Does "Discover SCUBA" discourage new divers?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Two days ago a colleague of mine came back from a vacation and told me that she tried "Discover SCUBA" at a holiday destination and told me she absolutely hated it and would never do it again! I asked why? It seemed that she was thrown into the ocean with little / no pool training and was attempting to do an extremely supervised / micro-managed dive in a state of absolute panic. This is the third (or possibly the fourth) case of someone I have come across who has been discouraged for life after trying out the one day sampler. Just wanted to ask dive shop operators and instructors who offer this DISCOVER SCUBA course. Do your customers come back? Would also like to hear from customers who decided to pursue diving because of one day sampler. Thanks.

 

[Jim-SAR]

Your colleague was subjected to a "resort course" and NOT a true Discover Scuba lesson. A properly run DS will have a classroom period, and an in-water skills period BEFORE the actual adventure dive is conducted.

The last thing any true professional wants to do is take a scared diver on a dive before they're ready.

They owe it to themselves to find a local dive shop and inquire about taking a true discover scuba class. Make sure your colleague shares their experience with the dive shop so they're aware of the negative experiences. If I were the LDS, I'd probably let them do the DS class for free just to help them get their confidence/trust back.


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[supergaijin]

I've done hundreds of DSD's and plenty of 'Try Dives' as well. Without blowing my own trumpet too hard, it's rare for someone to dislike the experience.

That said, I actively discourage some guests from doing it if I feel they lack the basic water skills or comfort level required for a successful dive.

Depth is usually the 'killer' and leads to more and more negative experiences with DSD's. I rarely go below 4m during mine, but then I'm blessed with shallow tropical reefs here in the Maldives. In certain locations where the reefs were a bit deeper then stress levels for everyone involved increased exponentially, ears become problematic etc.

Something that I've noticed during my years as a 'pro' is that the longer I'm diving, the shallower I'm guiding and teaching. After a thousand hours underwater, diving simply isn't new or exciting anymore. Don't get me wrong- I really like diving and teaching... but I believe this is required for a good instructor. OTOH you get the arrogant, boaster-type who brag about maximum depths, air consumption, weight required, how fast they can teach etc. They are generally 'bad' teachers because they're still diving for themselves and get frustrated at 'only' diving to 2.5ata.

I rarely have someone who intended only on doing a DSD commit to a course immediately after. Normally in my typical locations, a DSD dive is on a 'things to do while on vacation' list. However more than a few students who do sign up for a course have already tried diving a couple of years back... so while it may not be with me, I like to think that some people end up taking a full course later on.

 

[drbill]

Agree that this was a resort exercise and not typical of the Discover SCUBA approach used by most of the instructors out here on Catalina Island (where conditions are a bit more challenging than the typical tropical resort). Here participants are involved in a classroom or waterfront educational component that prepares them for what they are going to experience and only after that do they actually enter the water with the instructor.

 

[gizmo1972]

about 2 years ago i had a family do a try dive and after a couple of usual concerns in the pool session ( 50mins ) we met up to go out into the bay by boat we went through a throuher dive briefing about what was going on etc with no issues
max depth of the dive sit was 35 ft 2 of the group had no issues but mum started down the line and looked very unsure i checked with her and she wanted to go up so we all went back up chatted calmed down then tried again well the dive lasted 64 mins and 4 months ago the mother passed her IDC & IE and is now working on our little island stunning!!! so no i believe if it is carriesd out correctly it works very well but i wish some places would not do this convayer belt way!!!! rush rush rush!!!

 

[boulderjohn]

A "resort course" is supposed to be the same thing as a Discover Scuba. It is supposed to follow the Discover Scuba standards for whatever agency it is done under. If not, it should be reported to that agency.

I did one at a resort in Cozumel a long time ago, and I was so excited I made sure I was certified the next time I vacationed in a location with diving. It was extremely well done, even looking back at it years later from my perspective as an instructor. When I was later certified and years later happened to go to the PADI web site to see my certification list, I was surprised to see that my original resort dive experience was included in my background information. I had no idea that resorts turned in that sort of information.

Yes, a poorly done resort course will not help a student, but that should be rare. Why do resorts offer these? They are relatively inexpensive for the consumer, and the shop really doesn't make much money on them. They offer them because they hope the people taking the course will be so enthused they will want to get certified right away--on that vacation. I learned that talking to a dive operator in Aruba years ago. He had the contract to do the Discover Scuba dives for a certain hotel, but the hotel got into some kind of legal problem and had to close down. It devastated his business. He got very little money from the resort dives, but those dives were the source of almost all of his OW certification students. With that as the incentive, it very much pays to make sure the people in the resort course have a good time, and an operator who fails in that is really screwing up.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Locally we do not do Discover type courses in open water. They are pool only experiences. Given the number of problems I have been told of, heard of, and read about some of which included injuries and a couple fatalities I am glad we are restricted to pool only experiences. I don't care how much money it would bring in. One scared, imjured, or dead person is not worth it. But that is my own moral and ethical stance.

 

[Wookie]

Mine used to take a full day. Morning was classroom and pool, after lunch was a dive on a reef with fish and octopi. We learned to control our own buoyancy, clear a mask and regulator, and the we did it with an 8:3 ratio, so there was never an instructor more than a couple of feet from anyone. It was not a fear driven experience, but a discovery of the underwater world. I rarely had someone not make the dive because they were uncomfortable, although I did have a few who "couldn't descend", so we left them snorkeling kind of.

The diving industry is it's own worst enemy.

 

[Frosty]

I feel that DSD must be run apsolutely in the perscribed manner. -Not shortcutting.
Also that conditions for the sea/lake dive need to be ideal. Theres no point in scaring the daylights out of someone first time in the water.

 

[TMHeimer]

Locally we do not do Discover type courses in open water. They are pool only experiences. Given the number of problems I have been told of, heard of, and read about some of which included injuries and a couple fatalities I am glad we are restricted to pool only experiences. I don't care how much money it would bring in. One scared, imjured, or dead person is not worth it. But that is my own moral and ethical stance.

I've had no experience with DSD, but tend to agree with just doing pool. I have had at least two people tell me stories of problems people they knew encountered doing it in OW. I guess if standards are followed to the letter it's safe enough, but apparently someone cutting corners is not a rarity. Even so, the pool has far fewer factors you'd need to be concerned with.