Open Source Instruction for Entry Level Scuba

[fjpatrum]

This is my first day here, and I did post the same without knowing. Our students would be made well aware of the fierce protectionism of the industry. If you are a person that has always wanted to dive, but can't afford the thousand bucks by the time you finish your certification, then you probably won't mind the few dives you get with us.

I spent about $500 to get certified, including rental gear for my OW dives. I spent another $30 on "personal gear" (mask fins snorkel) so it doesn't have to cost a lot. (I don't count the cost of purchasing gear I didn't need to buy.) I even got reasonably decent (though not fantastic) training.

As far as non-profits not supporting any businesses exclusively, that's a load of nonsense. Non-profits make partnerships all the time. You may be prohibited from having an exclusivity clause in that partnership, but that doesn't mean you can't deal with existing agencies just because it might be construed as "preferential" or some other silliness.

I'm all for finding a cheaper way to teach people to do this. If I could get air fills without an agency card I probably would have gone out and taught myself, like so many other things I've learned. That's not really a good way for the masses to learn this potentially deadly sport, however; if for no other reason than it simply doesn't work well in large numbers.

The simple fact is, however, that there is more to this sport than what you can learn on the internet. Sure, you can swipe all the non-copyrighted materials out there and put together an "online learning" program but it won't make divers. The internet can't give you a feeling of panic that so many newbs get when they first get wet. The internet can't give a sense of support and calm reassurance when the panic sets in, like a real instructor can. The internet can't give you a sense of wonder when you take that first breath, or see that first shark, or touch that first deck rail on a wreck. The internet can do a lot of things, but it simply can't make divers. To do that, you will need real instructors.

If you have instructors already affiliated with different agencies, why not let them teach to their agency standards and give the c-cards as appropriate? By the way, NAUI is a non-profit organization.

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic and reading more into this than I should but I get the feeling this is really just a way to stop paying instructor fees and the like.

 

[awetmedic]

What you say is true enough, some of these are people who can't afford the sport, some can, and their only dive experience might just be with us. For some people just doing their open water is all they want to do, and with our group, they would be glad to do that. $450 for the course, then $200 equipment $500 for the open water including hotel and travel. Sometimes its a couple hundred less. But for some people even a $300 investment is something pretty significant..... like the 90% of people in the USA earning $50,000 and less.

 

[awetmedic]

After I finished commercial dive school I started teaching scuba about a year later in 1981. I have taught a lot of students in 4 differentdifferent countries for two different major agencies. Giving a student a card with an agencies name on it does not change the way that I, or any other of the experienced instructors that we have, teach. What it does do is take away resources that could be used for people with challenges. I am not sure of your experience with the real world conditions of people with mental challenges, but I can tell you it aint pretty. Tell me again why these big agencies need to have their pockets lined?

 

[ItsBruce]

As I see it, calling yourself an "agency" and issuing certification cards is all well and good, but will dive shops give someone an air fill based on nothing but your card? Remember that shops want to see C-cards because if they give someone air without doing so, their liability increases significantly and their insurance may not cover a claim. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that a shop giving air to someone without an "adequate" card might even lose the right to advertise itself as a PADI shop, which might deter divers from using the shop.

 

[awetmedic]

And I probably did not explain myself, we do have real instructors, and we will be having regular class just like the old days. Our students get as much pool time as they want, we want to give them as much online or classroom instruction as they want. And craft a course where a student can see the content of other methods of teaching. The challenged adults take care of the maintenace of the facility, they are not the students. Teaching scuba is not the thrust of our mission, it is just another activity.

 

[awetmedic]

We will be clearly explaining to our students the fierce protectionism of the dive industry and that some people will take them, some will snub their noses and say they are no good. We know that and our students know that we may be the only people they can dive with. We have our own compressor and equipment. Our nonprofit has insurance for all our sports activities, even though it is not required to have insurance to participate in sports, any sport. If a nonprofit is an agency then we are and agency, that is not what we call ourselves. Our students will clearly know the protectionist rules the industry uses before they approach a dive shop.

 

[scubamarketing]

Have you considered being active with the RSTC so you might have some better chances at being recognized by other agencies? I'm sure Atlanta has some great diving (I hear the aquarium is amazing), but don't you think some divers might want to travel elsewhere?

I observed a guy locally who got kicked out of several agencies for standards violations and started his own "agency" that only his shop recognized. He eventually went back to one of the established players.

I'm all for a shake up in the industry, so I'm not trying to say it can't work, I'm just offering ideas on how it might work better.

 

[Tigerman]

To be quite honest, you sound like someone with a bone to pick with those agencies you dont want to use, for whatever reason...

 

[japan-diver]

This whole idea begs the question why? There are numerous agencies that do not require you to use their own manuals for certification (NAUI for one, CMAS and I believe SDI) You can use one of the agencies that is already established and teach the course with as much info as you like from all kinds of sources and give your "students" a recognized card for $15-$20 depending on agency. If they do not want the card they can just dive with you.
I would also check your insurance carefully as to the scuba coverage - does it include scuba training for certified divers? What about when they diver goes diving without you and hurts himself and then sues you for improper training- quite a risk to put a non-profit in for the sake of a $15 card.
You say your object is to service your customers to the best of your ability- this does not sound like that to me. Giving students a card that is not recognized when you already have experienced instructors from recognized agencies working for you that could issue a recognized card does not sound like ethical, honest treatment for customers. If you feel that you can not provide a course within any agencies framework - go ahead a start a new one- there have been a few successes lately with GUE and UTD are quite successful, Universal Diver training is a new one from 2000 that is still hanging around so it can be done.
Urban legend of divers getting turned away with no credentials- I think not. Although at many resorts they will not get flatly turned away but they will be doing intro dives (DSD's in US, called Taiken diving in Japan) which usually costs more and is very limited in depth and duration. They show up on the liveaboard I am sure the inhouse instructor for a fee will get them certified with a recognized agency. By not giving credentials you are not in anyway being honest or ethical.

 

[tstormdiver]

Where I think many of the agencies drop the ball is with policing the standards they write, that the instructors must follow. Also another issue is that the agencies have tried to dumb down & shorten the courses waaaay too much. Too many instructors cut corners to save time, money, effort,.... at the expense of the students. I realize the agencies must investigate reports of standards violations carefully to prevent backlash, but they need to quit handling the issues with kid gloves. The poorer instructors who cut corners & slight the standards do so because they know they can get away with it. The agencies also need to get rid of the ultra short courses. The 0- OW diver in 1 weekend can not produce a comfortable, confident & competent diver in 3 days. I'm sorry, but it takes multiple repetitions for those skills to become muscle memory. Unless you have a super water athlete with above average intelligence, most people simply can not retain that much information thrown at them that quickly. The proper way to react in an emergency, can only be replicated when the skill is practiced over & over. Not just demonstrated 1 time & performed 1 time. That doesn't cut it. Time is needed to smooth out & perfect the skills. Remember,... an instructor has done the skills hundreds, if not thousands of times,... they know the skills, a new student has not & needs to be TAUGHT how to perform them comfortably.