Developing new specialties.

[boulderjohn]

In this case it wouldn’t be so much about the agency as it would be about the content, so it could be sponsored by PADI SSI NAUI etc. but you’d be getting essentially the same thing where ever you went.

If you have a good distinctive specialty, it will no doubt be picked up by other agencies. For example, NAUI developed the Mermaid Diver specialty a few years ago, and it was soon taken up by SSI. Later on PADI did the same, so now all three offer the course.

 

[Bob DBF]

Here is where it gets interesting.
We have a sign up sheet at the local dive shop.
We also have an instagram page.
Some people join up from word of mouth or see us at the site diving and want to join.
Not all divers are cut out for this I learned.
In the worst case scenario is we get a brand new diver that certified in warm water on vacation and has never dived cold water much less has ever done a shore dive in full cold water gear and has a grand total of 5 dives to their name, but they want to help.
Put that same diver in all rental gear with an ill fitting rented wetsuit and unfamiliar rental BC, no time for a proper weight check and no acclimation dive(s), and we have a recipe…

It sounds like you have two issues, the first is get the vacation diver up to speed with diving the north coast, which could already be covered with a scuba refresher course focusing on the north coast diving environment, and second being the distinctive specialty of the job of urchin removal. A local diver wouldn't need the first, but a vacation diver probably would.

 

[KenE]

I am not sure you will need the conversion course from vacation diver to cold water diver, a simple prerequisite of x number of dives in local area/environment should suffice. I believe the specialty should be the urchin identification, harvesting, and removal with emphasis on bycatch and fitness. If the course it taught in that manner those with less experience should then realize that this is more than they can chew.

 

[tursiops]

I am not sure you will need the conversion course from vacation diver to cold water diver, a simple prerequisite of x number of dives in local area/environment should suffice. I believe the specialty should be the urchin identification, harvesting, and removal with emphasisatch and fitness. If the course it taught in that manner those with less experience should then realize that this is more than they can chew.

This is an interesting suggestion. The narrower the content, the less interest outside the immediate area. The trick will be to find balance between enough info to make it useful for the purpose, and general enough to have some wider interest.
Regarding writing the specialty and getting it approved, the easy way is to take an existing specialty course manual, and clone it.....just change the content to match your needs and goals. Any PADI instructor can do this. Be concise, not wordy. Stay on topic. Make the dives have clear performance standards. Send it to PADI training and ask for review and approval. Some iteration may be needed. It can take weeks to months to get final approval.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I am not sure you will need the conversion course from vacation diver to cold water diver, a simple prerequisite of x number of dives in local area/environment should suffice. I believe the specialty should be the urchin identification, harvesting, and removal with emphasis on bycatch and fitness. If the course it taught in that manner those with less experience should then realize that this is more than they can chew.

Well, I’m not sure.
We are just starting to get a few that really want to do this but they aren’t ready. They are barely ready just to deal with the cold water and the extra gear needed.
Some of them are in rental gear too.
I think they need to do some local dives first to acclimate and work on skills. The problem is, a lot of times they don’t know anybody around here to go diving with so they show up to our dives wanting to participate since my dives are combined with the local dive shop’s fun dives.
We did this when we started the urchin program to try and recruit divers, but now realize that it’s more complicated than that and almost detrimental.
We get new OW divers saying yeah yeah yeah I want to go but then when the rubber hits the road the truth comes out and all deficiencies are exposed. But then some new divers do great. We have one guy who I thought was at least three or fours years in with a couple hundred dives but it turns out he was new, like almost brand new. Some people are just naturals.
I suppose it also depends on where they certified.
I mentioned to the dive shop that we should have a way to vet them, maybe a number of cold water dives, or a few specialties done in cold water, AOW, IDK? The dive shop is a little shy of doing that because they want to be as inclusive as possible and don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.
So I’m kind of stuck in the middle. That’s why I thought a specialty class would be good because then it would not only legitimize what we’re doing but also almost be a natural way to pre screen people, and the people who go through would be miles ahead of someone not doing the course. They would be able to go out and know exactly what to do with no hand holding. Plus the shop makes a little and instructors get to work.
As soon as we have to hold someone’s hand it takes us away from bagging urchins and getting numbers. There are only so many dives we can do in a year here. Plus, we distinctly tell everyone they are on their own and need to be self sufficient. In fact they sign paperwork to that effect. Unfortunately some don’t know what they don’t know.
I think divers would really enjoy the course and feel they got something of value.

 

[Nemrod]

Underwater shoe lace tying?

Nude Diving Specialty?

How to tell when your DM knows less than you?

Just some random thoughts.

 

[chrisjur]

My two cents (which might not even be with that) is that what you’re asking for is far too niche for PADI or any other training agency to pick up. There is a large cost to them to develop and maintain any new specialty and, at the end of the day, it needs to make money for them. Certifying 10 or 20 divers a year under your very specific specialty won’t recoup their costs and the risk/reward ratio simply doesn’t pan out. (Remember, even though divers sign their life away when they take these course, PADI etc. still always get sued when something goes really wrong). If you look at all the specialties from all the agencies, you won’t find that these types of uber-niche specialties exist. You would also need to activate the ecosystem: Who actually would have the expertise to teach this specialty and what would incentivize an instructor or LDS to train on it and then teach it?

What I can share is my experience volunteering with other organizations. I think the Coral Reef Foundation is a good example. They have a similar program that requires volunteers to go on dives, do lots of underwater “things” that require lots of task loading, superb buoyancy and operating on small boats with lots of equipment - it’s not vacation diving. They have developed a rigorous onboarding program that includes evaluation of dive history, review of their previous formal training, watching online videos that educate the volunteer on types of jobs that need to be done and, finally, a skills assessment. Nobody begins to dive with them until a confined water assessment is performed. Medical sign-off is required, as is completion of EFR/CPR and Emergency O2 Provider courses. They work closely with a LDS to help with some of this, such as the in-water assessment. So, bottom line, even a large, well-funded organization like this has needed to roll their own training and onboarding program to accomplish the type of thing that you’re trying to accomplish.

 

[Still Kicking]

Well, I’m not sure.
We are just starting to get a few that really want to do this but they aren’t ready. They are barely ready just to deal with the cold water and the extra gear needed.
Some of them are in rental gear too.
I think they need to do some local dives first to acclimate and work on skills. The problem is, a lot of times they don’t know anybody around here to go diving with so they show up to our dives wanting to participate since my dives are combined with the local dive shop’s fun dives.
We did this when we started the urchin program to try and recruit divers, but now realize that it’s more complicated than that and almost detrimental.
We get new OW divers saying yeah yeah yeah I want to go but then when the rubber hits the road the truth comes out and all deficiencies are exposed. But then some new divers do great. We have one guy who I thought was at least three or fours years in with a couple hundred dives but it turns out he was new, like almost brand new. Some people are just naturals.
I suppose it also depends on where they certified.
I mentioned to the dive shop that we should have a way to vet them, maybe a number of cold water dives, or a few specialties done in cold water, AOW, IDK? The dive shop is a little shy of doing that because they want to be as inclusive as possible and don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.
So I’m kind of stuck in the middle. That’s why I thought a specialty class would be good because then it would not only legitimize what we’re doing but also almost be a natural way to pre screen people, and the people who go through would be miles ahead of someone not doing the course. They would be able to go out and know exactly what to do with no hand holding. Plus the shop makes a little and instructors get to work.
As soon as we have to hold someone’s hand it takes us away from bagging urchins and getting numbers. There are only so many dives we can do in a year here. Plus, we distinctly tell everyone they are on their own and need to be self sufficient. In fact they sign paperwork to that effect. Unfortunately some don’t know what they don’t know.
I think divers would really enjoy the course and feel they got something of value.

I would say the easiest route is to require divers to take a local search and recovery speciality.

It's already an approved PADI class and the shop hopefully has instructors who can teach it (both will make a little money).

It gets prospective volunteers in the water locally under the supervision of an instructor, who can assess their basic skills and let you know if someone might be a liability.

Divers learn how to set up basic search patterns (good practice for laying out a transect and clearing it of urchins).

Divers learn to use a lift bag (good practice for lifting and retrieving bags of urchins).

 

[happy-diver]

And again, even though you see it every day don't like it we talk about it regularly you want to grab something
beautiful invigorating and just a little bit dangeous, and wrap it in rules, and make it a spend, and mess it all up

New divers turn up keen, go dive together, over there maybe with an experienced dude, and they learn the coast

After 4 weeks give them a small bag for urchins if they don't last 4 weeks you can not an ocean shore diver make

Simple, and there's no course that's going to give you that little bit of ruggedness required for ocean shore dives

And after a million of them I can't even remember or know what I do to get out of all those
different situations I find myself in, on every dive, let alone teach someone, to even try do it

and then the ocean changes again

See this rock it's a beautiful rock looks benign it is shallow as you get in the water between the rock and
the headland, and then gets deeper from the middle of the rock out to the right on such a beautiful day

Well yeah so you are underwater in a couple of metres, cruising around to the right checking things out
and at the point as it's getting deeper still, you get sucked into tunnel like vortex like a water slide but it
is corkscrewing, and you tumble as well going deeper, and end up, half way around the back of the rock

So from that I see mask retention and clearing skills and a thick wetsuit and hood for bouncing off stuff

and lots of strength and stamina just to go with it not fight it

 

[boulderjohn]

My two cents (which might not even be with that) is that what you’re asking for is far too niche for PADI or any other training agency to pick up. There is a large cost to them to develop and maintain any new specialty and, at the end of the day, it needs to make money for them.

This is simply wrong. The cost of developing a distinctive specialty is negligible to them, and they aren't planning to make any real money off of them. That is just the old "money-grab" cliché that people love so much on ScubaBoard.

I created 3 distinctive specialties. PADI consulted with me about adjustments to the first drafts I submitted, but that's it. I had to pay a minor fee to be certified to teach it, as would any other instructor who used my outline. I created all my own instructional materials, so they didn't get anything from from that. Once I started teaching the class, the only money they got was from certification cards, and that was only from the students who wanted a certification card. In the case of the students who took the class for the learning and didn't want a card for it, PADI didn't even know they took the class.