Introducing others to diving

[DAN.ger]

I am always talking about diving, but none of my friends dive. Some are interested, and I feel like they would be more interested if they could try it out before spending hundreds of dollars to get certified.

So, my question is, will dive shops do some sort of intro to diving thing for uncertified people, or would I have to rent an extra set of gear and let them try it in a pool with me. Also, do you think the second option could lead to something catastrophic, or would it be ok as long as we're only in a few feet of water and I gave the a thorough briefing beforehand?

 

[mathauck0814]

Not sure where in New Hampshire you are, but I was raised and lived there for many years before we left the state. Most of the dive shops (especially those who have a pool) will do a "try dive" for a nominal fee. Atlantic Aquasports in Portsmouth, NH is run by a guy named Don Stevens - he has a semi-salt water pool that's indoors and can accommodate those sorts of things. The shop near Manchester also has a pool, but it's outdoors and thus only available in the summer.

I've taken friends of mine into our pool, but it could be argued that I'm a "pro" because I did a divemaster cert a generation ago. That's more of a judgement call. I had the excess gear and the time and some training. There's a lot of gray area in there as you're sort of putting yourself out on a limb from a liability perspective if you did something like that. Might not be worth losing the house because you wanted to DIY. Especially if you haven't got that sort of leadership training.

 

[DAN.ger]

Thanks, I'll have to look into that.

Liability never occurred to me. Hmmm.

 

[ermaclob]

I, like you talk and think Scuba alot, ive had a friends tell me he wanted to try scuba out but where not willing to pay for a discover scuba class or something the sort. i pretty much warned him that he could get hurt and then gave him my open water manual and made him read it!! especially the chapter about the physics behind diving. did a him a half a mile swim test with fins mask, to make sure he knew how to properly swim and that he where conferable in the water. Then did a full equipment run down/ safety procedures check, making him assemble equipment twice. Then explained what we where going to be doing in the water, and reminded him of important concepts like always breathing, equalizing, not surfacing to quickly, the works. when in taught/practiced some basic skills. had alot of fun. i did all this in a shallow lake ~20 feet.

i know that ALOT of people here on the board look down on such things, but i have a few family members and know of people that do scuba and have never taken a class ever, some of which are close to there 70's and have been doing it for a long time, so its not something that cant be done safely. I did however persist to my friend that if he wanted to do scuba he should get certified and that it would be far more safe and beneficial if he did.

in terms of liability with the dive shop, i had extra equipment for a second person, so a third party was not involved. i probably would not use dive shop equipment...

well thats that, hope i dont get bashed :chairfight:

 

[mathauck0814]

I, like you talk and think Scuba alot, ive had a friends tell me he wanted to try scuba out but where not willing to pay for a discover scuba class or something the sort. i pretty much warned him that he could get hurt and then gave him my open water manual and made him read it!! especially the chapter about the physics behind diving. did a him a half a mile swim test with fins mask, to make sure he knew how to properly swim and that he where conferable in the water. Then did a full equipment run down/ safety procedures check, making him assemble equipment twice. Then explained what we where going to be doing in the water, and reminded him of important concepts like always breathing, equalizing, not surfacing to quickly, the works. when in taught/practiced some basic skills. had alot of fun. i did all this in a shallow lake ~20 feet.

i know that ALOT of people here on the board look down on such things, but i have a few family members and know of a people that do scuba and have never taken a class ever, some of which are close to there 70's and have been doing it for a long time, so its not something that cant be done safely. I did however persist to my friend that if he wanted to do scuba he should get certified and that it would be far more safe and beneficial if he did.

in terms of liability with the dive shop, i had extra equipment for a second person, so a third party was not involved. i probably would not use dive shop equipment...

well thats that, hope i dont get bashed :chairfight:

No bashing, all of what you said and did is all fine and well. You took the risk and it didn't go badly for you. It's curious though. The manual and swim test are more for you than anything else. If the end result were any different you might be in a different spot. Everyone has different risk tolerance. Yours just happens to be higher. That's no one else's business but yours.

 

[MarineResearch]

This is what PADI discover scuba is all about. Some shops offer the course for free, while others offer the course at a loss.

 

[ermaclob]

It's curious though. The manual and swim test are more for you than anything else.

can you clarify this sentence? ^

i gave him the manual as a way to get information that i other wise would have missed or forgotten about. as well as with the mind set i sometimes take with some of my school classes of "skip class, read the book, pass the test" more or less self learning to some extent. i pretty much wanted him to be as informed as possible. The only reason i did a swim test is because id have people tell me before when at the beach or the pool that they know how to swim, but then put on some fins and then almost nearly drown cuz there not used to it.

i denfenatly took a risk and its not something i would recommend the OP to do if he is not 100% sure of him self and his friend, as well as ready to face any consequences.

 

[mathauck0814]

can you clarify this sentence? ^

i gave him the manual as a way to get information that i other wise would have missed or forgotten about. as well as with the mind set i sometimes take with some of my school classes of "skip class, read the book, pass the test" more or less self learning to some extent. i pretty much wanted him to be as informed as possible. The only reason i did a swim test is because id have people tell me before when at the beach or the pool that they know how to swim, but then put on some fins and then almost nearly drown cuz there not used to it.

i denfenatly took a risk and its not something i would recommend the OP to do if he is not 100% sure of him self and his friend, as well as ready to face any consequences.

You're not a dive master or instructor with insurance, so your decision to have them do anything - read a manual, perform a swim test, hula hoop while chugging pina colada through a snorkel, means absolutely nothing if the eventual dive goes poorly because you are liable no matter what.

 

[ermaclob]

True but, i rather throw my buddy out of a plain with a ****ty old parachute with 2 or 3 holes in it then nothing at all.

the whole point of having precautions is to minimize hazard and encourage some sort of higher safety standard. so if making him "hula hoop while chugging pina colada through a snorkel" would help prevent him from getting hurt or doing something fatal then his going to be doing i if he wants to get in the water. the liability is there but so what both me and him were perfectly fine taking the risk granted we did it as safe as possible within our power.

mind u i could have just put the equipment on him and said "k, its not that hard just press that little button right there on that hose and down you go, see you in an hour."

 

[TSandM]

One of the things I learned when I was doing my divemaster internships was that not everybody takes to scuba easily. Some folks have quite a bit of anxiety, and some can't manage mask clearing or ear clearing. One of the things you learn in professional training is how to help folks with stuff like that -- and that teaching capacity is what a plain old diver may not have at all.

For this reason, I would highly recommend that you send any friends who are interested in diving to a shop to do a Discover Scuba experience. They'll have a chance to find out what floating and breathing underwater is like, under the coaching of someone who has some experience in how to ease the introduction.

Liability or not, the typical diver simply doesn't have the skills to help someone through any difficulties they might experience in first trying diving. It's best done by people who know how.