Is it time to kill DSDs and go back to the drawing board?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Let's be real here. You write here and elsewhere to promote yourself.

Don't most of us instructors promote ourselves in one way or another on scubaboard??

Sure, the information I provide in my blog and links to my articles are free, but it does students find me who think I match their style. Am I not promoting myself in providing links to my blog posts on SDI's blog? Or to my own blog/repository of documents? I'm not Gandhi, so while I do so to help others, there is something in it for me. I would be extremely disingenous and have zero integrity if I did not admit this.

I see this post as more of a discussion of issues within the industry, and let's not kid ourselves, they do exist. We have to be willing to accept criticism of agencies and ourselves as instructors if we are to have any hope of moving things forward in a way that is beneficial to our customers (and thereby ourselves).

If Darcy promotes himself while we think a little bit more about introductory scuba experiences, well, I won't speak for anyone but myself, but that's A-OK with me.

 

[TonRin]

Have to be honest here, If I hadn't done 2 lots of DSD's several years ago, I may have never got into diving at all. My wife and I did our first DSD on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Went there at 7am, somehow they fit my fat ass into a wet suit (not pretty then, still not pretty now!) and we hopped onto a bot with about 10 others and went to Wavebreak Island near the Seaway in Southport. It was a shore dive kind of experience, they dropped us on the beach, we geared up and walked into the water will it was wiast deep. They showed us a few things, got us to put regs in and sit down in the water. That was our first experience of breathing underwater. Visibility was crap (maybe 2m) but we had a ball. We were only allowed to sort of move around in a small area where we could touch the bottom if necessary but we were somewhat unaided which was fun.

Second one we did was in the Whitsundays out of the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef. This was a lot more professional and when you got into the water you kind of understood why. 2 people to each instructor, they held your arms, did all your adjustments for you, you were kind of just floating along kicking your feet. Went to about 3-5m I guess but it was a coral wall and you couldn't see the bottom at all, so it was a lot more scary than the first one knowing you can't just stand up if theres an issue.

these dives got us hooked and even though there was 3 years between that last one and us doing our OW, we always knew we were gong to do it, we were just waiting for the right place to do it. So glad we waited and did it here in the Solomon's where visibility on a crap day is 25-30m and there is so much to see. Have some great dive buddies here and now we have our own gear it's a lot less cost prohibitive. I think DSD's are important and give people a chance to try before you buy I guess.

Cheers
Tony

 

[KevinNM]

It seems to me that diving in general has a pretty high attrition rate. I'm not in the industry so I haven't bothered to find the statistics, but I was under the impression that the number of people who go on to be regular divers is but a small fraction of the number who either initially do a DSD or get their OWD cert. How many folks get certified only to never bother diving again after their initial trip? Some probably don't even bother doing their checkout dives and so never complete their certification (I know a few of those people). Many others are content with only being occasional vacation divers who do a handful of dives every year or two. Those folks probably make up the vast majority of certified divers.

Is this a good or a bad thing? I don't know. Maybe a little bit of both. More divers means the industry grows, theoretically giving us all better dive equipment innovations, more dive operators around the world, a better dive infrastructure, financially stable local dive shops, and, ostensibly, better competition and thus better prices. But it also means things like more cattle boats, more subpar divers who aren't as motivated to better their skills and training, etc.

Surfing and parachuting (and probably many other sports) have a similar pattern, of many people dipping their toes in, then a moderate percentage of them do training to get to the point where they are basically competent to operate without an instructor right there, and then a lot of them fade away over the next few years.

If you add up the number of people who complete training every year for 20 years it will be a huge number compared to the number of people who are still active in the sport 20 years after their first dive or tandem.

 

[Darcy Kieran]

Let's be real here. You write here and elsewhere to promote yourself.

The feedback I got, here, is outstanding. Many very valid points.