Advanced Open Water Disappointment

[tursiops]

it’s a free world.

No, not really. Lots of rules and regulations...like shooting fish.
It is an illusion that you can do what you want. But have fun trying...

 

[L13]

No, not really. Lots of rules and regulations...like shooting fish.
It is an illusion that you can do what you want. But have fun trying...

There are many fish that are legal to shoot.

And, lion fish in the Caribbean should be hunted to local extinction if possible!

 

[tursiops]

There are many fish that are legal to shoot.

And, lion fish in the Caribbean should be hunted to local extinction if possible!

And there are many that are NOT legal to shoot. And there are places where you can't do it on scuba, period.
It might be helpful to an underwater hunter to actually know what the fish are that he is shooting....IDing them at the cleaning station is nonsense, of course, but I don't think he really meant that.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Mel is correct here. What do you think will happen if you take a spear gun down to your local aquarium?

 

[boulderjohn]

Two weeks? My OW was 3 days. Saturday morning was classroom, Saturday Afternoon Pool, Sunday 2 Quarry Dives less than 20 minutes each. Monday 2 Quarry Dives less than 20 minutes each. Sounds like a lot has changed in 20 years.

Yes, things have changed in 20 years--specifically, the PADI OW class has more requirements now than they did then. It should take a little longer. What has not changed is individual instructors or shops can be willing to cut corners.

I was certified much more than 20 years ago, and it was also done in 3 days. It was not until I became a DM years later that I realized how many standards were skipped to make that happen. I should have known, because I can look at my original logbook and see how many skills my instructor signed for that we did not actually do. I never looked. Why would I?

Was your coursework done with a book or eLearning? How many students in the class?

I worked with hundreds of students in my instructor days, and I could not possibly complete the academic and pool requirements in that amount of time. It typically took twice that time for a class. A private session would take less time, After the first 4-hour pool session, students would be very tired--no way they could finish then. That's why we spread the sessions over two days.

Your log book should give you an idea of what might have been missed. Some aren't obvious; for example, you have to set up and break down your equipment 5 times, and that takes a while.

My guess is you did not get the full required class with the full required standards. If so, you should report it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

No, not really. Lots of rules and regulations...like shooting fish.
It is an illusion that you can do what you want. But have fun trying...

Yeah I’m not stupid Mel, I know the rules.
There are many rules around here and we know them all. ID’ing fish at the cleaning station is an old joke around here, but my mistake for posting a local Norcal hunter thing here on SB. Forgot that virtually everyone else on SB is NOT from around here.
You know, it helps to have a sense of humor and laugh once in a while. You should try it.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

Your log book should give you an idea of what might have been missed. Some aren't obvious; for example, you have to set up and break down your equipment 5 times, and that takes a while.

I'm definitely going to pull out the logbook this evening and check. That will be a great exercise. I will report back.

There is no doubt my instructor/shop cut corners. At the time of my OW I was happy as a pig in ****. I was a certified diver ready for new adventures. I didn't have expectations beyond what I trusted my instructor to teach me.

He started me out one on one in the class room and pool but then lumped me in with other students on the open water days who were at varying levels training. I was gung ho wanting to do this so I mastered the material in the book before my classroom training so imagine I was a pretty easy student on the academic side.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

Mel is correct here. What do you think will happen if you take a spear gun down to your local aquarium?

Damn it. I guess I am going to cancel my scheduled dive at the Georgia Aquarium now. I heard them whale sharks are good eatin'

 

[Chavodel8en]

Two weeks? My OW was 3 days. Saturday morning was classroom, Saturday Afternoon Pool, Sunday 2 Quarry Dives less than 20 minutes each. Monday 2 Quarry Dives less than 20 minutes each. Sounds like a lot has changed in 20 years.

My OW was 20 years ago too. It wasn't a full 2 weeks, I think it was 4 evenings of classroom (this was pre-e-learning), one weekend at the pool, one weekend at Monterey

The check out dives were 4 full dives across 2 days in the ocean. And we had some time for "fun dives" after the skills demonstration.

Sounds like your certification did suck. But trying to do all that training in only 3 days its pretty much guaranteed to suck.

 

[Forbin's Descent]

Without further ado, the Diver’s Log pages from my PADI 5 Star Training…