YMCA is in no way an endangered species. In many areas it is thriving. There are not nearly as many instructors true or Y divers. But there also are very few YMCA instructors if any that would pass some of the divers that PADI and some of their instructors consider fit to dive.
If there are no courses taught at your local YMCA's, why not? Could it be that they do not give their members a chance to see if one would be supported. Or are they like many health clubs? Full of yuppies who want things now. People who would not be willing to put in the time and effort a good Y course entails. The minimum amount of time a Y instructor may spend on instruction(pool and classroom) is 32 hours. 40 is recommended for Open Water. Also Y instructors are not required to issue cards unless THEY are satisfied with a students progress.
One of the problems als oencountered even locally with the Y's in More affluent areas is the number of other courses taught at the pools. More and more people are doing things that were not done years ago. Water aerobics, senior swims, family nights, even water polo, etc making pool time difficult to obtain. ALso some Y's do not even have pools. They have contracts with local high schools for their aquatic programs. This leaves even less time as the schools have their own needs. We have a high school here that has open swim 5 nights a week. From 7:30 to 8:30. I once inquired for a shop about getting pool time. We could. It was available. But we would have had to pay a lifeguard, maintenance man, security guard, plus pool rental fees. Worked out to about 150 bucks. A night! Luckily we have one Y that charges us nothing. We get an hour and a half 2 nights a week. I also have one shop that has an indoor pool that will allow me to teach there for free. All I have to do is refer my students to him for gear. No problem as he is very fair with prices and will deal.
As for sitting in on a lecture when doing PADI DM I was allowed to sit in on a couple. But never allowed to do the lecture or even contribute unless specifically asked. As a YMCA DM we are not only permitted but required to sit in, prepare, and give the lectures to new students under the direct supervision of the instructor of course but the belief is you learn to teach by teaching. Not just sitting and watching. One needs to develop their own style and methods. I can also use any materials to get the lesson across as long as standards are met. This means I can use not only the Y manual but also the NOAA manual, Navy Dive Manual, even cite PADI materials if they help the student get it.
Thursday I'm doing the dive table lecture. One of the things I'll be going over in it as required is emergency deco procedures using deco tables. Not just the extra 5 minute stuff. But actually showing students how to do basic deco calculations on the fly if they are carrying tables which they should be if not using computers. This is for open water. I'm more comfortable with teaching this way as opposed to giving out just the basics.
I agree PADI is big and their marketing machine is a juggernaut. I'm keeping my DM status active with them just to keep up on what's going on and to get the training bulletins. I may be able to use good info for my own courses. But lately most of it's been the e-learning stuff which I have a real issue with and frankly have no use for. I like the face to face contact and the chance to really interact with students and see them actually get it. Not just give em a quick quiz which frankly could be passed by anyone who is good at cramming. Face it. There will be those who abuse this method just like the ones who cut corners now. I don't want to even be associated with it.
One other thing- Y courses are usually less expensive. Ours is on average 100 dollars plus cheaper than any other agency in the area. We are not required to purchase expensive "crew paks", videos, etc. Our students are not required to own the manual even though we tell them it's a good idea to have one. How many PADI divers actually even look at theirs again once they are certed? ANd the Manual for the Y program can be purchased on Amazon used for 15 bucks or less. Heck my Instructor materials were only 106 bucks for everything. I paid more than that just for my PADI instructor manual at level three pricing. It was 107 and change. I'm also not required to have a DM crew pak, rescue crew pak, AOW crew pak, and all the other ones. I've got em. But I coulda saved over 500 bucks in materials alone. My instructor exam- 670 dollars for everything. Cheapest IDC I've seen, complete, is around 2600. DM course usually 299- complete, AI 199- complete, So 500 for those two. BUt I'm already a DM so I'm getting a better rate doing a crossover. I've seen DM course fees alone that are 400 plus. Mine was. That did not include books. So I'm glad you're enjoying your PADI course. I enjoyed mine until the things that I considered to be against my ethics had to be done. I won't push con-ed to those who are not ready. I won't take ow divers and start pushing rescue before they've even got their checkout dives in. I won't make them buy gear and materials they'll likely never use again to make a buck. I'll not make them buy useless materials to teach them skills and knowledge that they can get in the classroom for just the course fee and a $1 notebook and pen. I also refuse to push useless specialties like boat diver, fish ID ( go to any book store and pick up a 10 dollar guide to fishes), or things like manatee awareness that can only be taught by a shop who seems to see it as mantee wrangling and PADI does nothing about it.
Nah. I'm going with an agency that does not conflict with my moral and ethical beliefs. And allows me the freedom to use whatever methods and materials( as long as they do not conflict with the standards) will produce the safest, best qualified divers I can to take part in the sport.
