Can PADI Specialty Course Dives Be Combined?

[ElGaucho]

Also, I would add that combining kind of takes away the good deal. I just took AOW, and price consideration was a bit like this: I will get 4 dives that would have costed me 140 bucks. So if I pay 250 I get AOW Card (not really interested except for taking rescue), and at the same time I am getting 4 dives, so I am actually only paying an extra hundred to spend 2 (it ended up being 3 because of both our schedules) days with the instructor diving, chatting and sharing a bit of know how. If you look at specialties, courses and such as dives, which most of them (except Nitrox and Eq Specialist) are, then I think you have a winner. You get to spend time underwater with a knowledgeable person for a bit more of what the dives would cost just doing them. Under this light, it doesn´t make much sense to combine dives to try and get credits. Then you are just card grabbing. Use the dives. I am planning on taking Deep and Nav just because I had a great time spending time underwater with someone that can give me pointers. Where I live there is NO diving at all (Mexico City), and it´s not like I can find a mentor to dive with regularily. So courses become a nice way of getting someone helping me out, and I will gladly do it during a vacation. Diving is diving, and I understand even learning, you can enjoy it.

 

[Hawkwood]

The OP asked about combining specialities on single dives. The answer as many people have stated is no.

However there is one situation where a specialty can be combined with another course. It is possible to conduct one of a number of Specialty diver courses concurrent with the Open Water Diver course. We do it all the time with Dry Suit. All the skills from dry suit 1 are integrated into the appropriate OW dives 1 to 4. The student then does a 5th dive which is dry suit 2. The student earns OW and the Dry Suit specialty.

There are a half dozen or so Specialties that can be combined with OW.

 

[fisheater]

Also, I would add that combining kind of takes away the good deal. I just took AOW, and price consideration was a bit like this: I will get 4 dives that would have costed me 140 bucks. So if I pay 250 I get AOW Card (not really interested except for taking rescue), and at the same time I am getting 4 dives, so I am actually only paying an extra hundred to spend 2 (it ended up being 3 because of both our schedules) days with the instructor diving, chatting and sharing a bit of know how. If you look at specialties, courses and such as dives, which most of them (except Nitrox and Eq Specialist) are, then I think you have a winner. You get to spend time underwater with a knowledgeable person for a bit more of what the dives would cost just doing them. Under this light, it doesn´t make much sense to combine dives to try and get credits. Then you are just card grabbing. Use the dives. I am planning on taking Deep and Nav just because I had a great time spending time underwater with someone that can give me pointers. Where I live there is NO diving at all (Mexico City), and it´s not like I can find a mentor to dive with regularily. So courses become a nice way of getting someone helping me out, and I will gladly do it during a vacation. Diving is diving, and I understand even learning, you can enjoy it.

Go for it. I did the same thing when I first got to some tropical water and for the same reasons. (I followed it up with lots of specialty courses in my home cold water.)