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Here is some more food for thought on the subject.............and I may not agree or disagree with all that is said. This comes form several converstations I have heard over the past several months. Diving over the past several years has decreased, not increased, in popularity. Yeah, we've seen an increase in "tech" diving, but why is it that so many dive stores live hand to mouth? 5 in the past 20 months in NY alone (that I know of) have gone out of business, and so have several dive charter operations. Scuba is the only sport I know of that requires training to particiapte in it, and a lot of it to be good. Most "prospects" that are interested in a scuba course (beginner level) don't have the time. With the increase in popularity of other recreational activities (jet skis, boating, roller blading, snow boarding, golf, etc), we are seeing a decrease in enrollment in scuba programs. Most people are lazy by nature, and want immediate gratification in the sport they enroll in. They do not want to have to train to have fun. Adding a fitness program will only hurt enrollment. Now lets add to this "tech" diving. Over the past 8 years or so we have seen tech diving"come out of the closet". I see divers and instructors now diving on wrecks that used to only be dived on with single tanks and wetsuits. Now, they are doing the SAME DIVE with doubles, 2 reels, 5 lights,2 lift bags, line cutters, strobes, marker buoys, 6 knives, 3 surface markers, epirbs, and all kinds of other crap. The new diver gets on the dive boat, see's all this stuff, and never comes back. The new tech diver wannabee with all of his sophisticated equipmet that I just mentioned, does that exact same dive as the "recreational diver" who dived with a single aluminum 80. It's pathetic to say the least. Since tech diving has "come out", we've seen an increase in tech diving and a decrease in recreational diving enrollment. Since the community of divers in relation to diving Instructors may be out of proportion for our market ( too many instructors, not enough divers), divers seeking education tend to look for the instructor who can teach the course the fastest, and sometimes the cheapest. (Last year alone I know of three of my own customers who took a tri- mix course with a very "popular Tech instructor", The course was cheap, and quick. The three students completed two dives to appx. 180 feet, no visibility with one instructor, and completed one skill, valve isolation. That was their program, now they carry a tri-mix certification card. One of the students told me he "can't believe it") Sure, divers on this list are more aware, but this list I am sure represents zilch in the overall number of divers being trained that do not subscribe to this list. Physcial training should not be required for entry level diving (but grossly overweight and out of shape individuals should be excluded). Lets be real here, diving in the carribean at 30 feet is pretty easy, which probably represents the majority of dives being conducted in the world today. Tech diving is something of a different animal, and justifiably so, a certain level of physical fitness should be a requirement. Recreational agencies should concentrate on making their programs easier, more refined, more fun, and spend more of their $$ on getting people into diving, like Dacor, who is taking out adds in popular magazines that are not dive related. Tech agencies should stop certifying instructors, and concentrate on fixing the ones they have. There should be a common ground among the tech agencies as to what is proper training, and who conducts it. Dive stores and Dive boats should be held up to the same standard as the agency-otherwise what's the point. Safe diving, Raimo -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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