Getting the most out of OW class

[Walter]

DSSW = Dive Safe, Share Water

ae3753, excellent additions.

Alot of old-fashioned folks I know refer to scuba diving as skin diving

Mostly folks who started diving in the late 50's, and folks older than them were skin diving before SCUBA was invented. As long as the concept get across, call it whatever you'd like. Skin diving, free diving and snorkeling are all the same.

 

[triton94949]

If you find a shop that can answer all those questions and have control of them, let us all know.

The overweighting thing is Important. If I didnt have strong legs, I may have drowned in OW class. This is a good question and I'm bewildered after 5 years why they overweighted me so bad during my BC disconnection drill.

The problem is that if you show up with a lot of questions like this, you are not going to paint a favorable picture of yourself.

Since a dive store has already been chosen, then next issue is to decide what class and instructor to sign up for. The answer will probably be the next class.

Therefore I fail to see the benefit of any questions, if the store has already been chosen.

From here on, the best way to get the most out of the class is to read everything you can get your hands on, and practice every skill several times while the others are huddled around doing nothing.

When you finally get to the ocean, we will see if your 4 dives is enough. If not, then sign up for an advanced class right away.

 

[Walter]

The problem is that if you show up with a lot of questions like this, you are not going to paint a favorable picture of yourself.

It's not a good thing to be prepared? It's not a good thing to want an excellent class? I disagree. If someone shows up with those type questions, I'm favorably impressed.

Therefore I fail to see the benefit of any questions, if the store has already been chosen.

The questions may serve to reassure you about your choice or they may serve to have you reconsider your choice. Both are positive benefits.

From here on, the best way to get the most out of the class is to read everything you can get your hands on, and practice every skill several times while the others are huddled around doing nothing.

I'll agree on the reading. OTOH, practicing every skill you've been taught, while an excellent idea, may not be enough as most classes leave out essential skills.

When you finally get to the ocean, we will see if your 4 dives is enough. If not, then sign up for an advanced class right away.

We don't agree on much. If your check out dives aren't enough, you should work with your instructor to get in more dives before you are issued your c-card. After getting certified, get in about 25 dives on your own, then start looking for a real advanced class (AOW isn't really an advanced class). Ask questions before choosing that advanced class.

 

[markfm]

I don't quite understand the idea of signing up for an advanced class right away, at least advanced in the PADI sense. I can only speak for myself, but I absolutely agree with my instructor that the thing to do is just plain get some diving experience, local discovery kind of things with dive masters so I can get underwater time and practice skills, plus do things with a club. At least for PADI, advanced is a series of things to extend the envelope, including depth, a sample-different-things class; I hope to do a bunch of basic dives, puttering and working skills, before taking AOW.

If someone feels even slightly edgy after the basic 4 dives, I'd think AOW is a stretch. As Walter said, though, I sure hope that the instructor hasn't signed-off on the cert just because of a # of dives.

(Perhaps it's different in a warmer climate. Where I am it's drysuit season for another 6 weeks, so anything I do has that one extra bit of equipment to work with. Plus I did choose to buy equipment, so I'd like some practical time working with my computer, etc., under benign conditions, where I'm not learning any new skills.)

 

[spectrum]

This is work in progress for me so I can relate to what many of you are saying. I'd offer to add:

You have to be an informed conumer do you homework before and devour all you can find. Curiculums vary, instructors vary and I'm sure from class to class there are additions and ommisions from many classes due to time, distraction or just plain human error. Your life depends on knowing this stuff and after spending time here on SB I've learned there often different ways to deal with issues. I am proud to say that I didn't hear anything new in my OW classes. I'm not slamming the course, I had just gotten ahead of the curve. I've seen students that didn't grasp things as they went by so to some extent you need to be your own safety net. God help the uniformed, niave, trusting student that falls into a crappy program.

Digging in on your own is priceless when it comes to selecting gear. I'm glad that my shop is low keyed but at the same time what they have and recomend is in a very narrow spectrum. I also know that some shops almost preach "buy this from us or you may die"!

As for AOW I agree that we should be comfortable doing easy dives as soon as we get our cards, otherwise something's wrong. Before we start AOW we want to be in our own gear so that any mentoring is 100% applicablle to our configuration going forward. We (by the way "we" is myself and my wife) want to have a handfull of independent dives under our belts before we start, maybe 10-20?. We are looking at going with a shop that has a flexible program so we can space out the specialties with independent dives in between. This way we will get to practice the learned skills to a level of habit before moving on. This will also give us regular face time with an instructor to mentor us over the first few months. I think this will give us steady growth with time to absorb it all as we go.

We are learning locally to dive locally so we're not in a huge rush to blitz this thing. I can comprehend doing all of the open water work in 3 days, I cannot comprehend becoming a diver in 3 days. Maybe it's because I like time to digest information as I get it. Hopefully we will find the wherewithall for some dive travel but that is not the main goal.

Pete

 

[Bibendum]

Thanks for all the great advice. The list(s) of questions was helpful, as I was already able to answer many of them in the positive, and find out more information about others and thankfully it was more positive information. As someone said, it did help to reassure the choice we made in both LDS and instructor.

After speaking to a few instructors while in the process of selecting a course, I feel the one we chose will be a good fit. He is excited about diving, has been teaching for some time - and has taught both SSI and PADI. Most of all though, he has a great personality, he clearly enjoys the sport and most importantly wasn't annoyed with all my questions. We picked the date for our class based on when he would be teaching, and it happened to coincide with our return from vacation.

I have also picked up additional reading materials (recommendations from this board) and have already started reading. I hope to have a good portion of it read prior to the class start on Tuesday.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice!