ACUC certified?

[melissassm]

So, I was wondering how many people here are ACUC certified, and what they thought of the course.

I went the PADI route myself, and have heard that the ACUC was much more "intensive".

What do you think?

 

[The Horn]

My Wife is ACUC certified. I don't believe her course was any more extensive than the course I did with PADI. It really boils down to the instructor as has been said many times on this board.

They offer great training and my wife was very happy with the course. Now if we can find a baby sitter for three kids for a few hours we'll try and get some dive time together!

 

[ScottB]

OT but funny/true advice for Horn.. sorry for the offshoot Melissa Put a harness on each kid.. 3 ropes tied to a central point... invariably the kids will want to go in different directions.. and pull against eachother and go nowhere

Or velcro jumpsuits + velcro wall

Or the simplest, place a tv infront of them.... the Discovery Channel was my baby sitter =)

-Take care,

 

[asaara]

I don't know if the ACUC open water/AOW courses are more intensive than PADI, where I took them (Israel) there are diving laws that require the courses to be a certain length and certain number of dives. Having taken the rescue course in Canada, without the diving laws, the ACUC course involved slightly more work, including a snorkel rescue of a diver in full scuba gear, which was one of the most difficult rescues, having no air, obviously. The PADI course didn't require it, and one of the people taking the course had no desire for ACUC certification rather than PADI, so he got to go home early.

As far as Divemaster courses go, you want anything but PADI - I know someone certified in Canada who wanted to take an AI course in Israel (through TDI/SDI), and they made him retake most of the classes and dives for that course, as well as writing the exam (NAUI Master Diver, not even rebranded yet with the TDI/SDI logo on top - which isn't made any easier in some places if you work in metric and don't know the local language, as the English version is American-Imperial), before they'd let him go on to AI. Maybe it's just politics, having not taken the Canadian PADI divemaster course, but maybe it is significantly different.

 

[GDI]

Any course taken is subject to the instructor. Having taken a ACUC class I'm glad I did. I came into PADI at the DM level. Now as a SDI instructor I have the luxury of blending standards if I choice. In any case the class I teach the MASTERY of the skill levels is subject to my opinion

 

[Falco]

I did ACUC OW and AOW and I'm currently doing the rescue class, since I have never taken a comparable class with another agency, it's hard for me to compare the quality of the courses. The only way I have to compare the classes is by stacking up what I am learning to what is being said on SB or TDS and up to now, my instructor has been doing a good job.