I might not like this after all

[Pelagic Hero]

In my ACUC course, we did 16 hours of class work, and 12 hours of pool work and 6 open water dives. That was pretty hardcore.

 

[TCooperWFI]

I agree with spryte, my son is completing his pool time with SDI and it's broken down into 4 - 2+ hour sessions. I don't think this is the norm for SDI. I am PADI OW and did my time in two pool trips, the SDI LDS here seems to have it well under control.
By the way, my son is not going PADI because of the unprofessional attitude of the 5 star PADI LDS in our area.

 

[friscuba]

The big question I have is, when are your open water dives? I've assisted and taught courses that had 5, 2 and 1 confined water session. All can work just fine, in come cases neither method will work for some people. On single or double sessions, the skills may tend to slide a bit more than on multiple session classes if there is much time between the confined water sessions and the open water sessions. No matter how many sessions a student has had in confined water I hate to see much more than 2-3 weeks of time between confined water work and the open water dives. Being in a dive destination, I get lots fo referral divers and the longer it has been since the confined water work, the more work it is to get them performing satisfactorily on the open water dives.

A lot of it also depends on how many people in the class. The bigger the class, the more sessions there should be. I hate to see any confined water session go much beyond 3 hours. As others have pointed out it can be too much.

You did well to talk about your concers with your shop/instructor. They did well by offering you extra pool time.

Have fun,

Steve

Prior to yesterday, I was very enthused about beginning my open water scuba training. I selected the SDI course from a LDS because of its flexibility and the recommendation of the LDS. I completed my on-line course and was ready for my training in the pool.

The instructors were good and we got started right away. We spent a total of almost 6 hours in the pool and completed 30 different tasks within that time. At the end of this time I was totally exhausted, every muscle ached and was in bed by 7pm. In talking with fellow students, almost all felt the same.

I came away from this class with a few thoughts:

1) Is one day enough time to learn 30 different skills? I do not think so. My life depends on knowing these skills and I am not sure I could remember half.

2) Can one person put out the same effort at the end of 6 hours as they did at the beginning of the day? Again, my body and mind screamed NO!

Conclusion: This class, while good in intent, has done more to discourage my desire to scuba dive than to encourage it.

I wonder if anyone else has felt the same???

 

[RV6Pilot]

I am taking another shot at getting certified. I spoke with another LDS in my are that is closer and has gone way out of there way to keep me interested and a customer. This LDS has a pool on site and gave me 2 hours of extra training with equipment for $30.00. After this extra time I have signed up to do my open water dives with the new LDS and best of all, in Cozumel.

I can't wait.

Thanks again to all for your feedback and support.

 

[flyingcopdiver]

Hi rv6pilot

That does sound like it would frustrate anyone. There are others ways to get certified. I used a PADI class during which we did two pool sessions and two days for the open water portion. During the two-day classes plenty of topside time was allowed. We were still tired but not to the point we wanted to throw in the towel.


Just like in aviation, where some schools offer the two-day IFR (for non pilots, instrument flight rules) course, I guess some diving organizations are doing the same thing. I never thought it was safe to take a two-day IFR course either. Just as in aviation you are taught a skill then it is really up to you to work on that skill on your own (or with another pilot) until your are comfortable with it.

Hang in there, diving is very rewarding. It will be worth your efforts. Good luck and stay safe both in the air and under the water.

 

[TCooperWFI]

RV6Pilot, Congrats and good luck!

 

[2divefor]

Ho boy, what an experience. As I just finished my training and OW two years ago, it is still pretty fresh in my mind. And I had a really great experience. I took training through a local Y. I ended up certified with CMAS, PADI, and Y-SCUBA. I had around nine 2 hour pool sessions not counting the land training. I was impressed that the instructors took their work seriously and wanted us to feel the same way.

I guess I would recommend finding someone else to do your training, either that or let them know you feel unprepared and would like to have a redo. Either that or ask if you could sit in on future training sessions to hone your skills. Perhaps other options, but those are the first that come to mind.

I am glad I stuck out my training. (The pre session was all swimming skills based, and, as i was just coming out of a nasty cold, the pool laps sent me into a serious funk, and I ended up throwing up.) I have been diving (not as much as I would like), and it is so awesome, I am truly glad I followed this dream.

Best of luck.

Ray

Prior to yesterday, I was very enthused about beginning my open water scuba training. I selected the SDI course from a LDS because of its flexibility and the recommendation of the LDS. I completed my on-line course and was ready for my training in the pool.

The instructors were good and we got started right away. We spent a total of almost 6 hours in the pool and completed 30 different tasks within that time. At the end of this time I was totally exhausted, every muscle ached and was in bed by 7pm. In talking with fellow students, almost all felt the same.

I came away from this class with a few thoughts:

1) Is one day enough time to learn 30 different skills? I do not think so. My life depends on knowing these skills and I am not sure I could remember half.

2) Can one person put out the same effort at the end of 6 hours as they did at the beginning of the day? Again, my body and mind screamed NO!

Conclusion: This class, while good in intent, has done more to discourage my desire to scuba dive than to encourage it.

I wonder if anyone else has felt the same???

 

[Scubahead]

I just got back from Lord Howe & did an OW course. The guys I was with, Howea Divers were excellent (not to mention 28 deg celcius water temp), 30m viz, heaps of fish (the 40lb kingies were a sight to behold). The wife said "you learnt all that sh*t to look at fish." Some people just dont understand.

I want to progess to AOW, how many dives should I complete to truely "move up."

 

[pt40fathoms]

In most cases the agency doesn't dictate the amount of pool time but rather what has to be done. It's up to the instructor (and the student) when it's done.

Around here 6 hours in the pool is about all you're going to get and some shops get it done quicker.

The first class I ever taught for a local shop got me balled out by the shop owner because it took me six hours to get through the pool work with 6 students and no help. I gradually increased the pool time in my classes until it seemed to work. Now we do a minimum of 15 hours. Some very small classes could get done sooner maybe and some people need longer but this is what I plan on.

I had an instructor of a very successful shop as me what we did in the pool for 15 hours.

It's a matter of economics and of course most people are in a hurry.
But I better stop cuz I'm gonna get in more trouble for critisizing recreational training. LOL

The shop I am with is PADI, and we plan on 4 two hour pool sessions. However about one third of the students need an extra 1 to 3 pool sessions to get the skills down. In some cases we have had students that need more time, but they are rare. So as to your 15 hours of pool time, that would not seem out of line, and I would expect in some cases you need more time for some students just as we do.

 

[cdennyb]

I am taking another shot at getting certified. I spoke with another LDS in my are that is closer and has gone way out of there way to keep me interested and a customer. This LDS has a pool on site and gave me 2 hours of extra training with equipment for $30.00. After this extra time I have signed up to do my open water dives with the new LDS and best of all, in Cozumel.

I can't wait.

Thanks again to all for your feedback and support.

Another satisfied customer and repeat diver! Welcome to the 'real world of divers'
You'll find that there are as many good and bad LDS/Instructors as there are used car salesmen/car lots. Enjoy your time learning and remember, diving isn't something you listen to for a day, take a test and become an expert at it (like a driver's license) it's a thing you 'live', not just 'do'.
welcome
db & daughter too