Who wants to learn Scuba Diving?

[H2OSeekers]

scubaparents, I do not want to spoilt ur thread nor offended u...who knows I might join u in next dive.

But I totally disagreed with u comparing driving to diving. I drive more than 10 yrs and I dive more than 5 yrs. A german friend of mine came to Singapore every year and we got to bring him to dive and we heard lot of bad comment from him on Aisa diving centre. I see many near fatal incidents and many danger jokers ard in diving.  I nearly drowned once coz I am also one of the joker...but I still dive. Maybe we can open up another thread to discuss on danger of diving.

Hi Sotong,

I have dived extensively in Australia and elsewhere, and in fact find diving with certain dive operators in asia to be safer. There are several bad experiences that my wife and I had with different major Oz dive operators that I even wonder, how on earth would anyone want to risk their lives with them. As paying customers, one must exercise caution in selecting operator to dive with, based on recommendations than flashy shop front, handsome instructors and million dollar advertisements.

I have logged numerous dive both leisure and technical and on top of that, I have been teaching diving for almost 7 years and having taught ppl from US Airforce, British Council, American Embassy and etc. When these people going diving back home, the replies I get from them are, they seem to prefer diving with us. Because safety is the upmost priority when we teach or lead dives. And during my time, they were repeat customers. Scubaparent is one of our divemasters. I can personally vouch that he is both entertaining, experienced and safe to dive with.

I admit all sports have risks, having good instructors/operators, proper training, equipment and etc play an important role in minimising this inherent risk. Also there are bad school and good school. Your experience with a bad one, should not warp your perspective and think that all Local operators/schools are unsafe and bad.

I have left the diving scene, because of my son. Time is a commodity that is to be valued and shared with my son and wife.

Dive safe   

[Foxconn]

Dear Scubaparent
Thanks for the invitation. I obtained my Advance certification in Taiwan where I spent 11 years living and have just returned to Singapore 2 weeks ago. My gears are still in Taiwan and also I'm taking care of my daughter alone which forbid me to be away for couple of days. I will definitely join future dive trips once settle down.

Thanks
Raymond

[scubaparents]

Yeah, right on Foxconn, H20! Kudos to you guys for calming those restless hearts! Folks, know yourself, know your limits, know your gut feeling when instructors start cutting corners, know your rights, ask any question when you're unsure of anything during your time under instruction; and even when diving, ask the operator for things, if what you've learnt requires those procedures or equipment present when diving. At the end of the day, you're calling the shots. If you know what's amiss, then you're reached that level of being a learning diver - always treat every dive like your first dive, that way, you'll minimize errors. Remember those drivers you see on the road, after they pass, they forget those basic rules? In diving, you reinforce all that you've learnt from your basic open water instruction days, you keep using it, don't slacken, and you'll be fine!

[Sotong Ball]

Many enjoyed diving, some got into injury and some didn't manage to come back. Dive safe and don't take safety for granted. BTW, I personnally think OZ/Mauritius/Maldive are much professional and put safety in priority than Malaysia/Indonesia/Thailand. I heard diving in some Europe country need to be medically certify and in redsea, medical cert is a must. Sipadan Water Village is one of the best dive operator that I have dived in Asia so far, probably it is managed by Japanese. My dream diving site are Palau (still trying to persude my kaki to go), Redsea (very worry abt shark there) and Tahiti Bora Bora Island (I must go once in my life time!!).

I start to realise this thread looks to me like a commerical post, perhaps I should not even start at the first place. I shall stop here. Below news just to share.

Singapore News   
Doctor starts blog to help divers understand risks when underwater
By Lin Yanqin, TODAY | Posted: 29 June 2007 1049 hrs
   
Each year, five to six diving deaths occur in South-east Asia, and about 25 Singaporean divers fall victim to decompression sickness — a potentially fatal condition that can occur when divers surface too quickly.

Poor technique, poor planning and carelessness can contribute to such tragedies, but often overlooked — yet equally important — are the psychological reasons behind diving deaths and accidents.

To help spread awareness on dealing with stress and panic underwater, Dr Michael Ong, medical director of Hyperbaric Medical Services at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, has started a blog for divers to share their experiences on diving accidents and fatalities