Night dive SOP
- Thread starter Jon_R
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AfterDark
Contributor
What it means to me is that just because a class is available doesn't necessarily mean it must or even should be taken to do the activity. Another example would be boat diving cert. If a diver thinks he/she needs the classes or would be more confident by all means take the classes. There are plenty of things in diving that are best learned thru formal instructions IMO night diving is not one of them. So why spend the time and money to learn something an experienced diver could teach you by doing and enjoying it to boot!
Who called you a jerk?! You should report them! However if you feel like a jerk you should ask yourself why?
Night diving should IMHO only be done at benign sites that the participating divers know.
If you do not feel up to the particular dive then don't do it.
Many instructors will be glad to accompany you whether you call it a formal course or just guiding.
If you do not feel up to the particular dive then don't do it.
Many instructors will be glad to accompany you whether you call it a formal course or just guiding.
Lets not forget it at BHB, which is a great place to try new things, check out gear, and look for critters. It's not deep, slack tide means very little current, low depth, well marked areas so boats stay away, etc. It's probably why no one jumped on him about it.
cocoajoe
Contributor
I think the last couple of posts raise some interesting points - chief amongst these is the question - if there is a speciality course available does this mean that the certifying agencies feel that the training is necessary in order to undertake the activity safely?
It is tempting to think that it does, and to jump up and down and say that you should not night dive unless you have "done the course", or you should not dive from a boat unless you have been trained, but then if you take it to its final conclusion PADI offer a speciality in fish ID, and underwater photography !
Does that mean if you haven't done the course every fish you see should remain unnamed - in case it bites you or in some other way leads to your diving demise? and that your camera should remain at home until you have a bit of paper saying you know how to operate it underwater? of course not.
Clearly there are some courses that are safety related - deep, rescue, cave, Nitrox and so on but others I think are there to offer the opportunity for people to experience them and build up their own confidence when they might not otherwise get the opportunity to experience that kind of diving, or have a mentor to take them boat diving and show them the ropes and so on.
Night diving is an interesting one - to me in benign conditions a night dive at a site you know, and with limited depth is often safer and easier than for example a low vis daytime dive. I often night dive after work, and vis with a torch is still very good - better then most UK dives I have done, where it might be daytime, but I haven't been able to see much more than 4 or 5 feet, and sometime less than that.
But I will also bet that if you tried to sort diving courses or specialities into "safety" related and "experience/development" categories you would not get unanimous agreement from on which ones should be in which category!
Regards - Phil
It is tempting to think that it does, and to jump up and down and say that you should not night dive unless you have "done the course", or you should not dive from a boat unless you have been trained, but then if you take it to its final conclusion PADI offer a speciality in fish ID, and underwater photography !
Does that mean if you haven't done the course every fish you see should remain unnamed - in case it bites you or in some other way leads to your diving demise? and that your camera should remain at home until you have a bit of paper saying you know how to operate it underwater? of course not.
Clearly there are some courses that are safety related - deep, rescue, cave, Nitrox and so on but others I think are there to offer the opportunity for people to experience them and build up their own confidence when they might not otherwise get the opportunity to experience that kind of diving, or have a mentor to take them boat diving and show them the ropes and so on.
Night diving is an interesting one - to me in benign conditions a night dive at a site you know, and with limited depth is often safer and easier than for example a low vis daytime dive. I often night dive after work, and vis with a torch is still very good - better then most UK dives I have done, where it might be daytime, but I haven't been able to see much more than 4 or 5 feet, and sometime less than that.
But I will also bet that if you tried to sort diving courses or specialities into "safety" related and "experience/development" categories you would not get unanimous agreement from on which ones should be in which category!
Regards - Phil
LowDrag
Contributor
Nope...I don't feel like a jerk just clarifying that I wasn't trying to be one. I was just surprised that more folks didn't say that the dive shouldn't be done without proper training or with an experienced mentor is all. As for the boat diving comparison, that to me is like comparing apples and oranges but then again that could be just newbie lack of knowledge. I don't plan on taking a boat specialty course, from what I have heard about our local boat captains they are more than willing to help out someone who has never dove off a boat before. As for the night dive specialty course for me, it is part of my AOW which for the most part is picked out for you up here based on the local conditions. We do Night/Low Viz, Nav, Deep and Buoyancy...not necessarily in that order. My particular instructor likes to make sure a diver is plenty experienced before taking them on a deep dive. So that is why I am taking the night diving specialty course.
AfterDark
Contributor
If it had been wreck diving for example or some other more involved and potentially more dangerous type of diving you might have found me suggesting training 1st as well as others. A night dive can be safer and easier diving than a day dive, especially in a place where the divers have been before. I just used boat training because it was the 1st thing that came to me. Others have mentioned a couple of additional certs that can be a "waste" of time and money. I use "waste" like that because anybody could learn something in any class. The question is, was it worth the time effort and money? I took night diving in my AOW course also but, that was like you selected for me. I enjoyed the dive plus it was from a boat so it made it that much better!
The whole AWO experience wasn't worth the money but, my perspective was skewed because I just did it a couple of years ago, with 41 years and >1900 dives behind me.
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LowDrag
Contributor
I pretty much feel the same way but in order to get to Rescue and Dive Master or Master Diver we unfortunately have to take these steps. I also agree that there are some specialties that are a waste of money. I can see doing a fish ID class but not as a specialty course. We have divers up here that belong to REEF that put on classes from time to time that are supposed to be really good. Course fees cover the cost of the instructors travel and so on. Another one I find kind of funny is the the PADI Manta specialty course in Kona. I read up on that specialty and I must admit that I don't quite see the benefit. It's not like you have to have the specialty in order to do the dive so why do the specialty? That would be an interesting answer...maybe?
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