Comments on: Family dive instruction - stressful! http://soldave.thedeepstop.com/2007/04/16/family-dive-instruction-stressful/ Scuba diving in Okinawa, and all things to do with Japan Tue, 2 Dec 2008 19:46:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Big in Japan | No rest for the wicked… http://soldave.thedeepstop.com/2007/04/16/family-dive-instruction-stressful/#comment-2462 Big in Japan | No rest for the wicked… Wed, 23 May 2007 02:06:05 +0000 http://soldave.thedeepstop.com/2007/04/16/family-dive-instruction-stressful/#comment-2462 [...] The good news though is that I have certified another 2 PADI Open Water divers in the past 7 days, with the parents of the family I started to teach (the one I initially found a big challenge). The father had no problems and with the mother it was simply a case of her doing the mask skills (mask flood & clear, and mask remove & replace) once and realising there was nothing much to it. I think they have both learnt a lot from the course, and realised that diving is not something to be taken lightly. That seems to be one minor gripe I have with many of the training agencies at the moment - how easy they portray diving to be. About 20-30 years ago, diving was considered a very technical and specialized activity. I mean, what sane person would want to strap a steel tank filled with compressed air onto their backs and jump into the ocean (see left)? But then PADI started to open up the industry and throughout the 80s and 90s it became increasingly popular. A number of other training agencies started up and diving began to be promoted as a pastime for the masses. The problem now seems to be that they are suggesting that absolutely anyone can do diving. While this is true and diving is more accessible than ever before, it must never be forgotten that diving is an extreme activity and does require a certain amount of mental and physical toughness. Not only do you have to carry a steel/aluminium tank on your back when getting in and out of the water, you also may have some weight to carry, as well as they other equipment. It is a physical activity and you need to be in reasonable shape to do it. Which is why I am now asking to meet all of my student before the course begins so I can just assess them and get an idea of how they may perform as divers. [...] […] The good news though is that I have certified another 2 PADI Open Water divers in the past 7 days, with the parents of the family I started to teach (the one I initially found a big challenge). The father had no problems and with the mother it was simply a case of her doing the mask skills (mask flood & clear, and mask remove & replace) once and realising there was nothing much to it. I think they have both learnt a lot from the course, and realised that diving is not something to be taken lightly. That seems to be one minor gripe I have with many of the training agencies at the moment - how easy they portray diving to be. About 20-30 years ago, diving was considered a very technical and specialized activity. I mean, what sane person would want to strap a steel tank filled with compressed air onto their backs and jump into the ocean (see left)? But then PADI started to open up the industry and throughout the 80s and 90s it became increasingly popular. A number of other training agencies started up and diving began to be promoted as a pastime for the masses. The problem now seems to be that they are suggesting that absolutely anyone can do diving. While this is true and diving is more accessible than ever before, it must never be forgotten that diving is an extreme activity and does require a certain amount of mental and physical toughness. Not only do you have to carry a steel/aluminium tank on your back when getting in and out of the water, you also may have some weight to carry, as well as they other equipment. It is a physical activity and you need to be in reasonable shape to do it. Which is why I am now asking to meet all of my student before the course begins so I can just assess them and get an idea of how they may perform as divers. […]

]]> By: Bim http://soldave.thedeepstop.com/2007/04/16/family-dive-instruction-stressful/#comment-2350 Bim Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:47:05 +0000 http://soldave.thedeepstop.com/2007/04/16/family-dive-instruction-stressful/#comment-2350 Could be worse hon, you could be teaching me and the folks...! Now that would be an interesting dive session... Bim x Could be worse hon, you could be teaching me and the folks…! Now that would be an interesting dive session…

Bim x

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