3 day Scuba Certification: Hawaii

[RTee]

It would make sense to send the books and expect them to come ready to go. This would really help a shortened course.

I got my son OW certified earlier this year. The DS I dealt with (located in another city) offers several training programs tailored to provide maximum flexibility to their students:
1) traditional program based on X number of weeks;
2) concentration program split over two weekends; and
3) concentration program based on five consecutive full training days (conducted as a retreat and all water work done in a natural setting (lake)) This program is only offered in the summer.

I chose option 2 for my son. As soon as he was registered, he received all his course material including the PADI video. His homework prior the first weekend...go through the entire PADI OW book, complete the knowledge review exercises at the end of each chapter and go through the video.

First weekend (mid-March)
equipment requirement...mask, fin snorkel (LDS provide remainder)
Friday evening (1800 - 2300 hrs): review course material and pool work
Saturday (1000 - 1700hrs): review course material and pool work
Sunday (0900 - 1500 hrs): review course material, pool work, written exam

2nd weekend (I elected for a referral with a local instructor in early May instead but would have occurred last weekend of May)
OW sessions conducted at a third location where LDS provides dorm, cooking facilities, classrooms and compressor
Equipment requirement...as per first weekend except course membres pick up remainder of gear at LDS shop prior proceeding to diving/cabin facility
Friday night: arrival at location and setting up
Saturday/Sunday...quick review plus two OW certification dives on each day.

I personally thought it was very well done and in a very professionnal way. I also ensured that my son did his part prior the first weekend. I had a very good idea about the training establishment as I used it for my AOW certification (conducted over a weekend at their diving/dorm facilities).

I also think it is a very good way to conduct training as course members can build upon lessons learned that are still fresh to their memory.

 

[Allison Finch]

Seems grossly inadequate to me. But then, I was certified in 1970 when the training was long, hard and complete.

I'm sure that after twenty "specialty" courses and many $$, they may become proficient/safe divers.

Sorry for the rant, but I greatly dislike the "dumbed down" training just to expedite impatient people.

 

[pjhansman]

Seems grossly inadequate to me. But then, I was certified in 1970 when the training was long, hard and complete.

I'm sure that after twenty "specialty" courses and many $$, they may become proficient/safe divers.

Perhaps some of us learn quicker.....?

 

[kd3pc]

RT - I love the format that you used...wish more shops had those options..

Allison, I also agree that the courses could be more in depth, less dumbed down but with the exception of private pilot, every course I have taken, or retaken is far less strenuous than it was even 12-15 years ago.

We (my wife and I) got our OW and both felt that it was but an introduction. Our first 6-8 dives were to practice what we had learned, and we were lucky that our LDS instructors were around to keep us "correct". Even providing more help on some safety items that we felt were just done once in the OW training. My wife was still not confident, in her mind - so we did several more dives and then went for AOW and completed that....one of our "special" dives was buoyancy and it was worth the price of the AOW all by itself. Time and details were provided, and practice in breathing made diving more fun and exciting.

Buoyancy should be a mandatory requirement course...for a lot of reasons.

After AOW, we continued to practice the skills we learned and as part of every dive now, we pick one skill (swap regulators, cleansing breaths, decomp stops) and practice it. With over 50 dives we are at the point where we are comfortable and have done the book/pool work for Rescue Diver and will complete the open water for that in the spring.

Now we have the training, that IMHO, should be the basics for safe diving..not just a few dives in the pool and a few more in 20' of water and you are on your own.

Sadly we have met many diver students who are so nervous and stressed that they don't ask the instructor for help and simply quit the course. Our instructors, were all very interested in our learning and were willing to provide the individual time to make sure we learned correctly. But then our LDS sets up classes of 5-7 with a DM, instructor and instructor in training at a minimum.

all the best

 

[friscuba]

Some people tend to get hung up on the "three days" and don't look at the overall picture. With e-learning, even self-study, one can minimize the "classroom" time (how many mainland scuba schools/instructors are doing the full lecture route these days?) and that "three days" can largely be spent in the pool or ocean concentrating on skills.

There are plenty of opportunities to come to Hawaii and get one on one or one on two, heck one on four, instruction with plenty of individual attention and time for skills work. Give a decent instructor 4-6 hours of pool time with 1-4 students, and two days of diving, and they can produce a reasonably proficient beginner Open Water Diver. Instructor/student ratios can be a big thing. Now, if one were to come to Hawaii and land themselves in a program that maxes out the Instructor/student ratio to what standards allow, there might not be as much individual attention.

There are so many factors that need to be considered. Is a "4 week" class with pool and lecture time weekly followed by a "weekend" with a group of 8-10 students an Instructor and a couple DMs sitting on a murky bottom doing skills for 25 minutes and then getting out of the water because people are freezing really better than a "3 day" course with a 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 ratio where come dive day, the instructor and students are going through the skills then diving for an extra 30 minutes each dive getting a handle on bouyancy, looking at critters and actually enjoying the experience? I don't think I've ever had a student not have at least 3 hours of bottom time before becoming certified while I've taught here, most are getting around 4 hours of bottom time on their training dives... back in Oregon, I helped with classes and the students were lucky to get 90 minutes of bottom time, and it was almost all sitting on their knees. I can't say how many fresh out of class OW divers from the mainland we see here on the boat that had similar experiences in their OW classes, but it's a fair number.

The education one receives can depend more on Instructor/student ratios and water time than it does length of the course in many cases. I do believe that if one is looking at doing cold water diving, it's a good (better) idea to get certified in the conditions you expect to dive in, but if someone's interested in warm water vacation diving only, then it's not going to hurt them to have a pleasant experience right off the bat.

 

[RU4SKUBA]

Was this a full Open Water course, or could it be Padi's "Scuba Diver" program?

"Scuba Diver" is 3 of the 5 CW and KD, with OW dives 1 and 2 only... while "Open Water Diver" adds the last 2 components.

Perhaps he's unfamiliar with Padi's programs and signed up for the easier certification?

 

[Charlie99]

I did a private one-on-one course in 2-1/2 days in Maui in 1998. In comparing with other divers, I find that we covered a lot of stuff not normally taught. Having watched multiple student classes, it seems that most time in the water is spent watching others do their drills.

I had read the book ahead of time, and as an engineer, the physics sort of stuff was trivial and very quickly covered.

It also helped that I had done quite a bit of ocean swimming and snorkeling in rough water, so things like clearing a mask were not new tasks.

I even got to do a few unusual drills such as doing a series of underwater somersaults, and getting spun and flipped around with my eyes closed, and then seeing how easy it was to reorient after opening my eyes back up.

The one extra drill that in hindsight was pretty stupid is that I wanted to see what being overweighted felt like, so the instructor let me take his weightbelt and add it over the top of mine. The plan was for me to just descend 15' to the bottom and then come back up, but he signaled for me to swim on out to the outer reef. So before being certified, I ended up swimming out in 25' water, 12+ pounds overweight, with my instructor in a wetsuit above me. With his wetsuit and no weight, the instructor would have had a pretty difficult time getting down to me if I had a problem.

I've managed to survive my last 750 dives OK, so the 2-1/2 day course couldn't have been too bad.

 

[BoltSnap]

Even with 1 on 1 class, it would still be very difficult to imagine that one would be able to cover all skills AND achieve proficiency and comfort level with all knowledge skills to the point where they become second nature. For the knowledge part, I believe that even with "e-Learning," it would be prudent on the instructor's part to have a review session to make sure that the student understands all of the knowledge portion adequately as well as to give the chance to cover any additional material deemed necessary by the instructor.

I am not a believer in 1 on 1 type of courses where the student's buddy is the instructor. I think that there should be a minimum of 2 students who will be each other's buddies. This scenario would provide each student the opportunity to work with "less than perfect" buddy and learn how to handle the mechanics of a true real life buddy system as opposed to a "fake" ideal buddy. There is much more to learn with less than perfect buddy than with an instructor as a buddy in an entry level course (or any type of recreational course in that matter).

 

[ev780]

****Deleted stupid rant*******

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Here is an example of a recent class for SSI:

Fri night, 2 hours class
Sat 4 hours class, 3 hours pool
Sun 2 hours class, 2 hours pool, written test
1 week later:
Sat 3 open water dives
Sun 2-3 open water dives

Yeah, not sure how PADI fits that in within a 3 day period unless book work was done on their own before they got there.

How many open water dives are required for SSI OW certification?

The book work is "home work." A 10 year old half wit could complete the book and KR's on his own in 10-ish hours. The teaching part is making sure the student understands the subjects covered in the KR's, and that they understand the subjects covered in the quizzes/exam. Why would an instructor need to be involved in the "home work?"

DD's schedule above is similar to the norm all over the warm water world;

If the students make prior arrange they should be told it is best to complete the book work before getting on the plane; many attempt to do it on the plane. To really make a good start to the class the first three chapters/KR's need to be completed before sitting down with the instructor.

Another 3 day option is start with the Intro Dive. Then you decide you want to be certified, so you get the book and do the first three chapters/KR's before the next session with the instructor. That next session starts with reviewing the 1-3 KR's and quizzes, then as much of the confined water as possible, but at least the first three CW sessions; then you can make OW Dive 2. Third day with the instructor is the remaining KR's, quiz and exam, remaining CW sessions and remaining 2 OW Dives.

Or you could do all the remaining CW work the second day and third day just chapter 4-5 KR's, quiz, exam and 2-4 OW training dives.

The vast majority of certified divers in the world started by booking a 3 day course; mentally and physically challenged prospects might not maintain the pace to complete in 3 days.