PADI Course Director Teri White at Maui Dreams Dive Company www.mauidreamsdiveco.com shares her top tips for teaching the PADI DPV Specialty. For more great teaching tips, see your local PADI Course Director.
There is a lot of good info on supervision, but very little on how to train divers to be independently competent on their scoots. A few points I'd like to add: - Team cohesion isn't just something that instructors need to ensure by running herd with the help of assistants, it needs to be instilled into the students because (presumably) they will be using scooters unsupervised after the course. Team awareness and light/hand signals play a key role here. For that reason, scoots that require both hands to use aren't very suitable, unless you have 30 meter viz and the scooters are rather weak and slow. However, at speeds of 50-60 meters per minute, even entry-level scooters these days are fast enough to make team separation an issue. - Classic recreational octo configurations aren't very suitable for scootering for the reasons outlined in the video (freeflow hard to detect for the diver, octo typically is placed right in the scooter's slipstream), as well as for the fact that you can't really share gas while on the trigger because an octo hose is just too damn short. Stress the usefulness of a long hose/short hose reg setup and the necessity of dialing down the Venturi blade in the 2nd stage. Unlike jackets, backplate and wing BCs also provide scooter attachment options (tow cord to crotch D-ring) so that the scooter can be operated one-handed for gauge use, compass navigation, signaling, equalization, and buoyancy adjustment while on the trigger, as well as remain attached to the diver during deco/safety stops, DSMB deployment, or gas sharing in an emergency. I'd also consider a powerful hands-free torch (with Goodman handle) mandatory equipment for scooter dives to enable signaling at a distance. - Scooter battery time is a resource just like gas and NDL, and its management needs to be incorporated into the dive plan. Students have to learn how to plan scooter dives independently. There also has to be a defined plan for what to do in case of scooter failure - either towing (a skill that needs to be practiced), or ascent and pick-up by a boat that needs to be on stand-by, or a long swim home (may or may not be an option depending on distance from shore/gas supply, currents, etc.). - Because of the added risk of team separation and the greater distances covered, any diver that operates a scooter must carry and be competent in the deployment of a DSMB underwater.
It's worth considering that this course is geared towards those using glorified toys, not exploration-grade DPVs. That isn't to say they can't get themselves into trouble-it's just more difficult. Like, I'm a proud GUEshbag, but this is just a different way of doing things. I don't think it's a particularly satisfying way, but everyone has their own kind of fun. As long as they aren't smashing coral, kicking up the bottom, or being blatantly dangerous, I say live and let live 🤷
Excellent points. Those'd be what I want to see when I take a DPV course. Just bought a second hand Suex XK so thinking about a Tech DPV course which should cover these subjects.
My top tips...make a habit of not ascending at all, under power. With this habit you will avoid safety issues related to rapid ascent. Also...never go further from the boat or shore entry point than you can swim without propulsion in case the machine fails. Swim / propel against current to allow for return with the current. When starting, turn around after a brief period and see if it is difficult to go in the return direction. You may want to stay near the boat by tacking back and forth in different directions, frequently passing by the anchor point. This allows you to explore widely, while never venturing out too far. If interested in finding lost gear, swim parallel to the reef line, but a good direction away ...you may find items not found quickly as they have drifted away from the reef. I like to manually inflate my bcd after ascent...this is a reminder that it can be done. Unfortunately, many have drowned after panic on the surface, failing to drop weights or inflate the unit. This is also a reminder that you can inflate another diver's vest in an emergency.
Great tips. They do look fun. I'm looking to use one as a disabled diver to get me from place to place
There is a lot of good info on supervision, but very little on how to train divers to be independently competent on their scoots. A few points I'd like to add:
- Team cohesion isn't just something that instructors need to ensure by running herd with the help of assistants, it needs to be instilled into the students because (presumably) they will be using scooters unsupervised after the course. Team awareness and light/hand signals play a key role here. For that reason, scoots that require both hands to use aren't very suitable, unless you have 30 meter viz and the scooters are rather weak and slow. However, at speeds of 50-60 meters per minute, even entry-level scooters these days are fast enough to make team separation an issue.
- Classic recreational octo configurations aren't very suitable for scootering for the reasons outlined in the video (freeflow hard to detect for the diver, octo typically is placed right in the scooter's slipstream), as well as for the fact that you can't really share gas while on the trigger because an octo hose is just too damn short. Stress the usefulness of a long hose/short hose reg setup and the necessity of dialing down the Venturi blade in the 2nd stage. Unlike jackets, backplate and wing BCs also provide scooter attachment options (tow cord to crotch D-ring) so that the scooter can be operated one-handed for gauge use, compass navigation, signaling, equalization, and buoyancy adjustment while on the trigger, as well as remain attached to the diver during deco/safety stops, DSMB deployment, or gas sharing in an emergency. I'd also consider a powerful hands-free torch (with Goodman handle) mandatory equipment for scooter dives to enable signaling at a distance.
- Scooter battery time is a resource just like gas and NDL, and its management needs to be incorporated into the dive plan. Students have to learn how to plan scooter dives independently. There also has to be a defined plan for what to do in case of scooter failure - either towing (a skill that needs to be practiced), or ascent and pick-up by a boat that needs to be on stand-by, or a long swim home (may or may not be an option depending on distance from shore/gas supply, currents, etc.).
- Because of the added risk of team separation and the greater distances covered, any diver that operates a scooter must carry and be competent in the deployment of a DSMB underwater.
My thoughts, too!
It's worth considering that this course is geared towards those using glorified toys, not exploration-grade DPVs. That isn't to say they can't get themselves into trouble-it's just more difficult.
Like, I'm a proud GUEshbag, but this is just a different way of doing things. I don't think it's a particularly satisfying way, but everyone has their own kind of fun.
As long as they aren't smashing coral, kicking up the bottom, or being blatantly dangerous, I say live and let live 🤷
Excellent points. Those'd be what I want to see when I take a DPV course. Just bought a second hand Suex XK so thinking about a Tech DPV course which should cover these subjects.
My top tips...make a habit of not ascending at all, under power. With this habit you will avoid safety issues related to rapid ascent. Also...never go further from the boat or shore entry point than you can swim without propulsion in case the machine fails. Swim / propel against current to allow for return with the current. When starting, turn around after a brief period and see if it is difficult to go in the return direction. You may want to stay near the boat by tacking back and forth in different directions, frequently passing by the anchor point. This allows you to explore widely, while never venturing out too far. If interested in finding lost gear, swim parallel to the reef line, but a good direction away ...you may find items not found quickly as they have drifted away from the reef. I like to manually inflate my bcd after ascent...this is a reminder that it can be done. Unfortunately, many have drowned after panic on the surface, failing to drop weights or inflate the unit. This is also a reminder that you can inflate another diver's vest in an emergency.
How much is the price
What skills do you have to pass to earn this specialty?
OWD
@@TomNelson1004 swing and a hit 🤣
Seaglide