How many people were in your OW classes?

[Ber Rabbit]

Got it! Do you do the gulf dives because the odds of your students diving in the ocean are good or does your agency require 6 scuba dives. I believe you do turn out good divers with 12.5 hours in the water coupled with the small groups and 6 OW dives, I wouldn't consider that a "weekend" course. How many dives do you do for AOW? We do 16 and they must attend all dives and accumulate 400 minutes of bottom time or they don't get their card.

I know our scuba program has been around since 1980, possibly longer I don't recall. Our students whine about some of the exercises, especially the 45 minutes we make them spend doing skills (including searching for CO2 cartridges we put on the bottom of the pool) while their masks are blacked out so they can experience zero visibility. When they get into the quarries here in Ohio, I've heard countless students say "Now I know why you made us do that exercise!" We too, turn out good divers. My instructor takes her AOW students to Florida for their dives when everyone can afford to go. One boat captain didn't want to let them charter the boat because he didn't think the students had enough experience. She convinced him to take them and at the end of the trip he said, "If all your students are like these you're welcome on my boat anytime." That seemed to me like a pretty high compliment.
Ber

 

[ScubyDoo]

We had a total of 8 in my class (including myself). That is the maximum class size that my LDS allows. Limiting the class to this size makes it easier on the instructor to teach, easier for the students to learn, and insures the pool isnt overcrowded during the confined water dives. I dont think I would have enjoyed a class with 30-40 people in it?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by Ber Rabbit
Got it! Do you do the gulf dives because the odds of your students diving in the ocean are good or does your agency require 6 scuba dives. I believe you do turn out good divers with 12.5 hours in the water coupled with the small groups and 6 OW dives, I wouldn't consider that a "weekend" course. How many dives do you do for AOW?

We do the Gulf dives because it's the most likely environment in which our students will dive. SSI requires four open water Scuba dives; we require five, and shoot for all six. (We do a two tank boat for the Gulf dives - we won't deny anyone certification who can't make the second dive for some reason, but we do require one.)
SSI Advanced requires 24 dives total and four specialty ratings. Depending on how the specialties are done, there are from six to eight "syllabus" dives in the advanced course. This approach ensures adequate in-water experience and allows considerable flexibility in a diver's advanced curriculum; they can tailor their course to their interests. If one's interest is photography, for example, "Underwater Photography" and "Fish Identification" might be chosen as two of the specialties towards their AOW, while someone who's more interested in a tech direction might choose "Nitrox Diver" and "Equipment Techniques" instead. We do run a "grandson of NAUI" advanced course that is essentially the same as our AOW we did when we were NAUI, and meets the "four specialty" requirement. They still have to get the 24 dives before they can get the AOW card, though. (If they want a card immediately they can get a "Specialty Diver" card with two specialties and 12 dives). See http://www.ssiusa.com/coned.htm
Rick

 

[Scottri]

My OW class had 16 people. It was a little crowded but not too bad. If the instructor in your class never gets in the water that would violate standards and procedures. If it is a PADI class he could get in a lot of trouble for not being in the water.



Scott