Is it common for experienced friends/family to accompany new OW divers who are traveling together?

[Jim Lapenta]

I always made it clear to certified family/friends that I was in charge and if at any time, they decided to "help" the student the lesson was over. And they were not permitted back until the last pool session. This included kids. The parent would have to be present for all classroom and pool, but they would not be allowed in the water unless asked.
That said, I insisted that if they were going to be diving with the student after the class, that they did get in the water for the last pool session and were the divers buddy on all checkout dives once I determined they were not going to be a danger to them!
One guy, after seeing what I taught his girlfriend when he attended that last pool session, insisted on coming in for a private pool session before the OW checkouts. He realized that his own training sucked and his GF, who had not been on one open water dive, had better skills than he did.
If you are going to do this, I would recommend paying extra and getting a private instructor who will allow you to be your GF's buddy to do the checkouts.
Do not go with a group.
Make the arrangements ahead of time and let them know what you want to do.
This way you will not run up against ratios and you will not have to deal with other students who may take up more time than is necessary.
And I could tell in the first 5 minutes whether or not the parent, spouse, friend, etc. was going to be a problem. Any good instructor can.

 

[ChuckP]

You are very rarely going to bump into max ratios here in Cozumel - I have seen it a few times, mostly with a group of DSD's off a cruise ship - mostly you will see one on one or the instructor teaching two of a single group at a time. It's the way reservations work - now maybe if you are with a very large operation, odds of adding a 2nd or 3rd person are better but still......

I would let the student and instructor work alone during any "confined" water dives - it sounds like you are doing e learning at home but pool skills (the "confined" water) here. You can go with them, it is just going to be boring and if the skills are being done in the ocean, it will be an added distraction to the instructor IMO.

The open water check out dives, I would just go dive with them - there will be some short skills at the beginning but more time spent diving - everyone will have fun and smiles!!

Most diving here is done in the morning, a lot of DSD and confined water stuff is done in the afternoon - your dive schedule will really depend on how the shop schedules her training......

 

[Katie L]

That has to be part of it…if you can’t honestly say you will let the instructor teach you friend/family member “incorrectly”…then don’t watch.

That’s gotta be hard for the instructor to gauge in the first 5min of meeting you, if you are going to actually just watch or want to “help”

Personally, I would actually like to observe (without interference) the way an instructor teaches my partner since they will be my new dive buddy and we can more easily speak the same "language," as long as it's what my partner would want (which it is). I know that when I got my OW, my dad, who hadn't been diving in almost 30 years, re-took the class with me as a refresher, and I had to actively stop him from trying to "help" me too much!! Stepping in is absolutely a disservice to the learning process.

I am sure that the merits of whether or not a family member "should" be allowed could be a whole debate of its own, and largely dependent on the teacher, dive shop, size of group, etc. but I'm asking more specifically about what the norm is in Cozumel, since unlike a local dive shop teaching non-vacation students, I'm sure they get requests like this a lot.

 

[Katie L]

I would let the student and instructor work alone during any "confined" water dives - it sounds like you are doing e learning at home but pool skills (the "confined" water) here. You can go with them, it is just going to be boring and if the skills are being done in the ocean, it will be an added distraction to the instructor IMO.

The open water check out dives, I would just go dive with them - there will be some short skills at the beginning but more time spent diving - everyone will have fun and smiles!!

This seems to be similar to what a dive shop that I reached out to described. Join for the open water dives. Sounds fun to me!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Personally, I would actually like to observe (without interference) the way an instructor teaches my partner since they will be my new dive buddy and we can more easily speak the same "language," as long as it's what my partner would want (which it is). I know that when I got my OW, my dad, who hadn't been diving in almost 30 years, re-took the class with me as a refresher, and I had to actively stop him from trying to "help" me too much!! Stepping in is absolutely a disservice to the learning process.

I am sure that the merits of whether or not a family member "should" be allowed could be a whole debate of its own, and largely dependent on the teacher, dive shop, size of group, etc. but I'm asking more specifically about what the norm is in Cozumel, since unlike a local dive shop teaching non-vacation students, I'm sure they get requests like this a lot.

I had an older couple take my OW class. Both were brilliant academics. Husband had multiple masters degrees. Wife was a PhD in education and a principal.
Husband also was my boss at the time and was somewhat of an "expert" on everything.
In one of our classroom sessions I was explaining some theory with real world examples and hubby twice tried to interject his "expertise."
On the third attempt she looked at him dead in the eye and said "You are not the instructor. Jim is. One more word and I will slap you." No humor in her voice at all.
He never interrupted again in any session.
They turned out to be a great buddy pair.

 

[Katie L]

I always made it clear to certified family/friends that I was in charge and if at any time, they decided to "help" the student the lesson was over. And they were not permitted back until the last pool session. This included kids. The parent would have to be present for all classroom and pool, but they would not be allowed in the water unless asked.
That said, I insisted that if they were going to be diving with the student after the class, that they did get in the water for the last pool session and were the divers buddy on all checkout dives once I determined they were not going to be a danger to them!

One guy, after seeing what I taught his girlfriend when he attended that last pool session, insisted on coming in for a private pool session before the OW checkouts. He realized that his own training sucked and his GF, who had not been on one open water dive, had better skills than he did.

I love both of these anecdotes! I'm sure lots of people are biased that their own training was "correct," or "good," because why would they have anything to compare it with once their own course ends?

 

[Katie L]

I had an older couple take my OW class. Both were brilliant academics. Husband had multiple masters degrees. Wife was a PhD in education and a principal.
Husband also was my boss at the time and was somewhat of an "expert" on everything.
In one of our classroom sessions I was explaining some theory with real world examples and hubby twice tried to interject his "expertise."
On the third attempt she looked at him dead in the eye and said "You are not the instructor. Jim is. One more word and I will slap you." No humor in her voice at all.
He never interrupted again in any session.
They turned out to be a great buddy pair.

Being an expert and being a teacher are two VERY different things. That's hilarious.

 

[AdivingBel]

Contact one of the valet shops mentioned in the Coz forum and tell them what you want. Odds are they'll do everything they can to make it work for you. It's not their first rodeo. I've had several friends get their OW in Coz. It's a great place to do it. I wouldn't worry about speaking the same "dive language." It's just an OW course. We're all taught the same info. The instructors I've met in Coz are patient and eager for you to have an enjoyable experience. It's great to have one of your friends become your dive buddy. Hopefully you're in for lots of fun, wonderful, shared experiences. Enjoy. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[GiraffeMarineSalvage]

Do your relationship a favor and let your significant other learn on their own while also doing the instructor a favor by letting them focus on teaching even if you did have dramatically more knowledge and experience then instructor...
Btw, what size steel or aluminum tank is "best?" (and insert a long list of other questions which have multiple entirely valid answers...)

 

[lowwall]

I've accompanied three people who were getting certified, including my wife getting certified in Coz. All three were private classes. I watched some of the CW portions from a handy beach chair, but did not get in the water and made no attempt to butt in when they were on the surface.

One of the OW portions was from a boat. I went on the boat with them, but dived separately. The other times were shore dives and the instructor let me come along, but I did not participate in the proceedings at all except for towing my friend's gear out on his first dive because the instructor did the swim test on the way out to where we descended.

I'm pretty sure you'll have more flexibility in a private class. I also suggest you set it up before you go so she can get all the e-learning done ahead of time.

Finally, in my experience, if you have access to a pool or even a good size bathtub, you can give her a big head start by teaching her to clear her mask before the class starts. You don't even need a snorkel although doing it with one will make her more comfortable when she starts on scuba gear.

Before we got to his first scuba class, I taught my son to clear a mask and then remove and replace and clear while standing and eventually while swimming. We were also able to work on equalizing since our condo pool is 8' deep. Because of this and since it was a private class, the confined water portion went extremely fast.