Andi

[schlabotnik]

thanks to all. the instructor seemed quite good, but I needed to be sure

as a slightly off topic to this, what should I expect to have to do to get 'enough' certifications to dive under the ice? (Medium sized inland lake)

 

[Trace Malinowski]

At a minimum you'll want to take a very thorough advanced open water course, gain experience, do a drysuit specialty course, gain experience and then an ice diving course.

If you dive frequently, about 20-25 dives in between courses is often a good gauge for gaining experience. With good training and varied experience, ice diving with about 75 to 100 dives will be more safe and enjoyable.

You may or may not be interested in using a full face mask under ice. While less safe than some other gear configurations such as DIR or Hogarthian, FFM diving can be more comfortable.

 

[schlabotnik]

Great info, thanks.

 

[desparoz]

I used to be an ANDI instructor when they had an office in Australia. They had good materials, good standards and no problems in recognising the qualifications - and that was the late 90's so recognition should only be greater.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Believe me, I know what marketing does to certifications - not to name names, but as someone in the computer industry, I know which cert's are useful and which are not

My concern is about my ability to dive when I travel

I really enjoyed conversing with my soon to be instructor, he has other cert's besides ANDI but considered ANDI to be a 'step up' (not his words, what I gleaned from him in our conversation), something alluded to by the previous comment also.

And, I don't expect this to end with one certification. Since I expressed interest in someday diving below the ice, he also recommended that I add-on dry-suit to my repertoire, so I've signed up for that too.

BTW, don't everybody else shy away after a couple of answers, I want to know what a cross-section thinks

My wife and I are ANDI certified and have had zero difficulties with recognition of our certification levels anywhere we've traveled for diving.

My wife started with NAUI OW & AOW, I started with PADI OW & AOW. We switched to ANDI iwhen we lived in South Texas to get our Nitrox instruction in early 2000 (CSU-2) and continued our ANDI traning with a different instructer when we moved to northern Ohio and completed our TSD-3 certs.

I don't know about the ANDI OW & AOW equivalent cards, but the two ANDI cards we have specifically spell out the certification limits in writing on the back of the card where our pictures appear.

Enjoy your journey into the world of Scuba Diving!

 

[schlabotnik]

Just to keep this alive (and ask a couple of questions):

ANDI has the RBS which the instructor pushes HARD (for purchase or rent). I understand that is the ANDI preferred method, but their book says that while this is best, it's not the only way to do it. I'm not keen on another expense (whether $500/buy $100/rent) at this time and so wonder what other ANDI instructors and divers go with here.

Also, I wasn't even thinking about this, but it would seem that at the least I'll have to get some variety of wetsuit as finding a 3X is going to be an issue when I rent, I presume. Any suggestions here about a good (yes, cheap) entry level suit?

 

[schlabotnik]

Hey, one more.....

No teaching of charts, just a hard recommendation to get a computer -- while they don't seem like blatant money grabs, they're close.

 

[padiscubapro]

The reason ANDI pushes the RBS hard is that it IS the best method for dealing with out of/low on Gas.. A recommendation/report by the HSE in the UK stated that a spare second stage is not adequate.

An RBS does not have to be an expensive proposition.. It just needs to be able to deliever gas when needed.. a 19 to 30 cuft cylinder (I really don't recommend smaller cylinders) plus an inexpensive regulator can be had for under $400.. Your life is worth $400 isn't it... If you plan on going further then you get a better regulator as this regulator could be repurposed..

If you decide that a full blow system is out of your reach, avoid gimmicky things like a spare air, the gas capacity is really too small to be really useful expcept the most dire circumstances..

for a purely recreational diver with dives allowing direct ascent to the surface I would recommend

H2Odyssey Extra Air System

you can get 6,13 or 19 cuft bottles... The 6 will get most people to the surface from 100 fsw (direct ascent) WITHOUT a safety stop and is easy to travel with... (the 6 cuft ones usually come with a handly mounting pouch taht can attach to most BCs)

BTW most boats off the NE USA will not even let you dive without a redundant gas source..

 

[DevonDiver]

I'm a PADI, BSAC and SSI instructor already. Just in the process of finalizing my transition to ANDI instructor status at the moment. The reason why I bothered to cross-over to ANDI is because I feel they offer a very high quality syllabus and standards. At the 'tech diving' level, I feel that having instructor certifications with ANDI adds a lot of credibility, that the PADI qualifications don't necessarily provide.

Read into that what you will.... but I don't think you'll ever regret getting an ANDI qualification.

When it comes to training, what really matters is the quality of instructor - not the agency. With PADI and SSI, that can be hit-and-miss. They are big agencies who run a 'sausage factory' for instructors. Of course, some of those instructors are sterling... but others are not. With the smaller agencies, there tends to be less variation in teaching capability - a smaller 'pool' of high-level staff and less concern paid towards the 'profitability' of qualifying as many dive pros as they can. Small has to represent quality, to differentiate itself from the 'mega' agencies.

ANDI...and all of the smaller, or more specialized, agencies should be accepted just as readily as PADI etc. If a dive center doesn't recognize.... or hasn't heard of... the agency or qualification, then it's probably an operation you need to run away from anyway!...

 

[Lead_carrier]

Schabotnik, I only know one ANDI instructor. It's his standards, not ANDI's that I question, but since you're doing the OW course I'm 99% sure it isn't him, so you should be fine with it.