C-card required for Nitrox??

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lmorin

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Am a 30+ dives relative newbie with AOW cert. Will be going to Bonaire in Jan. with wife and two other folks. These two are nitrox certified with 100+ dives; one rescue diver cert. We are not nitrox cert. We have been trying to take that class at our LDS, but it has been disorganized or is procrastinating and has not put one together. The local course does not even involve dives, just text material and verbal review. We have the course book, nitrox compatible computers and will be diving with knowledgeable companions. Not averse to taking the course, but it has to be offered. If it is not, can we get nitrox without nitrox cert or is a nitrox specialty C card necessary to get the mix? If we can get it, are we stupid to do so? Thanks for your input.
 
You wont be able to get nitrox fills or dive nitrox unless you show proof of certification for nitrox or if you can get the dive op to let that slide. In genereal no certs no dive
 
Hoyden:
You can do most of a PADI nitrox certification on-line - http://www.padi.com/english/common/courses/elearning/dean.asp. This may meet your needs.

Jackie

cr@$ i never knew their were online courses! how good are these? $30 bucks thats hell of a deal. will you get a c-card mailed to you after? man i would be hesitant about taking an online course sounds like a marketing effort to raise more............
 
If you desire a PADI Nitrox cert, the place where you're diving on vacation probably offers the course. As part of the course, your "checkout dives" would just be diving on your vacation.

You could probably also do the online course, and then just do the checkout dives, as your dives on the vacation too.

Either way... you WILL need it (the C-Card) with MOST respectable dive ops to be allowed to dive nitrox. Also like Spoon said... to get nitrox fills, you'd need it as well.
 
Spoon:
cr@$ i never knew their were online courses! how good are these? $30 bucks thats hell of a deal. will you get a c-card mailed to you after? man i would be hesitant about taking an online course sounds like a marketing effort to raise more............

I believe that the PADI online course, still requires you to do the checkout dives, which many dive ops will just charge you for the full course to do the dives. This should be investigated with the dive op that the person is diving with.
 
You probably won't be able to get fills without the cert.

As to your other question, "if we can get it, are we stupid to do so?" I assume you mean nitrox fills without certification.

My answer would be yes. You need to be able to do the math for maximum operating depth to keep your PP02 under control. You also need to track your oxygen clock. You could have the knowledge without the card and then it wouldn't be stupid to get the fills - just difficult.

I took the nitrox class and it was pretty easy - but taking a oxygen toxicity hit in the water will kill you quite easily.

Even with knowledgeable friends - you need to be responsible for your safety. Sometimes there are signs of an on-coming oxygen toxicity hit - knowing the signs could save your life.

Heck see if you can take a nitrox course your first day in bonaire.
 
howarde:
I believe that the PADI online course, still requires you to do the checkout dives, which many dive ops will just charge you for the full course to do the dives. This should be investigated with the dive op that the person is diving with.

I am with you.... It is PADI (Put Another Dollar In), not NGO. The end up cost will be the same or higher to get the Nitrox card.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I am looking into the PADI Nitrox on-line course and what all the on-site extra costs are for finalizing the card requirements. I rather agree that the total costs will be equal to or greater than the price of taking it on-site. It is also possible the on-line procedure is so new that the dive shops are unprepared for it. PADI, true to its put-another-dollar-in name, may be creating a situation which will require training dives for future nitrox certification. As I said in my opening post, my LDS provides a certification course that does not include dives and it has not given the course recently. Maybe it is because PADI is undercutting them or there is now a dive requirement which the LDS can only do by referral during winter. The LDS also charges more than the PADI on-line course for what seems to be the same written content.
 

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