Dive Clubs in Vic ?

[Hi-Soft]

Appart from the social aspect of a local dive club, what are the advantages
or disadvantages, of joining a local club vs joining directly with "Dive
Victoria"...whom I'm told run all the charters anyway ???

bc

[Don Gingrich]

Post by Hi-Soft
Appart from the social aspect of a local dive club, what are the advantages
or disadvantages, of joining a local club vs joining directly with
"Dive Victoria"...whom I'm told run all the charters anyway ???

Advantages
----------

1) get to know the people you dive with -- possibly get
one or two regular buddies (diving with the same person
is an advantage because you start to know how they are
likely to react to situations. Also a bit of trust
develops -- a good thing when you are expecting a buddy
to assist if things go bad.)

2) With a shop club you generally get discounts on kit.

3) With a shop you generally get discounts on dive charters

4) With a shop you get to know the owner(s) and instructor(s)
And they get to know you. This is good because a good shop
will try to sell you the right kit for the kind of diving
that you are doing or intend to do. The more they know about
you the better they will be at doing this.

5) Shops often (particularly ones in South-East Melbourne) often
run regular shore dives. (mostly on Saturdays) These give you
a cheap dive in a group so you have a buddy. Often, after the
dive the group stops at a pub for a bit of socialising. This
generally means talking about the dive and what you saw, etc.
It's a way of increasing the enjoyment of the dive. Some shops
put a few snags on a grill back at the shop for the same sort of
thing.

Disadvantages
-------------

1) to some extent you wind up feeling "locked-in" to buying from
the shop

The thing about Dive Vicoria is that they're fairly big and unless
you do a *lot* of diving with them it's going to take a while for
you to start seeing the same faces on the boats. This makes it more
difficult to start to find a group of divers you're comfortable with
so that you can arrive at Portsea knowing who you're diving with and
what the plan is for the dive. IMHO it is not a particularly good idea
to "plan the dive" in 30 seconds on the boat just before you splash
into the water. The other big advantage of having a buddy when you
rock up in Portsea is that you don't get a "surprise" buddy. While
most Victorian divers are at least OK, there are some out there
who are more of a liability than an asset as a buddy. If you BYO
buddy, you don't need to worry about being assigned a liability buddy
on the boat.

-Don

[Hi-Soft]

Excellent...thanks Don...,,now, as for WHICH club, lol.. I guess I'll go
along to a few of their social nights, and see how i hit it off with the
various clubs around my area..

bc


cheers,
Hi-Soft

Post by Don Gingrich

Post by Hi-Soft
Appart from the social aspect of a local dive club, what are the advantages
or disadvantages, of joining a local club vs joining directly with
"Dive Victoria"...whom I'm told run all the charters anyway ???

Advantages
----------
1) get to know the people you dive with -- possibly get
one or two regular buddies (diving with the same person
is an advantage because you start to know how they are
likely to react to situations. Also a bit of trust
develops -- a good thing when you are expecting a buddy
to assist if things go bad.)
2) With a shop club you generally get discounts on kit.
3) With a shop you generally get discounts on dive charters
4) With a shop you get to know the owner(s) and instructor(s)
And they get to know you. This is good because a good shop
will try to sell you the right kit for the kind of diving
that you are doing or intend to do. The more they know about
you the better they will be at doing this.
5) Shops often (particularly ones in South-East Melbourne) often
run regular shore dives. (mostly on Saturdays) These give you
a cheap dive in a group so you have a buddy. Often, after the
dive the group stops at a pub for a bit of socialising. This
generally means talking about the dive and what you saw, etc.
It's a way of increasing the enjoyment of the dive. Some shops
put a few snags on a grill back at the shop for the same sort of
thing.
Disadvantages
-------------
1) to some extent you wind up feeling "locked-in" to buying from
the shop
The thing about Dive Vicoria is that they're fairly big and unless
you do a *lot* of diving with them it's going to take a while for
you to start seeing the same faces on the boats. This makes it more
difficult to start to find a group of divers you're comfortable with
so that you can arrive at Portsea knowing who you're diving with and
what the plan is for the dive. IMHO it is not a particularly good idea
to "plan the dive" in 30 seconds on the boat just before you splash
into the water. The other big advantage of having a buddy when you
rock up in Portsea is that you don't get a "surprise" buddy. While
most Victorian divers are at least OK, there are some out there
who are more of a liability than an asset as a buddy. If you BYO
buddy, you don't need to worry about being assigned a liability buddy
on the boat.
-Don