Is certification necessary for shallow water diving?

[dmaziuk]

You either do not understand what "good" and "bad" means or you are being a moron. Which is it?

FWIW I killfiled Flipper long time ago so I don't have to ponder that question.

 

[loady]

I live in a country that has many more divers who aren't certified diving than certified divers. At the same time we have one of the highest death/accident/injury rates in the world compared with the general and diving population. The non-certified divers learned from their diving "cousin, uncle, neighbor, etc." and they almost all get hurt and have some sort of physical disability with neurological deficits. I once walked into a gathering place for commercial divers' hangout who were all non-certified and use Scuba for spearfishing. ALL of them had physical issues and practically all of them were limping one way or another. Of course, no one can teach them anything since they "know it all." I couldn't believe the shiit they did while diving and the extent of their ignorance and the "fairy tales" they believed as the "truth."

It is isn't about "certification" but more about "proper training." Have your friend find a good instructor who actually "educates" the students and gives them time and effort to get trained properly and also get certified. And as it was said above, if they can't afford to do the training, they have no business getting into diving for the training is the least expensive part of the process.

What country is that? Training is certification. Have they made the connection that following dive tables or using a computer is safer then not? You can sum up the basic physical issues in an hour. Will they listen to you or anyone ?

 

[loady]

When I got open water certified in the 1980s I recall it took AT LEAST four 1-2 hour classroom sessions with books , slides and lectures, four pool dives and four ocean dives. It may have been six of each . What’s the total hours of studying , total number of pool and non pool “open” water dives now to get open water cert? Does the amount of time and amount of dives translate to more skills or higher safety?

 

[Billg68bg]

When I got open water certified in the 1980s I recall it took AT LEAST four 1-2 hour classroom sessions with books , slides and lectures, four pool dives and four ocean dives. It may have been six of each . What’s the total hours of studying , total number of pool and non pool “open” water dives now to get open water cert? Does the amount of time and amount of dives translate to more skills or higher safety?

I did several hours in a pool, followed by four open water dives. I did elearning, which, I think, may be a little more beneficial than class learning, in that you can go back and continuously review and keep the concepts fresh. The videos included are also a helpful tool. There is a chat section if you have questions, but I don’t recall using it, so I don’t know how much help it is. I don’t recall the time for the class, but I did it over the course of a few days.

 

[boulderjohn]

When I got open water certified in the 1980s I recall it took AT LEAST four 1-2 hour classroom sessions with books , slides and lectures, four pool dives and four ocean dives. It may have been six of each . What’s the total hours of studying , total number of pool and non pool “open” water dives now to get open water cert? Does the amount of time and amount of dives translate to more skills or higher safety?

You are describing the least effective mode of teaching and holding it up as an ideal.

The next step was home study, where the student when through carefully designed materials and then went to a class where the instructor would go over all that with the students. I started teaching that way, and, ironically, we still spent two 4-hour sessions, about the same total time as you describe. I worked very hard to make sure my students understood, and I would not start the final exam until I was sure all of them would pass. I usually got all students over 90% that way, and I never had a student below 80%. I was proud of that.

Then came online learning. Students would arrive with certification that they had passed the online class. We would spend an hour or so going over everything to make sure there were no real problems, then give the final exam. I think I went through about a dozen students that way before I had one miss a single question on the exam.

 

[Nemrod]

You do not know what you do not know until you realize (posthumously) that you did not know.

 

[Scott G. Bonser]

When I got open water certified in the 1980s I recall it took AT LEAST four 1-2 hour classroom sessions with books , slides and lectures, four pool dives and four ocean dives. It may have been six of each . What’s the total hours of studying , total number of pool and non pool “open” water dives now to get open water cert? Does the amount of time and amount of dives translate to more skills or higher safety?

The information that I see and the results that are associated with the practice of SCUBA Instruction vary from posts that I have seen here on Scubaboard as well as other sources. I believe that there are instructors and their organizations that still promote safety as well as coach their students to use common sense when embarking on their initial dives. As I have previously mentioned which is obvious, SCUBA IS Life support equipment. Training in all aspects of it should be tailored to that concept. Conscientious Instructors that I know ALL promote safety and confidence training for about any kind of diving there is. They DON’T look at SCUBA certification as just a source of generating income and crank out students as some that I have heard about. There are some studets that are not as safe and confident in their skills as they should be. That is another reason why I promote recently certified divers to seek Advanced courses and specialty courses. To give any student the idea that they can go out into the ocean in 7-10 ft seas with cold temperatures and limited visibility on an early dive is a disaster in the making. A number of instructors that I know and did at one time, often invite previously certified students to dive with them on trips and other dives in order to learn more about their recent skills and for these certified students to inquire about advanced classes they are interested in taking. Knowledge and practice are essential to diving in open water safely.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

"Is certification necessary for shallow water diving?" The answer is no.

"Is a parachute necessary to jump out of a perfectly good airplane". The answer is also no.

Is either a certification or a parachute a good idea for either of those above activities? Yes.

PS.... The great thing about scuba diving and skydiving is that if things go wrong, you have the entire rest of your life to figure it all out.

​

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

"Is certification necessary for shallow water diving?" The answer is no.

"Is a parachute necessary to jump out of a perfectly good airplane". The answer is also no.

Is either a certification or a parachute a good idea for either of those above activities? Yes.

PS.... The great thing about scuba diving and skydiving is that if things go wrong, you have the entire rest of your life to figure it all out.

​

Certification does not equal competent training. The terms should not be confused.

So, certification is by no means necessary. Competent training absolutely is, though

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Certification does not equal competent training. The terms should not be confused.

So, certification is by no means necessary. Competent training absolutely is, though

Sorry but I disagree. Competent training is absolutely and 100% a good idea and strongly recommended...... but unfortunately it is not NECESSARY for shallow water diving. If it was NECESSARY than no one could have ever in the history of the world dived shallow water without competent training......which is not the case.