If you read through many of the online scuba diving forums, you’ll probably have noticed that there are a number of similar questions from new divers, or those considering becoming scuba divers. That questions is which training agency should they use? If you are a regular reader here, you’ll know my opinion on the subject. Just for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the training agency was a big factor. [Read more...]

It was only a couple of years ago that I felt something was missing. I believed I was on the right track with my scuba diving instruction. After all I was teaching my scuba diving students to perform skills while neutrally buoyant, asking (OK, forcing) them to a higher level of performance. I thought I was doing things that no other instructor in the Chicago (and probably Midwest) area was doing. But some thing just didn’t feel right. It was difficult to hear what that nagging little voice in my mind was saying. I finally realized what was nagging at me. I was failing. [Read more...]

You already know how this article is going to start don’t you? Just look at the title. You know how this is going to progress. Recently, I was teaching a class at my local quarry. We were on a sunken house boat getting ready to work on some skills and scenarios. We had already ran some line around the boat for my students to use. All of a sudden, about a dozen divers shot down upon us like lightning bolts thrown by Zeus himself. Looks like another Advanced Open Water class, wreck dive had just begun. [Read more...]

I recently popped my head into an online PADI instructor forum. There was a discussion about online courses. It seems, many of the instructors (and dive store owners) were loving these classes. The consensus that I read into the discussion was that those who favored the online courses, liked them because the reduced their work load when teaching the course. I’m not a fan of online scuba classes and I feel they will hurt the scuba diving education business. [Read more...]