NAUI versus PADI

[george_austin]

And I have no problem showing it (the bad) to other people. I'm not proud. And I have no interest in having other people think I am better than I really am.

I love a good laugh first thing in the morning - LOL

 

[tbone1004]

So is it hard to get into classes now? When I was at NC State I signed up when I was both a Soph and a Jr and could never get in. Never tried as a senior but maybe I should have. It was a very popular course. Just didn't know if it's still like that.

sadly it is which actually causes lots of problems for us trying to get continuity. Most students can't get in until they're seniors because it fills up incredibly fast. That said, because the swim test is as nasty as it is *typically lose about 30% of the students in the first two weeks, and of those who don't drop out on the first day, about 90-95% will get certified*, if the students go to the instructors and say they really want to do it, then you show up on the first day and wait until the students drop out and then they'll squeeze you in. That's actually how my brother got into the class and several of my friends. Told them to just show up and show that they were committed and we would find a way to get them through.

 

[scubadada]

Haha - yes it was. I liked the part "We don't rent wetsuits to kids nor do we have any in your size so bring whatever you have for the ocean work next week" - that was Laguna Beach, California in February and I'm very glad I was much younger.
If that was happening today it'd only be a matter of time before someone's mother filed a complaint with the LBPD as well as the federal civil rights bureaucracies and NAUI / PADI. The instructor would be publicly shamed and burned at the stake for refusing someone's "kiddo" their "right to be safe and comfortable"

I was able to rent or borrow? a wet suit for the the 4 beach dives and the 2 Catalina dives, it was still cold. I will never forget seeing Blue Sharks on my 1st boat dive off Catalina, 47 years ago...

 

[BDSC]

Told them to just show up and show that they were committed and we would find a way to get them through.

I guess I never thought of that back when I was in school. I'm thinking it just might have worked.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

beauty of college courses though, no way you could do that in a dive shop

Therein lies the rub ... a college scuba class is roughly 10 weeks. Dive shop classes are typically four days, inclusive of checkout dives. Oddly, they both get the same c-card at the end of the class.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tbone1004]

Therein lies the rub ... a college scuba class is roughly 10 weeks. Dive shop classes are typically four days, inclusive of checkout dives. Oddly, they both get the same c-card at the end of the class.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

ours are typically 24 days at the pool, 2 hours per session, 48 hours in the pool. It's brilliant! completely impractical if you want to make money though.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Interestingly enough, I bet most instructors can say this about their current agency. We've listened to the propaganda of our respective agencies for too long about how bad the "ptj

... but I wasn't discussing anyone else's agency or experience. I focus, instead, on my own experiences with the agency I taught for, since it's the one thing I can speak to with some authority ... I leave it for the other instructors to speak to their experiences with their respective agencies ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, we had been PM'ing about the GUE video because I felt it was a bit off topic, but okay ...

As I said, maybe GUE doesn't want people to post videos all over Youtube that purport to show "GUE divers" or what a GUE class/student is like. I can totally understand not wanting their name attached to an informal poor-quality video that was taken only as a training aid for a particular student. Sure, they could have the student sign an agreement not to use GUE's name on the video, but they could never enforce that, and so it's simply a lot easier to delete the video immediately so that nobody has a copy.

Which gets back to the concept that taking a Fundies class somehow makes someone a GUE diver. It does not. It's an intro level class that provides a set of skills that will help you work toward becoming a GUE diver.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

ours are typically 24 days at the pool, 2 hours per session, 48 hours in the pool. It's brilliant! completely impractical if you want to make money though.

As part of a college curriculum it's paid for through the student's tuition ... which is considerably more than anyone would ever pay for an OW class. Universities typically own their pool, the expenses of which are covered by the athletic department budget. Dive shops typically have to rent pool time, which is both expensive and scarce in most metropolitan areas. Pool rentals when I was teaching ran typically around $100 per hour. If you have eight people in an OW class, 48 hours of pool time would run roughly $600 per student.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[scubadada]

As part of a college curriculum it's paid for through the student's tuition ... which is considerably more than anyone would ever pay for an OW class. Universities typically own their pool, the expenses of which are covered by the athletic department budget. Dive shops typically have to rent pool time, which is both expensive and scarce in most metropolitan areas. Pool rentals when I was teaching ran typically around $100 per hour. If you have eight people in an OW class, 48 hours of pool time would run roughly $600 per student.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Take home lesson, if you're not already certified, take your OW course in college, it has many benefits, and, you've already paid for it