Odd question for a couple friends. (NAUI specific perhaps)

[midnite135]

Been awhile since I was here last, but I had a question for a couple friends of mine and this board has always been a fantastic source of info.

They both signed up for an OW class (NAUI) and completed the class portion, but on the following weekend for the OW checkout dives they ended up finishing 1 dive short.

There was an incident that unfortunately resulted in a fatality for one of the other divers in their class. The rest of the class resumed and completed the following day but my friends weren't up for it. I think the combination of the tragic events of the prior day left them a little shaken, coupled with frost on the ground and poor visibility on the dives were a large factor in them not being keen on getting back in the water the next day.

We had initially been wanting to do some dives together on a trip in Florida toward the end of Feb, but the last dive (before our trip) this particular instructor is doing is in a couple weeks in the same spot and is expected to be pretty cold and likely still poor vis.

We may bail on this idea, unless it was possible for them to finish the final dive in Florida ahead of dives we might schedule at the beginning of the trip?

That brings me to the question, what options would they have being 1 dive short of finished and what would they need to do to complete? Would they possibly be able to get signed off by joining a class on their last dive elsewhere, or would they need to repeat the whole OW weekend if they went with another instructor.

Lastly, if we abandon the idea of diving on our trip in Feb (which was a side venture anyways) how long should they have to complete the dive with this same instructor?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tursiops]

Been awhile since I was here last, but I had a question for a couple friends of mine and this board has always been a fantastic source of info.

They both signed up for an OW class (NAUI) and completed the class portion, but on the following weekend for the OW checkout dives they ended up finishing 1 dive short.

There was an incident that unfortunately resulted in a fatality for one of the other divers in their class. The rest of the class resumed and completed the following day but my friends weren't up for it. I think the combination of the tragic events of the prior day left them a little shaken, coupled with frost on the ground and poor visibility on the dives were a large factor in them not being keen on getting back in the water the next day.

We had initially been wanting to do some dives together on a trip in Florida toward the end of Feb, but the last dive (before our trip) this particular instructor is doing is in a couple weeks in the same spot and is expected to be pretty cold and likely still poor vis.

We may bail on this idea, unless it was possible for them to finish the final dive in Florida ahead of dives we might schedule at the beginning of the trip?

That brings me to the question, what options would they have being 1 dive short of finished and what would they need to do to complete? Would they possibly be able to get signed off by joining a class on their last dive elsewhere, or would they need to repeat the whole OW weekend if they went with another instructor.

Lastly, if we abandon the idea of diving on our trip in Feb (which was a side venture anyways) how long should they have to complete the dive with this same instructor?

Thanks in advance.

I suggest you search the NAUI site for a dive shop near where you are going in FL, call them, and ask them what they can do for you.

 

[tbone1004]

@midnite135 sorry to hear about the fatality, that's going to shake any diver up and rightly so.

In terms of how referrals work, there is a Universal Referral Program which has a max timeline from the course work which is typically 6-12mos. I imagine most instructors would start the whole open water portion particularly because there isn't a prescriptive open water progression *with PADI you may have more luck just completing the final dive*.
Their best course of action for just completing the single dive is to suck it up and dive with the original instructor despite the cold and low viz. Second chance for just the single dive would be to talk to their instructor and follow what @tursiops said and see if he has a buddy/shop he's close with in that area who is a NAUI instructor and would complete the final dive.

Depending on where you are going in Florida though, they may want to try and complete a full route of open water dives for the change of scenery/instructor to set them up best for success for long term diving. In that case I would recommend they contact @LandonL and see if they can get squeezed in for their checkout dives. It won't be a NAUI course, but for most of the open water courses they are going to be about the same from an agency perspective and finding a good instructor like Landon will be more beneficial for the divers.

 

[sea_ledford]

That's a bummer of a start to diving! They should have a year to complete the class. There is a formal process for referrals from one shop/instructor to another. It doesn't even need to stick with NAUI, but they will probably be more likely to have the previous dives count if they can. But as @tursiops says, find a shop and call them, only the final instructor can say what previous training they will or will not acknowledge.

 

[BoltSnap]

Depending on where you are going in Florida though, they may want to try and complete a full route of open water dives for the change of scenery/instructor to set them up best for success for long term diving. In that case I would recommend they contact @LandonL and see if they can get squeezed in for their checkout dives. It won't be a NAUI course, but for most of the open water courses they are going to be about the same from an agency perspective and finding a good instructor like Landon will be more beneficial for the divers.

This is just not true. They only have one dive to complete a NAUI dive course they have paid for and that can easily be taken care of by either returning to their original instructor and doing their last dive with him and get it over with or getting a referral for a NAUI instructor, there are MANY of them in FL, and he only has to do sign off on their logbook for that last dive and the originating instructor does the paperwork for the C-card no issues. It isn't a complicated matter at all. Very easy.

 

[tbone1004]

This is just not true. They only have one dive to complete a NAUI dive course they have paid for and that can easily be taken care of by either returning to their original instructor and doing their last dive with him and get it over with or getting a referral for a NAUI instructor, there are MANY of them in FL, and he only has to do sign off on their logbook for that last dive and the originating instructor does the paperwork for the C-card no issues. It isn't a complicated matter at all. Very easy.

You strategically chose not to quote the paragraph right above that where I said exactly what you just said. If you can find a NAUI instructor that will do it, it's a possibility. I would never personally do it *as a NAUI instructor*, but that's my choice.