Continuing Ed. or just paying to dive..

[billeelou]

Aesop once said, " a fool and his money are soon seperated"....:shakehead

OW Class bought at a charity fundraiser $125 (for 2) Knighthawk w/ air2 bought used $185.00,Tusa Fusion Used $125, Scubapro Regulators and Gauges 95.00 (ebay). Sherwood Magnum 2 with Gauges $110.00 Ebay, Dive shop check out and annuals on regs $200.00, Masks fins, snorkle etc. $200 Leisure Pro, first 10 dives at $40-65 each
$500...or $1,000 total for 2....for a grand total of $2,040 ............being a Scuba diver=PRICELESS!!!!

I guess I could calculate in the hotel rooms, travel by boat and plane, but I would have those costs whether I dove or not....

So since the Scuba world is going to hell in a handbasket, why don't we have dead bodies floating all over the oceans??

 

[fisherdvm]

There are other approaches. The common strain of this board is that a huge number of divers take a class to try it out once or to dive on a vacation, and never do it again. Come up with a program that is designed for the folks, and protects these folks properly and raise the bar for the person who wants to become an independent diver.

I got a good name for this program:

FUNDIES IN YOUR UNDIES!!

Especially where you are going to be moving to, it should be warm enough to wear nothing or just your undies....

 

[Thalassamania]

So since the Scuba world is going to hell in a handbasket, why don't we have dead bodies floating all over the oceans??

Fatalities are one one kind of accident, most just result in minor injuries or the diver getting scared and dropping out.

 

[loosebits]

Gear is fairly reliable, dive masters babysit divers and luck.

 

[Thalassamania]

Especially where you are going to be moving to, it should be warm enough to wear nothing or just your undies....

Got to watch out for those cleaner wrasses.

 

[superstar]

Gear is fairly reliable, dive masters babysit divers and luck.

My gear is old junk, I don't dive with a dive master, I must be one lucky diver!

 

[loosebits]

My gear is old junk, I don't dive with a dive master, I must be one lucky diver!

You are.. if you received the typical OW training, you are lucky to have learned on your own faster than the odds were chasing you but how many newly carded OW divers could react fast enough to a stuck inflator to keep from becoming a polaris missle?

 

[Twiddles]

Quote: "You are.. if you received the typical OW training, you are lucky to have learned on your own faster than the odds were chasing you but how many newly carded OW divers could react fast enough to a stuck inflator to keep from becoming a polaris missle?" End Quote

Yea, I deal with people who just learned OJT with little or no schooling. Its always reassuring when about to start working on 480V switchgear to hear about how my co-worker didnt need to do any bookwork to become an electrician.

Quote: "There are other approaches. The common strain of this board is that a huge number of divers take a class to try it out once or to dive on a vacation, and never do it again. Come up with a program that is designed for the folks, and protects these folks properly and raise the bar for the person who wants to become an independent diver." End Quote

I was under the impression PADI already had a SCUBADIVER cert. The cert was specifically for divers that would be resort diving always with an instructor or a divemaster.

Quote: In the same sense, it would be awfully nice to have the extensive training as suggested by Walter and Thallasamia. However, setting the bar that high upfront will reduce the number of rec diver by at least 90%, and increase the start out cost by at least $500 (meager compared to the expense in the sport). Simply, most people do not want to spend that much time.." End Quote

For the most part little or no data as to this huge cost increase over just OW to properly train a beginning diver. Other than bs numbers that are reduced when complained about by me and inflated when refered to as valuable by some instructors. I personally take exception to the claim that if you are going to become a safe diver and take classes in only the necessary specialties (of which I identified night, nav and deep and of which many appear to agree as to their NEED to be included) that it is cheaper the way it is currently set up. I instead believe it is significantly more expensive in both time and money to do it the way it currently is set up.
AOW $125, Boat $80, Night $125 (Plus additional weekend hotel, gas, food, etc), Nav $125.00 (Plus additional.... okay well just say this is same weekend as nite), Deep $125.00 , Boat $80 (Plus additional weekend hotel, gas, food, etc.) Total $660.00 (without certs) Plus two weekends of hotel, gas, food, TIME. If included as an all in one package you would substanially decrease both the cost to the student/instructor in terms of time and money. It is a well substantiated fact that consolidation reduces cost.

At the point you seperate a divers requirement to dive with a competent instructor you seperate the diver from instruction. The diver can continue their education but they are (or should be) also diving NOW. If your instruction isnt complete they are at risk, if there havent been a large number of beginning diver deaths, it doesnt mean you did your job.... It could also be why so few divers continue diving. Im not safe, I cant afford to keep on paying for classes, I have no idea how many of these classes Im going to have to take before I will be safe, etc, etc. You give somebody a certification that says they are an Advanced Open Water Diver, shouldn't at least there instruction have been "advanced"? LOL

My gear is old junk, I don't dive with a dive master, I must be one lucky diver!

Only the part where you say I dive with old junk scares me. Specially if my good junk fails and I then become dependant on your old junk.....

Diving isnt just about you and how much you risk you are willing to take, its about how what you do affects who you dive with.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I personally take exception to the claim that if you are going to become a safe diver and take classes in only the necessary specialties (of which I identified night, nav and deep and of which many appear to agree as to their NEED to be included) that it is cheaper the way it is currently set up. I instead believe it is significantly more expensive in both time and money to do it the way it currently is set up.
AOW $125, Boat $80, Night $125 (Plus additional weekend hotel, gas, food, etc), Nav $125.00 (Plus additional.... okay well just say this is same weekend as nite), Deep $125.00 , Boat $80 (Plus additional weekend hotel, gas, food, etc.) Total $660.00 (without certs) Plus two weekends of hotel, gas, food, TIME. If included as an all in one package you would substanially decrease both the cost to the student/instructor in terms of time and money. It is a well substantiated fact that consolidation reduces cost.

I am not familiar with this pricing structure ... nor with concept of separate charges for what are supposed to be the core skills taught in AOW (night, deep, and navigation). With the exception of boat diving ... which I don't see as a particularly value-added specialty ... you should be able to get all of that stuff in any well-run AOW class for about $250.

At the point you seperate a divers requirement to dive with a competent instructor you seperate the diver from instruction. The diver can continue their education but they are (or should be) also diving NOW.

The solution for most local divers is to join a dive club, or hook up with a more experienced diver. Mentors have always been, and continue to be, a fundamental element of continuing diver education.

If your instruction isnt complete they are at risk, if there havent been a large number of beginning diver deaths, it doesnt mean you did your job.... It could also be why so few divers continue diving. Im not safe, I cant afford to keep on paying for classes, I have no idea how many of these classes Im going to have to take before I will be safe, etc, etc.

I suspect the source of your complaint isn't so much the industry as it is the person you hired to deliver those services ... what you describe above isn't the way classes are normally offered (at least not in my area).

You give somebody a certification that says they are an Advanced Open Water Diver, shouldn't at least there instruction have been "advanced"? LOL

Oh ... yes ... there is something I totally agree with ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Azza]

oh dear. Twiddles you have no clue. Thanks for telling me to give up MY free time and my Family time to teach ingrates such as yourself for nothing