people at public pools have a habit of diving in without looking, and running into a tank head first is not a good day.
Is it illegal to scuba dive in a public pool with people?
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people at public pools have a habit of diving in without looking, and running into a tank head first is not a good day.
cb5150
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Our public pool used to let us do classes at a specific time and in a specific area of the pool. We use a private pool now. It's probably a liability thing as pointed out. I did once dive at a public beach but had to sign a release (so the lifeguards were absolved of liability?). Interesting that at some state parks in Connecticut you can dive, but away from the lifeguarded beaches. So you get to pay your hefty out of state entry fee with no safety factor re the lifeguards.
When our shop has scuba in the local recreation center, we look at how many people we will have in the water and rent an appropriate number of lanes. We have exclusive use of those lanes for a specified period of time. The lifeguards just pull the lane lines out of that area. There will always be a few leftover lanes, and people swim laps in them. The only time we ever have an issue is when someone is not paying attention and strays into a lap lane.
Lane rental is reasonably priced, although it may be necessary for you to have appropriate insurance.
Lane rental is reasonably priced, although it may be necessary for you to have appropriate insurance.
Our experience and (and it surely varies) it that mixed use in the same space is unlikely. Some of this has been mentioned but...
1) Many pools want a responsible instructor to cover the liability aspect of the outing. Also most pool operators don't have a clue of what is normal/acceptable and dealing with incidents is a different skill set.. The instructor of record may also be taking responsibility for damage. Weight and cylinders don't mix well with ceramic tiles around the pool or within. Also, divers shleping in their gear can bring more crud in than a person in a swimsuit who enters via the locker room shower.
2) Check with local dive shops. Many are already renting pool time and will let you buy in for $10-$20 and signing a waiver. Some shops have pools onsite but they do tend to be small.
3) Our dive club was able to rent 1/2 a pool but they still wanted an instructor onsite. Fortunately we had that covered.
I think the odds of jumping into an open swim session with scuba gear are slim to zippo in most areas. Between the posibiltties of collisions and invasions of privacy few will want to deal with it.
Pete
1) Many pools want a responsible instructor to cover the liability aspect of the outing. Also most pool operators don't have a clue of what is normal/acceptable and dealing with incidents is a different skill set.. The instructor of record may also be taking responsibility for damage. Weight and cylinders don't mix well with ceramic tiles around the pool or within. Also, divers shleping in their gear can bring more crud in than a person in a swimsuit who enters via the locker room shower.
2) Check with local dive shops. Many are already renting pool time and will let you buy in for $10-$20 and signing a waiver. Some shops have pools onsite but they do tend to be small.
3) Our dive club was able to rent 1/2 a pool but they still wanted an instructor onsite. Fortunately we had that covered.
I think the odds of jumping into an open swim session with scuba gear are slim to zippo in most areas. Between the posibiltties of collisions and invasions of privacy few will want to deal with it.
Pete
Mustard Dave
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Our club uses a school's swimming pool. The dive school hire it for 4 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday and for 2 hours on Monday for club members. The legal position over here is pretty much the same - there is no law against it but no pool operator will let you rock up in SCUBA gear for the reasons mentioned.
We used to use a pool at a different school but we had to find somewhere else. The original pool was a bit grotty and the building was in disrepair. One day, part of the roof collapsed meaning the pool was out of action for a while. We managed to get use of the pool at a school that was built a couple of years ago and the facility is great. We decided to carry on using it as the old place had let us down several times - double booking us, arriving at the pool to be told it was closed for maintenance with no warning, billing us for public holidays when it was closed, and on one occasion telling us the pool is closed as there is currently a goat in the deep end (really!).
Most pools used by dive schools/clubs are either roped off or closed to the public. They don't want members of the public kicked by fins or prodded with snorkels. As spectrum says, there is the issue of having suitably trained people supervising. The operators of our old pool did not provide a lifeguard unless we paid for it, however, they did insist we had suitably trained safety cover. The new pool insist we use their lifeguard - usually a kid with no diving knowledge. It seem s a little OTT when there is usually a minimum ratio of 4:1 of trained rescue divers/instructors to students/inexperienced divers.
We used to use a pool at a different school but we had to find somewhere else. The original pool was a bit grotty and the building was in disrepair. One day, part of the roof collapsed meaning the pool was out of action for a while. We managed to get use of the pool at a school that was built a couple of years ago and the facility is great. We decided to carry on using it as the old place had let us down several times - double booking us, arriving at the pool to be told it was closed for maintenance with no warning, billing us for public holidays when it was closed, and on one occasion telling us the pool is closed as there is currently a goat in the deep end (really!).
Most pools used by dive schools/clubs are either roped off or closed to the public. They don't want members of the public kicked by fins or prodded with snorkels. As spectrum says, there is the issue of having suitably trained people supervising. The operators of our old pool did not provide a lifeguard unless we paid for it, however, they did insist we had suitably trained safety cover. The new pool insist we use their lifeguard - usually a kid with no diving knowledge. It seem s a little OTT when there is usually a minimum ratio of 4:1 of trained rescue divers/instructors to students/inexperienced divers.
Just don't forget to make sure the pool is full with water before you jump in... ;-)
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covediver
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Not apocraphyl. It happended at a pool where I worked as a lifeguard. Two guys were on the bottom and a woman was swimming laps. she didn't think much of it until she was talking to the guys asking what they were doing and one replied "taking pictures of you everytime you swam by". It is a problem at water facilities that attract children as well. That is why many pools have policies against taking pictures of patrons unless you are a family member.
Here in Boulder a couple of years ago, we had a guy sneak into a portable toilet before an outdoor fair so that he could look up at the women using it. If someone is that sick, I don't think it is a stretch to imagine someone doing something like it in a swimming pool.
Onewolf
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