astromattical
Registered
I read *most* of the posts in this thread, and thought I'd throw in my two cents. I got PADI certified over the course of two weekends back in September. First two days were book/pool, last two days were OW dives.
That amount of time was more than enough to give me the basic skills to get into the water and not kill myself, AND to be a somewhat reliable buddy. Others have mentioned at SB that no one is ever a true "buddy" until they complete the rescure course, and I believe in that. But until then, I think I'm ok, and whoever is my buddy is in good shape as long as they are a mature diver as well.
I spent a LOT of time before the class going over the book, doing the coursework, watching the video, doing lots of research online (especially SB). I took it very seriously and made the most of it. I've also been on a swim team before, so I was already comfortable in the water and a very good swimmer.
When it came time to do the skills in the pool, we took our time, the instructor helped anyone with issues until they got it right. I did fine on all of my skills the first time around because I approached them with confidence and the knowledge gained from research/studying. Putting them into practice was not an issue. Perfect? No. Will I die with my current training? I highly doubt it. During the OW dives I noticed some mistakes I made and immediately took note of them and did whatever I could to correct them. It's all about how one handles the situation.
If you go into it with the right mind, I don't see an online 2-day class being an issue. Just be smart about it, and your dives following your certification should be with mature, skilled, and experienced divers.
That amount of time was more than enough to give me the basic skills to get into the water and not kill myself, AND to be a somewhat reliable buddy. Others have mentioned at SB that no one is ever a true "buddy" until they complete the rescure course, and I believe in that. But until then, I think I'm ok, and whoever is my buddy is in good shape as long as they are a mature diver as well.
I spent a LOT of time before the class going over the book, doing the coursework, watching the video, doing lots of research online (especially SB). I took it very seriously and made the most of it. I've also been on a swim team before, so I was already comfortable in the water and a very good swimmer.
When it came time to do the skills in the pool, we took our time, the instructor helped anyone with issues until they got it right. I did fine on all of my skills the first time around because I approached them with confidence and the knowledge gained from research/studying. Putting them into practice was not an issue. Perfect? No. Will I die with my current training? I highly doubt it. During the OW dives I noticed some mistakes I made and immediately took note of them and did whatever I could to correct them. It's all about how one handles the situation.
If you go into it with the right mind, I don't see an online 2-day class being an issue. Just be smart about it, and your dives following your certification should be with mature, skilled, and experienced divers.