Resort Courses / Discover Scuba courses versus certification

[fjpatrum]

As someone who never knew about DSD courses before I got my cert, I find I am often recommending them, with caveats, to people who say they've wanted to try diving but aren't 100% committed to it.

I definitely make sure to tell people they should do a DSD if they have pool sessions, rather than only open water. That said, a buddy did a DSD that he loved and it was all open water. As with all the other advice about classes on Scubaboard, it's about the instructor, not the class.

 

[Aigtbootbp]

Simple question, without the DSD courses how many people would have never gotten into diving including members here?
I wouldn't have even though I had considered it for years.

 

[CT Sean]

Simple question, without the DSD courses how many people would have never gotten into diving including members here?
I wouldn't have even though I had considered it for years.

My wife and I would most definitely not have gotten certified if we hadn't done DSD's on two seperate occasions. My wife spend much of her life afraid of the water and even after I "cured" her of that (her words!), it is extremely unlikely she would have been willing to commit the time and money to get certified without being able to sample diving first. I would not have been certified since I would not want to be diving on my own.

 

[ashley z]

A lot of people said it depends on the instructor for if a discover class is safe or not. Does anyone have advice on what someone should look for in a company? I've been trying to research, but having a hard time finding much unbiased information. We are going to Oahu in mid-April and interested in doing a discovery course in the open ocean. My sister and I are both newly graduated from college and not sure we are ready to invest the time or money in a full time certification yet, but also nervous about how safe the discovery courses are.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[jnorris]

I might be considered a bit of an authority on "Discover SCUBA" courses since I've taken so many of them! I did no less than 4 DC (or "resort courses" if you will) before finally getting certified. I have to say that, without the DC courses I probably never would have made the move to certification. I think that's true of a lot of people.

Regarding the courses I took, all 4 were very well done, with a great emphasis on safety, and I felt each operator was reputable and recommendable. I have never had a bad experience. I recommend DS courses to anyone who is interested in trying SCUBA.

That being said, I do NOT recommend doing 4 of them before getting certified. Long story on why I did that, and I won't bore you with that. But looking back with my 20/20 hindsight I should have went ahead with my certification after the first one, or at the latest after the second one. Anyway, better late than never I say, but a well run DS course is a good thing for the sport if you ask me.

 

[Crowley]

I teach resort courses, amongst other things, for a living... but I am fortunate to work for a dive centre which believes in safety first and money second.

I am well aware of the fast dollar roll-em-in, roll-em-out resort courses, and I dislike this approach immensely, but for the most part they are conducted without serious problems. The DSD is a good marketing tool which works really well - at least 3 (that I know of) former DSDs of mine have gone on to become instructors, and many upgrade to the full open water certification.

There are always going to be the nay-sayers who will criticise the concept as "diving-lite" and unsafe, and on the other side of the coin, there are indeed dive centres which put the almight dollar before safety in the hope that nothing will go wrong.

Taught properly and conducted by a good instructor, they can be awesome, indeed life-changing experiences, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was safe and also really cool.

It's not for everybody, but as a number of people on here have already attested to - they did a DSD, got hooked, and started diving. It would also appear that these folks are very much still alive.

Have a good look around, talk to instructors and guides, get information from Scubaboard, make sure you're comfortable with the process, recommend schools and instructors with whom you have first-hand experience. If it was really so unsafe, there would be bodies floating into the bay by the thousand, so clearly it's not true - but there are shops and employees out there who shouldn't be operating, so a little caution is required.

Dive safe, and if you love it, live it.

C.

 

[Crowley]

double post, sorry.

 

[Kenny13]

Simple question, without the DSD courses how many people would have never gotten into diving including members here?
I wouldn't have even though I had considered it for years.

I got into diving without a DSD course. I had wanted to try diving for years but didn't have anyone to do it with. When my son-in-law asked me if my son & I wanted to get certified with him and a few of his friends I jumped on the opportunity. However, a few days after we got certified I was talking with a friend and she had told me she tried to get certified several years ago and after spending all the money on the course and her personal gear, she could not equalize in the pool no matter how hard she tried so she gave up. I honestly had never heard of DSD before I got certified, but I think in her case it would have been a good idea and probably worthwhile for anyone considering diving as long as they get the right instructor.

 

[johnatabc]

Done properly, I think DSD is an excellent way into diving - conditions must be right - time in pool to get familiarity with equipment and being underwater and then small group in sea with DSD's only - too much conflict of interest if group includes certified divers.

I also liked doing referral from UK to Greece for OW. My experience was that it gave proper attention to detail for theory and pool sessions which minimised stress in first OW sessions.

As others have said - all depends upon the actual operator.

John

 

[mstclaire]

I am an MSDT with quite a bit of tech experience and I also pay most of my bills teaching DSD. I always try to go a bit beyond the standards and I cover a few skills in the pool including buoyancy control, because I want my customers to come away with a real understanding of what diving is about. After the pool session I take my customers(no more than 2 because I only have 2 hands) to a shallow secluded bay with minimal boat traffic...I always inform my customers about the importance of not holding there breath and how to equalize..We then rerun all skills in water that they can stand up in at the edge of the ocean (although not always with perfect balance due to some swell) . I they are comfortable and dont seem to nervous I will begin to take them on a tour of the site....Mainly no deeper than 15 feet unless they are really diving well. I keep my divers to my side so they are always within arms reach but I try not to hold them the whole time as its difficult to see if they are try to go up. If anyone has a problem where possible we always ascend together. I have had issues which mainly arise due to organizations/people not declaring physical problems but ive never had an injured customer and they almost always leave happy...

The biggest problem I see with DSD/Resort Course is that a lot of companies around the world dont pay enough attention to the standards... I quite often see pool sessions skipped or unsupervised and Ive come across many situations where a DM with DSD leader has been sent to open water with the customer for the first dive and the standards do state that the first open water dive can only be done by an instructor.

Also Instructors taking pictures during DSD is another distraction..We all want to make a bit of extra money but it shouldnt be at the risk of our customers.If they are going to take photos it should at least be an additional instructor or dm doing it.


Unfortunately unless PADI and other organizations are made aware of shop breaching regulations I cant foresee things improving .. DSD is a valuable tool to introduce people to diving but the experience should be thorough and safe....

Just my 2 cents