Dear instructor ......

[Progen]

So far, I've gone for 3 courses and will be due for a good few more before the end of the year. The instructors were nice people and willing to answer questions BUT (there's always a BUT ) I wish that they could have done certain things to help beginners / students understand better and become more well prepared divers so here goes.

Dear instructor, I wish that you :-

1. Had stressed the importance of equipment / buddy check and gone through it meticulously so that I would develop the habit of doing it for the rest of my diving days instead of just taking uninterested left and right glances, tugging a few things in a nonchalant manner and then giving me the thumbs up

2. Pointed out the dangers of the environment in which we're in because how real the dangers are depends on how you made them out to be. Noticed that nobody highlighted the dangers of animals like sea urchins. Granted that you're not supposed to touch anything but beginners with poor buoyancy control usually do not end up where they'd like to which means there's a good chance they'll come into contact with corals or marine life

3. Made me repeat skills which I didn't show confidence in, seemed to have performed successfully by chance or failed to perform successfully because all of the 3 might have resulted in me having an accident one day which I didn't know how to get out of although it was covered in the manual


I've been alright so far thanks to information from the learned and experienced divers on this forum and the Internet plus I rereading the manuals which are left in the toilet where they provide good reading material in 'utter times of need' so I know certain portions really well by now.

 

[TMHeimer]

1. Sounds slack. I have rarely witnessed thorough buddy checks such as how I was fortunately taught in OW. Who knows how many people have had good or slack instructors on that.
2. Giving a dive briefing which includes aquatic life, etc. is common for students on checkout dives. Were any animals/plants mentioned?
3. Good instructors do this. Some are or feel they are under time constraints. Some say course time is too short-- not like "the old days"--I tend to agree. There is a lot to get through and for students to absorb if you do the weekend course. I was lucky not to choose that.

Manuals: It's good to always reread. I keep mine on the bookshelf. The toilet is reserved for freebee dive mags. I get in shops.

 

[supergaijin]

Dear instructor, I wish that you :-

1. Had stressed the importance of equipment / buddy check and gone through it meticulously so that I would develop the habit of doing it for the rest of my diving days instead of just taking uninterested left and right glances, tugging a few things in a nonchalant manner and then giving me the thumbs up

Agree that buddy checks are almost non-existant 'in the real world'. When training individuals I tell people that unless you have someone with whom you'll constantly dive, then you'll be probably diving with strangers. It is up to the individual to start a conversation early so as to 'break the ice' and then a more effective buddy system can be made. I also tell people that most divers do not do a buddy check with strangers so it is doubly important to check your own gear before entry and then again when a couple of feet down.

2. Pointed out the dangers of the environment in which we're in because how real the dangers are depends on how you made them out to be. Noticed that nobody highlighted the dangers of animals like sea urchins. Granted that you're not supposed to touch anything but beginners with poor buoyancy control usually do not end up where they'd like to which means there's a good chance they'll come into contact with corals or marine life

The PADI OW manual actually has a picture of a sea urchin in the chapter on underwater hazards.

3. Made me repeat skills which I didn't show confidence in, seemed to have performed successfully by chance or failed to perform successfully because all of the 3 might have resulted in me having an accident one day which I didn't know how to get out of although it was covered in the manual

Instructors all to often flow through skills without the student demonstrating 'mastery'. This is a failing of instructors across the industry. Often the root cause is money. It costs money to run courses and there's always competition down the road who offer the course at a cheaper cost through the 'McDonalds formula'. Many (if not most) divers opt for the cheaper training, resulting in a faster, less thorough course.

However the question is: would you have agreed to pay more upfront for the extra training time? Diving Course A for $299 which results in a certificate, or Course B for $399 which (theoretically) results in a 'better' diver.

If you are serious about becoming an instructor, you may well face the choice again soon between a cheap and cheerful $500 DM course and a $1000 DM course. Same applies for the IDC. You will (probably) get what you pay for.

 

[chrpai]

That's why I like solo diving. The "buddy" (self) check begins at home when I meticulously go over every inch of my gear.

 

[g1138]

You just need to find the right group or the right instructor. Some areas are filled with them, some are not.
In my program we cover all those bases, but even we have our own outliers.

That's why I like solo diving. The "buddy" (self) check begins at home when I meticulously go over every inch of my gear.

One thing you miss though is a redundant check from a different set of eyes; whether you find that advantageous or not. I certainly appreciate it.

Buddies can be like Spare Airs, or they can be like Pony Bottles. Some are more useful than others.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

You just need to find the right group or the right instructor. Some areas are filled with them, some are not.
In my program we cover all those bases, but even we have our own outliers.


One thing you miss though is a redundant check from a different set of eyes; whether you find that advantageous or not. I certainly appreciate it.

Buddies can be like Spare Airs, or they can be like Pony Bottles. Some are more useful than others.

This! ^^^

Remember what you observed in this class, keep these points in mind as you select new classes and advance your dive training.

In an odd way, I learned much from my initial short-cut Open Water class.

Cheers,
Mitch

 

[TMHeimer]

That's why I like solo diving. The "buddy" (self) check begins at home when I meticulously go over every inch of my gear.

Yeah, it's a buddy "check" not a buddy "do'. I think what may happen is new divers do this often at first. Anything a buddy finds wrong with you gets corrected and the check works. Then, you stop doing stuff wrong and feel you don't need the buddy check. You shouldn't need it, but it's still a good idea--anyone can make a mistake if distracted, etc. When I took Rescue our instructor told us to keep an eye on two divers doing a thorough check because they were probably newbies. What does that say?

 

[Lutwala Dive Gili T]

As an Instructor, I would also like to stress a couple of points:
Firstly, checking your equipment at home regularly is, of course, a good idea. However, in my opinion, the main purpose of the ´buddy check´ is to ensure that not only is YOUR equipment is functioning properly and wont cause any problems in the deep but also that you BUDDY´s equipment is functioning properly. After all, if you need an alternate air source it will be your buddies and not yours you will be needing! In addition to this, if your buddy has a problem underwater, it will be YOU that they turn to for help. Obviously it is better to prevent problems on the surface than to have to deal with them in the water.
Secondly, and related to the above, you really need to be somewhat familiar with your buddy´s equipment. They may have some kind of integrated weight system or different hose configuration for example. If you need to release their weights in a hurry, you don´t want to be wasting valuable time trying to figure out how it works!
So from a purely selfish view, you should be checking your buddy´s equipment as carefully, if not more so, than your own! And make sure they do the same!
This is what we teach here, but at the end of the day after an Open Water Course, divers are certified to dive without supervision and so the responsibility for this check and the potential risk if it is omitted is theirs.
Hope this helps?
Dive safely and have fun!!!

 

[Progen]

...
The PADI OW manual actually has a picture of a sea urchin in the chapter on underwater hazards. ...

You know how people who've had bad experiences tend to harp upon them? I'm one of those. Sometime in 2001, when wading through a pretty large coral reef at low tide, I picked an all black sea urchin up by one of its spines. Those who know sea urchins will know that the surrounding spines will move towards the threat so by instinct, I released my grip a bit and the sea urchin slipped off my two fingers leaving behind a deep gash on each of them. I'm pretty sure that many divers know that they can be pricked by the spines and some have venom BUT not many will know that the spines themselves are like the surface of a circular file saw so if you're unlucky to put weight against a sea urchin, not only will the spine tips break off in your skin / flesh, there's also a good chance you'll need it to be surgically removed unless you want to do the Rambo thing, grit your teeth together on your wetsuit and pull it out by which time you'll have a very nice gush of blood and pain.

That's why I keep singing the 'Look out for sea urchins' song because for something that can cause so much pain and is so commonly found (in the dive sites with heavy diving traffic around this region), it's important for students / beginners, many of which will have no experience with or intimate knowledge of marine animals (I'm a bit lucky because I used to be a marine animal hobbyist although I guess I was still a tit to pick up the sea urchin ) to be warned of what to look out for.

And it's not just sea urchins, I didn't hear or see divers being warned about lionfish or scorpionfish too. Over at Pom Pom Island where I got my Open Water certification, lionfish were just about everywhere and the smaller ones could be seen in rather big groups of more than 10 fishes at a time so just imagine what would have happened if a student / beginner who couldn't control his / her buoyancy tried to swat them out of the way, bumped into them or moved nearer for a better look and a surge drove him / her into the group?

---------- Post added April 21st, 2013 at 01:05 PM ----------

... after an Open Water Course, divers are certified to dive without supervision ...

I thought you're only allowed to dive with a buddy? I know for sure the dive centres here won't allow you to go alone even if you stomp your fins and whine that you're only going to be a few tens of metres from shore.

As for equipment, yeah, I make sure that my buddy knows that in cases of OOA situations and they need air from me, I'll be donating my primary since that's the long one looped around my neck and I've practiced it a lot of times so am comfortable with putting the octopus (on a bungy cord around my neck) into my mouth and unwinding the long hose to pass to them so do NOT fight me, keep calm and wait for me to pass the 2nd stage over.

 

[Searcaigh]

Progen, I believe Lutwala Dive Gili T is referring to divers going for a dive without supervision from a DM or Instructor, not solo, and I would not recommend solo to anyone unless they are very familiar with their equipment as well as being at home in the water plus having the requisite redundant equipment and know how to use it plus having the correct mental attitude.

It sounds like you had a poor instructor, my OW instructor was ex-RN, wow betide you if you left a tank standing upright with you BC and reg on it, wasn't quite drop and give me 20 but the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice, you just didn't do that again unless you were a bottle short of a six pack.

I believe some form of discipline is necessary but it doesn't have to be boot camp, it has to be fun too. I used the same instructor for AOW (after 100+ dives) and his Rescue course was very demanding, but you earned it .... even during an SI between dives one of his DMs was 100M offshore drowning for your pleasure

I hope that you find a good instructor for the rest of your training and some good mentors too, the latter can be very helpful and I thank mine for adding to my overall learning experience.