OP
Question for instructors!
- Thread starter HamTrainChickenLaser
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He was one of the original ~12 UTD instructor corps along with some local buddies of mine. He has a lot of good passion for Great Lakes and cold water diving in general. Plus two+ decades of teaching experience in cold water. You couldn't ask for a better cold water transition.
I have no experience with the "scuba tuneup" course, that post-dates my UTD experience (I am a long expired never insured DM with them). In general I would say the UTD (online) course materials have always been solid and well crafted to me. They are never making excuses why something in the book dates from 1995.
OP
HamTrainChickenLaser
Contributor
So maybe he was trying to go above and beyond. I did tell him that it was prep for our open water and that we just wanted to get comfortable with the equipment and skills. He was a super-nice guy and it's hard to fault him for what happened, but then again I wonder if other instructors would have handled it differently. I don't know. I do know that one instructor said that the try scuba or discover scuba courses are just too fast-paced because of the very low price and that ends up causing issues when someone is struggling with a skill.
OP
HamTrainChickenLaser
Contributor
That is all good to hear. I didn't think that the PADI open water coursework was very impressive. Some passages were written by people who didn't really focus on trying to explain the concepts to someone who is completely unfamiliar with the topic. For an agency that certifies such a large number of divers, that's not acceptable.
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HamTrainChickenLaser
Contributor
I had to upload a picture because my Scuba Max lycra hood came today. I've informed my wife that I will be wearing that and my Shearwater Teric everywhere I go from now in- including in the airport. She laughed hard.
Wow it's just past midnight here in Ohio so that means we leave TONIGHT to drive to the aiport in Detroit to fly to Cancun. Wish me luck! I will report back on my experience.
I wake up crazy early in the morning to finish the currect batches of product that I'll deliver tomorrow afternoon, then just some last-minute packing. This is my first official dive vacation.
Wow it's just past midnight here in Ohio so that means we leave TONIGHT to drive to the aiport in Detroit to fly to Cancun. Wish me luck! I will report back on my experience.
I wake up crazy early in the morning to finish the currect batches of product that I'll deliver tomorrow afternoon, then just some last-minute packing. This is my first official dive vacation.
Here's the chicken/egg dilemma. You don't know what you don't know. Hence the reason to have a really good, experienced (experienced in teaching, not necessarily 10K dives) instructor. Don't hesitate to ask questions, but don't be an annoying nerd either. Online class gives you a reasonably good base of what to expect in class, go over it few times before the practice. Good luck!
OP
HamTrainChickenLaser
Contributor
Congratulations!
What 3 dives did you do (besides the requisite Deep and Nav)?
The most common problem we all see with newly qualified divers is that they are overnighted. I would be asking the instructor how we can ensure that I know the correct weights and am not overweighted after the first couple of dives and then try and get down to that correct weighting as soon as possible either during the course or in dives after it.
In PG a couple of weeks ago, I got one diver with over 100 dives to reduce his weighting by either 6 or 8 lbs over 2 days, he would not believe that he could reduce that much until the DM's / instructors agreed with me and it transformed his trim and diving and he still was still partially overweighted.
In PG a couple of weeks ago, I got one diver with over 100 dives to reduce his weighting by either 6 or 8 lbs over 2 days, he would not believe that he could reduce that much until the DM's / instructors agreed with me and it transformed his trim and diving and he still was still partially overweighted.
In the IDC/IE, instructors are required to demonstrate all open water skills in neutral buoyancy. It hasn't worked down into the open water standards yet.
The way I explain it in IDCs is, "The agency requires you to do this, because it's the right thing to do. If you can do it, you can teach students to do it."
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