Did your OW course prepare you to dive?

[Cthippo]

I am curious about people's perception of their own skills and readiness to dive when they finished their open water course.

At the end of the class did you feel like you had the knowledge, skills and abilities to safely complete a dive with a equally skilled buddy? For this question, lets say you were going to basically repeat your last training dive, but with an equally skilled buddy instead of an instructor. Did you feel like you needed a Dive master or similar person with advanced training in order to get in the water? What would have made a difference in this perception for you (i.e. more or different skills, more training time in the water, just more dives, etc?).

Do you feel that with your current knowledge, skills and abilities you could conduct a dive equivalent to your training dives with an equally skilled buddy?

 

[Doc]

I felt ok with my skills as i had been educated on possible difficulties of a dive and just what additional situations might present themselves.

Ignorance is bliss, But it’s worked since 1968.

I was trained to learn.

 

[tursiops]

You ask five questions:
Title: yes
1 - yes
2 - no
3 - n/a
4 - yes

ADDED: I suspect one's age and comfort in the water makes a huge difference to one's comfort level at the end of the OW course. Younger folks feel more immortal than older folks. Gender may have some relevance. One's upbringing is surely relevant....some are confident and independent, others less so.

And, the OW courses have changed...more stuff is now packed into less time....so it matter when you did your OW, like this year or 30 years ago.

 

[brsnow]

Yes, I felt very prepared and motivated.

 

[BlueTrin]

1. No
2. Yes
3. More dives in OW
4. Yes

 

[Saltwater_Parrot]

I swam/surfed/body boarded in the ocean all my life, and did various dives on vacation when I was younger (I guess like "discover dives"), so I already remembered some of the skills before the class started and was already extremely comfortable in the water having spent quite a bit of time in and around it. With that said, there were some things I learned which I hadn't learned previously -- so that combined with the refresh of the skills I did do in the past, I felt well prepared and ready after my class was done. I also am the type of person to do a lot of research on things that I enjoy (which is probably a common trait among most of us here, considering we found this website), so that helped me get more comfortable with equipment types and configs, etc.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

I did several OW try dives and was shown the basics but didn't bother to get certified until such time that it suited me. When I did obtain a ticket, we dived as a group without the Instructor, and the first thing one of the newly certified divers did was waste his air consumption by diving deep before hitting the reef. Lesson one was don't dive with people who have just got certified. My apprehension of the PADI tables was poorly explained by the hapless and egotistic Instructor but it was cheap and rushed; since I already had a substantial background in water development, I didn't care. It is much easier to learn to dive in clear pool-like conditions to build on skills.

 

[BoltSnap]

I did several OW try dives and was shown the basics but didn't bother to get certified until such time that it suited me.

So several "try dives" and not a complete course because didn't suit you?

When I did obtain a ticket, we dived as a group without the Instructor, and the first thing one of the newly certified divers did was waste his air consumption by diving deep before hitting the reef.

But weren't you a "newly certified diver" then too? How do you "waste air consumption" vs. "wasting air"?

Lesson one was don't dive with people who have just got certified.

But you were also a "diver" who "just got certified" too?

My apprehension of the PADI tables was poorly explained by the hapless and egotistic Instructor but it was cheap and rushed;

Your apprehension of the PADI tables was explained by the instructor? What was "cheap and rushed,"? Tables?

since I already had a substantial background in water development, I didn't care.

What is "water development"?

It is much easier to learn to dive in clear pool-like conditions to build on skills.

No kidding...

What are you talking about???? Is English a second or third language in Alaska?

Your sentences seem to be artificially synthesized and strung together haphazardly.

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

But weren't you a "newly certified diver" then too? How do you "waste air consumption" vs. "wasting air"?

Expend gas thoughtlessly.

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Irrelevant comments removed

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[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

water development

I just coined a new phrase. Feel free to use it...