week 1 - OWD, Scuba Diver, DSD, ... life as an instructor

Since I had 2 days off last week (unplanned), this will be a week with 7 working days - or not! The weather also has something to say about it....

Monday(12/5/2022) - exciting plan for the day; Yesterday (of course after I left the base and therefore couldn't prepare anything anymore) I got the information: "Monday you work in Puerto Maroma. First continue with the Open Water Diver course ("OWDC") with the Swiss, and then with the guests from Germany". So again with rental equipment, not with my documents, ... And yes, it turned out then: Dive at 10:30 a.m. with the two Swiss PLUS a DSD participant and her (certified) companion, then the 2nd dive for the Swiss in the sea at the same time as the first dive with the participants from Germany, and finally only the 2nd dive for these two. (Note: with both couples it was so that, she did the course while he was certified but hadn't been diving for a few years). So from optimal 2 dives, each with 2 course participants plus accompaniment, to 3 dives with mixed programs.... Funny to watch again: Buoyancy control can be transferred by touch - at least for DSD participants! Unfortunately, the customer from Germany could not find a better solution, the return flight was booked for Tuesday; Therefore, the certification as "Scuba Diver" with extension ("Scuba Diver" is part of the training for "Open Water" divers, but only requires dives 1-3 in the pool & 1 & 2 in open water. However, you can then only go diving in the company of a diving instructor...). In any case, I was just exhausted in the evening - and happy!

Tuesday - more in the text for customers from Switzerland! OW 3 & 4 and thus the completion of the Open Water Diver training were on the program! Additional challenge: high waves. The special thing about it: take off the buoyancy compensator on the surface and put it on again! Sitting on this thing (the easiest way to put it on) is a balance challenge even in the pool, now do it in 2m waves at short intervals! The good thing about it: once you master this, all other situations in which you have to do it are child's play! (Thank God we did "pulling a tired diver" yesterday!) But then dive OW4 was very relaxed - especially underwater! That means at the end of the day I was allowed to take a justifiably proud "fresh"

Wednesday- back to my home base! And to great delight with a freshly minted diving instructor colleague who passed her exam at the 2nd attempt! Exciting again: I knew that she was coming to Maroma because we had 3 (read: in reality 4) Spanish-speaking DSD participants. But no info what was "intended" for me; so a little surprise when 2 customers from America were already pointing at me when I checked in at the hotel's security service. You would have booked a Nitrox course! Yes, that's possible - so ask them what they've already done (read theory, take an online quiz, other) and just take them to the base. The nitrox course is relatively easy and can generally be completed within a day, also because you don't have to do a dive for it! In the shop I found out: oh, not really planned today, I'm going diving with 2 certified customers! Funnily enough, one of the divers was in Puerto Aventuras on Monday. Alright, so the two of them are equipped (jacket, regulator, fins, etc.). In between, the Americans showed up again and asked me to show them how to analyze a nitrox bottle. It's part of the course, so that's quickly inserted. And agreed: when I come back from diving, we'll do the final test, which always has to be done in the presence of a diving instructor), then they analyze one bottle each and that's the course! Back to the other two divers: get on the boat! Yes, that's where this week's photo came from! 2m waves at 1m water level are not easy even for me who is in the water a lot, especially if you then take a customer's weight belt so that he can swim. Due to the advanced time we then headed for the next dive site in the south: Pared Faro! (Maya for "Lighthouse Wall"). A nice dive site with a small wall between 2 and 4m high with many moraines, lobsters and every now and then a crab... But only when you come down. The jacket of the customer from Spain inflated itself! Therefore: abort and everyone back to the surface! When a diver is unable to descend after several years of inactivity, the first thought is: "Not enough weight!" Of course, that doesn't help if the jacket is constantly filling up with air. The solution to the problem: Disconnect the hose and attach it again! (Background: the connection from the hose to the inflator is not standardized, ie each manufacturer can use "his" system. As a result, there are around 12 different solutions, all of which are identical at first glance and differ only by millimeters - diameter, punch length or spring travel. And you can use practically any combination, but only if it is optimally connected! And that's where the problem lies - just plugging it together isn't always enough!) In any case, after an involuntary interruption, we continued our dive, and it was really nice! Back on board, back to the beach - to accommodate the DSD participants! Or not... Although we were back almost 30 minutes later than usual - who didn't wait for us on the beach were the DSDs! But it wasn't bad because one of "my" divers got really sick on the way back - the waves clearly haven't gotten any smaller in the meantime, if they've gotten bigger! So we swam to the beach, got washed up, the DSDs were still in the pool! Afterwards I heard that it was a family with a son who kept discussing with the father whether that was really necessary... In any case, one diver said that diving was over for him today, he'll be fine bad if he only sees the boat dancing on the waves! And in my opinion it would not be reasonable for the DSDs - who have no experience with submersibles and possibly not with waves of this magnitude either; even less with a child! So that was for our "Marinero" (" while our (equipment) room and the training room are a bit apart) to pick up 2 customers there (one of them the wife of the diver who didn't get sick) and get the information: The nitrox course will continue tomorrow or the day after, both of them drove back to their hotel! So back to the training room and did the theory there in German and English and then picked up the equipment from the shop and jumped into the pool! 20 minutes in the water, blow off the mask, take the regulator out of your mouth and back again, plus a few other exercises and then went diving in the pool! Thank goodness the pool in Maroma is quite deep for a hotel pool at almost 2.5m! (Most hotel pools offer little more than 1.2m water depth!) So you can summarize: Wednesday was a varied day!

Thursday - a very short day for a change: No diving today due to the waves and wind (see photo). But: I held my first Nitrox course! You don't have to go diving for that, it's enough to take a theory test and analyze a bottle with EAN ("Enriched Air", enriched air, i.e. more oxygen, less nitrogen) and check on the dive computer or in special tables how deep you can dive with it.

Friday - Weather-wise the same as Thursday, but without a course...

Saturday - diving again today! With 2 French Canadians, both very experienced. Unfortunately, visibility was pretty poor because the waves and the wind drove a lot of sand in the water, but we still had 2 relaxing dives!

Sunday- A teaching/learning day! 3 English-speaking Open Water Diver certified divers were announced, 3 came - but Spanish-speaking! It doesn't matter, it's a language underwater anyway! On the plan were OWD1 & 2, i.e. gaining initial experience for diving in open water with the first exercises (partially flooding the mask, taking the regulator out of your mouth, ....). The first dive went quite well - apart from a few initial difficulties. (Air underwater takes a bit of time to generate the buoyancy one desires, impatient individuals are clearly at a disadvantage...). Diving is sport (almost all divers are tired after a day in the water), but it should be done very relaxed and with leisure. After a short stay at the beach (unfortunately one certified diver got sick) back out and prepare for the 2nd dive - Eden Rock. Unfortunately, what I feared was confirmed: low visibility (5m) at the first dive site means no visibility (3m) at Eden Rock. Well, it's good if you experience something like that during a diving course, because then you're prepared if it happens again later... In any case: descent along the mooring line, one student isn't there at the bottom --> everyone climbs up again. On the surface: "no, no, everything is fine", so descend again. Bottom: Schoolgirl isn't there... Everyone back to the surface... (Note: I checked every 30cm depth if everything was fine, and all the way down to the bottom were there, only at the last check... one gone). .. above so: " The problem with the whole thing: due to the loss of time, we only had a very limited amount of time under water to do all the exercises AND to go diving a bit! Nevertheless, we got everything under one roof and in the end all 3 thanked us for the great experience and the good course! I just think it's a shame when a course fails because of the equipment, that's just not professional.... On the other hand: if the customers say thank you for a great experience and a good course, it can't have been that bad. Even if it's still frustrating as a teacher. Nevertheless, we got everything under one roof and in the end all 3 thanked us for the great experience and the good course! I just think it's a shame when a course fails because of the equipment, that's just not professional.... On the other hand: if the customers say thank you for a great experience and a good course, it can't have been that bad. Even if it's still frustrating as a teacher. Nevertheless, we got everything under one roof and in the end all 3 thanked us for the great experience and the good course! I just think it's a shame when a course fails because of the equipment, that's just not professional.... On the other hand: if the customers say thank you for a great experience and a good course, it can't have been that bad. Even if it's still frustrating as a teacher.