50ft dive after 1hr of instruction?

[elan]

A friend of mine went diving in the place like this and now she says she never does that again as she had terrible pain in the ears,-the guy simply has not explained them how to sync the ears

though it might seem very safe from the position of a diver who has a clue it can be very dangerous - damaging the eardrums is the first thing comes to my mind

 

[bluebubble1995]

I went to 126' in COZ after 45 mins of instruction in 1994. IMO it was safer than a 40' dive. The option of panicing and shooting to the surface doesn't cross your mind that deep.

 

[lmorin]

Safe or not, it's done. My first diving was a club course consisting of an hour of Q&A, an hour in a pool, then 3 dives over 2 days. It became clear in the pool that the equipment had made the sport really safe, all things considered. I viewed the ocean dives as being a test more or less safe than walking across a street in Manhattan. Sure, something awful can go wrong, but it is unlikely.

 

[Jupiter31]

On the one hand, people can (and have) drowned in a bathtub.

On the other hand, if there is going to be a problem, your chances are better at 15 - 20 feet vs 50.

So in this instance I'd opt for the shallower is better school of thought, even if the new diver is accompanied by an instructor - too much could go wrong.

In my experience, diving is a gradual process; you gain confidence by doing, and confidence through a series of easy, no insidence experiences.

 

[Steve50]

I went to 126' in COZ after 45 mins of instruction in 1994. IMO it was safer than a 40' dive. The option of panicing and shooting to the surface doesn't cross your mind that deep.

Panic doesn't tend to be an option - it just happens, not by choice. That dive was a poor choice.

 

[PuddleDiver78]

i did the same type of "resort cert" and dive in Cancun a few years ago for my first dive. I also thought there was nothing to it until a few years later when i took my open water certification and realized how much there was to know that i didn't know.
I feel very lucky that resort dive was uneventful because i wouldn't have had the slightest clue on what the proper procedures would have been to handle any kind of "surprise" at depth

 

[don Francisco]

There's a great difference between a doing this type of resort dive and a regular dive. A resort dive is done with an instructor who manages every aspect of the dive. The diver may feel that he's in control, and he is to some degree but it's more like a student driver in a dual control car.

The various dive agencies have rules covering various aspects of these dives, such as the number of divers, depth of the site, and max. depth, and it seems that the instructor might have fudged some with your friend. On the other hand, it might only have seemed like 50'.

There's lots of debate about the safety and wisdom of these dives, but the bottom line is that if they're done well by diligent instructors, they are a good way to introduce folks to the joys of Scuba. Hopefully your friend will now be motivated to get certified and continue diving.

 

[TheCanuck]

I don't think it's much to worry about. I've done 2 intro dives; one was 42 feet in grand cayman and the other was 37 feet in Cozumel. 50 feet is a bit deeper but not much.

 

[mongodives]

See it all the time in Okinawa, DM or Instructor dragging 2-3 tourists around by the tank valve in 20-30FSW after a 30-40 minute class/briefing. They haven't killed anyone yet that I know of.

 

[guamguy]

I see this kind of activity every day here. The first time I saw it, I thought one of the tourists (I cannot call them "divers") was in trouble. I watched for a second, and it was just some "major" buoyancy control problems. It's kind of scary, but what are we going to do???