Posted by Wayne on August 03, 2001 at 09:20:26:
In Reply to: Discover Scuba Diving - your comments? posted by Diver Chase on August 02, 2001 at 20:30:02:
That place is Hawaii or other warm water destination where there is no bulky exposure suit and a ready market of folks who have been snorkeling every day for a week getting their nerve up for this try at scuba.
What I suspect happened in the case cited is a person with no "water experience" tried to dive. This person was not sufficiently competent in the water for the quicky introduction to work. But in the case of an experienced free diver, it is a way for them to discover what it is about (while being supervised) and see if they want to pursue real training.
Some people are not "water people" when they begin their training. I think this is a large reason for the 7-10% washout rate in a previous thread.
Only last weekend I saw a somewhat similar thing (no experience in water) in an open water class. Two ladies had to be taught how to use a snorkel. Most students have had one in their mouths before! These two students were motivated and comfortable and quickly learned which end of the snorkel goes in the mouth. If these two had been taken on a Discover Scuba Experience, instead of a class with friendly, patient, and good looking staff, they would have certainly hated diving and all aspects of the underwater world.
Like most things, I think the Discover Scuba is a good thing in the right set of circumstances.
Wayne