Confined water certified...I don't think I should have passed

[scubadiver888]

I noticed that you are "Confined water certified". PADI has PADI Open Water Diver and PADI Scuba Diver. The PADI Scuba Diver requires the diver to be under the supervision of a Divemaster or Instructor.

I'm not sure what "Confined water certified" means but I suspect it is something akin to PADI Scuba Diver.

Regardless, if you don't feel you received the training you desired you should seek another shop. Whether or not you can get a refund from the shop which certified you is another story. I believe in that regard you are in the same situation as with purchasing any service or training. If you are not satisfied, you can (a) ask the shop for a refund, (b) embarrass the shop into giving you a refund, (c) get further training from the shop, (d) complain to the parent organization (e.g. PADI), (e) take them to court, (f) cut your losses and find another shop to train you again. I'm sure there are a few other options you can come up with as well.

Personally, if I didn't feel I got the training promised I would talk to the instructor. If I had no luck there I'd talk to the owner of the shop. If I still had no luck I would contact Quality Assurance at the parent training agency (e.g. PADI, NAUI, BSAC, etc.) and file a complaint.

Most likely, you'll end up finding another shop and using what you learned, dealing with the first shop, to help you selecting a better shop the next time.

You could also post where you are in the UK (if you are comfortable with that) and if anyone here could recommend a good shop.

 

[Hokie Diver1]

why would you put this up with no details?? It leads nowhere. I understand if you are frustrated, but please. I assume you would like advise or guidance. Hard to get either with this teaser.

 

[RTee]

To the OP...it is going to be much easier to assist you when we know a little bit more. Having said that, OW is just the beginning. When you get the certification you are now armed and potentially relatively safe or dangerous. It all depends as to how you will go about it.

It is not because you have just obtained your driving license that it means you have all the tools, skills and knowledge to conduct your first drive solo ...in a snow storm or very busy downtown area. It is probably much easier to wait for a nice sunny day (probably a rarity in the UK...lol) or elect to go for one in the country side where it is much quieter. Same with diving.

Hopefully you will be sharing more in the near future.

 

[Downing]

My wife bagged our OW dives on the second day, got her PADI Scuba Diver card and went to Mexico to finish up one on one with an instructor in warm clear water. She's now a pretty good diver.

So there's hope!

 

[vshearer]

Your recognition of where you are is commendable. You will do fine.

The problem is the individuals who get a card that says they can competently jump in water over their head with a bunch of equipment and they believe it, because they have the card, so it must be true.

If you are comfortable in the water, a good swimmer, can hold your breath for at least a minute, etc. then you are 80% there. Now just take your time and become comfortable putting on and taking off the equipment, and practice in shallow, clear water.

The card just allows you to rent tanks and go on boats, nothing else.

 

[BrianKon]

Confined Water Certified? what's that?

 

[Diver0001]

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[NoDiver]

Sorry for just throwing this in and disappearing.

First of all, the confined water cert is part of a PADI OW Referral. Which means I have completed my coursework and pool dives and am now qualified to scuba dive in any swimming pool in the world .

I will now be completing my 4 OW dives when I go on holiday next week (nice warm water).

The first day, we did all the setting up and dismantling gear exercise (5 times), buddy checks etc. and then entered the pool.
We sat on the bottom of the shallow end bubbling for about 5 minutes. I was having a problem with my mask leaking, but having read what to do and as I have received some really excellent info from Scubaboard, I just kept clearing and carried on.

When we actaully got to the mask-clearing part of the course, the instructor congratulated me on getting it right first time. I joked that I had just done it about 20times so I'd had plenty of practice.

The mask filling continued throughout the lesson and the instructor said it was because I was exhaling through my nose...which I was and anyway, "you'll probably always be diving with a little water in your mask so get used to it".
He also pointed out that during my snorkel swim, my mask had remained clear. I suggested that that's probably because I'm accustomed to using a snorkel, but the reg felt alien (and it also felt as though it was going to fall out of my mouth all the time (it just felt too heavy). So apart from pinching my nose, I was also holding my reg in a lot of the time. The instructor repeatedly told me to leave my reg alone as it wasn't going to fall out...I wasn't so sure.

Second day:

Had a bad night's sleep and was really pretty tired.
Head straight to the pool, gear up, giant stride into deep end and commenced skills.
I was tired, anxious (exacerbated by tiredness I expect) and, subsequently, hyper-ventilating. I was really really trying to get my breathing under control, but it wasn't working. I wished we had had a few moments just bubbling, to get used to it again.

Mask-flooding much worse than the day before, but we pressed on. It got so bad that I was doing my skills whilst pinching my nose through my mask.
During the fin pivots, I was holding my nose, a DMIT was holding my fins down and I was sure I wasn't going to pass this bit. Wrong. I did pass. My husband pointed out to me later that I'd done it really well...good control. I don't really remember much of it.

We got to the breathing with a free-flowing reg and I lost it completely. I started letting water in around my reg (before I even hit the purge button) and consequently was spluttering and panicking. Yep. I inflated my BCD and shot to the surface. The instructor came up and said "you just can't do that!" I said "I know, I know". I explained that I was tired and anxious and didn't feel as though I could continue and perhaps I should book another pool session the next week.
He said "I know you can do this, you did so well yesterday now come, drop down and let's get this done". He dropped down, I didn't. He popped up again and this time I did go down. I did the free-flow skill and actually really enjoyed the feeling of having my mouth flooded with lots of nice cool air.

There came a time where we had to change my tank (surprisingly, despite all my hyper-ventilating, I was the last one to go low on air)

At this point, he had a discussion with me regarding my anxiety and the fact that perhaps I had been worrying about it before I got to the class that morning. It was also at this point that he noticed I had chewed through one half of the reg mouth grips so changed my reg. He also suggested I try another mask. This reg was much more comfortable and seemed more compact. It was also at this point that he suggested that I may only be able to qualify as a PADI Scuba Diver, not OW. I said, "I'm fine with that".

I continue with alternate mask and guess what...NO FLOODING!

It was a bit more relaxed from here on in.

When we came to do the 15m swim with mask off, I did fine until it came time to put mask on and clear. I kept trying to clear and indicated to him that I wasn't going to give up. After about 5 attempts (I was actually letting more water in each time) he took me to the surface, said "clear" then we dropped down again, at which time he signalled that I'd passed that skill.

My point is that, although I did well after changing masks, there were a lot of skills that I feel I should have had to repeat...all the skills that I was doing in a panic in fact. I was so pre-occupied with that flaming mask that I'm not sure how much learning I absorbed.

When we go on holiday, I will be practising mask clearing in the pool...a LOT!
The OW dives will be done with a trusted relative who owns the dive shop, but I will be insisting on not going any deeper than I am absolutely comfortable with. If I fail because of that, then so be it. I'll just spend my time on Discover Scuba dives.

On the up side... I achieved a 98% mark on my theory exam and I attribute that, for the most part, to all the reading I have done here on Scubaboard. So, thank-you Scubaboarders!!!

Oh, and the first thing I did after the course was to buy my own mask, snorkel and fins.

 

[NoDiver]

Oh, something I forgot to tell you:

We had just completed out what turned out to be our last skill in the deep end and we're watching the instructor. He takes off his mask, removes his reg, and proceeds to lick his mask before replacing his reg and mask. I'm surprised that my eyes popping out of my head didn't knock my mask off!!!! I'm sitting there thinking "there is absolutely no ****ing way I'm doing that, I'm outta here!!!". I fin gently to the surface.

The instructor pops up and I let rip at him saying "you b*****d, you didn't tell me we had to do that!!!!!"

He gave me a cheeky grin and said "nah, my mask fogged up and I needed to clear it" Yeah, hilarious scuba instructor joke!!!! I nearly had a heart-attack

 

[lowviz]

Poised on the brink of diver and "never again".

-give us a clue.