Scuba 'Rodeo' - Ideas?

[Colliam7]

We are looking at the idea of holding a 'rodeo'-like event at one of our dive club summer outings at a local quarry - something a) in which members would enjoy participating, b) that have a 'competition' air about it [e.g. points awarded for skill, winner(s) would be the diver(s) with the most points], and c) which would emphasize useful scuba skills. This would not be an 'Iron man' competition, I don't want it to involve endurance, or an activity that would be likely to cause a diver to put aside basic safety principles in order to win (e.g. an air use 'contest' where participants might be tempted to save air by skip breathing or something absurd like that).

I have been thinking along the lines of 1) a navigation exercise, 2) a buoyancy exercise (swim through suspended hoops without touching, or without moving, the hoops), 3) a DSMB deployment exercise as a starting point. point.

It would be very helpful to hear from other divers / club members, who may have conducted (or participated in) such an activity: what did you do, what worked, what didn't, etc. Useful input is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RainPilot]

Underwater limbo dancing. Succession of lower thin pvc bars to be cleared without touching the bottom or using the wing after commencing i.e. Hands in front. All breath control of buoyancy and non-silting stuff.

Easter egg hunt. Do a SAR exercise and have a timer on finding the hidden items.

Timed navigation exercises with tags to be collected at waypoints.

Get one of those underwater torpedo toys and see who can throw furthest or most accurately (Underwater Quarterback)

 

[Charles2]

A local dive shop put one of these on at a local quarry last year. There was a navigation exercise - the next bearing was on a card placed at the bottom of the float line - time started when buddy pairs submerged and stopped when they came up (at the correct finish point). There was a timed 'gear assembly' - only it had to be done blindfolded - your buddy was allowed to review your progress, but not touch anything. There was another navigation exercise where the next bearing was listed as a 'multiple choice' answer to a question. I can't remember the rest of the exercises, but do remember having a good time. I took my grandson and let him perform all the exercises while I just cruised as a buddy - and paid entry fees and bought gas.

 

[Diver0001]

What about an (appropriate) obstacle course with one diver leading another one with either no mask or a blinded mask through it.

We do this during net training in the pool but if you wanted to do something that didn't involve the chance of actually getting tangled up then you could do it with buoyancy diamonds and traffic cones where they would need to change depth and direction and communicate with touch what to do. To add complexity you could add way stations where the blind folded diver needed to perform a task with help from his/her buddy.

R..

 

[Colliam7]

Man, you guys are GOOD! Thanks for the ideas so far - and keep them coming!

 

[Colliam7]

I took my grandson and let him perform all the exercises while I just cruised as a buddy - and paid entry fees and bought gas.

What a great grandfather you are! Kudos to you.

 

[tbone1004]

We are looking at the idea of holding a 'rodeo'-like event at one of our dive club summer outings at a local quarry - something a) in which members would enjoy participating, b) that have a 'competition' air about it [e.g. points awarded for skill, winner(s) would be the diver(s) with the most points], and c) which would emphasize useful scuba skills. This would not be an 'Iron man' competition, I don't want it to involve endurance, or an activity that would be likely to cause a diver to put aside basic safety principles in order to win (e.g. an air use 'contest' where participants might be tempted to save air by skip breathing or something absurd like that).

I have been thinking along the lines of 1) a navigation exercise, 2) a buoyancy exercise (swim through suspended hoops without touching, or without moving, the hoops), 3) a DSMB deployment exercise as a starting point. point.

It would be very helpful to hear from other divers / club members, who may have conducted (or participated in) such an activity: what did you do, what worked, what didn't, etc. Useful input is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

can we have a DPV lasso competition with reels? that is totally what I think of when I think of a scuba rodeo.... Kind of like chasing students, but we get points for it

 

[Bubblesong]

I would love to have a "critter spotting scavenger hunt" but the critters make their own plans!

 

[WarrenZ]

How about a side competition like dive poker. Laminate 2 decks of cards with a washer on the back side. Cut them out and spread them across the quarry. The diver can only hold dive cards at a time no trading find a sixth card you must discard one of your cards. Best 5 card hand wins.

 

[WarrenZ]

One more idea hide a prize chit or a few on land and give a clue each day or every few hours so that everyone can look for it during surface intervals and to get the non divers of the group involved.