Non-Certification Diving in Cozumel

[Everest]

Many people get into diving by having a try dive or discover scuba session. Myself, I have only had 3 discovers. But all of these were with PADI instructors, and I checked their qualifications before going. As long as others do this, I see no problems.
To start with, they make you watch a video about safety. Then give you a talk. A session in the pool follows to make sure that you are confident in the water with the equipment.
The 3rd dive I did was a couple of months ago in Akumal, Mexico. Great is not the word for it. Swimming with the turtles, nurse shark & 6ft barracuda. Awesome.
It was so much fun that I'm off to the Red Sea in a couple of weeks to have another go. Back to Mexico at the end of the year to take the OW. I'm so into this that I've paid out for an underwater camera & housing for my camcorder.

Turtle at Akumal I photographed

And remember, Take only memories, leave only bubbles.

 

[CuriousMe]

My first dive was Discover SCUBA diving. I was in the Philippines on business and we ran away to Boracay for the weekend.

The dive was a completely spur of the moment type thing. We watched a PADI video that highlighted some safety basics, including explanations of the realities and science of breathing at depth. Why you shouldn't ascend quickly, why you should never hold your breath. It showed some pool skills and explained them I think (this is like 4 years back now...so I might be wrong).
Anyway, next we discussed the video and our instructor went over the big highlights again. We then got fitted for our gear and got on a boat.

We went to a calm beach area and jumped in the water, they brought us the gear and we got into it. We went over mask clearing, reg retrieval, equalization (which was probably also mentioned on the video) and some hand signals (problem, ok...things like that). We had time to practice the skills a bit, till we were comfortable (both being water folks, we picked it up pretty quickly). Then we were back on the boat and ready to do a dive to about 25 feet. The instructor literally held on to me the entire dive, I was told to not do a thing with my BC (instructor took care of that) and the instructor monitored my air.

The only anxiety I felt at the time was weighting. We had full suits on (I'm guessing 3 mils, since the water was warm) and this tiny, little, petite (she was really small...not up to my shoulders) Philippino women didn't understand why I (a not-petite sturdily built, 5'11" Irish-American woman) needed more weight than her...I knew why I needed more weight! Anyway, that caused some apprehension, because until she gave me more weight...I couldn't descend enough to do my skills (yes, she wanted us to kneel....truthfully, I just don't kneel well underwater...I always feel like I'm about to float off...then I thought that was a problem...now it's obviously not an issue ) . I'm sure as I started to feel anxious, I also then wasn't exhaling enough and therefore needed more weight...vicious circle huh? <grin>

I had an idea before then that I'd like to get my c-card....but after that experience I was completely and totally sold!

Now, I've also got to say that my friend did a Discover SCUBA when she came to visit me on the ship. This was a very reputable shop. One I had dove with often and they were very safety conscious...so I was pretty confident she would be ok. She didn't see a video, they talked on the boat, then went in. They did some skills and then took off. There were at least 5 of them for one instructor. Don't get me wrong, she still enjoyed herself....but I had hoped for a similar experience to mine.

I think it has similar concerns to OW...who's the instructor and are they just looking to push you through it, or are they looking to see that you're safe.

Sorry, didn't mean for this to get so long!

My .02

Peace,
Cathie

 

[bluebanded goby]

Just to put in my two cents -- my first compressed air underwater was a resort dive (i.e. non-certification dive) three years ago while on vacation in the Yucatan. I'd seen groups doing this while at the beach in Cozumel, and by the time we got over to Akumal on the mainland I was ready to give it a go. A group of a half dozen of us spent about 20 minutes covering the basics (how to sweep arm back to recover lost reg; remembering not to hold breath; etc), followed by about 10 minutes doing rudimentary skills in a hotel pool, and then went out in a panga for a half-hourt dive to 40 ft. One participant decided on the boat she didn't want to go through with it, and sat out the dive topside. The instructor wouldn't let us do anything with our BCs (adding air or dumping); he said he'd take care of that. The reef wasn't exactly teeming with life, but the experience did whet my appetite to get certified and pursue further training in scuba and freediving.

Resort dives aren't well thought of by most people I know in the scuba world, but unless someone has accident statistics to the contrary, they're probably a fairly innocuous way to try it out -- as long as you have a diligent instructor who is able to keep you safe.