Nitrox course without dives - what am I missing?

[k ellis]

Ill have to look in to it. I guess like everything else Television more scares you on things that are other wise very limited. I have heard Australia has some very beautiful under water scenery. I guess like most of if not all of us on here I am always seeking the bigger better dive. No matter how great one is we always want the next one to be better

 

[Clammy]

Of course you have to do a dive! Cause what if you make a mistake with nitrox, then mid dive, underwater, you'll be able to switch to... wait a minute....

 

[ruready7]

I know when I did my Nitrox there were not cert dives but I had a written test. Also had to work math problems to show that I knew the math. Also had to analyze couple tanks and show how to document the nitrox log. Just my two cents.

 

[String]

I am booked into do a TDI Nitrox course next month but I was just wondering... all the courses I looked into include two dives as part of the course.

Nearly all agencies have axed the dive requirement for Nitrox for good reason.

Are you able to breathe in and out through a regulator? Are you able to control your buoyancy and adhere to a maximum depth?

If the answer to the above is "YES" you don't need dives. It doesn't taste different, smell different or act differently to air so really there is nothing to be gained paying for dives as part of the course.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

The main part of the Nitrox course is learning the theory and the math. The actual diving isn't much different than any other dive. Some Nitrox courses include dives, some don't. When I took (a TDI) nitrox course, we didn't do any dives, but the course included 2 free Nitrox fills/rentals so you could make dives on your own.

 

[Blackwood]

Are you able to breathe in and out through a regulator? Are you able to control your buoyancy and adhere to a maximum depth?

If the answer to the above is "YES" you don't need dives.

Right. I don't think the STUDENT is necessarily missing out on anything other than a dive or two (I don't understand why people who are learning to dive want to avoid dives...). However, the INSTRUCTOR is missing the opportunity to verify that the student actually is able to control buoyancy and pays attention to maximum depths.

In a perfect world, that would go without saying as all open water divers would have been properly trained from the get go. Sadly, this isn't a perfect world.

 

[String]

That isn't part of the course. If the student isn't competent to that basic level that is something a nitrox course can't cure.

I just see it is ripping off the student. Better off saving the money and putting it towards 2 dives they want to do somewhere they want to do it rather than being dragged around the nearest muddy puddle to notice absolutely no difference to normal air. Forcing a student to dive bordering on patronising to them, at best its time wasting.

 

[Blackwood]

That isn't part of the course.

In-dive awareness of MOD and in-dive ability to respect MOD isn't part of a Nitrox course?

 

[Sas]

Thanks String. I really think if I am incompetent enough to not be able to label my tanks correctly, and then select the right one for the dive I am doing on my own, and then manage my buoyancy so I don't drop below my MOD, two supervised dives with an instructor for a Nitrox course is only delaying the inevitable, and I should not be diving.

TSandM, I can see what you are saying, that although diving with an instructor won't teach me anymore about Nitrox than a class, I might learn another thing or two. I think if I was made to do the dives then I would be getting my instructor to show me a lot of other things to justify the extra cost. But $200 for navigation and buoyancy tips is a bit of a stretch for me, especially as I seem to get a lot of free advice from more experienced divers around me.

k_ellis, apparently there are a lot of things that can kill you here but it doesn't affect my day to day life that much. Like there are tonnes of spiders and I got bitten by a bad one once and had my eye close up, but just once, and there are heaps of blue rings under rocks in the water, but as long as you leave them alone you are fine. And in the bush, lots of snakes so I have tended to use a trailbike to get through places with long grass as the noise scares them away and they leave you alone. Most stuff leaves you alone if you don't annoy it. To be honest, the kangaroos + wombats are the most annoying, even though they are not poisonous or anything they jump/run out in front of cars. My sister nearly hit a wombat going 160km/hr on a trip up to Sydney, that was a scary moment as I'd imagine the car would have been severly messed up hitting something at that speed! A lot of the locals will exaggerate the dangers a bit to make Australia seem more interesting than it is (drop bears anyone?)

 

[k ellis]

Speaking of putting the money where it matters most is a great statement. I know padi offers a lot of "Dry courses" Such as fish ID and Project Aware. I was going to look at the project aware course but the dive store told me it was more for the contribution to PADI then being a assett. He told me they charge X amount of dollars and give you a real quick spill in class then take you to the lake (Ocean) and charge you to clean the bottom.

Now I am going to admit I do at times take and pick up garbage on the bottom of the lakes because I feel it destroys the fun of the dive to go and see an old beer can or potato chip bag filled with rocks and God knows what else people put there on the bottom.

Some courses some find beneificial like peak performance buoyancy but no longer then what they sit with you and show you these (Usually 4 dives) is not really enough to make sure you got it down. I have found that having a good dive buddy and going like 15 feet deep at max and practicing the peak performance buoyancy until you feel comfortable and get it right is much cheaper and with time patience and practice just as effective.

I just feel sometimes padi and others do tend to put pressure on some new divers just to get a master certification that people rush through the courses. Dont know if it helps but I think rather then doing a course just to get the cards are really a waste since I found most courses are redundant. I've dove alot of neat places and the only real cards I needed were my C - Card and Nitrox card. Most dive centers take your money and just put you in the water