Diving Education Today

[Big G]

OK, I see this discussion was started more than five years ago, but I'd like to jump in (pun most certainly intended). I have also thought for years that standards for scuba certification have dropped way too low to be safe and the reason why obviously is money. A few years ago I worked a few months as a DM for a dive operator in a very popular U.S. dive destination. I saw it time and time again that "intro to scuba" divers would do OK in the pool in the morning (not with me, I worked on the boats) but then in the afternoon when they went out on the real ocean and got in, they suddenly realized they were in way over their head (pun again intended). Several times I had to go in and rescue them, because the instructor was herding several others at the time. That was OK, it was part of the job, but they really had no business being out there. But I don't blame them. They didn't know it until they tried, then they put themselves, and to a lesser degree, me, in harm's way.

But here's the part that really grinds my gears. After freaking out, those people naturally were embarrassed by the whole thing and would apologize to us hard. My attitude was to always try to soothe their hurt feelings and say, "well, you tried it and found out maybe it's just not your thing. It's not for everybody. Trust me, you'll never catch me on snow skis, so don't worry about it."

Now, the part that pissed me off is the boat captain wouldn't be as understanding and would tell them, nicely, that they should keep trying. It was pretty obvious he wanted to have another cash spending member in the diving family, when it truly is not for everyone. I'm sure it's purely coincidental, but that same captain had a couple of divers off his boat die within a year or so. Now, I'm not trying to say any of it was his fault and I really felt for him because he had been a friend and co-worker before I found a new job in my real chosen profession and I know those deaths had to hit him pretty hard.

Back to the spirit of the original poster, I was first certified in 1977 and it took several weeks to do it, one classroom and one pool session a week and when I was done I really knew how to dive. Now? Someone can go on vacation and be certified from rank beginner all the way up to DM or higher in just a couple of weeks! Corners are definitely being cut, people, and it's not a good thing.

 

[boulderjohn]

OK, I see this discussion was started more than five years ago, but I'd like to jump in (pun most certainly intended). I have also thought for years that standards for scuba certification have dropped way too low to be safe and the reason why obviously is money. A few years ago I worked a few months as a DM for a dive operator in a very popular U.S. dive destination. I saw it time and time again that "intro to scuba" divers would do OK in the pool in the morning (not with me, I worked on the boats) but then in the afternoon when they went out on the real ocean and got in, they suddenly realized they were in way over their head (pun again intended). Several times I had to go in and rescue them, because the instructor was herding several others at the time. That was OK, it was part of the job, but they really had no business being out there. But I don't blame them. They didn't know it until they tried, then they put themselves, and to a lesser degree, me, in harm's way.

But here's the part that really grinds my gears. After freaking out, those people naturally were embarrassed by the whole thing and would apologize to us hard. My attitude was to always try to soothe their hurt feelings and say, "well, you tried it and found out maybe it's just not your thing. It's not for everybody. Trust me, you'll never catch me on snow skis, so don't worry about it."

Now, the part that pissed me off is the boat captain wouldn't be as understanding and would tell them, nicely, that they should keep trying. It was pretty obvious he wanted to have another cash spending member in the diving family, when it truly is not for everyone. I'm sure it's purely coincidental, but that same captain had a couple of divers off his boat die within a year or so. Now, I'm not trying to say any of it was his fault and I really felt for him because he had been a friend and co-worker before I found a new job in my real chosen profession and I know those deaths had to hit him pretty hard.

Back to the spirit of the original poster, I was first certified in 1977 and it took several weeks to do it, one classroom and one pool session a week and when I was done I really knew how to dive. Now? Someone can go on vacation and be certified from rank beginner all the way up to DM or higher in just a couple of weeks! Corners are definitely being cut, people, and it's not a good thing.

So you decided that, based on a discover scuba situation that may not have been done all that well, that these people are simply not capable of learning scuba. Wow.

Years ago when I was a DM, I assisted in an OW class. The students were doing the swim requirement, and they were all doing wonderfully well. The instructor pointed out the very best to me, a beautiful swimmer with near flawless form. She said this student had only a few months before taken a Discover Scuba course in Australia and nearly drowned because she was essentially a non-swimmer. She cried all the way back to shore, but while crying she resolved that she would not be defeated by this. Returning to the states, she took a swim class. In the scuba class we taught, she was simply outstanding.

I can't begin to count the number of times I have worked with students who looked absolutely incompetent in the first stages of class--the Discover Scuba stage--and then came around to excel. That is the essence of instructional technique. That is why we teach.

I hope the boat captain who told them not to give up after you advised them to quit had a positive effect on some of them.

 

[kensuf]

Holy zombie threads Batman.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Our final day on the water in Egypt saw us moored at a popular dive site for the day boats coming out of Hurghada. It was quite a day, with some 40+ boats taking up all the moorings and in some cases rafting up four deep. Some of the things we saw that day were amusing ... some appalling. One poor guy who, after doing a giant face-plant off the back of the boat freaked out and tried to get back on the boat was physically restrained by what I'm assuming was his instructor, who absolutely would not allow the poor guy to get back onboard. They argued on the surface for perhaps 20 minutes before finally descending. Less than a minute later the poor fellow popped back to the surface and started swimming furiously toward the boat. It was pretty clear he wasn't having fun ... in which case I'd have to ask why he was being detained in the water. This was the most aggregious case I noticed, but far from the only example of people getting (in some cases literally) pushed into the water way before they were ready for it.

It's short-sighted. If people aren't having fun, it's unlikely they're ever going to be tempted to try it again ... what most of these folks needed, quite likely, was just more confined water time before taking them out on a boat ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)