Ultimate Diver Challenge

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frothchild

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Location
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welcome aboard
 
HI, Well....I am not sure if my opinion counts since I am the director..LOL...but I am going to send this link out to my data base for those that attended can respond....so you can hear direct from them ;-)
My opinion -- It was fun, it was challenging and it was WORK....
I enjoyed seeing the raw footage since I was not under water during the challenges -- and it was very interesting to see the different dynamics used to work together in teams. You could see the divers working together and at times the plan or equipment just did not work. We had dive shop owners, instructors, advanced divers, course director, dive masters, and even a few locals but in each challenge divers could identify with skills that needed work.
We are very excited about next year and almost 100 percent that came have committed to joining us again next year. You can see pieces of the challenge on the website...
Watch the webisodes ;-) I hope you enjoy them.
Either way, I will forward the thread to those that attended....so that they can respond to your inquiry.. Pam
 
I think the Ultimate Diver Challlenge is a very cool event. It is like Survivor for scuba divers. The challenges tested the divers basic (and slightly advanced) scuba skills such as buoyancy control, compass navigation, and the ability to follow directions. Working together as a team and agreeing upon who would do what became a very important part of the challenges.

I was there as the Underwater Photograpy judge. One of the people who had travelled from a long way away in Mexico needed a buddy because his scheduled teammate was having ear trouble. So I filled in. It was tons of fun. We had a plan; methodology and really enjoyed ourselves.

Plus since the challenges were held at a shore diving site that I had not yet dived, it gave us the opportunity to see another site. The water was crystal clear with lots of juvenile fishes. The second time at that site I brought my camera and got some really good shots.

The Discover Cozumel Land Race was done in teams of 4. We had an excellent taxi driver who was way more than a drivert. He was so thrilled to be a part of our team. Without him, our team could not have won first place in that event.

I gave photo tips to the underwater photographers. They all improved their skills.

Another one of the elements of this event that I really enjoyed was the fact that the participants could do an fun two-tank dive in the morning and then do the Challenges in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to the 2009 Ultimate Diver Challenge.

Nancy Boucha
 
Thanks Nancy for joining us this past year and for sharing your thoughts! You will have to watch the raw footage at some point with you and Eric taking the challenges! Pretty fun stuff and you were a trooper stepping in so that he would have a dive buddy!
I need to add that building the challenges were some times a bigger challenge than diving the challenge. It certainly was a bigger job than I ever imagined. But I too had fun!
Pam
 
Hey there (Hi Pam!!)

I was one of the participants in the UDC and I had an absolute blast!! The challenge encouraged my buddy and I to practice both here in Cali and once we got to Mexico, which made me a better diver and a better buddy. The skills weren't difficult but you did need to control your buoyancy and KNOW your navigation. Pam and Dave worked so hard to make it work and did just a fabulous job! We are definitely going to be going again in 2009, we've got our dive club Pacific Reef Kelp Dwellers and we're already starting to recruit them as participants in the challenge, safety divers or judges. We got to know all the 2008 participants and everyone was really terrific, for example, I had an unfortunate incident occur (not related to the diving) and could not finish the challenge but one of the local participants (Thank you Jeremy!) in the event called a doctor he knew to help me out. They say divers are the friendliest and that was evident because even though we were competing against each other, we were all still rooting for each other.

If you are thinking about going, do it!! I can guarantee that you won't regret it!!
 
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the many that are curious. We are going to have LOTS of fun this year ----- more challenges and more fun! I can hardly wait. You got it, it was a lot of work but Dave and I enjoyed it. Our Industry needs to allow divers to be recognized for being good at skills....Games, challenges, skills make it more fun! We had over $15,000 in trips-prizes-and products donated last year to give away.
SEA you in COZUMEL this summer! Pam
 

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