question on class size for OWD course.

[caliswan]

Hey all,
Just finished my OWD course, but had a question. It's been nagging at me, so coming to the experts.
Online coursework with PADI.
3 of us in the class.
Day 1, classroom and confined dive.
Day 2, boat, 2 dives. With the captain, divemaster, 3 students. As well, another person who came out to snorkel for the day.

This is where I have the question: Day 3, boat, 2 dives. The 3 of us were there with the divemaster. The dive company then booked 6 other people on the trip. 4 snorkelers and 2 other divers. We had 11 people on board. This made me a bit uncomfortable b/c the divemaster seemed to be spread pretty thin.

Question: Is this normal to have such a big group when teaching a course? Obviously dive companies need to make money, but 6 add'l people seemed excessive, where maybe 2-4 other folks would have been okay.

Thanks in advance.

 

[hootenanny]

Hey all,
Just finished my OWD course, but had a question. It's been nagging at me, so coming to the experts.
Online coursework with PADI.
3 of us in the class.
Day 1, classroom and confined dive.
Day 2, boat, 2 dives. With the captain, divemaster, 3 students. As well, another person who came out to snorkel for the day.

This is where I have the question: Day 3, boat, 2 dives. The 3 of us were there with the divemaster. The dive company then booked 6 other people on the trip. 4 snorkelers and 2 other divers. We had 11 people on board. This made me a bit uncomfortable b/c the divemaster seemed to be spread pretty thin.

Question: Is this normal to have such a big group when teaching a course? Obviously dive companies need to make money, but 6 add'l people seemed excessive, where maybe 2-4 other folks would have been okay.

Thanks in advance.

was there just the one divemaster/ instructor for your class for you and the rest of the people not doing their cert? or did you have an instructor & then there was another divemaster for the rest of the group?

 

[caliswan]

was there just the one divemaster/ instructor for your class for you and the rest of the people not doing their cert? or did you have an instructor & then there was another divemaster for the rest of the group?

one dive master and the captain for the whole boat. 3 students and then 6 other folks - 4 were snorkeling, 2 were diving (assume both were certified).

 

[Wheeler925]

If the instructor was also the dive master for the other 6, then yes. If he was just there to instruct you, and the other divers were diving by themselves, then no problemo

 

[DivingLane]

so really only 2 other divers. Where were you? Crazy conditions? Were the other 2 divers left to their own devices, or was the DM corraling them? If not crazy conditions and the other 2 were self reliant, doesn't seem like big deal to me.

 

[Damselfish]

So clearly it wasn't a private boat just for your class. I've been on plenty of boats where an instructor had a couple of students, and there were other people on the boat simply to go diving or bubblewatch or whatever. I'm going to go off with my buddy and do my thing, and the class taking place is not relevant to me.

Not all divers dive with guides. Some boats don't even put a guide in the water. It's somewhat a local or regional thing. If the instructor is actually babysitting other divers underwater while supposedly teaching a class that's not good and probably against standards. If the other people were just on the boat to get to the dive site, no problem.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

only a divemaster, no instructor?

 

[Jollymon32]

If you dove with your instructor, you are fine.

 

[Chavodel8en]

Was this in California? The usual in California (unlike more touristy areas of the world) is that certified divers just pay for the boat ride, there is no divemaster for them, divers do their own thing. Did the divers dive independently of the divemaster?

Edit - the presence of all the snorkelers leads me to think maybe it wasn't California.

 

[schmibm]

5 seeks to be best