Female only classes

[girldiver13]

Trying to find out some market info...

If it were available, would any of you be interested in female only training courses...taught by qualified female instructors.

Now don't get me wrong, i love the boys as much as everyone else, but I get tired of the macho stuff some times.

Let me know your feelings.

By the way I am a Trimix diver and a techinical instructor - I don't burn my bra and I like have the door opened for me...but when it comes to diving, I was taught - You breath it, you carry it!

 

[scuba-sass]

Hmmm, it would make a good class title!

Personnally, I don't need to have a women-only learning environment. I would most deffinately appreciate a more equal mix than we experienced. Our class had just 3 women (my partner, myself and one other) and about 6 guys ranging in age from 12 to late 30's. Our instructors were all male, with one occassional female "assistant". I believe she was there mostly as a refresher for herself.

We didn't have too much macho-stuff happening, and the only person who had trouble with carrying gear was the 12 year old. His older brother made him do most of the work. The only exception was when we had to hike through the woods, over hill and dale to get to one of our dive sites. The lake was unexpectedly low, and there was no deep water anywhere near the usual entry point!

A good question to pose, all the same. I look forward to hearing other opinions.

Scuba-sass

 

[girldiver13]

Thanks for the response....



Most of the macho stuff I am talking about comes from Husbands wanting their wives or girlfriends to dive and they are going to "help" them in the water. Turns out the most women do better than their partners in these cases....ticks the guys off. Especially when you talk about air consumption.

Also might be a nice environment for those gals who don't need male partners or just want to do something without getting hit on! I was solo when I did my OW course, but it always felt like a "date" when I went to class or pool sessions. I just wanted the info and the skill training, not cocktails.

By the way, I am also trying to find interest in an all female Andrea Doria trip - 3 to 4 years in the future. Have got interest in 5 or so divers right now - lots of time to train for it too.

Thanks

 

[scuba-sass]

... to complete Newbie-ness!

I (and probably my partner) would be interested in an all-woman trip, especially with a few years to plan. We got certified in October, in Connecticut lakes, and just returned from the Caribbean, where we did 2-tank boat dives at 8 different wonderfully warm islands!

Now for the newbie question - where is the site you speak of, and what is it like?

As for our class experience, we didn't have any husband-wife teams. The only family groups were 2 brothers and Lydia & I. I think it was probably pretty obvious that we're a couple, and so we didn't suffer from the testosterone-induced dating instinct!

Scuba-sass

 

[girldiver13]

no disrespect to new divers but the Doria trip will be limited to Trimix divers only...too many problems for divers with less than this qualification.

Training Steps to get there......
AOW
Nitrox
Deep Diver or Extended Range
Advanced Nitrox
Technical Nitrox
Trimix

Cost running around $1200 US for charter only - You supply gas and gear.


Confused...Which "site" are you asking for?

 

[scuba-sass]

I was asking about the Andrea Doria dive site. Sounds like it's beyond our reach for a while. But it's nice to have goals...

 

[large_diver]

S-s,

More info on the Doria

http://www.wahoo2001.com/wrecks/a-doria.htm

Not to scare you, but this is serious diving....

http://www.wahoo2001.com/Diving incidents/Dorialistdeath.htm

Enjoy.

 

[scuba-sass]

I now remember the hub-bub in the mid-80's re the Andrea Doria. Not a dive site I'll plan on visiting in this lifetime. I prefer to swim with the fishies and coral. I'd hate to be tempted, and become a victim of "china-fever"!

Hmmm,
You never know where these threads will wander...

Scuba-sass

 

[Dee]

Originally posted by girldiver13
Thanks for the response....



Most of the macho stuff I am talking about comes from Husbands wanting their wives or girlfriends to dive and they are going to "help" them in the water. Turns out the most women do better than their partners in these cases....ticks the guys off. Especially when you talk about air consumption.

I was the only woman in a class of 8 with my husband as my buddy. I went into it with the idea of 'I breath it, I carry it' so that's never been a problem for us...or me. I want and expect to be treated as a diver first, a woman second. But if someone wants to carry my stuff, I'm sure not gonna wrestle them over it!

As a woman divemaster, I see the husbands/boyfriends/parents wanting to help..both in the water and out...and that's easily fixed. If they aren't in the class, they don't go in the water and they aren't allowed around the student (girlfriend/wife/child) during gear up. We would prefer they not even come to the dive site but as long as they keep their distance and limit their contact to surface intervals, it's OK. We've asked several to leave. Might sound a bit extreme but we're there to train divers, not dependent buddies. What they do and how the new diver acts is their business after the class but we try to train them to be independant. And it's not always the male half of the couple doing the macho bit!!! We've had our share of women trying to force the SO into diving.

Women can't take all the credit for skill with air consumption...it's a physiological thing, a girl thing. And most men, when they get comfortable do alright. One thing I always hate to see is some woman bragging about their air consumption and taunting the men about it. Mine is very good, and someone always makes a reference to how much air I return to the surface with but you'll never see/hear me flaunting it.

I've been on all-girl dive trips and all I can say is....never again! Most of them were the dependant sort who were more concerned about breaking a nail or smearing their make-up.... YES, full make-up on a dive boat! The product of just the sort of training experience we're talking about. And let's not even get into their diving ability.

Macho divers, either male or female, are easy to spot and to avoid.

 

[martinjc]

Ok - here I am lurking in the women's only section again - but I have a story from my OW class in regards to 'couples' diving.
On our last OW check-out dive day (2 dives) - a husband and wife joined our group as a buddy team (They had taken their class and first two check out dives a few months earlier in another state, but then were unable to complete the second two dives at that time.) They both seemd like nice folk - but the husband was definitely 'in-charge' and our instructor had to counsel him several times that he needed to let his wife do her own set-up.

Later - we were kneeling in a circle on a submerged platform in about 15' of water - going thru the controlled emergency ascent excercise one at a time with our instructor - I happened to be situated next to the wife. As her husband made his ascent with the instructor - the wife scooted backwards on her knees on the platform and almost fell off - I reached out my hand to steady her and she put a death grip on my hand and arm. I looked into her face and her eyes were as big as saucers - she looked scared as heck. I gave her the OK sign with my free hand and she just looked at me - so I signalled for the DM - who had seen this happen and was headed towards us anyway. He took her hand and stayed with her until the instructor got back, then the entire group ascened to the the surface.

As soon as we got to the surface - she headed for the shore and got out of the water - followed by the husband and our instructor. They conferred on-shore, and decided not to continue. When the instructor came back, he said it was obvious that the lady was uncomfortable under water - and wasn't sure how she had made it through her pool session or other dives. He had suggested to the husband that she get some one-on-one instruction and maybe some more pool time to get her more comfortable before completing the check-out dives. It was pretty obvious to all of us that this had been the husband's idea and he had dragged his wife into this. (The husband was obvioulsy not happy that they were leaving - but our instructor was certainly not going to allow her back in the water ).

I'll never forget the look in that women's eyes - I have rarely seen someone so scared in my life! This is supposed to be a fun sport- but there certainly are risks - and being that uncomfortable in the water would make it more dangerous for everyone. This is not an activity to be entered into lightly - or by 'force' from a significant other. I really hope she got with a competent instructor if she choose to continue the certification process.

Also - let me say that my wife does not dive (although I would love her to go with me). She likes snorkeling, but in the past hasn't been all that comfortable in the water. She would like for us to get a boat, and has mentioned looking into a dive class at some time, and I told her I would certainly support that - but wanted her to be more comfortable/confidant in the water first AND she would have to take the dive class on her own - without me being present. (It would be too easy for her to lean on me, and too easy for me to want to help her.) To that end - she did take an adult swim class at our community pool last summer - and she is much more comfortable in the water. We'll see what the future holds...