How many divers got hooked on scuba through Discover Scuba?

[dbulmer]

I did a Discover Scuba in Cyprus and 18 months later did my OW course in Cancun.
After a trip to Cuba I got scared - I got a phobia about mask removal but I was never fully confident in it and seriously contemplated giving up diving.

I joined Scubaboard and 4 people helped me on the way to conquering the fear. One of those 4 people was a bloke called Walter. Over the years I've come to appreciate how right he usually is but on this occasion I have to disagree with him - had it not been for Discover Scuba I seriously doubt I'd ever have tried diving - and without his post on mask removal I would not have persevered.

 

[Scubaman7596]

but lots of people are scared to death by them and never dive as a result. .

I wouldn't say They are scared of the course, But they are Scared of SCUBA as a whole, I have Seen it countless times That after a DSD course Their Opinions Change. I sell Scuba in that manner to non divers. "Snorkeling will never be the same after you try this"

They are great for water people with lots of confidence in their abilities. I'm not convinced they are an overall positive factor in getting people excited about diving.

The DSD is also great for people with little to no confidence and little to no water experience as with every single breath
they get more and more confidence in a closley supervised and controlled experience.
After 90% of the Dsd course Ive experienced " people are always like " I'm getting
certified now" "You said this dive counts" " This is Great"
etc,etc.....

Just my Opinion from my experiences with them

 

[InTheDrink]

I fell in love after a DSD on a house reef in Phuket. Best and worst part was contact lenses. Whilst snorkelling my friends kept pointing out apparently wonderful marine life that just looked like colourful blurs to me so my friends girlfriend suggested I try her contacts for my DSD. Man that was sore. And time consuming. She spent 45 minutes poking me in the eye. Eventually they took, and I went scuba diving. Any drill or skill post eye poking was a breeze.

 

[Wlragan]

Actually the complete opposite happened to me. I wanted to dive and was very excited to try a Discover Scuba class at a resort in Jamaica (appx 6.5 years ago).

I got in the pool, donned the equipment as instructed. Underwater we went to try out breathing with a regulator. Took less than 5 minutes and I was out of the gear and out of the pool. Had a bit of a panic attack. Told my husband obviously I couldn't learn to dive and gave up the dream.

A couple of years later I went snorkling for the first time. Had a wonderful time. When I got home went to a local dive shop that had been recommended to me before my "attempt" at diving. Bought a mask, snorkle and fins. Thought this would be the next best thing to diving. Drug that stuff all over the carribean and loved it more all the time.

I began to wonder if maybe I should check into diving again. I had learned to breath underwater with the snorkle. So back to the dive shop for a long discussion. The owner/instructor was encouraging. I signed up for a class. With much patience from the instructor I managed to master all the skills. Had a really tough time with the mask clearing. The completion of my OW certification came more than 5 years after my attempt in Jamaica.

I have only made 9 dives but so far I have loved every minute of it. Lucky enough all of them beyond my 4 OW dives have been in the carribean.

Wendy Ragan

 

[kenoshanate]

I took a resort course in Aruba in febuary. I made it through the pool session just fine, but had to end my dive about halfway through due to nausea, followed by panic. By that time I'd seen enough to know that I was hooked. Four days later I started my open water course.

 

[k ellis]

To the O.P. I would have to say that the resort dive I did in Hawaii was what did it for me. I had never even given a second thought to diving until I noticed that you got one free discover scuba with the stay. I decided why not and then went on the resort courses open water dive and fell in love with it.

 

[k ellis]

Actually the complete opposite happened to me. I wanted to dive and was very excited to try a Discover Scuba class at a resort in Jamaica (appx 6.5 years ago).

I got in the pool, donned the equipment as instructed. Underwater we went to try out breathing with a regulator. Took less than 5 minutes and I was out of the gear and out of the pool. Had a bit of a panic attack. Told my husband obviously I couldn't learn to dive and gave up the dream.

A couple of years later I went snorkling for the first time. Had a wonderful time. When I got home went to a local dive shop that had been recommended to me before my "attempt" at diving. Bought a mask, snorkle and fins. Thought this would be the next best thing to diving. Drug that stuff all over the carribean and loved it more all the time.

I began to wonder if maybe I should check into diving again. I had learned to breath underwater with the snorkle. So back to the dive shop for a long discussion. The owner/instructor was encouraging. I signed up for a class. With much patience from the instructor I managed to master all the skills. Had a really tough time with the mask clearing. The completion of my OW certification came more than 5 years after my attempt in Jamaica.

I have only made 9 dives but so far I have loved every minute of it. Lucky enough all of them beyond my 4 OW dives have been in the carribean.

Wendy Ragan

Well what an awesome success story! I am glad you hung in there Good luck on your future dives!

 

[MMM]

Yo tambien. I did a free scuba lesson in the pool at our resort, did the discover diving program and a number of subsequent dives, Upon returning home I took the course/pool work for OW and headed back to do checkout dives with the op I did the original discover diving course. In hindsigt, I don't thonk my training was all that solid. Nevertheless passion trumps ability.

However asking this question on a board such as this won't reveal good results unless the only objective is to seek what percentage of divers got there by discover diving. (and recognizing that an internet board cn't measure much of anything accurately).

Just know that the people who vowed they'd never venture into the realm of scuba after a discover diving experience are unlikely to be habiting this board.

 

[Walter]

I joined Scubaboard and 4 people helped me on the way to conquering the fear. One of those 4 people was a bloke called Walter. Over the years I've come to appreciate how right he usually is but on this occasion I have to disagree with him - had it not been for Discover Scuba I seriously doubt I'd ever have tried diving - and without his post on mask removal I would not have persevered.

With which part do you disagree?

This part?

I know lots of folks get hooked by resort courses

or this part?

but lots of people are scared to death by them and never dive as a result.

In this thread, lots of folks have said they were hooked by resort courses and a few (more than I would have expected) have told their stories about how they were scared away from diving. My guess is most who are scared away never come back.

 

[matt_w]

This happened to my wife and a friend while we were in the Carribean. they over weighted them and did not tell them much of anything. The boat captain (also an instructor) got in an argument with the instructor in the water and my wife ended up not wanting to go. The captain did take them on a nice snorkeling tour while I did the dive with the kids. After a little more time passes I will get them in the pool for a discover here so they can get a little better feeling for it.

Matt

On the flip side, I know of two people (separate incidents) who were almost turned off completely by DSD. They did the discover scuba at resorts in the Caribbean and said they were rushed, didn't feel ready, both had issues once they were in the water and said they never wanted to do scuba EVER again.

Scuba diving is often a topic of conversation that comes up with me, that's how I heard these stories. I told both people that I didn't really care for DSD courses and that they should get OW certifications with an instructor that would take his time, teach them, reassure them (i.e. not some resort employee who just cared about when his next break is).

I think Scuba diving is serious stuff and it shouldn't be rushed through or glossed over. It should be taught in depth before people get 30 feet deep.

Just my person opinion.