Is there an instructor crisis?

[Seaweed Doc]

This was an article in the newsletter years ago, where Jim Bram answered the question about solo certifications…it was his answer.

I think the key here is that he said "finish a dive" solo. That's odd word choice. It's not they should be able to "dive solo" but "finish" a dive solo that presumably started with a buddy.

I don't know what he had in mind, but it could be as simple as immediately surface and end the dive. Or it could be finish the dive as planned without a buddy. That latter seems inconsistent with NAUI and PADI expectations.

 

[BoltSnap]

I think the key here is that he said "finish a dive" solo. That's odd word choice. It's not they should be able to "dive solo" but "finish" a dive solo that presumably started with a buddy.

I don't know what he had in mind, but it could be as simple as immediately surface and end the dive. Or it could be finish the dive as planned without a buddy. That latter seems inconsistent with NAUI and PADI expectations.

This is easily verified, I am sending an email to NAUI training department for clarification now.

BTW, if NAUI approved "solo" training during an OW course, they can't/won't stop it for latter courses or in specialty courses. The whole statement is "out of wack" frankly speaking.

 

[Marie13]

As for cost - an OW instructor told me the shop they taught for lost money on OW students. They didn’t make anything off the student, course fee wise, until the student did AOW. This was 6 years ago.

 

[tomfcrist]

That isn't NAUI's policy or something approved by NAUI. You can check with HQ, and I have checked with HQ not too long ago, solo diving isn't sanctioned by NAUI. No solo diving in NAUI recreational courses. The reference is always NAUI's S&P manual, no solo diving there.

I would guess that a quote from the President in a Sources Q&A would be “approved”. I’d have to try to hard to find it…I don’t really care that much. It was sometime around the uptick in solo certs across agencies…2011? 2012? IDK. It’s just food for thought, don’t get bent out of shape about it. Either way it affirms that NAUI doesn’t sanction an official solo course.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

So, this is about instructor crisis The LDS charges $600 per class. Who gets the money, who gets paid?

I don’t know, I don’t work for the shop.
What I do know is that around here nobody does their OW check out dives locally anymore so a day trip to our coast is not an option. The county requires a permit to do any sort if class for pay with proof if insurance and them named on the policy, and the state park coves/beaches are so over run with purple urchins that they don’t want to do classes anymore due to injuries and liability.
Everyone goes to Monterey to do check out ocean dives. That’s three hours away and requires a hotel stay. The instructor has to pay for that, that much I do know. I also know that it used to cost about $150 a night for a cheap room. Now there is nothing less than $300 night, and if there is something going on at Laguna Seca race track or at Pebble Beach that weekend the price goes up.
So whatever the instructor made gets eaten up in gas and hotel.

 

[BoltSnap]

It’s just food for thought, don’t get bent out of shape about it. Either way it affirms that NAUI doesn’t sanction an official solo course.

I am not getting bent out of shape about it, it just doesn't make any sense. What you are relaying is actually a terrible thing to state, it implies that NAUI sanctions solo diving in its general courses, even in the entry level course. Imagine a student in an "OWSD" course who is tasked by his instructor to "finish a dive as a solo diver" ends up in trouble and becomes a causality. Talk about a major scandal and a huge lawsuit against NAUI. NAUI would sanction solo diving in its entry level recreational courses but doesn't sanction specialized training for solo diving??? Come on, this not only doesn't make any sense, it defies logic and common sense.

 

[tomfcrist]

I am not getting bent out of shape about it

It was a bad choice of words.

NAUI would sanction solo diving in its entry level recreational courses but doesn't sanction specialized training for solo diving??? Come on, this not only doesn't make any sense, it defies logic and common sense.

I agree. It was my same thought at the time.

 

[Wookie]

Wonder what % of recreational dive instructors in the U.S. are independent vs. shop-affiliated?

I wonder what percentage of shops "hire" as subcontractors independent instructors and toss them $100 for the pool and classroom and $200 for the OW sessions.

 

[tomfcrist]

I wonder what percentage of shops "hire" as subcontractors independent instructors and toss them $100 for the pool and classroom and $200 for the OW sessions.

Per student? I’d say a very low percentage

 

[VikingDives]

I wonder what percentage of shops "hire" as subcontractors independent instructors and toss them $100 for the pool and classroom and $200 for the OW sessions.

When I was teaching for a PADI shop locally, I made $63 per student for classroom sessions (10 hours), getting gear ready for students etc., 6 hours of confined water plus setup and 4 open water dives. Plus $110 for 2 nights of a hotel (the cheapest hotel in town).

That worked out to be about $7.33 per hour over the course of the year.