Can PADI Specialty Course Dives Be Combined?

[Downing]

I'll be doing a few PADI specialties in Belize in a couple of months along with the Rescue Diver Course.

Just so this doesn't veer off into another debate over whether it's worth the time and/or money to do this, just assume for the sake of argument that I've already decided it's worth it and can't be persuaded otherwise.

Can multiple specialty course credits be earned on the same dive? For example, if I take a boat at night to a deep wreck, could I count that dive as each a Boat, a Night, a Deep and a Wreck dive for course credit purposes?

I'm sure there are rules about this. I'm going to guess that combining specialties, if allowed at all, would be limited to no more than two on any one dive. Certain combos, like Night and Deep, seem like a bad idea, but combining Boat with pretty much anything else would be a natural.

If any PADI Instructors out there could chime in, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Doppler]

I am not an instructor for that agency and therefore have no dog in this race, but why do you want to shorten courses that are already remarkable for their brevity? Doesn't experience count for anything?

 

[Hawkwood]

The answer is no.

 

[BrianKon]

There are some instances where a training dive could be used for an adventure dive,

for example if you did a Nitrox dive as part of OW Dive4, you could count that towards a Nitrox adventure dive. There are several other instances where the combo dives your talking about could work, but I think it is only for Adventure dives, which could be used as one of the training dives for a particular specialty. I do not believe you can combo Specialty Training dives, they are usually a bit more intensive and not conducive to combining. let me check my manual.

If you haven't done the Adventure Dives for those specialties, I would just do that and select three or four dives of interest. It will make for a better use of time and allow you to experience the types of diving before committing to the specialty.

Anyone who knows for sure, please advise.

 

[Teamcasa]

I'll be doing a few PADI specialties in Belize...

Why waste terrific diving time in Belize taking any courses? Take the courses at home and use the brief tropical diving time to use those skills learned.

 

[Downing]

I am not an instructor for that agency and therefore have no dog in this race, but why do you want to shorten courses that are already remarkable for their brevity? Doesn't experience count for anything?

Doppler, it's not a matter of wanting to shorten courses. I'll be there for two weeks, so I'm just trying to figure out how much I can do in between the RD course, which is the big target, and chasing whale sharks.

Experience does count, and I've already got a fair number of these "specialty" type dives under my belt, although not in a PADI sanctioned capacity. I'm trying to be realistic about my expectations.

Blackwood, thanks.

 

[Downing]

Teamcasa, sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you. I didn't see your post when I posted my reply above.

I understand your point. The diving in Belize is terrific and this will be my third dive trip there in four years.

I don't see how taking courses on vacation would be a waste of diving time. All the specialties involve diving except for nitrox, which I got in Belize three years ago. I'm prepared to hit the water asap because I've already got the manuals/dvds and have studied them thoroughly.

I'll be taking courses on vacation because, well, that's the way I want to spend my vacation. I like a little bit of a challenge, with the emphasis on little, lol, and these specialties fit the bill.

Sure I could do them here at home, but I don't particularly care for diving locally. I get talked into it about three or four times a year. If I'm going to dive in cold, dark water, I don't want to be dealing with doing it as part of a class. I had enough of that when I got my OW and AOW certs.

Briankon, thanks for that. As I said above, I've done nitrox already so that won't work. I did a few Adventure Dives when I got my AOW card.

But as I see it, there's really not much to "commiting" to a specialty. Buy the crewpak, study the manual, watch the dvd, hook up with an instructor and do the dives. As Doppler said, it's pretty minimal.

I'm just surprised you can't combine at least Boat with something else. I mean, how else are you going to get to an off shore dive site? The Boat cert alone seems almost worthless to me and ought to be able to be combined with just about anything else.

 

[BrianKon]

I would say if you don't have the Deep or Navigation Specialty take those. The rational is because there are probably more case scenarios involving Deep dives and OOA situations then any other (i could be wrong), with the additional training, you would be able to review some key safety factors with those you are diving with that may not be AOW or if they are, do not do enough deep dives to gain real experience. Navigation because...well see above. I would guess getting lost would contribute to a fair amount of case scenarios as well. It it the one thing that can cause anxiety and lead to an incident, even if not fatal, the higher respiratory rate could cause one to run low on air and not be able to complete the dive plan.

The Navigation is fun and will directly translate to Rescue Diver and Divemaster.

Instead of using all those days on a bunch of specialties, take maybe two, then use the rest to gain more experience in those dives.

See if they have Cavern or Cave there's about 6 days of training right there.

Good diving too you!

brian

 

[pir8]

Short answer is you cannot combine more than one course per dive. This includes the Rescue class. Actually there is one class that you can do with any of the others. Nitrox, because there are no in H2O skills involved during the dive.

 

[DevonDiver]

As Pir8 has stated, PADI standards prevent the combination of course dives from different courses. The only exception are the two nitrox dives, which are optional anyway.