A few questions on specialty courses

[theshred201]

Hello.
I recently completed my OW certification NAUI. For now, I'm going to be diving every weekend when conditions allow it, and once the dive shop I got my OW from sets up a course (really just some dives over a weekend or two), I'll get my AOW. I would go get it through a different dive shop but I liked the instructors I had a lot.
Now for my actual question.
Among other things I've looked into potential specialty courses I could take. Among the classes I've been looking into are:

Some type of Bouyancy class.
Nitrox
Drysuit
Underwater Hunter/Collector
Rescue Diver

For Nitrox, Drysuit, and Rescue Diver, I'll most likely go through the dive shop where I got my OW certification. However, NAUI doesn't have a bouyancy course. Thus, I've been looking into SDI, SSI, and PADI. In general, I understand that there's not much difference Between agencies. I just wanted to know if there's much difference between PADI's Peak Performance Bouyancy, SSI's perfect bouyancy, and SDI's Advanced Bouyancy, or if they're pretty much the same, as per other courses.
Another question I had--Do you think the Underwater Hunter/Collector Course will be worth it? I'm mainly interested in Lobster Diving and spearfishing--Do you think I'll get much out of the course, or would I be better with some books, practice, and perhaps some freediving instruction?. And finally, are there any other specialties that you strongly recommend?

 

[Crowley]

The PPB Adventure dive is worth doing - or at least it is when I teach it!! - but they are all things you can learn with an experienced buddy or perhaps even ask your divemaster if they will assist you with advice and techniques for enhancing your buoyancy skills whilst you're diving with them.

We make it almost policy to help and advise our customers if we notice - for example - that they are overweighted (or whatever) and many dive shops and instructors/DMs will do likewise.

If you don't have that opportunity then that's where the buoyancy classes will help - you're getting effective training from an experienced 'buddy'.

The most important part is to practice as much as you can underwater. And instructor or friend can give you techniques and advice but it's something you need to work on in your own time as well. As with any activity, the more you do it, the more you will figure out for yourself. Take guidance from others, but always keep working at it when you can.

I hope that helps!

Safe diving

C.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I include buoyancy training in OW class and refine it in AOW by requiring all skills to be done while swimming and hovering, achieving good trim through proper weight distribution and technique, and stopping the vertical ascent and descent nonsense deeper than 10-15 feet. Yeah it may be ok to start and end the dive being able to look up and see what's above you but after that you should be horizontal in the water. If the instructor is not teaching or insisting on horizontal position getting your buoyancy down will be kinda tough as well as being a waste of time and money.

 

[theshred201]

We make it almost policy to help and advise our customers if we notice - for example - that they are overweighted (or whatever) and many dive shops and instructors/DMs will do likewise.

In general my instructors have. Not with me personally as I haven't had any major issues, but I know they helped out at least one of the students in the class a bit when they were having problems.

The most important part is to practice as much as you can underwater. And instructor or friend can give you techniques and advice but it's something you need to work on in your own time as well. As with any activity, the more you do it, the more you will figure out for yourself. Take guidance from others, but always keep working at it when you can.

This seems true of just about everything. I should be getting plenty of dive time, particularly once summer rolls around, and I'll make sure to practice improving my buoyancy and trim a little bit whenever I'm underwater.

I include buoyancy training in OW class and refine it in AOW by requiring all skills to be done while swimming and hovering, achieving good trim through proper weight distribution and technique, and stopping the vertical ascent and descent nonsense deeper than 10-15 feet.

The class I took went a little bit into buoyancy stuff, but I feel that it can never hurt to learn more. Throughout the course we went from practicing skills on our knees to doing them while swimming, though we were never required to hover. I'm not sure if they'll do some more buoyancy stuff on the AOW dives, as I haven't done them yet. The shift into a horizontal position out of a complete vertical descent thing was something I kind of noticed by myself and started to do mainly to kick up less silt when I got to the bottom. As for ascents...since we were shore diving, we typically headed in towards the beach on the bottom, and the first few times surfaced in 10-15 feet of water and swam in. On the last dive though, we came all the way into about 3-4 feet of water while still under and then just stood up. Thus, not too much was done in terms of staying horizontal for the main portion of an ascent where you are actually swimming directly towards the surface, but I'll keep it in mind.

Yeah it may be ok to start and end the dive being able to look up and see what's above you but after that you should be horizontal in the water. If the instructor is not teaching or insisting on horizontal position getting your buoyancy down will be kinda tough as well as being a waste of time and money.

They didn't completely require us to remain horizontal, but in general strongly encouraged us to, and so for the most part I'd say the class did relatively well in that aspect, and as I said, they did go into a bit of basic buoyancy stuff.

Personally I'm pretty comfortable in the water, and with controlling my buoyancy. At least during the certification dives, I didn't feel like I had any major problems with keeping my buoyancy, but I'm not going to say that there isn't room for improvement. I've been looking at the PPB/other bouyancy courses simply to refine and work towards perfecting my technique. At least for now, my next step is to simply dive some more and practice while I do (would have gone last Sunday but conditions were poor). Then later, if I feel I need I'll take a buoyancy class (eh, I'll probably take one regardless of whether I feel like I need to or not, but we'll see. Even if my buoyancy control improves before it, I'll still probably learn things in the course).

I think that takes care of my curiosity about whether or not I should take a PPB or similar course. For now I'll assume that the different dive agencies Buoyancy classes are pretty similar, though if someone doesn't feel that way, please let me know.

That leaves me with--would an underwater hunter/Collector course be worth it or should I go a different route? And, Are there any other specialty courses you strongly recommend taking?
Actually one more question--In the future, I have a hunch that I'll probably eventually get into technical diving (by the future, I mean in a long time--1. Definitely want more experience first; It doesn't seem like a good idea to jump from plain OW to Tech Diving. and 2. In general, it looks like you have to be 18 to do pretty much any technical diving stuff, so I have to wait a little anyways). Thus, are there any specific things either now or a bit farther in the future (after AOW and a relatively good deal more experience for example) that you suggest doing/learning BEFORE getting into technical diving?


Thanks for the help thus far.

 

[Crowley]

I should clarify that when I say that we assist divers with problems - this is outside of classes - if we didn't assist during classes, we wouldn't be doing much a job! We just like all our divers to be as accomplished as they can given the experience they have. Any instructor/DM worth his or her salt would do the same.

For specialties (I'm a PADI instructor so can't speak for other agencies) - of course a Nitrox Spec at some point - it's basic but it will come in handy! Many recreational divers enjoy such things as Navigation and Wreck specs and often some of the naturalist type stuff. Most of the specs are there for your own personal interest, rather than essential tools for your diving.

Get yourself certified up to (regardless of agency) Rescue Diver (or equivalent) and get lots of dives under your belt before heading into Tec. Once you're there then the advanced nitrox / trimix classes will of course be almost necessary. It wouldn't hurt to learn about the gas blending process through the various courses on offer.

Technical diving and recreational diving is like the difference between a road car and a race car - they might look similar to an untrained observer (in that they happen underwater and you breathe gas from a tank) but they are miles apart in reality. In that respect, there are few recrational specialties that will assist with your progress to Tec.

As for underwater hunter - can't help you with that one!

Happy diving,

C.

 

[theshred201]

I should clarify that when I say that we assist divers with problems - this is outside of classes - if we didn't assist during classes, we wouldn't be doing much a job! We just like all our divers to be as accomplished as they can given the experience they have. Any instructor/DM worth his or her salt would do the same.

Ahh. That makes sense. I assume my instructors would do the same, though I can't say since I'll I've done this far was take my course and the certification dives. Had surf conditions been more agreeable, I'd have gotten some additional dives in, but we'll see this weekend.

For specialties (I'm a PADI instructor so can't speak for other agencies) - of course a Nitrox Spec at some point - it's basic but it will come in handy! Many recreational divers enjoy such things as Navigation and Wreck specs and often some of the naturalist type stuff. Most of the specs are there for your own personal interest, rather than essential tools for your diving.

That makes sense. I think for the most part I'll probably do AOW before too many specialties, since I know the AOW dives include Night diving, Deep (between 60 and 130 ft), and navigation stuff. To me it seems like I should at least get the aspects of those from the AOW stuff before deciding to take independent course, but we'll see. I've got plenty of time to decide if I want to take various specialty courses. It's not like there's a time limit or anything.

Get yourself certified up to (regardless of agency) Rescue Diver (or equivalent) and get lots of dives under your belt before heading into Tec. Once you're there then the advanced nitrox / trimix classes will of course be almost necessary. It wouldn't hurt to learn about the gas blending process through the various courses on offer.

Technical diving and recreational diving is like the difference between a road car and a race car - they might look similar to an untrained observer (in that they happen underwater and you breathe gas from a tank) but they are miles apart in reality. In that respect, there are few recrational specialties that will assist with your progress to Tec.

Becoming a rescue diver and doing lots of diving have been part of my plan all along. Tech diving is just something that I'm considering in the future, but as I said before, not any time soon.

As for underwater hunter - can't help you with that one!

Happy diving,

C.

Oh well. I'm still very thankful for the help thus far.

 

[SeaCobra]

NAUI does offer an excellent Introduction to Technical Diving class that really hones buoyancy and trim skills, teamwork, dive planning, gas management, etc. Definitely get cracking on the Adv. Diver, I would also add in the Nitrox at the same time, that way you can do the coursework and get the dives in.

Jeff

 

[Crowley]

on the same note - PADI/DSAT offer a Discover Tec class as of last year - I forget the minimum requirements of the top of my head and it is to tec diving what a DSD/try dive is to diving in general - but that - or the NAUI course should give you a taster before you head into proper tec - if nothing else, it will let you know if you want to pursue that field or not; it can be a *very* expensive pastime, so you want to make sure you like it! ;-)

Always happy to help,

Cheers

Crowley

 

[ScubaDocER]

Hello.
I recently completed my OW certification NAUI. For now, I'm going to be diving every weekend when conditions allow it, and once the dive shop I got my OW from sets up a course (really just some dives over a weekend or two), I'll get my AOW. I would go get it through a different dive shop but I liked the instructors I had a lot.
Now for my actual question.
Among other things I've looked into potential specialty courses I could take. Among the classes I've been looking into are:

Some type of Bouyancy class.
Nitrox
Drysuit
Underwater Hunter/Collector
Rescue Diver

For Nitrox, Drysuit, and Rescue Diver, I'll most likely go through the dive shop where I got my OW certification. However, NAUI doesn't have a bouyancy course. Thus, I've been looking into SDI, SSI, and PADI. In general, I understand that there's not much difference Between agencies. I just wanted to know if there's much difference between PADI's Peak Performance Bouyancy, SSI's perfect bouyancy, and SDI's Advanced Bouyancy, or if they're pretty much the same, as per other courses.
Another question I had--Do you think the Underwater Hunter/Collector Course will be worth it? I'm mainly interested in Lobster Diving and spearfishing--Do you think I'll get much out of the course, or would I be better with some books, practice, and perhaps some freediving instruction?. And finally, are there any other specialties that you strongly recommend?

While NAUI doers not have an official PPB class, that can and should be taught, IMHO, in the OW class and enhanced in the AOW class. As a NAUI Instructor, I make it one of their 6 required dives. I cannot in good conscious give an AOW card to someone who hasn't demonstrated some degree of proficiency in being able to control their buoyancy for the reasons Jim mentioned earlier. Talk to your Instructors at the shop that certified you and see if they cannot incorporate a PPB session amongst your required dives. I also suggest that my students take the Nitrox course as a part of their AOW class. This is not mandatory of course, but if they plan to regularly dive below 60 feet, then they should consider diving using Nitrox. At the end of the course, they get both the AOW and Nitrox certifications. I am sure your LDS should be able to work out a similar deal with you. If you like them and feel comfortable with them, discuss your options with them. I cannot comment on the Hunter/Collector issue, nor the spearfishing issue. I am sure some of our seasoned hunters will chime in on the topic. The Drysuit specialty is also a nice one. Depending on the type of diving you will be doing, as well as the estimated water temp, the use of a dry suit may be helpful. While many people learned to use a dry suit without taking an official class (myself included), if you are considering your AOW certification and you need 3 dives beyond the required 3 (6 total), it isn't a bad idea to have an Instructor walk you through the basics, including emergency procedures, maintenance and care, and choice of manufacturer. Good luck and welcome to the world of diving.

 

[Crowley]

The Drysuit specialty is also a nice one. Depending on the type of diving you will be doing, as well as the estimated water temp, the use of a dry suit may be helpful. While many people learned to use a dry suit without taking an official class (myself included),

That's a good idea and one which escaped my brain during my last post - I've been in the tropics too long! Even diving in relatively warm water may require a drysuit if you're going to be submerged for a fair bit of time and it may well be a fair but colder down at depth than in the recreational shallows!

Warm diving,

C.