Intro to scuba. Is it safe?

[NHDiver]

I had a great experience doing a intro to diving in Cancun mexico. Before doing the open water dive we spent about 1 1/2 hours in the pool going over equipment handsignals etc..

I am now getting certified.. Should be scheduling my open water dives next week....

 

[RiverRat]

jujumsn once bubbled...
I'm doing a intro to scuba dive in the Caymen islands and I was wondering if this is a safe way to start out or if you should be certified before you even try scuba?
Jules

I was first introduced to Scuba on a cruise (Discover Scuba) in St. Maarten with Dive Safaris. I thought they did a fantastic job of accelerated training especially considering the tight schedules with the cruise ships and the "variety" of people that go on these dives. I got lucky, there were four of us left that got to dive with 1 instructor so we were sort of on our own away from the larger kaotic crowd. They gave you what you needed to know to be safe. It's all in what you want to get out of it. I had a fantastic dive to about 35 feet and now I'm working on OW dives to get C-Card. If you go on one of these dives first just make sure you LISTEN to the instructor, don't do anything crazy like hold your breath and blast off to the surface with your BCD, equalize often etc. and you can have an awesome experience.

 

[JohnF]

My wife & I did 3 years of Resort courses in Cancun and finally had to get certed. We were liking it too much. We were also feeling too much like little kids being babysat by the third year of it.

The DM's we went out with were very attentive to us to the point of being a nuisance, but that isn't a bad thing when you don't have all the training.

On Cayman I suspect it will be the same. In fact, I could see someone enjoying great resort dives at Eden Rock or Divetech (Turtle Farm) without even going out on the boats. On the boats there are plenty of relatively shallow and easy sites to enjoy and given the choice of protected areas you're virtually assured of calm seas for your first venture.

It would be hypocritical for me to criticize Resort Courses. They started me in diving. But keep your wits about you, because the instructor/guides can only do so much. You're still in an unfriendly environment. If you feel the need to go the surface do it slowly if you possibly can. A fast ascent can be very nasty, even from 30'.

So go have fun, carefully. 8)

JohnF

 

[osb]

The problem is you dont know what you dont know...


What I mean is this:

When you first take the "Intro" or "discover" resort class it's not always possible to tell if you have a quality instructor. Perhaps other folks do, but when I went through such a course in Hawaii I was convinced it was a quality and safe experience ( and in fact, I came through safe and excited about getting fully certified).
I was at a top notch resort, and the personell seemed professional, thorough, and competent.

However -- Now with the benefit of more training (OW, AOW and Rescue) and hindsight I realize that I was at risk and that my instructor cut alot of corners.

I'm certain that the majority of resort intro's are safe and the instructors are concientious folks but it's hard to know if you have precious little knowledge about safe diving before you start.

Several Co-workers have mentioned taking these dives and I've encouraged them to get certified before they go, or at the very least do what MikeD already suggested... Take the course and do the poolwoork at home, then do the Open water dives on vacation.

I'm still new and learning, but I'm very surprised at how unprepared and unsafe I was on that Intro dive.

OSB