A Newbie Experience and Fresh Perspective on Scuba Diving, Local Dive Shops, and Instruction!

I am a fairly new diver. I have just enough "training" to get myself the confidence to get myself, and others into trouble. Luckily, I am also fairly self aware and have recognized the above mentioned shortcomings. I have found that SCUBA is a highly unregulated (I will get to this in a minute), rogue, and often shady industry (I will discuss this further also).

SCUBA was one of my BIG dreams from child hood. It was also the last to be checked off the list and, for me, the most enjoyable and relaxing. Having acquired several aviation licenses and recognitions including pilot and maintenance inspector licenses and been employed in the aviation industry, I found that the last one had to fall...SCUBA!!

I found my SCUBA school at a travel and leisure convention and accepted a training offer that I couldn't refuse. $150! What could I lose? A lot as it turns out. It, of course, is not written that they expect you to buy all of your gear from them right away at exaggerated retail prices. The instructor I had was very good and caring and took great effort to take care of his students but was also a loose cannon. Bored with teaching, he soon found himself unemployed after a quick Mexico run for a girl while the boss was away on business. This left me without an instructor I knew or trusted to finish up my last boat dive (beach diving was not part of the curriculum for some reason...hum!!)

I ended up with some numb nut who was probably an extra in fast time at Ridgmont High and never grew up. Needless to say, my final boat dive was neither extraordinary, nore was it a learning experience. All this after spending $1600 on equipment that was functional but not standardized, nor did it fit my needs (another issue with SCUBA today. Standardization of the equipment is crucial to aviation cockpits and should be so for scuba. Both are potentially life threatening endeavors).

As a newbie to the industry, it is my feeling that there needs to be standardization for the basic diving rig. This would serve two functions. 1) The new initiate to the sport will feel more comfortable with the purchase of gear and more confident that they are purchasing something that will last them throughout there training and serve them in the type of diving they plan to do most. 2) It will provide a safety feature for the buddy diving. Knowing where your equipment is one thing, but knowing where your buddies gear is located is crucial!! If you both have the same rig or same configuration, this will be a no brainer.

As for the shady side, there will always be crooks, grifters, and cons out there. This is becoming more and more evident in the financial markets every day. This culling may filter down to the scuba world as the money supply gets tighter and more scuba shops go out of business. Only the strongest, most innovative, and most client focused will survive. This is where building and becoming a scuba community will be the standard for the future of the sport (Friend first, meal ticket second might be the future). Being treated fairly, giving the information readily, training, and support systems to keep the new and initiated in the water are the best ways to keep learning, upgrading, and active in SCUBA.

I hope that the industry figures out these concepts before the diving community becomes nothing but the old timer crags that have faught over the scraps of the sea floor since its inception. I tip my hat to these brave men as they have pushed the bounds so I can be a safer diver and have fun toys to play with safely in the water, but their needs to be a revolution in diving. Lets start here.

~Michael