I think that OW should be more extensive. It should have a minimum of 20 hours of class room time, 20 to 30 hours of pool time and have 10 openwater dives. A course should take six weeks to complete at least. It should include nitrox training and should familiarize students with a broader variety of gear. I think the concept of advanced openwater should be eliminated. An O/W course should be the equivalent of a 3 hour semester college course in terms of time spent on the learning process.
Yes, this would mean fewer certs. But we would have more of those certs diving after certification. The present system churns people through and provides little incentive for them to continue with the activity. It is a cash cow for the store to sell mask, fins and snorkels to the students, not to produce a diver with an adequate skill set to be comfortable in the water. As Internet sales take away more business from local dive shops, we will continue to see a consolidation of the industry. As training becomes the only unique item that the store sells, some changes will result. If standards were increased in the manner I suggest, we would see more retail sales not less, because the students would be in the store more and be exposed to more equipment. They would also develop more personal relationships with store personnel and this would lead to more diving activity and more sales of trips, gear, and advanced training. If agencies have reduced standards they have done a disservice to the industry.
While this sounds wonderful in theory, I feel that it would eliminate/alienate plenty of curious people from dive training altogether. I can only speak for myself, of course, but at this stage, I may not necessarily have a *burning, all-consuming desire* to learn diving -- but I am genuinely interested and curious!
I'm not opposed to a 6 week course, but I wonder what the costs involved would be. Just because someone is interested in diving at the start, doesn't mean they'll continue to be after the course is over. They'd probably be hesitant to put down (for example) $1000+ for a course that may not amount to anything due to lack of interest afterward. But if people could take an *intro* course that would expose them to the necessary basics in terms of skills, safety and equipment, and wouldn't require an exorbitant sum (both money and time), I think they would be much more inclined to pursue diving with the potential for it to become a *burning desire*/passion/lifestyle/etc.
Another consideration are those that initially learn diving as an activity to do during their upcoming vacation. I sense an *attitude* from some regarding such people, but I view them in two ways:
1. Just because they are only able to dive once or twice a year, does it mean they should be viewed with contempt by lifestyle divers? Their interest may rival that of a lifestyle diver perhaps, but due to finances, responsibilities (children, aging parents, etc.), location, etc., their actual dive time is much less.
2. Just because they took their OW for a vacation or on a vacation, doesn't mean that a holiday pasttime won't one day turn into a lifelong passion.
My point here is had these people's only option been to take a rather costly, time consuming course, they may have overlooked diving altogether.
BTW,
back, drdiver!
