Quote:
Originally Posted by samdive
I TOTALLY agree with the reduction, I can't believe we didn't put it in before.
For sure, teaching an AIDA ** course in cold, dark UK water, it is a hell of a lot harder to get a student to 16m than to get them to do the same dive in Dahab (which would not qualify for any reduction).
Only problem is that, so far, the reduction is only in place for requirements at instructor level. I'd like it put in across all the courses - but no reply so far on that from the EC
Personally, cold makes a difference to me (makes my dive worse because shivering interrupts relaxation so much) but bad vis actually helps. No matter how many times I tell myself not to, I look down and if I can see the plate miles away I chicken out... luckily where we dive, when you can see it, normally you can get to it pretty quickly! So I need to dive in murky warm water - where is that???
For students though, I think bad vis can be pretty scary
S
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Hmmm ... my opinion on the matter of diving conditions during a course is that it is up to the instructor to decide not to conduct a given open water session or the entire course if the conditions are so unfavourable as to significantly affect the students' performances.
This is the reason why here in Greece most instructors do not organise courses between December and March (and we are talking of water temp of 13-14C nothing as arctic as 8-9C).
I think more important than the actual performances the students are able to achieve during the course is the enjoyment they are meant to get out of it... and I think it is quite hard for people (especially an inexperienced diver doing a 1* or 2*) to enjoy themselves getting in 9C water which drops to 5-6C a few meters deeper with a visibility under 1m...
I therefore believe it is not in the best interests of the students (and their enjoyment of the course) or the AIDA education system in general if we start introducing "enviromental conditions performance reductions" ...
The way I look at it if a person is meant to dive to 32m for a 4* diving to 25-26m is not the same no matter what the conditions are... (the bottom line is that this student will not have dived to the required depth)
Cheers Stavros
