I suppose if you are going to deal with "populations" of people that have NEVER learned how to use fins properly ( or that are never going to have the coordination to use them well--there are plenty of people like this) , AND, if there is no current, and the water is 5 feet deep or less, then sure, your hand fins will do the job for this environment, and for the non-divers that can't coordinate their bodies. If I saw what you described going on, I think I would be happy that these people were enjoying the ocean.... I'd feel a little sorry for them that they had little chance of growth in to real snorkeling or freediving....like seeing a bunch of snow-plowers that you know will never leave the bunny slope, and will never really become skiiers...
Now I would add, that I have seen some classes at the Blue heron Bridge Marine park, where I would prefer to see the hopeless students and instructors wearing hand fins than the norm for scuba diving--this really starts with instructors that have no business being allowed to teach. For them, and the unfortunates that fall prey to them, the hand fins may well be a good thing. It's amazing to me these unfortunate students dont manage to look at any of the "other" groups being instructed at BHB, because the differences can be shocking. There are some instructors that I see there all the time, that are so masterful, you would almost think that all of their students have been diving quite some time--but for these instructors, it is like this even on the first dive. I see this with the local Force E instructors, especially Jeff ( their resident savant
and with Pura Vida's instructors and their classes. I can only guess the bad the bad seeds come from little starving dive shops, that are hanging on by a thread, and are trying to blow people through as fast as they can--and skill development takes a huge back seat to paying their bills. The moral of the story here, is that everyone at BHB REALLY NEEDS TO START RECOMMENDING THE GOOD INSTRUCTORS, AND MAKING NOTE OF THE BAD ONES.
See video...You can see that the problem really starts with the instructor, if you look closely. He is the one teaching them to be clueless and skill-less. Start 48 seconds in to the video [video=youtube_share;dgdabfvr2B0]http://youtu.be/dgdabfvr2B0?hd=1&t=48s[/video]
**Note...the area this class is in is called Nudiworld by the local macro photographers....You can find well over a hundred nudibranchs on a single dive here. They feed on the dense hydroid forests that cover the bottom here, right under the bumbling fins of the instructor and his unfortunates. As they break up the hydroid forests, like crazed motocrossers tearing up a rich field of grass in a horse pasture, the field is destroyed, the uprooted hydroids are blown out of BHB with the tides, and what was once an almost magical and healthy forest, becomes a desert, and what is special and magical about BHB becomes LOST. One class, one day, won't be the end of the BHB. 100 classes, on 100 days of the year, and the motocrosser concept of damage potential is quite accurate.
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There appears to be an Agency Standards issue going on here....regarding what is being done. My take is some shops see this standing on the bottom, and the bouncing, as the EXPEDIENT choice, the only choice, and the choice directed by agency standards. So this would be EXPEDIENCE over ENVIRONMENT. This is an issue that the regulars of the BHB MUST deal with, if they want the Marine Park to remain the incredible place that it is.
There are GOOD SHOPS and there are BAD SHOPS. There are GOOD INSTRUCTORS, and there are BAD INSTRUCTORS. EVERYONE OF US THAT DIVES THE BHB, NEEDS TO BEGIN CATALOGING THE GOOD AND THE BAD. We need to share this with everyone we know. Many have joked about this in the past, none of us have done much more than joke about it though..so far.
The situation will NOT fix itself. The Economics of the Dive Shops and Bad instructors, are such that they will only get more destructive, if the regular divers of the BHB Marine Park, continue to ignore this....
Put another way...If you guys and I continue to say or do NOTHING, then WE are almost as much a part of the problem, as the bad instructors are. You can't watch a crime take place, and do nothing, without being morally criminal yourself.
For now, I propose each of us tries to ID the bad instructor or shop. If you have a camera, shoot some pictures or video each and every time.
We start a new thread.... "Is this a BAD DIVE INSTRUCTOR AND SHOP" OR A GOOD ONE? If someone posts a damaging video, like the one above, the instructor starring in the debacle can come on and attempt to explain how the infractions were not the norm, and how this is not how he /she teaches. This is important, since any instructor may have an issue once in a blue moon. If the same instructor ends up having to make excuses every week, then some of us will need to find the schedules for him/her and the shop in question, and be sure they are videoed each time they visit the Marine Park. Clearly we need to have videos of some of the AWESOME classes, and the really good instructors....We need to see who is good, and so do the potential students. All instructors are not equal, and not all shops are equal. This needs to get out.
When it becomes public knowledge as to who is good, and who is bad, the problems of today should fade. Students will hear of this, and the worst shops in diving will be avoided.
If the offending classes are from hundreds of miles away--bussed in for cheap diving....We can always ID this and turn it over to the Park Department if we need to.