Does "Discover SCUBA" discourage new divers?

[ScubaSteve1962]

In my DSD there was no pool, no class. We watched a short film, it may have been module 1 of OW I don't remember, then we were taking out on the boat where we were fitted with gear and put in the water. As soon as I put my head in the water my mask flooded, I would come up and tell them something was wrong, and they would say I wasn't clearing it rightthis went on for a few minutes before they realized it was a faulty mask. then finally we went down on a line about 15ft no swim around. stayed for about 15 to 20 mins, then back to the boat. Now after getting down this was the most relaxed feeling I had ever had, I was hooked. It's one that I don't get in a pool. So had my DSD just been in a pool, I would have never gotten certified. I tell anyone that's slightly interested in diving, to try DSD in and location where they can get in the ocean. Because then you will get the full effect (IMO) something that you can't get just getting in a pool and breathing air. I also give them some questions to ask so, hopefully they won't have a bad experience because of the dive op. Even though we love diving, we have to remember diving is not for everyone. So everyone isn't going to have a good experience. In all honesty, does every student that goes through OW without doing DSD continue to dive afterwards, or are there some that realize after taking the classes, and buying the gear, that's it's not for them!

Now another question, I have a friend that did about 10 discover scuba before being certified, should he count those and dives.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

To the OP ... I suspect your friend's experience was more the product of a "wonder instructor" than the course itself. A good instructor recognizes when a student's not yet ready for the open water experience, and won't take them there till they're ready. The last thing any instructor worth the name will want is to be underwater with someone on the verge of panic.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

We don't do DSDs in open water in Puget Sound, but I have done a number of them in the pool, and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing them. I don't know if any of the folks I worked with have gone on to get certified, but they have all had fun and come up with big smiles on their faces.

 

[boulderjohn]

Its funny that you mentioned Australia. The colleague of mine that I was also alking about also had her nightmare experience in Great Barrier Reef in Australia and so did another person that I know. It may be possible that the dive culture in some Australian dive destinations is reckless towards introducing new peeps to diving.

I know we don't have enough numbers to identify a trend, but the only really bad DSD experience I know of was in Australia as well. The student could not swim a stroke, took the course, and almost drowned. Interestingly enough, though, she was so humiliated by the experience that she decided to turn it around. She took swimming lessons until she became an excellent swimmer, and then she got certified, which is where I met her and learned her story.

 

[tdtaylor]

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.

Pardon me for not reading the thread, but I just had to give my THANKS to those that conduct these DSDs well and it is shops like ours that they often go to in order to start/complete their training. Rest assured they receive the proper training they need.

Terry

 

[Six Feet Under]

My local shop does all their Discover Scuba classes in the pool. I think you can do another one after the pool training where they take you to the local springs, but the DSD class is in the pool and very relaxing and controlled...

I actually did it twice the weekend they were offering it for free because I wanted to make sure I would enjoy it before dropping the coin on getting OW certified.

 

[Wolfie_47]

I can say that the DSD worked for my Grandson and Granddaughter. We bought them the DSD as a Christmas present; they did the dives (in Gilboa quarry) 3 weeks ago and will do their open water in two weeks. Their Mom and Dad (daughter and son-in-law) were green with envy while watching the kids going through the drills so they are doing their OW as a family of four. I don't know if it works in every case but I believe with the right instructor it does work! To say I'm excited about being able to dive as a family is an understatement!

 

[corvettejoe]

It's a friend that came back from one of these Resort Dives that got me interested in finally doing the OW course myself. A few of us signed up for an OW course that week just on his vacation experience alone.

 

[button]

I was one of those who had their first diving experiences in Australia.

My husband and I had both had sinus and ear issues in the past, so we decided to do a DSD that was just a half day in Gold Coast. We figured that if we hated it or couldn't clear our ears, at least we'd only be out a few hours instead of all day (plus the $$). I'm not sure if SSI and PADI do theirs drastically differently or what, but the two experiences were very different. SSI was the first one we did (with Cooly Dive in Gold Coast/Tweeds Head)... we watched a short DVD and were given very basic instruction. The instructor basically said the only thing we had to worry about was breathing - he'd handle our buoyancy - the only thing we had to do was breathe! From what I remember, the only skills that we had to do were a partial mask flood and clearing our ears? He also let us do the mask flood at the surface. In hindsight, I wouldn't feel comfortable with only those skills! However, it was just the two of us with one instructor (the only other person on our boat was doing her checkout dives) and I suppose that he felt that we wouldn't eminently die.

We had such a great time on that dive in Gold Coast that we decided to go for a full day on the reef when we got up to Port Douglas the following week. We went out to the reef on Poseidon (along with about 50 of our closest friends) and signed up for Discover Scuba. There were about 15 DSD divers there... the instructor went through some flip charts and explained how the equipment worked (including how to work the BCD inflator), pressure, and told us how we would do the skills.

This time we had to recover a lost regulator along with flooding and clearing the mask. Except this time we had to do the skills about a meter under the water in choppy seas. People were getting sick all over the place before we even arrived on the reef. Let's just say that it was messy.

The divemaster going over our skills was more drill instructor than helpful and I have to admit that I panicked doing the reg recovery. He was just so intense that he made me nervous, which of course you don't want to be during skills!

Anyway, there were 4 DSD divers paired with each divemaster, so we were at the mercy of our group. We finally descended the line and were down for maybe 5 minutes when the divemaster led us back to the line. My husband and I both had plenty of air left, but a guy in the group breathed his tank down to 50 bar in no time at all. After that disappointing experience, we decided to pony up more cash to dive the next site. Fortunately the other guy got his air consumption more under control and during that dive we saw a shark! Of course we decided to do the last dive of the day because what's another $80 when you've already spent so much $$$ getting to Australia in the first place.

We came home in June and started OW cert in July... checkout dives are in two weeks, I can't wait to get back in the water!

So all of that said, I think that if I'd had all of the information from the GBR Discover class for the first dive, it would have been more helpful. However, the SSI instructor made diving such a fun and relaxing experience that it was the reason that we ultimately decided to do the GBR.

 

[guppie9]

My first diving experience was with a Discover class. My wife and I were in Hawaii and it was something I always wanted to try. We had about 1-2 hours in poolside instruction first. Then we had about an hour or so in pool work practicing a few skills. I believe we did R&R mask, partial clear of mask and retrieving lost regulator. Then we swam around the pool for a few minutes getting comfortable.

After lunch we headed out to the ocean and did 2 dives at around 30 feet. If I recall correctly, there were 2 instructors in the water and, I think, about 6 divers. I remember that the instructor very clearly told us not to mess with our BCD, and he came around and adjusted our buoyancy as needed. My experience was awesome and when I returned to Hawaii the next year, I got certified. We went to a different island so I didn't use the same shop. My wife, on the other hand, did not have a good experience. She was quite uncomfortable doing the pool work and was the last one to master the skills and do her swim around. Once we got to the ocean, she had a panic attack! She told me later that the incredible visibility was actually a distracting factor. Once she put her head under the water and saw allllllll that ocean, it scared her to death. She attempted to descend a couple times but could not get over her fear and, wisely, thumbed her dive.

So, a discover scuba class thoroughly hooked me. However, for my wife, it completely turned her off to diving. I don't think that the class was what turned her off, it was the diving itself. It just wasn't her cup of tea. I'm glad she took that class before committing to a certification class, though.

EDIT: After thinking it over, maybe the instructor should have recognized how uncomfortable my wife was in the pool and not taken her out to open water. In their defense, though, my wife did tell them she wanted to continue. Also, I appreciated that they tried to work with her in the water with her fears and they did not force her or try to coerce her into continuing the dive once she thumbed it. They were very respectful about the whole thing.