DIR DIW DIB

Doing it Right, Doing it Wrong, Doing it Better

By Roy Cabalo

Just because you aren’t DIR (Doing It Right) doesn’t mean you are DIW (Doing It Wrong) but maybe you could be DIB (Doing It Better).

I’ve been reading lots of articles and papers from some very experienced dive leaders and watching lots of videos with regards to DIR diving. One of the things that seems to be absent is telling new divers they aren’t DIW or Doing It Wrong.

New divers are basically brought up with the principles and philosophies of DIR even though it isn’t spelled out to them using the acronym. All the key terms are introduced to them – dive planning, pre-dive checks, streamlining, dive buddies, and so many more. We, as dive professionals, don’t seem to tell them that they aren’t Doing It Wrong as new divers because they haven’t sat with pen and paper and planned out dives to the exact minute or depth. We haven’t told them or emphasized they aren’t Doing It Wrong because they don’t have two computers or a redundant air source. New open water divers, and even advanced divers with a few dives in their logbooks, need to be educated that DIR is a process or an evolution that they will slowly grow into as they grow in diving, whether they knowingly realize it or not.

I started diving in 1983 and never realized that I would become an instructor in 2016. With my experience and growth in the sport, I have had the pleasure of diving with many, many people. To that point, as I evolved and became a dive professional, I became more aware of watching divers and what they do. Some divers will never be more than simple sport divers and that doesn’t mean they’re DIW. Some divers will never do more than simple pre-dive checks and planning their dives right before they head out and that isn’t Doing It Wrong. Not doing it at all is Doing It Wrong.

What we in the dive community need to do to nurture and grow our sport is emphasize to divers, new and old, you aren’t necessarily DIW but you could be DIB or Doing It Better. We should all be emphasizing that the basics we all came from are the same basics that keep us alive and planning future dives. It takes a few extra minutes to actually look through a diver manual if nothing more than for review and familiarization. It takes a few extra minutes to not just look at your buddy’s equipment but to have them show you how the buckles operate. Doing It Better effortlessly becomes Doing It Right with time and experience and provides for a safer dive environment for all and, in many cases, will spark divers towards taking that next specialty course.

You aren’t necessarily DIW but you could be DIB and growing into DIR.