Dillon Pyron wrote:
> Thus spake -hh :
> > [from marketing material]
> >>> This quick and easy course
> >> > was designed with the vacationer in mind.
> >
> >Rather, the material and training was cut so as to fit the available
> >time, and what we didn't mention to you is that this "Scuba Diver"
> >certification is a restricted one.
>
> I really and truly dread seeing "This quick and easy course was
> designed with the vacationer in mind." It brings to mind "SNUBA is
> just like scuba diving, only you don't need any training".
'Mad Monk' happened to notice some SNUBA cruise ship customers in
Cozumel a few years ago. IIRC, he nearly fell out of his chair when
he heard the SNUBA instructor claim that SNUBA was safer because it
didn't use compressed air (a flat out lie). "Caveat Emptor", folks.
> >The PADI Scuba Diver program is a pre-entry level certification that
> >enables you to dive anytime, anywhere, under the supervision of a PADI
> >Professional.
> >
> >What this means is that you save a few bucks upfront, but then have to
> >hire a guide for every future dive.
>
> I have no problems with that. OTOH, notice the OWSI initials I tag on
> to myself every now and then. I'm always open to some one taking me
> along with them on a trip. Heck, I'll even take an inside cabin.
That's because you're the one potentially benefitting :-)
I have no problems per se, if an informed customer wants to be that
financially short-sighted.
However, the real issue here is that this limitation wasn't mentioned
in this marketing copy, which means poor disclosure, which denies the
consumer the opportunity to be informed. And interestingly, when I
went to PADI's website (as a consumer) to research what the "Scuba
Diver" class was, lo and behold ... it ain't listed there, either.
Very unprofessional for PADI to hide product information from
consumers on what is their most introductory of classes.
> >... In general, a child who is both
> >physically and mentally mature enough is phenominally rare at pre-teen
> >ages, and in the paraphrased words of Larry "Harris" Taylor, your
> >child isn't mature enough to take up scuba diving unilt you trust them
> >to drive the MOST expensive automobile that you own.
>
> Although I'm not a real fan of some of the "old time" teaching
> techniques (toss all your gear in the bottom of the pool, go down and
> put it on), handling stress and hazardous conditions is a requisite
> part of scuba.
That's a slightly different thread tangent. I was referring to how
childhood is a "temporary medical condition" just like being pregnant,
and as such, the risk:reward ratio says that there's too many medical
unknowns to risk just for the sake of a recreational pastime. I'm
now on an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and have read the relevant
portions of the Nuremberg Trials, Helsinki Accord, UN Treaty, Federal
Regulations, etc, and now more thoroughly understand why Harris &
others have taken such a strong stand on this. Personally, I think
that it is only a matter of time until some kid gets hurt and PADI
loses a $100M lawsuit.
Insofar as the "old" ways, I'm familiar with the arguments that the
Ditch&Don and other pool drills aren't "realistic". However, they do
provide a controlled test setting for evaluating diver stress, force a
student to use learned skills together, and in the end, they go a long
ways towards improving diver confidence.
This doesn't mean that I'd necessarily advocate going all the way to
full Harassment Sessions (of which I'm ancient enough to have had
firsthand experience), but I see the D&D, the NAUI Bailout and others
as useful tools to "mix things up", which ultimately allows assessment
of if the student has learned the principles of training, as opposed
to being able to rote repeat them in a singular context...to claim
that one is proficient at mask-clearing isn't true if the only way
that the diver can do it is while kneeling on the bottom, using both
hands, regulator in, neck rotated back, etc. Ultimately, stress is
caused by the unfamiliar/unexpected, so (within reason) the more
different situations we can expose the student to in a controlled
training setting, the better.
> Around Austin, most shops, regardless of agency, are running around
> $250 full up. Wet suit rentals are optional, but reasonable.
Good to note. In general, when you get close to big/expensive cities
(like in my case, NYC), the cost of living and cost of commercial real
estate space are higher, so the cost of this training service will be
higher. However, one generally finds the highest training costs down
in Resorts in the Caribbean, etc. These aren't really due to high
local costs as much as it is due to a transient tourist who is less
price sensitive for an impulse-motivated purchase.
> What he said. Here's the truth. I advocate doing all your work at
> home and then diving for fun when you hit warm water. Or, at least,
> doing the class and confined water at home and the OW on vacation.
One of the best arguments that I've heard for first studying at home
is to ask yourself if you want to spend ~4 hours per day of your
vacation in the sun, stuck inside in a classroom. It is a very
compelling argument.
> BUT, we did our's in Hawai'i, on vacation. Our confined water was
> inside the break line at Magic Island, and we just hopped over the
> seawall for the open water. But that was most of our vacation.
Small world: when I stayed on O'ahu two years ago, I was maybe 1000ft
from Magic Island. And the dive trip that I'm just back from was to
Hawai'i (coincidentally). I've yet to get film developed, but here's
two short, unedited video clips from the Kona (Big Island) Night Manta
Ray dive:
Mild: http://www.photo-hh.com/photo/manta1.avi
Busy: http://www.photo-hh.com/photo/manta2.avi
Since the cruise ships that visit Kona seem to leave port at around
sunset, I don't know if this is an option for doing as a shore
excursion while on a cruise. But since Hawai'i inter-island flights
are cheap, one could figure out how to add it as a trip extension
without much difficulty.
-hh
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