Back to diving after an 8 year break!

[Nakoda]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and very rusty in terms of knowledge. In 2006 I completed my padi scuba diver in Portugal and I intended at the time to go back and complete the rest of the training for my open water diver the following year, but life gets in the way, things change and it never happened. This year I'm going out to Spain and hoping to get a dive or two in while I'm there. 4 days ago it hadn't even crossed my mind but a random link on a link online reminded me of the underwater world and the penny dropped I had both the time and childcare to give it a try. A quick google took me to my local dive school who happened to have space for a scuba review today, so I signed up and off I went. I didn't complete all the skills for the review due to a combination of lack of confidence, time and getting cold, but I'm determined to try again and hopefully next time I won't be so scared. I was literally shaking when I walked into the pool today, the fact I got in the water and took a breath under water was a huge achievement for me, I even managed 10 of 14 skills so not too shameful. I'm looking forward to learning more and will no doubt have some daft questions to ask along the way.

 

[oly5050user]

Standards are that you had only 1year from completing academics and pool requirements to get the 4training dives done. Being you waited 6years you are required to start all over again , academics,quiz,final exam etc..anything else the instructor is violating standards and I would question what other shortcuts are being taken.

 

[Nakoda]

Thanks for your reply but I'm a bit confused by it. Could you explain more please?

I've had 2 different dive schools, 1 in UK and 1 in Spain who both say the same thing. I have the PADI Scuba Diver Licence and I can do the remaining classroom, pool and open water dives to gain my Open Water Diver Licence if I wish to do so. They are both fully aware that my original training was 8 years ago. With the UK centre I specifically asked if what I had already done was still valid or did I need to start again from the very beginning and they confirmed I didn't need to start again but I did need to do the skills review, which I attempted this weekend and will attempt again in the near future. They also recommended I sit in on the first classroom sessions I have already completed to refresh my memory before going on to the final classroom sessions needed to gain the OW licence.

 

[oly5050user]

Ok, you completed ow dive 1 and 2.. You
just need academics 4and 5 along with ow dive 3and4 to earn full ow certification. Miss read and thought you onLy did academics and pool 8years ago.

 

[Nakoda]

Thanks, you had me worrying there for a while, yes I did the first 2 OW dives as well as academics and pool. Until my confidence returns I won't be doing the OW course anyway, I think this year will be a couple of supervised dives for fun and completing my scuba skills review.