Welcome to our forum.
The reason for the quick disconnect is that in an emergency a person or guest can see how to shut down power quickly. Like said earlier the 5 foot rule is to make sure you are not in a tub of water when you flip the switch. My quick disconnect is 9 feet from the tub in case an NBA player drops by for a soak ( i kid, i kid). It is next to my rear yard gate so if you entered the back yard via the gate you will walk right in front of it. This said however my switch is only in plain site when you sit on the right side of the tub. While on the left side it is out of line of sight, so I could post a sign that reads "EMERGENCY SHUT OFF" on the corner of the house and everyone would know where to find it. The intent is in case of emergency that your guests know how to power down. Don't know if this helped at all.Scott 8-)
ummmmmmm, my understanding of the disconnect being in plain site is so that when Mrs. Homeowner calls out a service tech, and he's working on the spa, and Mr. Homeowner comes home and notices the the disconnect is disconnected, he doesn't turn it back on and fry the tech who's working on the spa. Commercial Spas require an Emergency Disconnect (properly labeled and within a certain distance from the spa), but they're specifically designed so that you can turn them off with wet hands and a dripping wet body... I don't think the kind of disconnect required for a residential spa you'd want to stick your wet hands in to to turn off.
Think about it. Mr Homeowner comes home from work and pulls into the garage, closing the door behind him. Gets out of his car, sees the breaker box open and notices the breaker for the spa is off...so he flips it back on.