Pool size for OWD training - what's adequate?

[letsgodiving]

My pool at home is 28x14, with a max depth of around 7 feet. It is OK for messing around in but if three of us test our gear in there it is crowded.

If you are going to get five or six people in the water I would recommend going a little bigger. If you have the space the cost of the actual pool is fairly minimal. When we contracted for our pool it cost us $1,500 extra to go from 24x12 to 28x14, and every 4x2 increase after that was about $2k.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

I have no idea about the costs yet, but since it will be a part of a new building from scratch, there's no rebuilding. But it will be indoors. I'll just have to present a size and the idea, and then wait and see.

 

[PerroneFord]

One of the things I have not seen mentioned, and may not be feasible in your case, but our shop pool is "L-Shaped". One leg has enough room for maybe 4 divers to move around a bit. That area is 4ft deep. The pool then slopes quickly down to 10ft. I've found that plenty deep enough for doing what I need in there. And the steep slope really allows you to work on managing buoyancy during ascents and descents. Teaching the students to stay mid-water in the 10ft area really helps their buoyancy, and the advanced folks get to hover up in the 4ft part.

You may not have room for this, but I wanted to toss the idea out there.

 

[boulderjohn]

I forgot to mention that our pool is sanitized with Bromine, which is much better for the gear.

As long as you are planning from scratch...

Don't forget to have adequate space for equipment storage, etc. If you can get your classrooms right there, too, it would be great.

 

[CompuDude]

You do not need to swim around, in the pool. That can be relegated to the open water.

Bigger is not better, because bigger is more expensive to build and to maintain, and that affects what you must charge, and this then puts you at a price disadvantage to your competitors.

You need some college econ classes, CDude.

Let's leave personal insults out it, shall we? Do you really want to go there?

It is an opinion question on what size pool is adequate. I gave my opinion, and you are welcome to offer up your opinion as well.

Unless you are familiar with the OPs exact financial situation and the state of the local market he competes in, you are in no better position to make assumptions about what is financially reasonable and what is not than I am. I merely answered from a student's perspective... I've trained in smaller pools, and I've trained in larger pools. And even with smaller groups of students, I like a little more breathing room than the smallest pools offer.

 

[scubapatton]

Since you get to build from scratch, you may want to really think about 12-14 feet depth. This gives newer students room to hover, and gets them comfortable with the compression (eg wetsuits, equalizing, etc). You also need to make sure (for PADI for example), that you have certain distances for skills to travel - CESA, etc.

I would say the shallow end at about 4 1/2 to 5 feet - I have a student now that just clears 5' tall and she barely keeps her head out of water when we are going over briefings, etc.

I cannot remember the size of the pool I use, but it is a fair size.

 

[nereas]

Let's leave personal insults out it, shall we? Do you really want to go there?

It is an opinion question on what size pool is adequate. I gave my opinion, and you are welcome to offer up your opinion as well.

Unless you are familiar with the OPs exact financial situation and the state of the local market he competes in, you are in no better position to make assumptions about what is financially reasonable and what is not than I am. I merely answered from a student's perspective... I've trained in smaller pools, and I've trained in larger pools. And even with smaller groups of students, I like a little more breathing room than the smallest pools offer.

The issue, again, comes down to economics. Economics is about costs and passing on of costs. Passing on costs defines pricing. The entire scuba industry is plagued by pricing issues.

If you go to a scuba store owner who has a pool at his/her facility, you find out quickly that the pool cost is very high. That is why bigger is not better, as you said, which was wrong.

If you take any of the basic college econ course, either intro, micro, or macro, they explain how costs drive pricing and how pricing is deterimined.

Its not personal, its just that your answer was wrong.

It may sound cute to say "bigger is better!" Girls joke about this all the time. It is cute, but incorrect.


By the way, that reminds me, did Tobin ever teach you about variable-weight plates that can be attached to your backplate, which allow you to modify the backplate up to 14 lbs each? I vaguely recall that you thought steel backplates are always 6 lbs. That was not personal either, but it practically blew your cookies when I called you on it.

 

[nereas]

I have no idea about the costs yet, but since it will be a part of a new building from scratch, there's no rebuilding. But it will be indoors. I'll just have to present a size and the idea, and then wait and see.

Good luck, Kompressor!

 

[CompuDude]

Its not personal, its just that your answer was wrong.

...

Yeee...ah.

I started writing back. Then I realized. You're not worth my time.

It's fairly amusing that you think you know something about me, though.

 

[BeachJunkie]

This should be fun...