JeffG
Contributor
Its ok once. (I've done it twice) (if you are talking about the WEM pool, not the one in Belgium)Web Monkey:
Open water cert in a pool?
- Thread starter altitudemike
- Start date
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Personally I would not want to certify people in such shallow depths. I like to have at least one dive as close to 60ft as possible.
Having said that the best thing to do is ask the Agency you are affiliated too. If they are happy and you or the instructors working for you are happy then there is no problem.
Where I'm from I've seen many an instructor certify people have done all 4 dives at a particular beach that doesn't get deeper than 26ft. Hey it's Open Water and viz can be less than 10ft at times so... Not something I would do but it is done.
Having said that the best thing to do is ask the Agency you are affiliated too. If they are happy and you or the instructors working for you are happy then there is no problem.
Where I'm from I've seen many an instructor certify people have done all 4 dives at a particular beach that doesn't get deeper than 26ft. Hey it's Open Water and viz can be less than 10ft at times so... Not something I would do but it is done.
H2Andy
Contributor
drew, so depth would be your primary concern?
airsix
Contributor
altitudemike:
I'd say no. It's an awesome facility, but it's still just a pool. Unlimited vis, no currents, no tides, no entry/exit challenges, no navigational challenges... It's still sterilized diving.
You can't get a pilots license by just flying simulators either, and for good reason.
-Ben M.
*Floater*
Contributor
altitudemike:
Yes, that's what I was told by somebody who dove there (though he was already certified).
Also, if you visit their site it seems that they offer the complete PADI OW certification: http://www.nemo33.com/index_en/academy.html
OP
altitudemike
Contributor
JeffG have you ever dove the pool? I dove it when it had a snuba shop there. I have been talking to a few people at WEM about opening a Dive shop there but we are hoping we could get PADI or SSI to give it open water status due to its unique design. We would also like to be able to have divers come for fun dives at around 25 bucks a dive & we supply the air. I think this could be a great market.
Nope.
JeffG
Contributor
Twice. Both time before the snuba shop. That shop was doomed. The cost to heat that pool would be insane. It wasn't heated before, so you hade to dive it with cold water gear.altitudemike:
While the tank is a BIG confined water tank, it's still considered confined water. Open water is just that. Open to the wild elements. There may be smaller lakes, but there are a lot of ocean divers out there that have reservations about considering that to be real open water diving, too.
24' is, I think, barely passable as far the depth minimum. You certainly can't get your AOW cert there, as you need to hit 60', if memory serves.
All that said, certifications technically (this may be only PADI, but I think others may follow this also) grant that you are certified to dive in conditions the same or better than the conditions you were certified in. If you were certified in a big pool, you would only be qualified to dive in that big pool. Is that what you really want?
OTOH, no reason I can think of why you couldn't do the confined water portions in that tank, and get a referral to elsewhere for the real open water dives. That would be cool! Way better than the usual swimming pool.
24' is, I think, barely passable as far the depth minimum. You certainly can't get your AOW cert there, as you need to hit 60', if memory serves.
All that said, certifications technically (this may be only PADI, but I think others may follow this also) grant that you are certified to dive in conditions the same or better than the conditions you were certified in. If you were certified in a big pool, you would only be qualified to dive in that big pool. Is that what you really want?
OTOH, no reason I can think of why you couldn't do the confined water portions in that tank, and get a referral to elsewhere for the real open water dives. That would be cool! Way better than the usual swimming pool.
OP
altitudemike
Contributor
Why does there have to be currents & poor vis for an open water dive. My wife has logged around 35 dives but they were in Hawaii or Mexico under near perfect conditions in depths of under 30 ft because she does not want to go any deeper. She is a great diver in my opinion. She picks her dives & conditions. Like a lot of vacation divers. This system would be perfect for them IMO.
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