by not very much) than my 66 y/o brother who was all over the place. Both were athletic in their younger days. Neither had any problems going underwater or equalizing ears,

I don't think either one will take up diving but both said they enjoyed it and would do it again. I was proud of them for trying it.

BTW, I've met people on cruises who only do discovery dives. Some have more dives than me. They never get certified but are happy doing discovery dives as an activity.

What a great story! I’m the youngest of three brothers all in our 60’s. I’m the only diver, but I would love to have a similar experience with them. Thanks for sharing. Hope you got some good pictures.

 

[TMHeimer]

I did one in the Caymans early on. Scared the life out of me. I knew that the only way I would ever dive again would be via a certification course. I tell everyone who is considering diving to never take a Discover Scuba course.

In 1999, 6 years before I got my OW, we were on a cruise. In the pool was what I now know was a DSD class. I asked "Gopher" what it was about. He said they give you maybe an hour in the pool then you dive in the ocean. I said no thanks, the snorkel tour is for me-- and I was very comfortable in water my whole life.

 

[MidOH]

I did one in the Caymans early on. Scared the life out of me. I knew that the only way I would ever dive again would be via a certification course. I tell everyone who is considering diving to never take a Discover Scuba course.

Mine was fine. Did all of the OW checkout drills during DSD. The only real rule was to simply exhale. Do that, and its perfectly safe.

OW training was easy as well. But theres nothing wrong with snorkeling. I have fun doing that every vacation.

 

[mac66]

I had good luck with discovery dives.

I did my discovery dive at Eden Rock in Grand Cayman. It was an instructor and one other guy. It was very fun and easy. Diving ain't rocket science.

In Dec 2021 we did a cruise to the ABCs with my 30 something year old kids and their spouses. I set up a discovery dive for my sons and daughter. Spouses didn't want to do it. One instructor. I did the discovery portion with them as a refresher the first time and then we all did another dive. It was amazing. All three were good swimmers had no problems being under water, no anxiety issues, no ear issues. They loved it.

Last year we did another cruise with the kids which stopped in Roatan. Set up another discovery dive for them. Just like with my brothers they went through the class while I dived my first dive. Then we all went out on my second dive. It was awesome. I don't think any of them have the time or money to get certified but I'm sure they would do discovery dives again.

Frankly I'm surprised with the number of people who post here who have trouble with axiety or ears or paranoia under water during classes. One would think they would have tried it out first i.e, discovery dive to see if they liked or could even do it before jumping into doing the classes.

 

[TMHeimer]

I had good luck with discovery dives.

I did my discovery dive at Eden Rock in Grand Cayman. It was an instructor and one other guy. It was very fun and easy. Diving ain't rocket science.

In Dec 2021 we did a cruise to the ABCs with my 30 something year old kids and their spouses. I set up a discovery dive for my sons and daughter. Spouses didn't want to do it. One instructor. I did the discovery portion with them as a refresher the first time and then we all did another dive. It was amazing. All three were good swimmers had no problems being under water, no anxiety issues, no ear issues. They loved it.

Last year we did another cruise with the kids which stopped in Roatan. Set up another discovery dive for them. Just like with my brothers they went through the class while I dived my first dive. Then we all went out on my second dive. It was awesome. I don't think any of them have the time or money to get certified but I'm sure they would do discovery dives again.

Frankly I'm surprised with the number of people who post here who have trouble with axiety or ears or paranoia under water during classes. One would think they would have tried it out first i.e, discovery dive to see if they liked or could even do it before jumping into doing the classes.

I agree to a point. Good swimmers would probably zip through a discovery dive. I'm sure I would have done fine doing it, but was leery about the short time of instruction beforehand, and later on about the ratios as I mentioned. The people you mention with anxieties, ear problems or underwater paranoia would be those who didn't have much in-water experience such as the good swimmers you mention. Unfortunately, many of them do the discovery dives-- that is probably where that leading % of accidents comes from. DSD can also be done in a pool, where conditions may not cause as much panic as in open water. They could do that to see if they like diving I suppose. But, I always think of the number of people I've seen in OW courses who also are not comfortable in water to begin with. At least when they get to the ocean portion they have had maybe 6-10 hours of pool training.

 

[Litefoot]

Now this thread has me wondering. In my OW certification last year, all the students had done Discover; once in Maui for me and multiple times for the others. The instructor, who I think was thorough, seemed to be relieved that we'd all been exposed to diving. It was a 4-1 ratio class which I have recently learned is not ideal. Do shops/instructors fudge up class sizes to non-optimal ratios based on Discover experience?