Greetings from Alberta, Canada

[drummerboy]

...how are you? Yep, I did my beginner certification with Blue H2O. Then they were called Blue Water Diving. My instructor was Richard Hally. I believe it's just the Hally family that does it all. I think they just travel across Canada, teaching and certifying divers. How did you find the course and the teaching? Was it too long or not long enough? Let me know. Take care. Kennan aka drummerboy

 

[Butch103]

DrummerBoy.......Can't remember the name of the family. I know Cheryl Hutchison is the owners wife. Cheryl did my advanced open water cert. I think when I took my OW we took 4 days of classes and in confined water session. It worked out to about 8 hrs for each. The open water was 4 dives and we took about 1/2 hr for each dive. The next summer my son took the same and the course was also about the same. This past summer (2001) my wife and friends took the course and the instructor condensed it to 3 days classes and confined water. I do not believe they got as much in depth training as I did. The instructors were good except very young. They were all in their early 20s. (except Cheryl). No that this was really a problem but they really just didn't get all our Jokes. We were 38+. As PADI instructors they all pushed the AOW. I advised my wife and friends to wait until they were more comfortable in the water and with Scuba in general. I took my AOW after having only 8 dives. Way to early. I now have over 40 dives this summer alone and I still do not feel that I can be confidentally called an AOW.

Anyway nice people, alittle slow on getting c-cards out to people and a long time for some to get the gear they purchased. Price was right for the course. About $100.00 cheaper than everyone else around.

I hope to do my rescue next summer but i am wavering on using Blue H2O (PADI) or going to NAUI. (see other thread).

What was your thoughts on them?

Butch

 

[drummerboy]

Hi Butch,
When I took my course, I felt it was a little rushed and not as thourough as it could've or should've been. I was lacking confidence and I suppose I felt like I really needed to be walked through everything. Everyone must have been doing well otherwise, I imagine, the instuctor would've stopped everything. I think I actually felt pretty good about everything after we were done our open water dives.
It's interesting that you say you didn't feel ready after eight(I think you said) dives, to take your advanced. I'm kind of curious why you'd say that. Did you feel like maybe you should have had more dives under your belt? I kind of think(and it could be totally naive of me), that..you've got your basics and you're at a certain level, why not just build on it as soon as possible? That's how I was/is thinking. Like I said earlier..I was certified five years ago, and I haved dived since. I was thinking of brushing up on everything(reading-wise), and then do a dive with the Blue H2O group, when they come around again. After that, I was going to jump right into the advanced course. After reading about what you said..I wonder if maybe i'm jumping the gun and should actually do a lot of diving first, even if it is no deeper than, say, sixty feet. I dunno, what do you think? What was involved in your advanced course? I'm really interested in what I will be in store for when I eventually take it. Thanks. Take care, K

 

[keralucu]

Hi drummerboy - there have been a lot of threads asking similar question to yours about how soon after OW should one go advanced.

Check out this thread which should help answer your question:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?threadid=2248

If you feel you are ready for it, then go for it! but if it's been a while since you've dived, why not do a few fun dives as a refresher and see how you feel about Advanced?

Just a suggestion - maybe some of the more experienced divers would say something different?

Whatever you decide, remember to have fun doing it!
Cheers Drummer Ears

 

[Butch103]

Hey Drummerboy....I think that the PADI AOW course could be an extension to the OW. I guess the name AOW is probably a misnomer. To do your night dives and possibly the deep dive you want to be really comfortable in the water, bouyancy and navigational skill should be up to snuff. I believe some divers this is easy , but my short dive career I haven't seen it too often. This is a struggle for many. Yes Blue H2O does perhaps rush a bit, but the instructors I have seen in action would slow down when neccesary. Butch

 

[DivingGal]

And yet another welcome from a Canuck! Hello from Ottawa -- but don't hold that against me. The hot air from the hill helps keep the rest of us warm! (lolol)

 

[fooks]

Here's there URL
http://www.aquasportscuba.com

 

[Mario S Caner]

With a little work, a site like that could be quite nice. We should put together a service that offers shops an easy to fill and use template that makes a site easy to navigate and appealing to the eye... hmmm, one more idea for the back burner eh!

 

[drummerboy]

Sorry I took so long in replying to some earlier posts. Firstly, i'd like to express my deepest sympathies to our American neighbors. I wish them all well.
Thanks for replying with the email address, fooks.
I haven't checked out that thread yet, keralucu, but, I will. Thanks for letting me know about it.
And Greetings, DivingGal!!! Thanks for the nice words. Gotta run, take care all. Cya,
Kennan