Continuing Ed. or just paying to dive..

[vel525]

I personally would just pay to dive. I've done only the OW, AOW, and EAN courses and don't plan on taking any more courses for awhile. My money will be spent on gear and trips for me (and I guess my wife too).

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I personally would just pay to dive. I've done only the OW, AOW, and EAN courses and don't plan on taking any more courses for awhile. My money will be spent on gear and trips for me (and I guess my wife too).

You should consider a rescue class ... with the exception of your original certification, it's the most important scuba diving class you can take.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[oly5050user]

I am a little confused by some of the course offering by PADI and presumably other programs. A few that come to mind would be boat diver, night diver, naturalist diver etc. The reason for my confusion is the cost to do these dives and the prerequisite of a certain number of "specialty" dives before you can move "up" the chain.

---you can stop when ever/where ever you like---there is no "chain".

"quote"
A number of these "specialty" dives are done during AOW or one of the other courses with PADI and yet you have to pay for that one extra dive that gets you the certification or that little bit of extra instruction that gets you the same.

----there is class/academic work to be done for some of these specialities.Dry suit has at least 5 hrs presentations,pool and 2 training dives.UW photo has more classroom time pool, time ow dives.Why should not the instructor be paid for their time and effort..-----

"quote"
Instructors on this board are always suggesting that this cert or that cert should be done to help improve on this or that and frankly it feels like the diver is being hustled. Several of these specialty courses could and SHOULD be combined into one educational dive program. The only real reason for not doing so is so that somebody (wether it be dive shop or dive instructor) wants to make more money...


---there are facilities/instructors that can and do package a group of specialties for a set price deal,just ask..Again time and effort is invloved so they must be compensated-------------------

"quote"
The concept of to much information over to little time comes to mind but really for some of these specialty courses the majority of the requirement really falls on the student to learn the book work, the dives could easily be incorporated into say the AOW weekend.

----done properly there is alot of information and technique style that cannot be done in a weekend-----------

"quote"
It truly is my belief that this type of instruction endangers divers lives. You make people take courses seperately that should already be included in instruction already paid for, so you can make more money. If the student cant afford to pay for all these "specialties" they basically take their chances on there own because you didnt get your dollar. In addition it places rediculous course requirements on people who might want to become dive masters or asst instructors but dont have thousands of additional dollars to spend on superfulous class "specialties".

---------You dive to the conditions you have been trained to do..How does this endanger your life unless you try to do something that your abilities/training /experience dictated not to do??Any one who wishes to go on to DM does not have to do ANY specialty,only advance-rescue then Dm..-----------

"QUote"
Diver cost to date:
My classes 0W $425, A0W $125.00, Altitude $125.00 Gear to do what I have been taught $2000 = $2675.00 for a total of 12 dives (not including CERT cards...)

Wifes Classes and gear same

Sons classes same x (2) gear basics $275.00 fins, mask, yada yada

Total to teach a family of four to dive and equip two of them with mid to low range gear $7000 Dollars yea um okay.....

You want more qualified divers?? Stop taking all your students to the bank at every opportunity.

-------As an instructor I do not "take them to the bank at every opportunity"..I deliver a service that is requested by the individual to achieve a goal that they may want ,to the best of my abilities..I always try to save them $ that they can use elsewhere..On island trips that I run we offer FREE advance ow certification or Free nitrox certification..Want to learn uw photo?purchase system from us(at a discount even)and I'll teach a full uw photo course that covers use of equipment,care of it and take you diving..At no cost for the course..When you finish a ow course you will be a qualified ow diver within the limitations that are suggested for ow certifications,same with advance or rescue or any speciality there is..

 

[Thalassamania]

IMHO PADI specialty courses, what’s useful and what’s not:

• Altitude Diver – read the book, its all there.
• Aware – Fish ID – use a fish ID card.
• Coral Reef Conservation – want to pay to watch the video?
• Boat – can be great, you can usually get more from a good DM and a good operator.
• Cavern – can be useful, depends on instructor
• Deep – complete waste of time.
• Digital Underwater Photographer – Non Diving – depends on instructor.
• Digital Underwater Photographer – Diving - depends on instructor, if you really want to learn go to Cathy Church, Brooks or the Nikon School.
• Discover Enriched Air Nitrox – only teaches 32 to 100FSW, waste of time, read the book, and take Enriched Air Diver if you need a card to get fills.
• Dive Propulsion Vehicle Diver – fun, can be a good program, make sure the have assortment of DPVs, Gavins, Farallons, etc. not just “kiddy stuff.”
• Drift Diver – best learned by doing, can be a great program.
• Dry Suit Diver – essential if you’ve never used a dry suit.
• Enriched Air Diver – wow, now I can use 32 and 36, you may need for fills.
• Equipment Specialist – get the oxyhacker regulator book instead,
• Ice Diver - best learned by doing, can be a great program.
• Multi-level Diver – should be a great program, rarely taught, rarely is.
• Night Diver - best learned by doing, can be a great program.
• Peak Performance Buoyancy – should be part of your basic class, if it’s not take fundies instead.
• Project AWARE Specialty Course – Wow, you can pay to see more PADI adverts.
• Search and Recovery Diver - best learned by doing, can be a great program.
• Semiclosed Rebreather - Dolphin/Atlantis – fine if you want to dive this gear.
• Semiclosed Rebreather - Drager Ray – fine if you want to dive this gear.
• Underwater Naturalist – usually a waste of time, can be great with the right instructor.
• Underwater Navigator – you should have learned this in your basic class.
• Underwater Photographer - depends on instructor, if you really want to learn go to Cathy Church, Brooks or the Nikon School
• Underwater Videographer – depends on instructor, I’d take the course at Brooks.
• PADI Wreck Diver – waste of time, read the book.

 

[H2Andy]

the "real" scuba classes are OW and Rescue. since you now have to take AOW to take Rescue class (i think), they become:

OW, perhaps 20 dives, then AOW, then Rescue

for AOW, take Peak Preformance Bouyancy if at all possible. that's a very useful thing

i would then take Nitrox for the extra gas theory you get

that should put you in the top 30% of recreational divers

after you have about 100 dives, i would consider looking into cavern class or wreck diving if those things strike your fancy. if you really want to progress in those areas, go through a technical agency, not a recreational one.

you could also look at the DIR-F class to cement your fundamental skills (you don't have to commit to DIR to take it)

 

[OHGoDive]

... that what seems silly or useless to you, based on your own background and experience, isn't necessarily so to others. The courses are there to make people more comfortable with some aspect of diving that they may or may not wish to partake.

You can say boat diving is silly and useless, just common sense, but, to the midwestern trained diver who learned in a quarry, maybe not so much. Some people may dive this way for years, never having stepped onto a boat in their entire lives. A "course" to help them get comfortable seems like a pretty good idea for them.

You can turn it around another way also. If they taught every aspect of diving in one monolithic class, how many people would be griping because they had to pay for instruction in something 1) they already knew, or 2) were never going to use in their diving lives? Hmmm?

Don't forget, not everyone is you. I like the ability to pick and choose after the basics. It seems like a good idea to me.

 

[Bruciebabe]

To start with I can teach 11 specialities.
These are truly brilliant courses with great educational materials. PADI has been working hard to make videos for most of them.
Some are essential. Deep for instance, if you look at your dive insurance it is often for the depth qualified. So if you have a problem at 31 metres they won't pay. Get the deep ticket and you are insured to 40 metres (I am sure the former colonials here can convert that to Imperial measures). Nitrox is also essential, air is a bad gas at any depth and nitrox gives you vastly improved safety margins.

The thing about specialities is that you need to do them early in your diving career. What they do is to accelerate the learning curve. If I taught a 500 dive diver the boat, night or drift courses they would laugh at me if their diving had given them lots of experience in these areas. Take someone with 20 dives who has just done AOW and they will learn huge amounts from these same courses.

I believe that speciality courses are very instructor sensitive, far more so than OW and AOW. Some will just do the minimum to meet standards and take the money. Others will impart huge amounts of knowledge. So always research your instructor before doing a speciality.

Overall I think this new PADI emphasis in MSD is good. Specialities are such a good way for a new diver to develop their skills.

 

[MSilvia]

Diver cost to date:
My classes 0W $425, A0W $125.00, Altitude $125.00 Gear to do what I have been taught $2000 = $2675.00 for a total of 12 dives (not including CERT cards...)

Wifes Classes and gear same

Sons classes same x (2) gear basics $275.00 fins, mask, yada yada

Total to teach a family of four to dive and equip two of them with mid to low range gear $7000 Dollars yea um okay.....

Sure, it's expensive, but you made expensive choices. When I started diving, I got OW certified, bought mask, fins, and wetsuit, and rented the rest of the gear. I got AOW several years later, and still continued to rent, buying a piece of gear here or there as desired or needed. My point is, you didn't HAVE TO run out and take $675 worth of classes and buy $2000 worth of gear right out of the gate. If the expense was a problem for you, there were other options.

 

[CrawfishDiver]

I agree some specialties are stupid but it did help me make friends with other divers from our LDS. all in all I got what I paid for ........ Its cheaper than fraternity dues

 

[Thalassamania]

You can say boat diving is silly and useless, just common sense, but, to the midwestern trained diver who learned in a quarry, maybe not so much. Some people may dive this way for years, never having stepped onto a boat in their entire lives. A "course" to help them get comfortable seems like a pretty good idea for them.

You'll rarely get anyting out of this class that a good DM on a good dive boat woun't give you for free (be sure you tip well).