Is it common for experienced friends/family to accompany new OW divers who are traveling together?

[Katie L]

First, a disclaimer: I have been a swim teacher and a classroom teacher in the past so I COMPLETELY understand not wanting outsiders interfering during instruction. Very aware that you have to let teachers do what they do best.

Second, my main question!

I will be traveling to Cozumel for a week with my girlfriend in June, who will do her e-learning ahead of time and getting her Open Water certification on the island. We live in NYC, so the hassle and expense of doing training ahead of time is a lot, especially with my partner's work schedule, even if it's just pool skills. It seems way more fun and relaxing to do all of those things in Mexico.

How common is it for a dive op to allow a travel buddy to tag along to any of the skills or check out dives?

I am sure it's quite common that people of different skill levels travel together, especially families. How is this usually accommodated? During my open water, in Utila, I remember that some boats go to a location with a mixed group, and an instructor stays close to the OW divers on their check out dives while the rest dive more independently.

During my last trip to Cozumel, I went to a small op that charged me a small fee to accompany my friend on her Discover Scuba dive (which turned into Open Water cert due to the instructor thinking that she was an OW student) and I just kinda hung out on the sidelines while they did their thing (shallow shore skills + boat dive) so we could spend time together. In this case, it worked out since she was the only student in the course during "pool" skills anyway, so it was a private lesson, but I don't prefer to go back to that shop and was wondering how other people do that.

Thoughts?

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Numbers probably matter. An instructor has to consider you one of the students in terms of how many they take out. Hence they might charge more than to do a guided dive with you. (Or not, if it's a one-on-one lesson.)

E.g., PADI says an instructor with no assistants can have no more than 8 students in open water. That means you and up to 7 students if you tag along.

A wiser/safer operation wouldn't have the PADI max ratio, but even so the instructor is thinking something like "I want no more than X students, and now I can only take out X-1 that are paying full fare."

Barring that, an instructor may view you as somebody they at least need to verify can dive. That adds to their workload.

All to say "I don't really know" but there's no reason they couldn't and might be reasons they don't want to or will charge you more than it's worth to you.

 

[Marie13]

Something to consider with doing everything in MX: if your partner needs more time in the pool to work on skills that is going to eat up vacation time. That is why it’s usually recommended to do the pool sessions at home. Do you have extra days built into the vacation to allow for any extra needed time?

 

[scubadada]

Personally, I would not dive with a friend or family member being certified for fear that it might interfere with the teacher/student relationship. It might be hard enough as it is. Go dive by yourself for the two mornings it will take to finish the OW certification. Then, you can dive together!

 

[Katie L]

Something to consider with doing everything in MX: if your partner needs more time in the pool to work on skills that is going to eat up vacation time. That is why it’s usually recommended to do the pool sessions at home. Do you have extra days built into the vacation to allow for any extra needed time?

We will have a full week, with the expectation that OW (with e-learning done in advance) takes 2-3 days, so I think that allows for some flex time

 

[Katie L]

Numbers probably matter. An instructor has to consider you one of the students in terms of how many they take out. Hence they might charge more than to do a guided dive with you. (Or not, if it's a one-on-one lesson.)

E.g., PADI says an instructor with no assistants can have no more than 8 students in open water. That means you and up to 7 students if you tag along.

A wiser/safer operation wouldn't have the PADI max ratio, but even so the instructor is thinking something like "I want no more than X students, and now I can only take out X-1 that are paying full fare."

Barring that, an instructor may view you as somebody they at least need to verify can dive. That adds to their workload.

All to say "I don't really know" but there's no reason they couldn't and might be reasons they don't want to or will charge you more than it's worth to you.

This makes sense, good insight

 

[quietlife4me]

Anecdotal for sure…but on my last boat dive we had 2 instructors that had “tag alongs” (one of them being me)

1 of them took me for my 3rd and 4th checkout dive and 2 other students doing some AOW dives. By the 3rd and 4th dive I had very few skill checks to do so he asked if I minded if we did my skill checks for the first 10-15min and then I could partake in the AOW stuff of the other students or just give him the universal sign for piss off and chill and get water time. Sounded fine to me and it worked great as far as I could tell for everyone. I’m sure I or the other 2 students could have said no.

The other was a solo diver who needed a buddy and one didn’t exist. Instructor had a student doing the navigation course and offered that solo diver to tag along.

In both cases the instructors didn’t act like it was strange, but also seemed willing to go to plan B if the student said no.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Katie L

I only speak for myself. I would never teach at max ratios as I think it does a huge disservice to students who are waiting around (and in my area, getting cold). So a friend/partner/family member is always welcome to hang out/observe, on the condition that they don't interfere with the training. If they want to have a conversation/ask questions, I welcome this after training for the day is complete.

When I open my dive center, that will be the same policy.

I would plan on 2 days of confined water training followed by 2 or 3 days of open water. Confined water is where divers learn, open water is to confirm.

 

[quietlife4me]

@Katie L

So a friend/partner/family member is always welcome to hang out/observe, on the condition that they don't interfere with the training.

That has to be part of it…if you can’t honestly say you will let the instructor teach you friend/family member “incorrectly”…then don’t watch.

That’s gotta be hard for the instructor to gauge in the first 5min of meeting you, if you are going to actually just watch or want to “help”

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That’s gotta be hard for the instructor to gauge in the first 5min of meeting you, if you are going to actually just watch or want to “help”

Not really. You just got to get Charles Manson eyes when you look at the person and pull out your BFK and shake it at them. It is amazing that people who have never backfinned in their lives suddenly are able.

If I were to be judged by my true peers, if the person said the students needed to be on their knees, I would be found not guilty for second degree murder.

In all seriousness, when I brief the students, I would just also look at the friend/partner/family member as if they were one of them, and just to get them on board mentally. When it comes to my dive center and one of my employees was teaching, I'd observe the class to ensure that the person wasn't interfering with my employee. I would do this to protect both the student and my employee. Given that diving is a customer service business, it is my responsibility to manage my center's overall relationship with customers as well as protect my employees from abusive customers.