Does "Discover SCUBA" discourage new divers?

[htatton]

As a brand new scuba diver (half way through my open water certification) I'd like to comment. Last December I did the Discover Scuba dive with a company in Isla de Mujeres in Mexico. They were thorough with the pre-dive training and my Discover Dive was one of the highlights of my life. My Dive Master was careful to make sure I was comfortable with each step, and insured I equalized properly for comfort. At the end of the dive I was hooked. I have completed the classwork, confined dives and am on my way back to Isla to complete the open water certification and to dive with this great dive shop. If treated properly even old guys like me can become avid scuba divers.

I don't know the rules of the board so I don't know if I can mention the name of the dive shop.

This is my first post.

 

[kelemvor]

Just unlucky I think. People post all the time here about how they had a ball doing discover scuba somewhere and are now doing OW class.

Maybe scuba just wasn't for your friend. It could happen.

 

[boulderjohn]

As a brand new scuba diver (half way through my open water certification) I'd like to comment. Last December I did the Discover Scuba dive with a company in Isla de Mujeres in Mexico. They were thorough with the pre-dive training and my Discover Dive was one of the highlights of my life. My Dive Master was careful to make sure I was comfortable with each step, and insured I equalized properly for comfort. At the end of the dive I was hooked. I have completed the classwork, confined dives and am on my way back to Isla to complete the open water certification and to dive with this great dive shop. If treated properly even old guys like me can become avid scuba divers.

I don't know the rules of the board so I don't know if I can mention the name of the dive shop.

This is my first post.

Welcome to ScubaBoard. There is nothing whatsoever wrong with making a sincere shout out to an operation that did a good job for you. We do frown on people who are connected with an organization pretending to be satisfied customers, but those people usually get found out pretty quickly, and it backfires on them. True satisfied customers--no problem!

 

[FrannieC]

I could not wait for my first resort dive/ discover diving experience... it was 1995 we were in Cayman. I was an experienced snorkeler and wanted to try diving. We did class room training, a short session in the pool and then off to the shore dive from hell. If was a long swim out to the drop down buoy, I was improperly weighted, anxious and clearly NOT ready for the experience. I could not get down no matter what I tried to do and wasn't sure at that point I wanted to go forward. The instructor was screaming at me that he had never had someone NOT finish the discover course and I was not going to be the first. He ended up telling me to just swim back to the shore and wait for the group. I was pretty shocked but followed instructions. The desire to dive never left my heart and I continued my snorkeling adventures for the next 10+ years. Fast forward to Maui, 2010 and I tried again. This time I paid for a private instructor, we talked - I explained my angst - and we tried again. I didn't do great, but we swam around in some shallow water, tried to get the equalizing part down, but still the "joy" was not there. When we surfaced he told me he had never seen anybody want to dive so bad and not be able to enjoy the experience. His suggestion was to go home to your local dive shop and sign up for a course. Study, study study, learn about your equipment so you can trust it; learn all the safety issues so you will feel confident and then if you need one on one to get comfortable, get one on one. I came home and did exactly what he suggested. I finished my course work and pool work at home in So Cal and then went back to Maui for my OW cert dives. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I made that first descend at Molikini crater for my OW cert the next summer. My husband was so elated and so concerned my "confidence" might waiver, he made sure we made 3 dive trips the first year! On our last trip I made my 50th dive and my first night dive. I love diving and always planning the next trip. Here is the funny part...... I was 63 years old when I finally got certified. Hate that it took me so long, but enjoying every moment. Moral of the story, if you really want to dive and experience anxiety on discovery scuba course, don't give up. Just go take a course and then make the judgment. Some of us just need a little more confidence that can only be gained by getting more knowledge.

 

[Sleepdr]

Just unlucky I think. People post all the time here about how they had a ball doing discover scuba somewhere and are now doing OW class.

Maybe scuba just wasn't for your friend. It could happen.

Everyone is wired a bit differently. My first DSD was in a snowstorm, in a mountain lake puddle with 3 feet max visibility. I wore Levi's 501 jeans and a beaver tail wetsuit jacket. I was instantly hooked. It was like magic.

That helped set the stage for my certification and future dives, most of which have also been in snowstorms and/or bad vis.

I took my wife on a DSD in Maui. It was well-presented and had a good pool skill session. We got a nice instructor and went on a great little reef & fish dive. It was perhaps 30 minutes at 30 feet, and we saw a couple sea turtles. Perfect to get someone hooked on diving, right? Wrong. She can take it or leave it.

 

[Nemrod]

Discover Flying. Here is the keys to that airplane over there. Now, you got ten minutes on the Microsoft Flight Simulator, remember pull back goes up, push forward goes down, got it? Okay, give it a whirl around the airport and if you like it I can sign you up for flying lessons. Great, see you in 30 minutes!

N

 

[kr2y5]

I would not be diving if it were not for DSD that my wife and I just randomly found out about during our vacation in a tropical resort. It was right there, it was 100% free, it only took one morning splashing around in the pool, and there was no requirement to go on a boat if one did not feel comfortable with it (and neither of us did at that time). This was enough to get me hooked and sign up for OW back home in NE in dirty water that was at least 20F colder. I would not voluntarily subject myself to that level of torture otherwise. It was also good business; next vacation my wife did her OW, and I did AOW, and of course with did it with the same shop where we did our DSD.

Last week, I encouraged a friend to try DSD, just a day before his trip to Hawaii, he and his wife both did it, they went on the boat, and they loved it. I do not think there would have been any better path for them into diving.

The full course consumes too much time... taking a few days out of your hard earned vacation is not an easy decision unless you really are sure you want it, and how else would you make sure you do? Doing the OW course locally during a weekend, on the other hand, is for many of us, quite a bit of an experience, and it takes a whole new level of determination to sign up. DSD is something you can decide on in the last minute during breakfast, it takes about as much commitment as a surfing lesson, I think that's the whole point.

As far as mildly traumatizing experiences go... I think it has more to do with the person than the way the course it taught. During the same vacation when I did the DSD that hooked me on scuba, I also tried snorkeling for the first time. Until then, I had fear of water, especially water I could not stand in, even in the deeper side of the pool. My first snorkeling experience was not easy, I went through it with a pale face, eyes wide open, drinking water, and struggling to clear my mask. I looked like a sick person that needed rescue. I did not think this makes snokeling an inherently unsafe experience.

I'd think that being able to exercise your judgment, opt out of activities your feel unprepared for, and willing to put up with some level of discomfort are prerequisites for scuba diving... if someone finds that they're not ready even during DSD, all the better. It's the responsibility of a DSD instructor to recognize early on that a student is too uncomfortable to be in the open water, and prevent the situation from getting to a point where someone can get injured.

 

[TMHeimer]

ky2y5. Good post and advice. You are to commended for doing the DSD and snorkeling considering your fear of water. You stuck with it--I think you are the exception to the rule. Usually when I see a student struggling with a lot it means they have not had a lot of water experience--ei. snorkeling or even swimming. It's not likely someone who is already a "water" person will have real problems with scuba. But I do know of a very knowledgable DM on SB who couldn't swim at all when taking OW. So he learned to swim. Normally I wouldn't recommend someone who was in your position to even do DSD before at least being comfortable in water over his head. Nice job. Rescue Course next for you?

 

[XS-NRG]

I was thrown in and rushed my very first DSD due to a bad/hard breathing reg and I wasn't trusting it and wasn't comfortable but was yanked underwater and was heavily weighted. I figured it out quick enough as I had no choice then absolutely loved it and even did a second DSD the same day. I wanted to go on a more relaxed "Certified Dive" where I was in control and got certified and am now up to Master Scuba Diver considering getting into instructing. I could see how a bad DSD could cause you to not want to ever do it again. This is the shops fault which is too bad for everyone.