If you could change one thing about the dive industry, what would it be??

[Zept]

Originally posted by Walter
If your class wasn't long enough and didn't go into enough detail then I don't care what agency it was or who taught it - by defination it wasn't "first rate."

If you're always learning, no class is long enough.

If the OW course were significantly longer, fewer people would sign up. Until you try it, there's no way to know whether you're going to like diving. I wouldn't have committed myself to a longer, more expensive course... I was too uncertain about the whole underwater thing. For me, the step-by-step, course-by-course approach has worked out better than a single, long course.

I'd like to see more emphasis on continuing education, maybe in a less formal setting. I'd like to see guided dives for new divers, so they can practise their skills under the eye of a DM or instructor. There's a big difference between retrieving your reg while kneeling comfortably in the sand with your lungs full of air, and doing it when you're swimming along.

If I can only change one thing, though, I'll settle for being a better diver. At least there's some chance of that!

Zept

 

[ebbtide]

walter that isnt the way i ment it to sound ,
zept has my consept on what i was trying to say a bit better
in the aspect of you are always learning .
i guess i shuld have clairifyed myself a bit better .

 

[Aquamore]

POLITICS! I HATE IT! (personal opinion).

There really isn't be a place for it in the diving that I have come to love and I believe it should be banned forever,
Amen
Aquamore

 

[BMETdiver]

Change anything in the dive industry ?

Lower the price of boat dives and the cost of gear.

Ron

As much as I would love cheaper boats and gear I have learned from my limited experience you tend to get what you pay for. I have done all my dives off of boats and when checking them out sometimes there are cheaper ones but I seem never to find much info on them and I am a info person.

 

[IlikeItwetPls]

Direct Flights from Atlanta to Bonaire, twice weekly, and for $49.00 RT

Also, an agency that dosen't charge for 20 or 30 small certs that really promote the industry and agency.

 

[*Floater*]

For those guys who think the training was inadequate for your needs, you should get some more then, or refuse to dive with a buddy you feel has been inadequately trained. Just because you are certified doesn't mean you have to go diving.

If you felt ripped off by an instructor, then you should of course avoid that instructor in the future, but maybe also avoid that diving agency - maybe some diving agencies have higher standards than others for instructors?

Someone mentioned lawsuits, which is interesting because in the Philippines all the dive resorts I've used always require you sign a piece a paper to say that you agree they are not liable if anything bad happens regardless of the circumstances. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm pretty happy with the dive industry - maybe there should be more laws or regulation to protect the coral reefs and sealife.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Y'all do realize that you just revived a thread that had been inactive for about 3-1/2 years ... still a good topic though ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Spoon]

getting rid off fly by night instructors selling courses like hotcakes

 

[FreeFloat]

A single unified, not for profit, certification agency. This agency would not be allowed to provide training, only certification. Testing would be fee bases and pass or fail. You pay your money and take the test. If you pass you get certified if you fail you don’t.

Poor training would be self-limiting! If none of your students pass the test you’ll soon be out of business. The student pass/fail record of a particular trainer would provide a subjective measure of the quality of training.

Mike

They do that with vehicle driving licensing. Has it made the roads safer or any freer of moron drivers?

As an extension of that - I've even heard tell of commercial vehicle "license mills" where the students pay their money and are given the exact questions and answers to study for the motor vehicle test they will be taking to receive their license, and are taken for road 'lessons' on the exact route they will do for their road test, over and over til they can do it in their sleep. Kinda scary when you realize that 60,000 lb commercial vehicle may be hurtling down the highway under the hands of someone who "bought" their license.... or for that matter, that you can be enjoying a peaceful and fun dive when this undertrained 'OW' student can come hurtling up to you a-panicked and start clawing at you and ripping your reg out, because they've gone OOA or have lost their mask/reg/whatever and don't know how to deal with it........

 

[nolatom]

from the point of view of this "average" diver (if there is such a thing). I have only about 115 dives over about 6 years around Fla, Texas, and New England, but form this admittedly limited view have been satisfied with the training (PADI, from a good LDS), dive operators, competence of (most of) my fellow divers, cost, and the overall experience.

Most of the commenters have way more experience and familiarity with the industry than me, but often these "what's wrong" polls don't get responses from many out there whose answer would be "nothing". The "law of unintended consequences" from many of the suggested improvements could end us up with something worse than what we have now.

Tell me I'm naive and I gon't get around enough. Probably true....