In the "old" days (1960s) my certifying agency (Los Angeles County) basically took you through the current OW-AOW-RD series in one course (three weeks for mine). I've been on SCUBA for 54 years now and I still get asked to do check-out dives if I only show my LAC c-card. Fortunately I also have AOW, RD and Enriched Air cards from other agencies that I can pull out if need be.
Certification programs vary widely from shop-to-shop and region-to-region. I've seen OW certified students whose diving skills were pretty good and some DMs (and even an instructor or two) who couldn't dive proficiently at all.
I can understand a dive op that wants to verify dive skill levels since they have a lot of liability to consider.
Certification programs vary widely from shop-to-shop and region-to-region. I've seen OW certified students whose diving skills were pretty good and some DMs (and even an instructor or two) who couldn't dive proficiently at all.
I can understand a dive op that wants to verify dive skill levels since they have a lot of liability to consider.