Adequacy of OW and AOW

[Blackwood]

The issue today is that most instructors/agencies want to qualify the divers ASAP and only provide the bear essential to scuba.

Bears don't bother with SCUBA. S'all about the bear essentials of free diving.

 

[Ste Wart]

Bears don't bother with SCUBA. S'all about the bear essentials of free diving.

Awful Blackwood.

 

[abnjim]

i've had differant classes under padi and ssi and for the most part the instructors did well with what they had. i personaly don't feel enough time is spent on bouyancy controll, i dive 2 to 6 times a week and see divers who work to maintain bouyancy and should they incur a real problem at depth they could easly be at the surface or the bottom out of site of there group/buddy before they get any help.

 

[vshearer]

All I remember about my instructor was her bikini.

 

[ajduplessis]

Thanks blackwood, my spell-checker is "bearly" working.

 

[jar546]

As with any debate about training, organizations, competencies and readiness to dive, it always comes down to the instructor first and foremost.

Some go through the motions, some do their job, some exceed the requirements. I have personally witnessed several OW classes in different organizations over the years and have had different opinions from the various situations.

I have seen OW students get their first AOW dive the same day they finished OW yet still have a complete lack of buoyancy control.
I have seen AOW students fail a class and not get signed off because they simply could not get navigation and have to pay for additional instruction yet at the same time I watched a student get signed off on navigation that still did not know how to read a compass just to go in a straight line.

It all comes down to the instructor. No one wants to fail and have to pay for additional instruction and no instructor should have to work for free spending additional time with a student when the others in the class are done. So what I believe what happens is there is a tendency to simply sign off on incompetent divers.

There are a lot of great instructors out there but each has their own methodology for teaching and threshold for signing off on a student. I praise the OWI who takes the time, spreads class out over a longer period of time, requires more dives and competency above and beyond the "minimum" requirements of the standards. I also praise those students who choose longer, more involved programs because they are more in depth.

So, in response to the OP's poll: If you were not comfortable with your certification process, your level of training or what competency level you were at, you should speak up and talk to your instructor about it.

Is it about being safe and a competent diver or is it about going through the motions so you and your spouse can get that card you need to dive on your vacation?

 

[boulderjohn]

... I don't want to speak badly for any group/program so I'm not going to name any names (you can look at my profile to see my education if you wanna).

I will name them--the first program was SDI and the second was PADI.

I learned OW in one program--we had several training classes in pool (6) 1 hour classes + unlimited pool time. Classes were very small and lots of instructor time. We covered removing/clearing mask, removing mask and swimming, removing mask/regulator then recovering regulator and clearing mark, removing BCD in an 'entanglement' situation at 'depth' in the pool and fixing situation and getting back into BCD as well as surface of the same. Then we had our open water dives with the same activities under instructor's watchfulness and some other activities. I loved it, every part of it. Never felt rushed, I felt like we had good amount of class time and pool time and instructor attention.

The only other program available is the....Other program. ...

I also asked what the normal OW requires in this program. I was informed that it's book-skills, one pool class and then tossed into the ocean. No training on many of the things you might need like swimming without a mask or removing mask and regulator under a 'training' environment.

You were misinformed.

Your descriptions of all the skills you were taught in your SDI program does not name any skill not included in the standard PADI program. That is because both SDI and PADI are members of the WRSTC and agree to meet the same minimum standards. If what you describe is true of the PADI shop you visited, then they are in very serious violation of their standards and should be reported.

 

[cfrensley]

There is simply no way a civilian recreational certification agency can work with a large number of customers worldwide seeking certification and train them to a broad level of competence. PADI is not the USCG or USN. PADI cannot select which few applicants it gets from a large pool and pick the youngest, fittest, and psychologically best suited.

What I do wish is that PADI would teach its OW and AOW card recipients that the door to diving is open but that sticking close to more experienced people and professionals for a while is the only sane choice.

 

[Bogtrotter]

I thought my O/W was excellent through NAUI, plenty of theory and pool time over (if I recall correctly) eleven 3hr sessions- followed by a weekend of checkouts over the course of three months. We had plenty of time to review and practice the scuba skills of the previous week. At the end of it all I felt quite confident in my basic knowledge and skill-set and indeed felt like I had accomplished something at the time. It seems that a lot of new divers get their certification quickly over a weekend these days, and I have encountered many over the years who admittedly don't feel prepared or confident.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

It seems that a lot of new divers get their certification quickly over a weekend these days, and I have encountered many over the years who admittedly don't feel prepared or confident.

THIS IS A MYTH!!!!

The vast majority of typical recreational OW training courses may be marketed as 3-day courses. In order for the vast majority to complete the course in 3 days I think they would need to; finish all the book/dvd/eLearning/homework prior to showing up at the start of day 1, be relatively fit and relatively comfortable snorkeling, and be able to put up with a relatively grueling schedule for those 3 days.

I would say the vast majority of the last decade's new divers "signed up" for 3-day courses, but I seriously doubt that even a majority of those who signed up for 3-day courses completed OW certification in 3-days.