Has anyone NOT passed their OW?

[diver 85]

"Has anyone NOT passed their OW?"............


probably so........

 

[Fish in a Barrel]

Thanks for the helpful advice and words of encouragement (so glad I found this board!) The "we" is my boyfriend and myself, we're taking private lessons and doing our referral dives in Maui next month with Ed Robinson's (Ulua Beach.. been there many times as a snorkeler :cool2: ). Our instructor is awesome and very thorough so I do believe he just wanted us to get in a few more practice sessions. I guess I was just wondering if there was a chance we wouldn't receive our certification if we made any small errors but it sounds like that won't be a problem. We're both very comfortable in the water, just need to smooth out a few skills. It's hard to learn proper ascension rate and buoyancy in a small pool!

After completing our pool dives, my instructor said we were ready for OW, but he offered to spend another morning in the pool with anyone who wanted it. At that point I was doing well, but there were a few skills I really didn't feel like I had down (oral inflation being the big one). That extra morning in the pool made a huge difference. It substantially improved my comfort and confidence in the water. The other students that dove with me that morning said the same thing.

In my experience, at your phase of diving, every minute in the water improves your skills appreciably. I'd look at this as a great opportunity to polish your skills before you fly out to Hawaii. With that extra experience, you'll come through OW with more ease and have more fun.

 

[Redshift]

When I did mine (not OW, but CMAS 1), at least one didn't pass, but they don't just fail people, they let them join the following course and get the necessary training to pass.

 

[KevinG58]

I passed my OW course back in '95, but one of the other participants did not. He could not take his mask of underwater, during our ocean dives. He was invited to come back for another try, I have no idea how that played out.

 

[oldschoolto]

I think the question should be... Do people pass their open water class that are not ready... YES... Happens all the time..

jim....

 

[tekful]

No one fails they just disappear.

 

[TMHeimer]

No one fails they just disappear.

Yeah. Remember those who took an "incomplete" in HS or college? Uh, that means FAILED.

 

[Bogtrotter]

I don't know about fail but I recall attrition being pretty high in my Naui OW. There was a significant swimming component and time commitment over the 3 months which saw a lot of people drop-out. But I hear if you take a weekend or crash resort course nobody fails- irie

 

[Trucha]

I took my OW a couple of years ago and on the last day of class a group of Germans joined us. There was one girl who had absolutely no clue. She was giving answers that were so crazy it was hard to believe. I wish I could remember an example but it was something very crucial yet obvious and she couldn't answer the question. Something like what is the wet stuff that we go diving in? During the test she was cheating off of her friends the whole time. She still didn't pass.
Then on our ow dive two of the others had some weird problem and would not decend and when they did they would just pop back up. Our instructor just put them back on the boat.

 

[Yarbrough]

I used to teach more than just a little bit, during the time that I was working in a dive shop and running classes, I refused to "fail" anyone. I always offered all of my students the chance to come back and revisit classes in the future. Any student who could not meet the requirements for certification could return to any class I was teaching and dive with me at no charge as long as they scheduled with me so that I could arrange it to meet ratios. Any student who met the performance requirements, but wished for more opportunities to dive were welcome back to future classes with only the expense of rental equipment, air and park fees. I feel that most instructors have similar feelings, although some might have expenses that cause them to charge a bit for the added service. I was fortunate in that I was teaching in an area where I only had a 3 mile drive to the dive site, I was there at least 4 days a week anyway, and gear and tanks were plentiful since we operated out of a high volume shop on the coast. Adding one more diver to the crowd here and there did not really increase the cost of what we were doing, and could sometimes be all the difference between having someone dive for the rest of their lives and not dive anymore. Please, take the time that your instructor suggests, improve your skills and comfort level.

This may genuinely be an effort to create a good diver on the part of your instructor. I read earlier where the class was just a sales pitch, and although I feel strongly about owning your equipment, not all instructors are out there just trying to sell you a bunch of stuff you do not need. Many have a true passion for the water, love diving, and just want the divers who are learning from them to share in that experience as comfortably and safely as possible.

Good Luck in Maui, I would suggest Maui Dreams Dive Center to wrap things up, try to get Teri as your instructor and tell her Todd Yarbrough from Panama City Beach recommended her.
Maui Dreams Dive Co - Scuba diving guides, training, sales, service and rentals, Maui HI