Which specialties are worth the money?

[Tomeck]

Then we will have to agree to disagree.

Ice diving has all the overhead issues of caves/wrecks, plus has all the equipment issues dealing with extremely cold water.

Not a good mix.

Almost killed me.
Almost got my brother killed.
A dive partner in Ontario died ice diving.

YMMV

We don't have a problem with cold water, we are very well prepared, because in Switzerland, we dive at 40°F during all the year. For ice diving, it is not necessary to dive deep and we stay at 5 or 10 meters, and we don't need nitrox. On the other hand for the wrecks, we must dive deep, and there are more risks with decompression.

 

[rstofer]

^^ Diver Propulsion Vehicle, aka 'scooter'

I think an equipment specialist is someone who is taught a little bit about the workings of various pieces of equipment, but not to the level that they would be considered technicians. I don't get it.

True! I just finished the PADI version and found it very interesting. The instructor disassembled a couple regulators pointing out variations on the theme as well as how to replace the o-rings, reassemble and adjust them. Clearly only an overview but worth knowing.

For me, the interesting part was wetsuits as I was in the market for one. We talked about the various styles including the 'semi-dry' which I bought shortly after the class. AquaLung SolaFX - pretty nice in a cold water pool. I'll know more at the end of the month when I get over to Monterey.

We also messed around with various computers and had quite a discussion about the HUD display.

Other than the regulator bit, all of the information COULD be obtained through the sales people. But sometimes they aren't thinking about the stuff they don't stock - like the SolaFX.

Is it worth the money? In my view, yes. Other opinions will vary.

Richard

 

[amascuba]

OW, AOW, Rescue, Nitrox

Anything else is a toss up on your overall goals and the instructor.

If you are motivated to enter cave/technical training, then I would suggest the GUE Fundamentals or similar class. It will give you a good baseline of where the technical training bar is set. It's a great class even if you don't want to continue with GUE training past the fundamentals class.

 

[Insert Catchy name]

Are they all not worth the money/time?

 

[Dive-aholic]

It all depends on the instructor and the information presented in the course. If they are just the basic outlines that most agencies present, I'd have to say none of them. If you get an instructor that presents additional valuable information, then they all have potential.

I'd say the ones that have the most potential are the following:

Enriched Air / Nitrox - It's just good information to know, even if you don't dive it much.
Wreck - It could be the beginning of running reels, shooting bags, horizontal orientation, different propulsion techniques.
Deep - It could be where proper gas management planning is learned.
Cavern - Definitely the best class hands down. Lots to learn if taught properly.
Ice - Special circumstances due to the environment. Has lots of potential.
U/W Photographer - Actually, the digital one could be great if a lot of classroom time is spent after the dives learning how to edit the photos.
U/W Navigator - when done in low visibility.
DPV - There are special techniques dealing with DPV failures.
Night - Communication, keeping track of each other, and just the introduction to the dark.

 

[Rhone Man]

Just throwing in my 5 cents.

I was not surprised to see Nitrox at #1, but a bit surprised to see Deep at #2 - I did PADI Deep and I really didn't feel I learned anything that I didn't know already from my OW course.

I also thought that the Photography course was pretty good (albeit too short), but I suppose because it is less of a "core safety skill" people get less excited about it.

 

[JeffG]

We don't have a problem with cold water, we are very well prepared, because in Switzerland, we dive at 40°F during all the year.

Yea...our local diving...our water temps are in the high 80's

For ice diving, it is not necessary to dive deep and we stay at 5 or 10 meters, and we don't need nitrox. On the other hand for the wrecks, we must dive deep, and there are more risks with decompression.

Like I said...agree to disagree. I don't find anything particularly dangerous about decompression diving.

 

[Blackwood]

Are they all not worth the money/time?

That's entirely up to you.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

It all depends on the instructor and the information presented in the course. If they are just the basic outlines that most agencies present, I'd have to say none of them. If you get an instructor that presents additional valuable information, then they all have potential.

I beg to differ here. I believe it all starts with the student. If the student is motivated to learn a particular specialty, they would research their choice of instructor to find a proper fit, and then they will get out of the class what they put into the class.

With the proper instructor, a properly motivated student will receive a wealth of good information and experience from nearly any specialty.

Some divers would need a good PPB class before a Photography class, but other divers would get enough buoyancy knowledge "just" from the photography class.

Every one is different. Some divers will never benefit from a specialty class, because of their set in stone beliefs that specialty classes are just for merit badge collectors.

 

[Dive-aholic]

But even a properly motivated student who happens to choose a bad instructor because the instructor was able to play himself off as something different will not learn all that much from the instructor. That student would be better off to learn the information off the 'net.