Veteran Divers paired with Newbies

[scubadada]

Many of the boats I dive off do not put a DM in the water, the flag is taken by a member of the group. Some divers prefer to shoot a SMB and ascend on that instead of the flag. In very brisk current, it is not always easy to stay with the line and flag and the SMB might be a better idea anyway. I would be glad to help a new diver shoot a SMB if they were able to do that, many new divers do not have that skill, or the equipment. When I dive with a new diver that I have any concern about, or if they are anxious, I will simply ascend with them, make sure that they are picked up, and then go back down to finish my dive. This works out just fine for me as a newer diver may have a bottom time of 45 minutes or so, whereas, my average dive on the reef in Boynton Beach is usually 70-75 minutes. I enjoy helping newer divers improve their skills and gain confidence so that they can become safe, independent divers

I have quite a few dive profiles that look something like this. I was diving with a young husband and wife. The husband had about 20-25 dives, the wife only a couple after certification. Neither had ever done a drift dive. At the beginning of the dive, the woman could not get down because she was underweighted. I surfaced, the boat came back around, and I helped her get properly weighted. At about 8 minutes, one of her weight pouches fell out and she started up. I grabbed the weight pouch off the bottom, caught her, and secured her weights. At some point, her tank came loose, that was an easy fix. At just over 50 minutes, I ascended with both of them to the SS and then went on to continue my dive. She did much, much better on the 2nd dive and they ascended together without me, no problems. The next day, they dove with another couple and did just fine. I dived my myself, as I usually do, but crossed paths with them once, they both gave me an OK and a smile. It's worth it.

 

[TMHeimer]

I haven't had really any bad experiences on charter dives with buddies. But I do agree with those who don't want their dive messed up if spending a lot of money travelling far afield. I too enjoy buddying with a new diver if it's local, and have done so a few times. It's nice to be useful.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

There have been a lot of threads over the years here that addressed the issues associated with undertrained divers. They always seem to spiral out of control with a lot of back and forth between veteran divers and new age instructors who defend current training.
It's a can we should probably leave alone on this thread, but since we're discussing new divers being paired with veterans and why veterans may cringe at the thought, maybe we need to revisit the topic.

Some of the last couple posts and the great stories about adventures with noobs on charter boats gave me a pretty good chuckle. I've been there done that in Hawaii with brand new students (resort check out dives done on the trip) and at the the GBR with a bunch of Japanese. Quite eye opening to say the least, but even as a nOOb myself at the time I new better with some of the antics just based on where I was trained and where I had done all my 50 dives at the time prior to the trip.
I haven't done nearly the travelling some of you here have and I can only imagine some of the things you've seen.

I do believe divers these days are undertrained for even the most basic dives, and geographic influence has a lot to do with it. I know time and money are an issue with OW training, but IMO from what I see, new divers simply aren't getting enough time behind the wheel with their instructors or class DM's both in the pool and in open water to work out some of the bugs and gain better confidence and skills before being kicked out into the real world of diving. So with that said I don't believe the majority of fresh OW divers world wide are capable of planning and executing a full length dive on their own safely.
They say OW is just a learners permit, which is fine it is, but even at that, as many veterans have experienced with new divers, they're just too green for the real world dives, even hand hold dives with paid DM's, they just haven't been underwater enough and there is no fast track for that. IMO they need to know more. I don't know how they can implement that but cranking people through the mill in three days looking at it as a money making venture isn't doing anybody any favors. Some of these people have never been snorkeling or even in the water at all!
The learners permit thing is an interesting idea but who's to say they will always be able to dive or be mentored by a vet or instructor while they get their first several dozen critical learning dives?
I just think that as a dive community and those that are proffesionals in the industry, we could do a lot better.

 

[KeithG]

lots of good comments and ideas in the thread. i claim it all depends upon your mind set.

i always travel with my divebuddy, but we have been asked several times if a noob can join us. we are warm water vacation divers and do simple slow shallow dives (maybe that is why we get asked?). it has never been a problem. we establish ahead of time what their expectations and limitations are. we plan a 2 part dive: first part is based on their limits (usually depth and air), we see them back to the boat and then continue the second part of the dive.

if i was traveling without my divebuddy, i believe I would continue to do the same and would finish the last part of the dive solo. with the type of dives we do, spending the last 15 (or 20 or 30) minutes of the dive at 15 feet wandering around near the boat is no issue. I see this happening all of the time.