Training 74 Scuba Divers in 2 Days

Scuba Lessons for big groups This week; We had an exciting two days!

Well, that is a bit of an understatement.

Between Tuesday, December 5, 2017, and Wednesday, December 6, 2017, we welcomed seventy-four (74) Japanese scuba diving students to our dive center headquarters at Shangri-la Mactan. They were an absolute joy to work with, and we hope they return for more. It would be an honor and a privilege to train them more, certify them more, and dive with them more!

How could we possibly train 74 scuba diving students in 2 days?

First of all, we sent Kenji, one of our Japanese Scuba Instructors, to Japan for two days. He arrived there several days before our students were scheduled to come here to the Philippines.

While in Japan, Kenji instructed our students on scuba diving theory. They watched the videos and reviewed all the necessary materials in the Japanese language. Kenji also brought some scuba gear with him for demonstration purposes. As a result of everything Kenji and the group did in Japan, our students arrived ready to get into the tropical water.

Second, Scotty’s Action Sports Network has more than one dive center in the Philippines! To accommodate a group of this size, we temporarily brought over some of our scuba gear from Bohol to Mactan Island.
It is important to note that this is still SASN equipment that we own and maintain so that we can continue to guarantee its functionality and reliability.

Third, we had all hands on deck. We guarantee 5-star service and a small student-to-instructor ratio, and we delivered.

We split the main group into two smaller groups. We scheduled training for about half the group on Tuesday and the rest on Wednesday. We then split each half group into much smaller groups. With 12-15 scuba instructors and assistant diving instructors on hand, there were no more than 3-4 students per dive staff member at any given time. Most of the groups had a 3:1 ratio, with only three students per dive staff member.

It is important to note that our student-to-instructor ratio is not our only 5-star service guarantee. By “all hands on deck” we mean that we also had our Japanese language translators assisting. Some of our scuba instructors already speak Japanese fluently, but we also had our Japanese-speaking dive shop staff on hand to help out.

What was the end result?

Learning how to scuba dive Because all 74 students had already finished the academic training with Kenji in Japan, they first completed the appropriate pool exercises. They then performed a confined sea dive with no current. As a result, we were able to award SSI Scuba Diver certification to every one of them!

As SSI Scuba Divers, they are now authorized to dive in open water. Also, having SSI Scuba Diver certification means that they can upgrade to SSI Open Water Diver certification with ease.

Besides the fun that we all shared, this was a great exercise of our capabilities as a diving school. We have the diving gear and the diving professionals to deliver 5-star service to very large groups.

What did the non-diving group do?

You may have noticed that we split the main group into two groups. So, when one group was scuba diving, what was the other group doing?

SASN also does water sports! While not scuba diving, our students were taking turns riding a personal watercraft (Jet Ski), going parasailing, clinging to our banana boat, and more. The fun continued from the time they arrived to the time they departed.

Therefore, even if you bring an experienced group to us, we have so much to do during your surface intervals. Besides these and our other water sports, we also do island tours and boat tours. With Scotty’s, you can enjoy everything the Philippines has to offer, whether it is under water, on water, or above water.

Don’t Forget the Small Stuff!

scuba school student group Training a group this size has plenty of big details, but it also has a plethora of small details. For example, every student needs a complimentary towel to dry off with after every pool exercise, open water dive, and water sport. Students also need lockers to secure their important personal items. Furthermore, how about providing some refreshing, cold, bottled water?

Scotty’s Dive Director, Peter Mawby, and our Mactan Dive Manager, Christophe Swartebroeckx, are expert organizers. They ensured that every “i” was dotted and every “t” was crossed. As a result, our students were free to focus on what they could see underwater and how they felt during our water sports.

What can SASN do for you?

Over the course of two days, we confirmed that training 74 scuba diving students at one time is not our upper limit. After all, we did not have to borrow scuba gear from our dive center in Boracay, nor did we borrow all our diving gear from our dive centers in Bohol.
Furthermore, we delivered on our guaranteed student-to-instructor ratio by employing mostly our Mactan staff; one of our instructors came from Bohol with the borrowed scuba gear. Therefore, we still had more diving gear and scuba professionals that we could have tapped if that had become necessary.

So, whether your group consists of only one student or 100 scuba diving students, Scotty's Action Sports Network stands by our 5-star service guarantee.

NOTE: our 5-star guarantee applies not only to scuba diving, but also to island tours, boat tours, snorkeling, water sports, and everything else we do.