Right On or Rude?

[TheRedHead]

I was diving for a week in Cozumel with a very good DM/Instructor who tries to improve everyone's diving - no matter what level. There are a couple of people on the boat who are diving overweighted and hoovering 120 cf tanks in 30 minutes. On the 2nd day we're crusing to our SI spot and the DM says to these folks that he feels that as an Instructor he has an obligation to his drivers to try and help them. Then he says that obviously they know how to breathe, but it is time they learned how to breathe like scuba divers (one of them had been diving for 10 years).

I think I would have been mortified if he had said that to me in front of other people. I would have probably skip-breathed on my next dive and passed out just to show him.

One of the hoovers tried to justify it by saying he was a big guy and used a lot of air. The other one looked kind of sheepish. Yet, the DM kept working with them, taking weight off and tweaking their gear so by the time our trip was over, they were able to keep up with the rest of the group in air consumption and were diving more or less horizontally instead of vertically.

Do you think the DM did the right thing? I personally think he should have had a talk with them in private. And yet I think he did them a huge favor by making them better divers.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

As a new diver, I would have been nothing but grateful, even if I had to suffer a little embarrassment. For the fella who'd been diving for ten years, yeah, it probably stung his pride a little, but the DM's advice was offered in the spirit of being helpful, rather than belittlement, so kudos to him for helping them out.


Welcome back! I'm so envious... I wish I could take another trip to Coz!

 

[H2Andy]

the DM backed up his talk with a good walk, so i say, right on

it's a dangerous tactic, though... can turn someone against you real fast, and
they won't learn from you if they don't want to learn from you

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I have only been to Cozumel once and the boats were pretty small, and there was no "private" place to talk. Having said that the DM should have initiated this conversation in private, or made a blanket statement to everyone that he was willing to offer help to all of the divers on the boat unless any one wanted to reject his assistance up front, before any was offered.

The end result though seems that the divers were able to benefit from this assistance.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Diver Dennis]

He didn't make a general announcement on the boat did he? It's tough to say because I wasn't there but since he did take the time to help these folks out, I don't think he was trying to embarrass them. I would have at least taken them aside.

 

[AndyNZ]

Then he says that obviously they know how to breathe, but it is time they learned how to breathe like scuba divers

If that's a direct quote, then it's a little bit harsh to say in front of a group! Probably would say something similar one-on-one, but would have opted for something more subtle in front of a group.

But like you say, the end result was an improvement in their diving which is never a bad thing. Does the end justify the means? Down to personal opinion and the real opinions that count are of the two guys.

 

[dlndavid]

right on, I've had to end dives with 2000 psi left because of hoovers.

 

[JeffG]

Do you think the DM did the right thing? I personally think he should have had a talk with them in private. And yet I think he did them a huge favor by making them better divers.

If any DM ever deserved a big tip...it is this guy.

 

[fire_diver]

I agree that the DM did the right thing. If they sucked air that bad, they had no business being embarrased by ANY help. The number of years diving doesnt really have any bearing on the quality of the diver. I have known people certified in the early 70's that are still not good divers today. If someone saw an improvement I needed to make, I would hope they would speak up. I would rather be an imbarrased good diver than a sucky confident diver.

FD

 

[TheYellowSubmarine]

If I were the experienced diver, sure I'd be embarrassed if he did it in front of everyone. But if it improved my diving that much, I'd still be grateful for it. Chances are the only people I'd ever see after the trip would be my buddy anyway, and he'd be in the same boat as me (hee hee, I made a pun ).