Did you do a Discover Scuba?

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I started diving 4 years ago after I did a DSD. I loved snorkeling and was fascinated by SCUBA. I still remember my Discover Scuba like it was yesterday and I thought it was the coolest feeling ever. I became an instructor because I wanted to create that same surreal feeling in my students.
 
I did discover Suva 3 times: Eilat 1994, 2006 and Bermuda 2001. In Eilat, there was no pool session, just some land based training and ha d holding. Bermuda was more structured. I loved all 3. My husband and I went to get certified in Bonaire in 2007. The rest is history. The discover scuba experience was really important I. Both seeing that I could do this,and also, that there was this whole magic, weightless world down there.
 
My wife and i actually did two discover scuba's prior to being certified. nice on a cruise in Nassau and another on a trip to Key West.

The Nassau DSD was about as crash course as one can get - "class" was given on the boat ride out and then we were in the water. did a couple skills on the anchor line (partial mask flood and clear reg remove and replace - I think that was it)
In Key West there was a proper class with pool practice before going out on the boat for the OW dive. I'm not sure there's anything I would have wanted done differently. It was just my wife and I so it was essentially a private class.

The DSD experiences are what prompted us to get certified
 
I did one in DR. It was a free thing in the resort's pool and my GF and I (along with a half dozen or so others) did it. I had always wanted to but never had. Both my parents were divers and my brother had gone out with my father at times so I was always jealous. This opportunity came up and I jumped on it. The pool was so shallow that I actually got a sunburn on my forehead from kneeling on the bottom watching and repeating things. We swam around for a bit and I was hooked. I stood up and asked how much it would cost to certify......he answered, I paid and the rest as they say, is history.
 
My son and I did the Discover Scuba course on an RCCL cruise ship. We did the pool work on the ship, then did 2 dives in St. Martin. We had a blast, and we got certified 9 months later through a 4-day course in Key Largo. I personally thought the Discover course is a great idea -- let's people see whether they like the sensation of diving without going "all in" on the OW course. We had a few people who afterwards said, "sorry, not for me," and the rest of us were hooked.
 
I did two DSDs on vacation in Australia before I even knew there was a local diving community.

I learned two things on those DSDs, I loved diving and hated cattle boats. The boat I was on had about 50 passengers, about half of those were doing DSDs, and they took 8 divers down at a time (in separate groups). Looking back on that with the benefit of the experience I have now, I think they ran a very efficient system and were well organized, but it was still a very long day for 2 15 minute dives.

The worst part was that in spite of being warned that if anyone starts to feel seasick, to get out to the back of the boat. A few people ignored this and puked into plastic bags inside setting off a chain reaction where a lot of people were sick. So, despite the cold ocean breeze on the evening ride back, I froze my ass off sitting topside for the duration.
 
Yes.
I've always wanted to be certified, but never thought I could do it. Years passed and I forgot about it.
Then, a couple of years ago I kept seeing Mexico tourism ads on billboards and in the subway that featured diving in the cenotes. That awakened my interest and I started researching getting certified.
To my surprise, there was a dive shop not far from my workplace and went over to check it out. After a long conversation and a bunch of questions, I decided to sign up for discover scuba to see if I can do it.
The pool they used is designed for therapy of disabled people and the floor can be raised and lowered. That helped in making the class comfortable in the water. Once I got under, I knew that i had to do this.
After a couple of months, I got certified. It was an amazing experience.
 
Nope. OW Cert'ed in '95 and I'd never heard of Discover dives until a few years later. I have participated in a few as a DMC though while working towards my DSD leader.
 
I didn't even know what a DSD was until I was asked to do some as a dive con.

I have to say that they were some of the most fun "classes" I had.

there is no expectation of anything other then fun on the DSDS' part.

I would explain about the equipment, giving them the ground rules, always breath, if you are having trouble with anything exhale and stand up and most important was stay out of the deep end.

as the students went along I would stand them up and show them mask clearing and other basic skills.

most of the 30-45 minutes was spent tossing the "underwater torpedo" around in a game of catch and just enjoying watching the students get comfortable with no stress.

I noticed that students that came back for a scuba course after a DSD tended to be more relaxed in the water as they knew what to expect with the mask, reg fins etc.

I got into scuba (10+ years ago) through a buddy who swore I would not need to buy anything he had everything I needed. . . fast forward a year later and I had already bought all new gear and was working on doubles . . . I think I spent that year eating ramen noodles solely because of diving. yeah, that is what caused me to be broke . . . LOL
 
LetterBoy, I agree with you -- the Discover Scubas are so much fun, because a) they're designed to be, and b) there is so little stress on the students.
 
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