How far would you take a loved one who wants to become a diver?

[MB NZ]

I'd hand my son over right away. He is 9 years old and tends to listen to other adults more than me who he seems to hold in some contempt (apparently I was the same with my father at that age). He did a Bubblemaker earlier this year with an instructor (1:1) and got a lot out of it.

I'd do a kind of refresher every now and then with my wife.

EDIT: I have some long out-of-date cards stating that I'm a PADI DM with DSD Leader status and a BSAC Assistant Instructor. Pretty meaningless, just for reference.

 

[keyshunter]

Excellent instructor - 100%
You-0%

 

[Cthippo]

I wonder if aviation forums have questions like this... They probably do.

Absolutely.

To become a Certified Flight Instructor only requires 250 hours and is the third step towards becoming an airline pilot. Many aspiring airline drivers become CFIs to build the 1500 hours they need to get hired with a regional.

SCUBA is one of relatively few fields I have dealt with where being an instructor is considered a "top level" certification.

 

[CycleCat]

Would I take them in a 12-foot deep pool to try breathing underwater? Yes.

Would I try to teach them scuba? No.

I was a motorcycle riding instructor for the MSF for many years and learned two important things:
-Just because you know how to do a thing, doesn't mean you are good at teaching that thing. You need to be taught to teach.
-Personal family dynamics frequently interferes with teaching technical things. A husband teaching his wife to ride a motorcycle is almost always a disaster. Both end up frustrated, resentful, feelings hurt. Family members will be much more receptive to the authority of a complete stranger who comes without the baggage.

 

[rick00001967]

i would not say it is has anything to do with an instructor being "better" than another experienced diver.

my only concern might be that if a spouse/child was to start out learning the basics from a non instructor, when they did take the class, there could be substantial differences in the way the instructor teaches the skills.

it may cause confusion and might actually inhibit the persons learning for that particular course with that particular instructor.

in some cases i would actually say that it could even be dangerous. i have seen some very interesting interactions when spouses and parents attend classes to "help". in my experience it better to not have them there. better for the instructor and better for the student.

that may not be the case in all situations but the truth is that even a great diver that has extremely advanced skills, may not be the best person to teach someone else. being able to perform a skill or play a sport, does not automatically mean you would make a good instructor.

there can also be significant challenges when trying to teach a spouse or child. i would say most people would do better learning from someone else.

once they are certified, and have some experience, then you can work together to fine tune how things work best for the two of when diving together.

 

[MidOH]

You can teach swimming, mask clearing, breathing, all while snorkeling.

That's as far as I'd go. Maskclearing is the killer for most noobs. That can be mastered with a snorkel.

All that's left is scuba science, scream to go up, find a lost reg, rig on off under water, and piss poor buoyancy to learn. Any LDS can teach that.

 

[KenE]

I believe you can teach the basic water skills like snorkeling, mask clearing, finning. However, when it comes to the planning and scuba skills needed I believe a professional is required. I firmly believe that couples or family who learn together build a subconscious dependency on one another leading to two dependent divers instead of independent divers. This creates a higher risk for both. Most good instructors will separate family during training for this reason. I believe the same dependency occurs when trying to teach family to scuba or fly or climbing, etc.

So, for that reason, I will always recommend a professional. To answer the OP original question, I would end my involvement in the car after dropping them off for class.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My GF did rescue and drysuit with me. But she already had a couple hundred dives in and her skills were solid. I would not have taught her any tech classes had she decided she wanted to go that route. I'd have sent her to another instructor.

When my son got certified at the age of 18, I attended one pool session and that was enough. I was a DM at the time and he took a bit longer than I did to get the skills down and I knew if I stayed, I'd have a hard time not critiquing him.
It wasn't my place to do that. Due to circumstances beyond my control (divorce and distance) I wasn't able to take my son swimming and teach him that and snorkeling the way my grandfather did me. Even if I had been able to, I wasn't certified yet so I really didn't know how to do those things.
If I was, I would have gone as far as clearing, finning, and equalizing. Then I'd have stepped back and let someone else train him to dive.
Just my personal preference to remove the emotional baggage that could crop up.

 

[TMHeimer]

You can teach swimming, mask clearing, breathing, all while snorkeling.

That's as far as I'd go. Maskclearing is the killer for most noobs. That can be mastered with a snorkel.

All that's left is scuba science, scream to go up, find a lost reg, rig on off under water, and piss poor buoyancy to learn. Any LDS can teach that.

Funny, before I was certified I tried mask clearing while snorkeling and couldn't do it. Probably wrong angle in some way I guess. On scuba it was a piece of cake.

 

[MidOH]

That is weird. I fogged my mask more than a locomotive makes smoke. Was expert level at flooding and clearing in 3 warm vacations, and some pool time.

Scubaboard said "spit in it". They were wrong.