padi scuba dive or do dsd dives?? r

[Frosty]

Hiya folks. My familly are going to be diving in Vanuatu in october.
With us we are bringing a currently non diver who has expressed interest in "giving it a go"
With time and in fairness financial constraints they can't afford to do a full OW cert.
So Their options are as I see it. 1)Do the training for DSD and then a couple of trust me type dsd dives with an instructor.
OR do the scuba diver course which looks to be a day in the pool and then two OW skills dives.
i can't see though what has been taken away from the full OW course -Im guessing nav is one
I'd like to see another diver out there Im just wary about suggesting the wrong option
Also- what advice would you offer this person.

 

[faze]

Scuba diver is the first part of the Open Water course - it is the first 3 confined water dives, the first three knowledge reviews and the first two open water dives from the OW course. They therefore need to complete two pool sessions, two knowledge reviews and two further open water dives to upgrade to OW.

If you have your OW manual then look at the first three chapters.

My advice would be to get them to do a DSD is an intro to the Scuba Diver Course - if they love it they can then get credit for the DSD against the course.

Restriction for Scuba Diver is max. depth of 12m and must be accompanied by a DM or above.

 

[Steve_C]

It depends a bit on the family. Assuming that there is a good experienced reliable family member who would put the safety of the newbie first and foremost I lean toward the Scuba Diver. They get more training and more options if they go on and also at the resort. The downside with the Scuba Diver is that they then could be under the protection and guidance of a family member which could be great or a disaster depending on the family member.

You will see many threads on scuba board where family have not watched over new divers well or have pushed them to do too hard a dive etc.

Added: Note clarifacation of experienced above

 

[oly5050user]

Hiya folks. My familly are going to be diving in Vanuatu in october.
With us we are bringing a currently non diver who has expressed interest in "giving it a go"
With time and in fairness financial constraints they can't afford to do a full OW cert.
So Their options are as I see it. 1)Do the training for DSD and then a couple of trust me type dsd dives with an instructor.
OR do the scuba diver course which looks to be a day in the pool and then two OW skills dives.
i can't see though what has been taken away from the full OW course -Im guessing nav is one
I'd like to see another diver out there Im just wary about suggesting the wrong option
Also- what advice would you offer this person.

If scuba diver course is chosen it may turn out more expensive than doing full open water course. Remember that pro that must dive with this person must be paid to provide this service.cannot be a pro leading a dive but must be one who is buddied with the individual.So figure a minimum of what may be $50. More per dive plus tip. What I do not understand is how is a ow course considered to be financially out of reach when a trip like that is affordable? Really cannot say time is a factor as October is more than 9 months away.

 

[faze]

I wouldn't agree that a scuba diver must buddy up with a pro - the standards state "direct supervision" which doesn't mean they must be buddied.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

DSD experiences are not known for their thoroughness ( or safety) at many resort destinations, bvut they can be great for the non-certified diver if done properly. It would be better to certify and allow the new diver to dive with you others. Otherwise, when you dive with the non-certified diver, you will be limited to their location and depth limits. The alternative is to go do your thing and let the non-diver do theirs independently, but that does not sound like the goal here.
From my perspective, the "scuba diver" certification" is the least attractive alternative. It's going to cost no less than full certification, and is really a certification given to those struggling with some skills until they can complete all of the course requirements for open water diver.
DivemasterDennis

 

[oly5050user]

I wouldn't agree that a scuba diver must buddy up with a pro - the standards state "direct supervision" which doesn't mean they must be buddied.

why not agree? Would you not want to be compensated for taking this person on as an added responsibility? What standards state and what a reasonably prudent professional would do are two different things.
The pro must be paid for his or her direct supervision. As such the pros attention focus is meant to be that one individual not the group or anything else. The pro is limited on depth with that person, 40', and should not be diving with a camera or have anything else going on that may distract him. Try explaining if an accident occurs because the pro became distracted with a camera, or others in a group trying to keep them all together and temporarily lost contact with the scuba diver certified person that bolts to the surface.

 

[Frosty]

To clarify. The person concerned isn't interested enough to be "bothered" with a full course. They arent paying for the trip or their accomodation whilst in vanuatu. They have seen how much my familly enjoy the diving and have expressed interest in giving it a go.
Im hoping to inspire them to going further without pushing the issue.

 

[faze]

why not agree? Would you not want to be compensated for taking this person on as an added responsibility? What standards state and what a reasonably prudent professional would do are two different things.
The pro must be paid for his or her direct supervision. As such the pros attention focus is meant to be that one individual not the group or anything else. The pro is limited on depth with that person, 40', and should not be diving with a camera or have anything else going on that may distract him. Try explaining if an accident occurs because the pro became distracted with a camera, or others in a group trying to keep them all together and temporarily lost contact with the scuba diver certified person that bolts to the surface.

Never suggested that anyone should or shouldn't get paid..? merely pointed out that the suggestion that you need a DM or above buddied up to ensure direct supervision is not accurate.

Most of our guest divers are OW or above, if we have a PSD (or a Junior OW for that matter) then we stick an extra DM+ on the boat to lead at 12m - not difficult, not dramatic and as they are both certified divers, no extra cost.

In terms of the additional cost to do PSD first and OW second, we simply upgrade a PSD to OW and they pay the difference upon certification. Only additional cost is the charge for certification of the PSD and the OW - around 30 Euro.

 

[TMHeimer]

kazbanz, Has the person snorkelled much? Comfortable in water? I knew I would be a diver when I took OW. If the person is not a thorough "water" person, trying out something at home--in a pool-- may be good advice. There are stastistics backing up what DivemasterDennis says about DSD programs. More accidents happen there than in any other course, I believe. It all depends on the instructor and if standards are observed (so I've heard and read). Also agree with oly5050user--another point on that is when you go to complete the OW course elsewhere the combination of 2 places may well cost more. OW courses aren't very expensive anyway, and can be done in 2 weekends (though it's a lot all at once, which is not to my liking). I always advise to do the OW (or DSD, whatever) locally to be ready to dive on the trip. That's just me.