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

[wetb4igetinthewater]

If all goes well they come away with the "I did it on my own" pride.

Best case scenario, they break out into song.

Take it away Frankie!

 

[AdivingBel]

Also, plus one on the get the pool work done before the trip. Would suck to get there and find breathing thru a reg was not for them.

Lol…stuck in Coz after deciding scuba wasn’t for them…what will they do? Lay by the pool/beach club enjoying the warm weather with a drink in their hand…wander around the quaint little town…eat good food at interesting restaurants…oh, the humanity…

 

[arew+4]

Lol…stuck in Coz after deciding scuba wasn’t for them…what will you do? Lay by the pool/beach club enjoying the warm weather with a drink in your hand…wander around the quaint little town…eat good food at interesting restaurants…oh, the humanity…

Was thinking of $$$, now your gonna bail on few of the dives you already paid for in addition to the course fees etc. It could add up. Also, if going with a non diver you might consider other options, somewhere like Curacao could be a better choice.

If you're not a diver Cozumel is best enjoyed as a day trip from Playa del Carmen, or a cruise ship

 

[AdivingBel]

Meh…Coz is pretty easy. My shop doesn’t charge for canceled dives with a day’s notice, though I don’t abuse the privilege. I’m sure there would be a charge to cover the instructor’s time and materials, but not much for cancelled dives. Diving can be done before 1 pm if @Katie L wants to get in some diving and still enjoy her trip w/friend. IMHO, relegating Coz to a cruise ship destination is short sighted. I’ve traveled to Coz with non-diving friends and they had a blast. Just saying, getting an OW in Coz isn’t much of a roll of the dice…Have fun. All IMHO, YMMV

 

[ggunn]

Also, plus one on the get the pool work done before the trip. Would suck to get there and find breathing thru a reg was not for them.

I recommend getting it all done before the trip if possible. If you do that you can spend all your dive time doing real dives, and if you get your OW dives done somewhere else, conditions likely won't be as ideal as they are around Cozumel, so your comfort zone will be a bit wider.

 

[Katie L]

I recommend getting it all done before the trip if possible. If you do that you can spend all your dive time doing real dives, and if you get your OW dives done somewhere else, conditions likely won't be as ideal as they are around Cozumel, so your comfort zone will be a bit wider.

Nah, it would defeat the purpose of the trip. We're on a budget, and it would cost hundreds of dollars more to even just do pool sessions locally and OW checkout dives in Coz, without saving all that much time. Add on hundreds more to do the OW checkout dives locally, plus travel time and working around irregular work schedules....I'd much rather take those hundreds of dollars, spend them on a hotel and "waste" that time in beautiful, sunny Mexico.

I hear your with the comfort zone thing, but there are other opportunities to stretch those. (Just a personal preference, I've also experienced the difference of going from mostly tropical experiences to cold weather local US diving, but was lucky to have great mentors)

 

[nodakdive]

I've "tagged along" with many friends when they've done their OW checkout dives, Discover dives and AOW dives. It's never been a problem. Your dive shop will help you figure out how to plan your participation for the confined dives and OW dives based on how they do those.

It sounds like you know exactly how to be there without it being an issue.

 

[scubadada]

In our neighborhood, many parents drive their kids to the end of the block to the bus, when they live half a block away. Things have changed massively since I was young or since my kids went to school. There might be difference between participation and interference. I would never have dreamed of attending my wife's and daughter's OW course back in 2002.

 

[Katie L]

In our neighborhood, many parents drive their kids to the end of the block to the bus, when they live half a block away. Things have changed massively since I was young or since my kids went to school. There might be difference between participation and interference. I would never have dreamed of attending my wife's and daughter's OW course back in 2002.

Yeah I hear you. It’s not about “babysitting,” just about the fun and enjoyment of experiencing things simultaneously, being on a parallel schedule, etc. It would be fun to watch her learn, but I totally understand how that could be stressful.

I contacted a few dive shops that came highly recommended on this board and asked what they recommend for travelers like us, and got some responses that sounded great and made sense to me, which involve making myself scare during pool skills, and getting to dive as buddies or on the same boat by OW 3 & 4.

(Part of me also wants to be protective and responsible for my beloved after an experience with my friend last time in Coz that involved a very rushed and blasé “certification” that made me really thankful that I had extra eyes on her and knew to speak up about my concerns. But I know what questions to ask the op now and how to encourage my partner to be prepared as well)

 

[Johnboy70_99]

I have recently done this, I had friends on the same trip that were taking their ow while I was just diving.

I went diving and left them alone to take their ow. We tried to link up for lunch but if it didn’t happen then it didn’t happen. There were a couple of dives where we rode in a Jeepney (was in Philippines) to the shore entry site together but then they went off with their instructor while I went off separately with a dive master and sometimes an instabuddy.

I think it’s better not to add any distractions to the task loading. It is only a day or two to finish their open water dives, there is plenty of time going forward to dive together.