OW, Advanced, Rescue in 3 weeks

[RJP]

Just My Opinion, but I just don't see how any real level of competence can be developed in a "0" diver going through OW, AOW, and Advanced Rescue in three weeks. I am a NAUI Instructor...

Whether or not a student is ready to move from OW to AOW is all instructor/student dependent. Perhaps you should ask yourself if there's a reason that your OW students aren't ready for AOW?

 

[adimi24]

Wow, I was not expecting such a long and interesting thread! You all made very good arguments and I will seriously think about my decision. This is not through a dive center, rather it's with an instructor from this reef volunteer program. I will have to see how he is and how well I do in the OW and AOW, then I will have a whole week of the surveys and then the rescue course, if I decide to do it.

One poster recommended doing the rescue course in NY and just do my surveys in Belize, that might be a good idea.

It's the 250-275 pounds JUST for the Rescue Diver course. OW and AOW are included in the price I paid for this 6 week program.

 

[TSandM]

TSandM, as I increase my stays in Seattle, heading toward retirement there, I hope we have a chance to dive together some day.

Just let me know when you're here -- I don't generally need to have my arm twisted into going diving!

 

[dshorwich]

I'm a little dubious about a newly-minted diver participating in a reef survey - seems to me a new diver has enough to keep their mind occupied without adding survey work on top of that. I speak as someone who's been doing a lot of survey diving over the last several years - I had a couple of hundred dives under my belt when I started doing surveys, but even so it took a little while to get used to the extra multi-tasking required. Of course some protocols are less involved than others, so perhaps you won't be overly task-loaded.


David

 

[AfterDark]

Wow, I was not expecting such a long and interesting thread! You all made very good arguments and I will seriously think about my decision. This is not through a dive center, rather it's with an instructor from this reef volunteer program. I will have to see how he is and how well I do in the OW and AOW, then I will have a whole week of the surveys and then the rescue course, if I decide to do it.

One poster recommended doing the rescue course in NY and just do my surveys in Belize, that might be a good idea.

It's the 250-275 pounds JUST for the Rescue Diver course. OW and AOW are included in the price I paid for this 6 week program.

Like I said in post 7....Sounds like a unique program and opportunity. You’re very lucky.

 

[supergaijin]

I will be doing my Ow and Advanced openwater withing the first week and a half. After that I will join the science dives for a week and then will have an option to do the EFR and Rescue Diver courses. By this point I would have the dives from the first 2 courses and then about 14 other dives. Is there any reason to wait until a later time to do my rescue diver course or will i have enough experience by then?

No reason not to go for it.

I believe that some posters are thinking that Rescue cert. should be a symbol of an 'advanced' diver, thus to wait until you aquire more experience or you will potentially overload your learning abilities. It is merely a certification card and the various experiences that make up an 'advanced' diver can come before or after the cert. However the skills you learn during the course have a lot of merit.

At the end you will be a diver with 25 odd dives and (hopefully) a decent platform (knowledge and training) from which to move forward.

 

[RTee]

I see nothing wrong with OW-RD-AOW quick progression. As other have already stated, those three courses put together should represent an ideal minimum level for all scuba diver whether they elect to dive down to 100 ft or not (basic, buoyancy, night, deep (gas planning and management), navigation and rescue skills...just to name a few).

We keep referring to scuba diving as a buddy system activity. Therefore, it would be nice knowing that insta buddy I may end up diving with would have some basic ideas as to how to get my sorry a.. in a relatively safe and controlled way back to the surface should I become incapacited in some ways, shape or form.

I think it is fair to expect that most folks will revert to previously acquired training and drills to compensate either for their lack of experience or in time critical situations as long as such training and knowledge do exist which is somewhat better than having to improvise from the get go.

While I tend to be a proponent of attempting to master newly acquired skills before proceeding to the next level, I once met a CD who asked me what i thought would be better for a newly certified OW diver...move directly to AOW with a competent instructor or attempt to build experience with less than ideal self proclaimed experienced divers (in the absence of real experienced divers and mentors). I thought he had a pretty darn good point.

To the OP, enjoy this great opportunity.

 

[Bob DBF]

I'm a little dubious about a newly-minted diver participating in a reef survey - seems to me a new diver has enough to keep their mind occupied without adding survey work on top of that. I speak as someone who's been doing a lot of survey diving over the last several years - I had a couple of hundred dives under my belt when I started doing surveys, but even so it took a little while to get used to the extra multi-tasking required. Of course some protocols are less involved than others, so perhaps you won't be overly task-loaded.

David

The scientific expadition my daughter was involved in from her University, she was the only diver in her class, certified the class and had them doing reef survays imediatly thereafter and, since it was last year, the data has been used in scientific papers on the subject. Since my daughter was already a DM, she used the cert time to work survays with grad students and qualified for a Scientific Diver credential.

Decicated and motivated people can learn a lot more in a short time than one would believe, the Navy showed me that trick.

From what I read in Volunteer expeditions in Belize | Belize, they seem to have found a way to bring that experience to people outside the scientific community, help conserve the environment, and make money on the deal.

If it was me back in the day, with time on my hands and some disposable income in my pocket, I'd be living the dream.



Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[DevonDiver]

...some posters are thinking that Rescue cert. should be a symbol of an 'advanced' diver.

I think that's the crux of the variation in perspective.

Some see Rescue Diver as the culmination of basic...core...training. Others see it as an advanced level.

I'll always view it in the primary sense - it's basic. Pre-requisites for training are nothing beyond what should be achieved on Open Water. The Advanced Open Water course gives the 'added experience' and chance to embed core skills, that some feel is necessary before Rescue.

I'd rather dive with a Rescue certified diver than one who isn't. I'd also rather see a Rescue certified diver buddied up for unsupervised diving. There's simply no reason to withhold, or delay, access to that training. It can save lives.

 

[TMHeimer]

When I took Rescue one student asked the instructor "Wouldn't it be better for me if instead of me being a Rescue Diver that my buddy was?" He said yeah.