I have a question regarding PADI Open Water Diver course. I have just completed my confined dives and while I feel capable of going underwater and breathing, I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with being able to control my depth in the water with neutral buoyancy.
In fact, I found it interesting whenever we descended into the deep end, we always descended straight to the bottom. Never did we practice descending to a spot suspended above the bottom. The only real neutral buoyancy skills we did was a hover in place (sitting in water basically) and a swim, which was cramped and people were bouncing all over each other.
I don't feel that I ever fully got comfortable in the water breathing. While I felt safe (it was only about 18ft deep), I know that I was sucking down air like nobody's business. I went through my tank while the others in the class were at half a tank.
The class seemed more about checking the boxes on the "dives" rather than seeking a comfort level and proficiency. I'm confident I can do the skills, but the class seemed very rushed. In fact, we were forced to complete our second day of confined water dives 3 hours earlier than scheduled. What did I miss in those three hours?
We saw each "skill" and then performed it once. I was shocked that the instructor would say, "well you cheated a bit on that skill, but you got it done," or "you did that a little fast, but that's ok." What happened to practice makes perfect?
I do believe the instructor was competent. But I do feel that I didn't get all that I was expecting or paid for. In a couple weeks I'll do the open water dives and expect that we'll be performing a lot of the same skills, just in the open water.
I guess I just expected more from the course, especially in the areas of feeling comfortable.
Am I expecting too much from this class? Is this by design so I'll sign up for the Advanced Open Water? Either way, I know I'll be taking the class with another shop.
In fact, I found it interesting whenever we descended into the deep end, we always descended straight to the bottom. Never did we practice descending to a spot suspended above the bottom. The only real neutral buoyancy skills we did was a hover in place (sitting in water basically) and a swim, which was cramped and people were bouncing all over each other.
I don't feel that I ever fully got comfortable in the water breathing. While I felt safe (it was only about 18ft deep), I know that I was sucking down air like nobody's business. I went through my tank while the others in the class were at half a tank.
The class seemed more about checking the boxes on the "dives" rather than seeking a comfort level and proficiency. I'm confident I can do the skills, but the class seemed very rushed. In fact, we were forced to complete our second day of confined water dives 3 hours earlier than scheduled. What did I miss in those three hours?
We saw each "skill" and then performed it once. I was shocked that the instructor would say, "well you cheated a bit on that skill, but you got it done," or "you did that a little fast, but that's ok." What happened to practice makes perfect?
I do believe the instructor was competent. But I do feel that I didn't get all that I was expecting or paid for. In a couple weeks I'll do the open water dives and expect that we'll be performing a lot of the same skills, just in the open water.
I guess I just expected more from the course, especially in the areas of feeling comfortable.
Am I expecting too much from this class? Is this by design so I'll sign up for the Advanced Open Water? Either way, I know I'll be taking the class with another shop.