Open Water Class Size
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The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Dude, you're killing me!
archer1960
Contributor
Yeah, I saw that discussion elsewhere on SB. IIRC, my instructor stayed in midwater, about halfway between the bottom (40', maybe, I don't remember for sure) where we were, and the surface. He for sure didn't go up with each of us and then back down. This was in Cozumel and visibility was excellent, so we could all watch each other's ascent, and the instructor could see all of us at all times.
Well, there's a significant standards violation for you. And not just in an "oh that's just PADI being PADI" way. It's actually stupid.
For the CESA the instructor is to maintain physical contact with the student and the control line at all times during the exercise. That direction is in bold in a blue shaded box in the Instructor Manual, which serves to indicate "Pay attention to this if nothing else. We really, really mean it. Violate at your (and your students's) own peril."
Without contact there's no way for the instructor to arrest a rapid ascent and/or render other assistance as might be needed. From midwater there'd be no way for them to evaluate whether you orally inflated at the surface... or assist you if for some reason you were unable to establish positive buoyancy. Neither would they be able to communicate with you at the surface regarding a re-do, etc.
Dumb from a logistic, standards, and student safety standpoint..
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The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
This is a huge standards violation for all agencies. Not having an instructor there to stop the student's ascent IF they hold their breath puts them at a high risk. I won't put my students or myself at risk doing this.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
In confined water, it is probably done horizontally and that's not a training violation. That's the only way I teach this skill as there's no danger of an embolism for a student or repetitive traumatic barotrauma for me.
On our OW (SSI) there were two instructors, one gave the class and one assistant, for two students (us). Dives were in pairs, each of us with an instructor as buddy.
No idea if that was standard or if it was just quiet, but I think it depends more on the diving school than on the agency.
No idea if that was standard or if it was just quiet, but I think it depends more on the diving school than on the agency.
Max open water class size for the school/inland site I DM for is 4. And due to HSE regs, there is always a DM in the water (whether 1 student or 4 students). I have seen a few classes from other schools that use the inland site that are an absolute clusterf*ck with countless students
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