Posted by Ken Kurtis on July 08, 2002 at 13:35:01:
In Reply to: Hey! What about a beach dive? posted by seahunt on July 08, 2002 at 12:49:12:
Not wanting to sound too smug about this but, from the post: "12 various ocean dives total . . . dealing with variuous situations we'd find out here."
Which part of that was unclear of exclusive of beach dives?
That being said, I do think we have to be careful with beach diving. IMHO, it's the single-greatest turn-off to new divers and I'd personally estimate that maybe only 10% of the people who get certified ever beach dive again, yet close to 100% have that as their first ocean experience. (Can you say, "Conundrum?")
This is why at Reef Seekers, we offer the FREE Beach Diving class as a post-certification experience. Takes it out of the basic class where it might be a negative yet still makes it available to those who would be interested and, because the pressure is off when you're doing the dives (not worrying about not getting certified if you don't do the beach dive) it makes it actually an enjoyable experience.
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, CA