How Can We Keep Divers Diving After Certification?

[Brandon]

I actually heard instructors tell newly minted divers things like "Don't ever dive without a divemaster, but congratulations you are a diver."

I've heard the same thing and similar, much more frequently as of late.

What's the point of certifying a new diver if they aren't comfortable or competent in independently planning their own dives?

In the OW course that I took in 2002, our instructor asked if we wanted to do a fun dive immediately after finishing OW dive 5. When we said yes, he told us to come up with a plan, listened to what we had in mind, and told us to have fun. We made a simple 15 minute, 17' deep dive in the cove we had been training in all weekend, and had a blast. It did wonders for reinforcing that we were now certified divers and were capable of planning and executing our own dives within the limits of our training and experience.

Certainly divers who have the confidence, capability and comfort level to plan and execute their own dives are more likely to dive in the future...

Is this an unrealistic goal for newly certified divers?

-B

 

[Gilldiver]

Why do divers drop out? I don’t know but for the last 30 years I have figured that most new divers will be out by 3 years with close to 90% inactive between 5 and 7 years. Only 1-2% seem to make it to 10 year being active, but if they make it to 10, they will most likely make it to 30.

This is a fairly standard rant of mine about people diving and the very high drop out rate from diving:

The new diver is in a very excited diver and everything is new. Some divers become the tourist diver to whom diving is what they do on a yearly island vacation between breakfast and 3 sets of tennis or 18 holes. For them, that is all they need and that is fine all by itself. After all the agencies define an active diver as these divers – 5 dives per year.

But for many, after a while, just diving doesn’t do it anymore. Their diving lacks a purpose. That means that the diving has never become something that is done to do something else that they want to do underwater.

That something can be photograph, marine sciences of any number of types, it could be exploration of caves or wrecks, or both. But there will come a day when you just don’t want to dive for the sake of diving.

For me it was wrecks, then it became the history of the wrecks and the research and documentation of them. More recently I have got a digital camera which has me going back to the wrecks to get the photos I never got with the old Nikonos rigs. At the same time I have got a vintage diving bug and between the two diving has become much more fun again.

So, how do we make diving fun for that 2-5 year range when we loose the majority of divers?

 

[Damselfish]

In the OW course that I took in 2002, our instructor asked if we wanted to do a fun dive immediately after finishing OW dive 5. When we said yes, he told us to come up with a plan, listened to what we had in mind, and told us to have fun. We made a simple 15 minute, 17' deep dive in the cove we had been training in all weekend, and had a blast. It did wonders for reinforcing that we were now certified divers and were capable of planning and executing our own dives within the limits of our training and experience.

My OW class (1989) the instructor did exactly the same thing. Though I recall it being a somewhat stronger suggestion than asking. Perhaps such a thing should be required.

 

[captain]

Just like real estate location is everything. The people who have the greatest chance to stay in diving are those who are located nearest to diveable water. The guy who lives in Omaha is not going to stay in it very long. He gets certified, goes on one or two vacations to the tropics, realizes his money is better spent doing something closer to home and more often.

 

[mikemill]

Just like real estate location is everything. The people who have the greatest chance to stay in diving are those who are located nearest to diveable water. The guy who lives in Omaha is not going to stay in it very long. He gets certified, goes on one or two vacations to the tropics, realizes his money is better spent doing something closer to home and more often.

Very true. I'm only three hours away but it stills requires a lot of motivation to get out there and dive.

 

[rednose83]

It is a interesting problem, but it cannot be solved by marketing, classes, etc. It your suggesting limiting acceptance to only those who will continue to dive, based on a formula or a credit rating you will doom the sport.

What we are truly talking about is interest and acceptance into the sport by... well us. If you really think about it, how many other sports REQUIRE you to have a buddy? How many sports do you actually depend on that buddy for your life should you need too? I live in Florida, and I have the priviledge to be able to dive whenever I feel like it. The Gulf too cold? I can go over to the east coast. The weather is bad, waves, chop and the boats don't run, I can go to the springs.

Guys this is not about bringing people into the sport, marketing accomplishes that. This is about embracing a newbie, encouraging him to be a excellent dive buddie. Make sure the new guy has someone to dive with, work with them. Teach them how to be a "hole in the water", help them do it right! Fear kills our sport more than anything, a bad experience, lack of someone to be there for them kills it all. I am not talking about chest thumping I can dive this deep and that long, I am talking about ending your dive without complaint because you newer diver sucked his tank dry. Show them, help them how to conserver air, what to look for underwater. If a you as a exp diver alienates a fellow diver because his skill level is below yours, you helping drive them out of the sport.

My wife and I embrace newbies, invite them to come along. Show them how to buy used gear and what to watch out for, don't make my mistakes. I have some of the best friends now that are newbies, they will never catch me in logged dives because they dive with me and I dive with them.
My wife is my best dive buddie, she got me into this sport and she shakes her head in amazement on how dedicated I am about it.

Start a mentoring program at your LDS, make sure that any newbie has a exp dive buddie if they need one. Invite people along, show enthusiasm when you see people attending OW. The ones that stay with the sport are the people who are buying equipment and helping the LDS maintain good pricing.

I was at a party at my wife's work in Miami last year, and everyone I talked to was a certified dive, they have all not dove in years! The live within 45 minutes of Key Largo and one hour from West Palm and they don't dive.

Me? I was lucky, I met a bunch of cave divers and they raised me as one of thier own. I am not cert'd for cave and not sure I ever will, but they have been where I am now and I can call on anyone of them for advice or a beer.

It's not interest we need, it's encouragement.

I agree. I'm a (brand) new diver. Just certified last week! We want to go diving but don't feel comfortable going alone- meaning me and my (equally) new diver husband. So, in order to dive we have to pay the dive instructor (or guide) a lot of money to accompany us on top of any site fees. Which basically makes it hard to be able to make more dives and get comfortable. And that's right here in Fl!

 

[RJP]

I agree. I'm a (brand) new diver. Just certified last week! We want to go diving but don't feel comfortable going alone- meaning me and my (equally) new diver husband. So, in order to dive we have to pay the dive instructor (or guide) a lot of money to accompany us on top of any site fees.

You need to tell your OW instructor that he didn't do his job, because if you're not comfortable "going alone" he didn't.

 

[drbill]

WOW... I had no idea this thread would attract so much comment. I'm wading through the posts now.

Obviously not everyone is interested in the marine life (although I'm actually amazed by divers that aren't!). This more in-depth (and to some degree hand-holding) approach takes those who aren't 100% self-starters and gives them a resource and a structure to do things they might be interested in (learning more) but aren't sure how to start. Many people need to be led into something even if they have an interest in it.

The basic concept is not limited to learning more about marine life (but to me that is the most important thing). It can be extended to wreck diving (more on the history of each wreck prior to diving it) and other types of diving.

 

[drbill]

....If, during the training, the instructor is able to get the diver excited about diving through their own excitement, then I believe a return customer is more likely. If the Instructor treats the training as a job and is really not excited about the process......then you will be lucky if the divers become even vacation divers.

Absolutely. I taught high school and university for many years. I was able to excite my students about the different subjects I taught. I never looked at teaching as just a job... I really not only enjoyed it, but felt it was an extremely important thing to be doing with my life.

You're absolutely right... if an instructor is not enthusiastic, how can (s)he expect the students to become so. This is one of the many potential lessons instructors give their students without always being aware of it.

 

[drbill]

Granted, I'm sure that a REAL class, to borrow your term, would help some of them more than the superficial classes we have now. But then again REAL courses in marine biology etc are available through community colleges and I don't think large numbers of divers are taking them.... there must be a reason for that.

R..

Having taught in such environments, in my experience it is a rare school that really takes advantage of the "natural laboratory" of the environment. Many of these classes are book- and lab-based and wouldn't much interest me either.

I was VERY fortunate in that my high school headmaster allowed me to develop a 5-year curriculum that actually involved extensive field work in EVERY class (astronomy to chem/physics to marine bio). 40 years later I have students returning to tell me that they really remember much of the things they directly experienced.

Of course these classes were held on the incredible natural laboratory of Catalina Island, a resource few schools can easily match.

When I talk about REAL classes, this does not necessarily mean "Read pages 1-250 for next week and memorize them for a quiz."