Why Couples Training (Sometimes) Sucks - Full Version

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jagfish

The man behind the fish
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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Kanagawa and Florida
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Couples Training (Sometimes) Sucks - Full Version
If your experience is anything like mine, you know that couples training, while usually a fantastic way to bring two new divers into the sport, it can also have its own brand of special challenges. For example, sometimes, one of the couple REALLY wanted to do the course, and the other person is just along for the ride...and boy can that ride be bumpy. This vid is the funny teaser to the vid that will explore the lighter side of couples training gone wrong. Special
Thanks to the fantastic work of Adam and Tempus T.
 
When I and my wife were learning, the director of the course immediately separated us in two different groups with two different instructors.
A wise decision, which I also repeated any time we had to teach to a couple.
We want to build up self-reliant, independent divers. Then they will be able to dive together, but they must also be able to dive with other partners...
So better to always separate the couple, and have them trained by different instructors.
 
I don’t recognize my couple there. When I suggested that we should do scuba diving, my wife was as enthusiastic as me. We are both very comfortable swimmers so being underwater was not an issue. From the first day in the pool, my wife was playing the dolphin and the mermaid with jer Total Diving System. We have made all our classes together and it has been wonderful. At last, one passion that we can live together. I am football (the real one, english football), Formula one, NBA, Tour de France and she hates sports on TV. She loves to walk and run. I hate running if not following a ball and walking is a torture. I like Sci-Fi and action movies and she is more « based on true story » movies whise only objective is to (try to) make you cry. As a real Frenchman, I fancy a drink for time to time. She is french too but muslim so she never drinks alcohol.
But in Scuba, we are forever, deeply. The only challenge really is the conversation about: I do it better than you. This is really a pain. I am a calculator and she is a natural. For the rest, it has been wonderful. Anyway, I will stay in Cape Verde for at least 7 months and she will go to Congo in 15 days where there is no diving activity. So I will have the opportunity to continue growing without her. And in 6 months, she will say: I was better than you. Now, you are only better because you piled 50 dives when I was away :).
 
Couples Training (Sometimes) Sucks - Full Version
If your experience is anything like mine, you know that couples training, while usually a fantastic way to bring two new divers into the sport, it can also have its own brand of special challenges. For example, sometimes, one of the couple REALLY wanted to do the course, and the other person is just along for the ride...and boy can that ride be bumpy. This vid is the funny teaser to the vid that will explore the lighter side of couples training gone wrong. Special
Thanks to the fantastic work of Adam and Tempus T.
Great job as usual! Very entertaining.
“- Did you know there is fish down there?
- Yes, I have seen them there before “ :rofl3:
 
When I and my wife were learning, the director of the course immediately separated us in two different groups with two different instructors.
A wise decision, which I also repeated any time we had to teach to a couple.
We want to build up self-reliant, independent divers. Then they will be able to dive together, but they must also be able to dive with other partners...
So better to always separate the couple, and have them trained by different instructors.

This is what I did when my daughter wanted to learn SCUBA diving. I attended classes with her (great refresher) and her training dives. I had her "buddy up" with different divers in the class. The class instructor was totally onboard with this...he also saw the value of her learning to buddy with various people and not just me.
 
Couples Training (Sometimes) Sucks - Full Version
If your experience is anything like mine, you know that couples training, while usually a fantastic way to bring two new divers into the sport, it can also have its own brand of special challenges. For example, sometimes, one of the couple REALLY wanted to do the course, and the other person is just along for the ride...and boy can that ride be bumpy. This vid is the funny teaser to the vid that will explore the lighter side of couples training gone wrong. Special
Thanks to the fantastic work of Adam and Tempus T.

This hit close to home. The 1st time I went diving was a discovery dive. It was my gf’s bday and I took her to San Andres (Colombia) and as an added “gift” we did a Discovery Dive.

She definitely agreed to this just for me because she knew I really wanted to. She’s very claustrophobic so she had a real hard time in the pool session but she pushed thru it. When it came time for the ocean the instructor said that we’d be with him and one other girl (who later turned out to be his daughter) so it would be 4 of us.

Well there were multiple groups diving off that boat so it was a bit chaotic but I was the first to get in from my group. Sine I was the first one in I didn’t see my gf panic at 3-5m and rip off her stuff and head back to the surface. She later told me that while descending she had a change of heart and the instructor was insisting so she panicked and stripped off her reg.

I was waiting by myself at the bottom and wondering why I was alone but eventual the instructor came down with the other girl who I thought was my gf and I thought there must have been a last minute change and that the other girl went off with another group.

Well several minutes into the dive I grabbed my “gf’s” butt and later I realized that wasn’t her. As soon as we resurfaced I apologized profusely and she said no worries and in fact she asked me if I wanted to join her at the pool.

Now she won’t even pretend to even consider trying again and she doesn’t even want to snorkel.
 
This hit close to home. The 1st time I went diving was a discovery dive. It was my gf’s bday and I took her to San Andres (Colombia) and as an added “gift” we did a Discovery Dive.

She definitely agreed to this just for me because she knew I really wanted to. She’s very claustrophobic so she had a real hard time in the pool session but she pushed thru it. When it came time for the ocean the instructor said that we’d be with him and one other girl (who later turned out to be his daughter) so it would be 4 of us.

Well there were multiple groups diving off that boat so it was a bit chaotic but I was the first to get in from my group. Sine I was the first one in I didn’t see my gf panic at 3-5m and rip off her stuff and head back to the surface. She later told me that while descending she had a change of heart and the instructor was insisting so she panicked and stripped off her reg.

I was waiting by myself at the bottom and wondering why I was alone but eventual the instructor came down with the other girl who I thought was my gf and I thought there must have been a last minute change and that the other girl went off with another group.

Well several minutes into the dive I grabbed my “gf’s” butt and later I realized that wasn’t her. As soon as we resurfaced I apologized profusely and she said no worries and in fact she asked me if I wanted to join her at the pool.

Now she won’t even pretend to even consider trying again and she doesn’t even want to snorkel.

Sorry to hear that, Jafo! I'm glad my wife likes to snorkel. She loved the intro to SCUBA class, but she as a medical condition that makes it almost impossible to equalize her inner ear. Flying also causes problems for her. She can handle the airlines, but not when flying unpressurized aircraft. I also fly airplanes, so she can't be my dive buddy or flying buddy. :(
 
Sorry to hear that, Jafo! I'm glad my wife likes to snorkel. She loved the intro to SCUBA class, but she as a medical condition that makes it almost impossible to equalize her inner ear. Flying also causes problems for her. She can handle the airlines, but not when flying unpressurized aircraft. I also fly airplanes, so she can't be my dive buddy or flying buddy. :(
Yeah it does cause lots of stress. We’re going to Cartagena for a week and I’m going diving for about 2 of those dives and she’s already complaining that she’ll be all alone even though she sleeps in and there will be family with us.
 
Yeah it does cause lots of stress. We’re going to Cartagena for a week and I’m going diving for about 2 of those dives and she’s already complaining that she’ll be all alone even though she sleeps in and there will be family with us.
Aww, she loves you so much, so wants to spend every moment with you. This is so sweet! :)
 
My husband and I enjoy spending time together and we also enjoy separate interests, but diving is the one activity that we always do together. I wasn't afraid of the water but I didn't even know how to swim when we first married while husband was half-fish! He had been on the swim team in school and his family had owned a lake house and he loved the water.

So I took an "adult learn to swim class" and I loved snorkeling when we went to the Bahamas. He was patient and supportive and so we enrolled in a YMCA diving course back home. The hardest part of that for me was that they were always making us "ditch and don" our equipment so I couldn't wear my contact lenses and I couldn't see much during the class. When I was finally able to dive while wearing my contacts and mask - it was fantastic!

We made a commitment to always dive together. As I said we also enjoy other (separate and joint) pursuits but we embarked on diving as an opportunity to travel and spend time together. We've kept that promise over many years although at times it was harder that originally anticipated. There's been instances when one of us was feeling ill or had an ear infection, etc. and the other really wanted to dive but sat it out because we couldn't dive together. And believe that's really hard if you are stuck on a liveaboard!

We are older now and I don't know how many more years we will be able to dive. I imagine that when the day comes that one of us has to stop diving the other will also retire from the sport, but we will have lots of great experiences and memories. I've been very lucky, in many ways.
 
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