Open water cert in a pool?

[altitudemike]

In Alberta we have West Edmonton mall. It's supposed to be the largest in the world. It has a pool that surrounds their underwater park complete with sealions & saltwater fish, turtles ect. I was wondering if a pool like that has as many or more issues as being in OW lake location, could a dive shop open & train divers year round for OW without going outside. It's around 24ft deep & used to have submarine tours in it. I would say it's around the same size as a small lake in Banff national park where they teach OW. I have dove it before & it took 45 mins to complete 1 lap at a slow pace.

 

[sharkattack]

No. Not open water.

 

[altitudemike]

I think it might pass for open water. What are the rules?

 

[String]

Depends on agency.

PADI ""..body of water considerably larger than a swimming pool that exposes student divers to an environment similar to that experienced by recreational divers"


Minimum depth is 5m.

Logged dive has to spent majority of the time below that depth.

Personally id say that would be a "no" in my view as conditions wont be similar to those experienced on proper dives. Maintaining the depth below 5m all the time maybe hard too depending on its layout.

Id hate to think someone could be certified as a diver without actually having dived in proper open water conditions even once.

Theres also the issue that a basic qualification has a depth limit of 18 or 20m. Thats a LOT different from 5m. If they never experienced deeper than 5m in training theres no way id trust someone in the sea going down to 20m in open water.

Also it means some skills are hard to do. Controlled ascents - doesnt take long from a 6m pool, not really enough time to get a feel for it. 5m safety stops? You going to do this sitting on the bottom?

Nope ive convinced myself that cannot possible be an open water venue.

 

[Walter]

Not through a reputable agency.

A pool is a pool. Even if you fill it with sharks, it's still a pool.

 

[altitudemike]

So even the nemo33 in Belgum could not be used to Qualify an OW diver.

 

[H2Andy]

A pool is a pool. Even if you fill it with sharks, it's still a pool.

to play devil's advocate, what would be the difference between that pool and doing your OW dives in the Rainbow River here in Florida, where I did mine?

or to put it another way, what exactly is lacking in that pool that some other "easy" sites such as Rainbow River have?

or a hole in the ground full of springwater, such as Blue Grotto?

 

[altitudemike]

I agree, I feel if the proper elements are there it can be done. I also would have a financial interest in this venture if it were to happen so I admit I lean harder to one side than the other

 

[Web Monkey]

That looks really cool, and I'd love to dive it, but it doesn't seem like "Open Water"

The idea behind open water is that it's not always warm and crystal clear.

You might be able to certify there if you were going to do all your dives in the Carribean, but it wouldn't be much help for the Northeast US or the UK.

I can just imagine the first post-certification dive in a drysuit with 10' vis in 45 degree water.

Terry

So even the nemo33 in Belgum could not be used to Qualify an OW diver.

 

[JeffG]

Not through a reputable agency.

A pool is a pool. Even if you fill it with sharks, it's still a pool.

I happen to know one instructor that was doing a DM course for some of the employees of the pool in question .

He allow them to use their work dives to count as actual dives. (They only had 20 or so "real" dives).