Who "Fails" Open Water Scuba Certification and why

[jagfish]

Can a Student Fail Open Water Scuba Certification? Does it really happen? Lots of non-divers interested in scuba ask me this. Lots of instructors like to talk about how many students they fail. As with teachers of any kind, this can add a sense of value to their education. How often do students actually fail and never end up earning their certification card?

 

[ibj40]

Had a friend who I didn’t realize had really serious asthma.

While I was diving suggested that they do a Discover dive with a dive op I was involved with.

Came back from my dives and dive op ate my a** for not making them aware of the asthma.

I didn’t know, and it deteriorated our relationship, both personal and dive shop.

Real answer is to be fully aware of any situation you might be involved with.

 

[OTF]

Had a friend who I didn’t realize had really serious asthma.
While I was diving suggested that they do a Discover dive with a dive op I was involved with.
Came back from my dives and dive op ate my a** for not making them aware of the asthma.
I didn’t know, and it deteriorated our relationship, both personal and dive shop.
Real answer is to be fully aware of any situation you might be involved with.

That's 100% on the dive op for not asking or having the friend fill out a medical form. The due diligence is on them not you. You didn't know, and it was just a discover dive, which is MEANT to find out if diving is right for a person and should be very carefully monitored. They sound nasty for holding that against you. Ridiculous.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Had a friend who I didn’t realize had really serious asthma.

While I was diving suggested that they do a Discover dive with a dive op I was involved with.

Came back from my dives and dive op ate my a** for not making them aware of the asthma.

I didn’t know, and it deteriorated our relationship, both personal and dive shop.

Real answer is to be fully aware of any situation you might be involved with.

Did your friend fail to disclose the asthma or did they not even have him complete a medical disclosure form?

 

[halocline]

Can a Student Fail Open Water Scuba Certification? Does it really happen?

My limited experience in this was a summer of assisting with classes in Roatan, at one of the larger dive ops there, where they probably certified around 250 new divers while I was there. As far as I remember, only one failed to get her certification, and she was given the option to come back and continue the class to try to pass.

When I was certified many years ago at a dive shop in TX, there were two people in my class that I thought would be at danger of drowning if they went diving unsupervised in any sort of mildly challenging conditions, like a deep bottom, limited visibility, any current, etc...they both passed, although one of them knew enough to realize she was having a lot of trouble, and the instructor volunteered a few extra sessions with her to help with the skills. The other was clueless about his problems and got no extra help, but still got the C card. To this day I don't know how.

Most instructors, especially those working for dive shops whose business model is to sell gear to new divers, do not want to fail students in OW class. The shop doesn't want it either. I suspect many instructors, like the one that certified me, would spend extra time, and I mean an entire day, with students that are struggling rather than fail them.

 

[oly5050user]

We recently had a 68 yr old that failed. I am 69 and better shape than him . My BMI is perfect . I am on statins and blood pressure med, he answered no on med form to this, do not believe him .He did the ow course 1 yr ago and we wanted to get him in pool for refresher before ow dives. At first he refused to do pool, told him he had no choice. Was complete mess. Told him he needs to do entire course over.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Yes OW students do sometimes not have the comfort level to pass. I rarely teach entry level scuba these days, but I recall new student o/w divers occasionally not being comfortable enough to remove/replace and clear their mask underwater. This was the biggest "show stopper" that I recall. I started teaching scuba in 1974.

 

[tridacna]

We had a student that weighed close to 400lbs. Spent over $4k on custom gear and DC prior to certification. Used a modified harness (with extra weight belt) and a special 5XL BCD. Struggled along in the pool until he ripped the exit ladder off the pool wall trying to climb out with gear on. Never finished.

 

[rhwestfall]

There was one student in my OW class that freaked out over the cold water, confining wet suit, and hood. Couldn't put his face in the cold/dark water when we got to the open water portion. Don't know if he ever completed it. He was getting certified to go dive in Alaska to search for Mastodon tusks...

I don't know how my wife's classes went as I wasn't involved in them...

In my daughter's class, there were three students told that they could not go to the open water check-out dives as they needed remedial work. Again, I don't know if they continued.

Every OW class and instructor I have encountered always said that they were always willing to do any extra work a student needed. It usually meant that they would attend the next certification group/class if they weren't ready for the open water dives. There wasn't additional fees associated with this, and was stated as such. Some times, all it took was a side session with a DM over a specific skill while the class was progressing. Not everyone learns at the same pace...

I do know advanced level (AN/DP) students that were denied certification as they weren't deemed safe or competent for that level of diving.

 

[lowflyer]

From what I've seen, many who pass should have failed.