menemsha43
Contributor
I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way - I'm certainly not God's gift to scuba diving- but I recently came across something that is troubling.
I returned from a liveaboard trip late last year. One of the other guests was a new instructor. Having observed him in the water, I shudder to think that someone actually passed him through the course and gave him an instructor license. I do not know which agency. There were three key red flags: 1) rate of air consumption, 2) buoyancy skills, 3) a comment he made about Nitrox.
Most dives had very reasonable profiles - perhaps starting at 50 - 70 feet and ending shallow at 20 - 30 feet for the last 20 - 30 minutes or more of the dive. Most divers were in the water for no less than 55 minutes and in many cases at least 60 - 65 minutes. This guy was 35 - 40 minutes and up, nearly every dive. (And it was always an air issue with him, we were in 83/84 degree water with 3mm suits so no one was cold). He even complained that "these dives are designed for Nitrox" - which demonstrated the fact that he has no idea what Nitrox is/does. Another guest and I delicately explained that Nitrox doesn't actually provide for more breathing gas in your tank - we were all being filled to the 2,750 - 2,900 psi range for each dive. In the water he wasn't horrific but he was clearly one of those fidgety divers - kinda of like doing the doggy paddle constantly as if the buoyancy was off a bit. He was the dude who was always careening into you - you all know what I'm talking about.
I don't necessarily fault him personally for being a mediocre diver (whatever that means) but I call into question those who green lighted him through an instructor course. I know the bar can't be that low. I have personally had fantastic instructors - people who I would be very comfortable with in any emergency situation. I wouldn't want to even buddy up with this particular guy. I'm not quite sure what the point of this post is - I guess I hope this type of situation isn't widespread and was curious what others might have to say about it. Maybe my question is this - can divers who clearly have air consumption and buoyancy issues get their instructor licenses? Thanks
I returned from a liveaboard trip late last year. One of the other guests was a new instructor. Having observed him in the water, I shudder to think that someone actually passed him through the course and gave him an instructor license. I do not know which agency. There were three key red flags: 1) rate of air consumption, 2) buoyancy skills, 3) a comment he made about Nitrox.
Most dives had very reasonable profiles - perhaps starting at 50 - 70 feet and ending shallow at 20 - 30 feet for the last 20 - 30 minutes or more of the dive. Most divers were in the water for no less than 55 minutes and in many cases at least 60 - 65 minutes. This guy was 35 - 40 minutes and up, nearly every dive. (And it was always an air issue with him, we were in 83/84 degree water with 3mm suits so no one was cold). He even complained that "these dives are designed for Nitrox" - which demonstrated the fact that he has no idea what Nitrox is/does. Another guest and I delicately explained that Nitrox doesn't actually provide for more breathing gas in your tank - we were all being filled to the 2,750 - 2,900 psi range for each dive. In the water he wasn't horrific but he was clearly one of those fidgety divers - kinda of like doing the doggy paddle constantly as if the buoyancy was off a bit. He was the dude who was always careening into you - you all know what I'm talking about.
I don't necessarily fault him personally for being a mediocre diver (whatever that means) but I call into question those who green lighted him through an instructor course. I know the bar can't be that low. I have personally had fantastic instructors - people who I would be very comfortable with in any emergency situation. I wouldn't want to even buddy up with this particular guy. I'm not quite sure what the point of this post is - I guess I hope this type of situation isn't widespread and was curious what others might have to say about it. Maybe my question is this - can divers who clearly have air consumption and buoyancy issues get their instructor licenses? Thanks
