Certification v Recreational Dives

[Traminer]

Hi guys.. not sure if this is the right forum for this.

I'm one of those excited newbies who did his PADI OW and AOW in 1 week during a lovely holiday in Phuket.

Moving on from there, I was wondering if I should focus on logging some rec dives for experience? Or I could move on to do more certified speciality courses like wreck diving, night diving, NITROX?

My angle is that why should I do rec dives when I can get certified for doing the same. Especially when it comes to fun stuff like wrecks, nightdives and enriched air?

Any views?

 

[Kim]

What is your goal in diving? Nitrox is a good course but it probably won't help you that much until your air supply is lasting longer than your permitted NDL. Other courses are also good fun but the most important skills that you need to dive, such as trim and buoyancy take a bit of practice to master. Once you have though then EVERY dive you make becomes more fun. Rec dives give you a chance to practice what you have already learned and become more comfortable - that's never a waste IMO.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Do some fun dives to work on your skills.

 

[Argos]

Do LOTS of fun dives to improve your skills......... Just having the C card doesn't necessarily make you a diver. I have seen divers with enough c.cards to be able to play poker BUT they were lousy divers....ON the other hand I have had the honour to dive with some of the best divers I have ever seen and these only having the OWD or 1* CMAS BUT with thousands of dives...........

Just my 2 pennies ...............

 

[Mr. Brown/Scuba]

having a c=-card does not mean you are fit to make the dives covered on the card just means you passed a quickie class ........Dont take that in a mean way... I have seen this as far up as Dive Master, Instructor and Course Dir.....Every one needs practice!!!!....No rec dive is ever the same, so make alot of them, and maybe you will find a direction that interest you more than others. Congrats on finding scuba. Welcome to the board, and dont let the big number get to zero!!!

 

[friscuba]

Hi guys.. not sure if this is the right forum for this.

I'm one of those excited newbies who did his PADI OW and AOW in 1 week during a lovely holiday in Phuket.

Moving on from there, I was wondering if I should focus on logging some rec dives for experience? Or I could move on to do more certified speciality courses like wreck diving, night diving, NITROX?

My angle is that why should I do rec dives when I can get certified for doing the same. Especially when it comes to fun stuff like wrecks, nightdives and enriched air?

Any views?

I'm one of those who's all for new divers getting in as much diving as they can up front, if that includes doing the AOW class immediately for an introduction to different types of dives under some supervision, that's cool.

But at some point you might want to get at least a few, better yet, several non-instruction dives in just for fun. Get a chance to practice what you've picked up already for a bit, then start working on the specialties. There's nothing wrong with jumping in and aggressively persuing additional training, but then again, it's not a race, and you just might find getting your basic skills down (15-30 dives from now you'll look back at where you are today, and you'll realized you've come a ways, even if you don't take further classes between now and then) will help when you do your later coursework.

In either case, enjoy your future diving.

 

[Brandon]

For now, just spend the money on diving...

Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue and Nitrox are the only C-cards you really need... all of the other types of diving will come with experience.

Heck, a caveman could teach half of the PADI specialities:

Night Diving, by Ooogark:

You take flashlight. Go underwater. Look at perdy fishies.​

Nitrox Diving, by Ghark:

We put special air in special tank. You breathe same way, but use different tables.​

Boat Diving, by Ugg:

Get on boat. Stare at perdy deckhand woman. Put gear on. Jump in water. Look at perdy fishies. Get back on boat. Stare at perdy deckhand woman for long time. Jump in water again. Look at perdy fishies again. Get back on boat. Stare at perdy deckhand woman. Get off boat. Find cavewoman wife waiting angrily at dock with club.​

Underwater Hunting, by Ogggh:

Get pointy stick. Go underwater. Poke fish with stick. Make cavewoman wife cook.​

At $75-$150 a pop, I'd much rather just hop a charter or do a whole bunch of shore diving... likely much more valuable.

-Brandon.

 

[Traminer]

Thanks for the input.

Don't we need to be certified in order to do certain rec dives?

Ie.
Wreck dive = PADI wreck dive certified?
Night dive = PADI night dive certified?
NITROX = PADI Enriched Air diver certified?

 

[Halthron]

With some, yes. For instance, you should have to show proof of Nitrox cerrtification before getting a nitrox fill. For others, no. A night dive is an experience, not a certification.

In addition, there are other agencies besides PADI.

Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue and Nitrox are the only C-cards you really need... all of the other types of diving will come with experience.

For rec diving, sure. However, some people get to a resort and discover that there are two groups going wreck diving. One that gets to look at the outside, another that gets to go inside. Tec diving leads to more cards being required.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Thanks for the input.

Don't we need to be certified in order to do certain rec dives?

Ie.
Wreck dive = PADI wreck dive certified?
Night dive = PADI night dive certified?
NITROX = PADI Enriched Air diver certified?

Search for threads dscussing PADI wreck. At best you'll stick your head in.

Don't get me wrong - I do see good value in taking various specialty classes - such as Deep and Navigation - it's just now you likely need experience.