OW Cert: how do I know theyre not just selling it to me?

[Zoe83]

I have read a lot of posts recently about how dive companies will give most people an OW certification just because they paid. I am going to be doing mine next week, and I dont want to 'buy' it...If myself or my husband are incompetant I want to know it before going out on my own with him as my buddy. How can I ensure I am really doing the right things if instructors will just say I can do it?

 

[MoonWrasse]

Relax.
Buy he OW videos (hint: ebay), watch them a few times.
After your OW cert, dive 10 times in easy spots.

 

[ScubaFreak]

Hi Zoe,

When you pay for your OW course, it's very seldom an individual will be unsuccessful unless they're having absolutely terrible problems and feel diving isn't for them.
At the end of the day, Scuba diving isn't particularly hard to learn, yes there are risks, and yes there are skills that will frustrate you, but it's just like any new past time you take up. The OW course is the basic scuba learning course. Nobody expects you to be a perfect ideal buddy after one course, yes you should have all the ingredients, but that just comes with time and practice.

The fact that you're posting here and have the concern about you or your husband being good buddy's to each other is a good sign, it shows that you already have an idea whats required for a good diving team. You'll kinda know whether or not you're competent with the skills or not as the course progresses. My genuine advice is just to relax and enjoy it, and deal with any problems as you come across them- you may whizz through the course!

hope this helps a little

SF

 

[slipslop]

I did my Padi open water certification last year. I found it physically hard (as i am 45 years old and not that fit) I had a very patient instructor who made sure i was confident in all the required skills. we went over and over some of the skills till i had got them right. at the end of the course we did 4 check out dives in the ocean
where we put our newfound skills to the test, if we didnt do them correctly we repeated them till we got them right. we also had to pass a written exam. I dont think any instructor would pass a student who was not able to do the required skills. The course by no means makes you an expert diver, i have done quite a few dives since then and am learning new things and making the most stupid mistakes all the time.
i beleive that the open water course is only designed to give you the very basic skills to enable you to dive underwater, the rest will come from years of practice.

 

[immersed]

This thread, under 'New Divers & Those...' has some good advice on selecting an instructor:
Finding a dive shop to certify with

I think if I were looking with that in mind, I'd be sneaky and do a kind of devil's advocate sort of thing. That is, I'd act a little like someone that is looking to buy a certification (not blatantly, just with that sort of underlying mindset). I'd act a little worried that maybe I wouldn't be able to pass some things, and gosh, it's a lot of money, wull if I don't pass do I take the class again, etc. to see how they react.

Given a good instructor, you as the student make up the difference between an earned certification and a bought one. Just the fact that you're concerned is a good sign. One of the complaints that I've seen on this board is that the agencies have pared it down so much; that in the past, students were expected to learn much more than presently. With that in mind, it's reasonable to believe that the subset remaining is highly important with regard to safety. So if there's anything at all that you do not understand, ask questions.

With the pool skills, your comfort is almost as important as proficiency. For example, when you're asked to toss your regulator out of your mouth and then find it and stuff it back in, you need to feel comfortable doing that - once you do it successfully your instructor may be happy and move on, but if it scares you, work on it some more until you see that it's not a big deal.

As ScubaFreak mentioned, the OW course is the basic course. You're not going to perform every skill as well as someone who's made a hundred dives. Learn all you can, ask questions about anything you don't understand, and practice practice.

 

[Diver0001]

I have read a lot of posts recently about how dive companies will give most people an OW certification just because they paid. I am going to be doing mine next week, and I dont want to 'buy' it...If myself or my husband are incompetant I want to know it before going out on my own with him as my buddy. How can I ensure I am really doing the right things if instructors will just say I can do it?

Here are a couple of really simple questions to ask taht might help

1) What will happen if I can't do the skills right away?

If the answer is (a) "everyone gets it" then you have reason for concern. If the answer is (b) "we'll work with you until you get it" then you're hearing what you need to hear. The difference is that someone willing to work with you until you get it is willing to slow down to your tempo if that's what it takes.

Another really easy question is

2) Can I fail?

If the answer is (a) "Nobody fails" or "We've never had anyone fail" then get alarm bells. If the answer is (b) "Some people discover it's not for them but we'll keep working on it as long as you keep coming back" then you're hearing what you want to hear. The difference is that the first person is either lying to you or they're certifying people who shouldn't be getting certified. No instructor worth having (unless, perhaps, they're very new) has never had a student drop out or never had to bounce one.

Another question you can ask to get an indication if the instructor is willing to slow down the tempo to your level is this:

3) How much do remedial lessons cost if I need them?

If the instructor can answer that question off the top of his head then he's been down that road, which is a good sign for you. If he tells you "you won't need it" or he can't answer the question at all then assume he's never been in that situation and get alarm bells.

Hope that helps.

R..

 

[oceancrest67]

If you are a discerning consumer with an attention to detail then you might involve yourself in all the OW training, skills and aids. Ask lots of questions, pay attention to all the skills, buy the equipment required...and PRACTICE. Do not just go through the motions. If the instructor is a good instructor he will make his / her students work to earn the certification.

Just my 02.

 

[616fun]

Get involved in your local dive scene and buddy up with some experienced divers after your course is complete. Ask for feedback on your diving technique. Most people will be happy to help you become a better diver if you ask. I'd say I've learned more this way than I did in my OW class.

Also, there's continuing education - like advanced open water as well. Most will say that the AOW card isn't going to make you an advanced diver, but it does 'buy' you more time with a dive professional and lets you experience some more/different types of diving under professional supervision.

Last thing - just because the course is complete doesn't mean you should stop practicing the skills you learned. If you feel a bit uneasy about a skill, buddy up with someone experienced and practice it a bit at shallow depths (mask clearing comes to mind). Practice makes perfect.

 

[Stirling]

I have read a lot of posts recently about how dive companies will give most people an OW certification just because they paid. I am going to be doing mine next week, and I dont want to 'buy' it...If myself or my husband are incompetant I want to know it before going out on my own with him as my buddy. How can I ensure I am really doing the right things if instructors will just say I can do it?

You have raised a very legitimate issue, but I would not worry very much about the specific question you have asked, because I don't think very many instructors actually "sell" certifications - you can fairly assume that you will earn your certification, and by the time the course is completed you will know that you have earned it. The bigger and more important issue (which I will come back to in a few paragraphs) is *what exactly have you earned*?

There is some material to be learned, and you are certainly capable of learning it. More importantly, you are obviously prepared to be honest enough with yourself to admit whether you are truly "getting it" or not. But none of the material is hard to learn if you're sufficiently interested to pay attention.

There are also skills that you will be required to complete, and *you* will know whether you can do them, and *you* will also know how comfortably you can complete them without feeling overloaded. If the instructor tells you that you have completed the skill satisfactorily, all that really means is that you have demonstrated the required (i.e., minimum) level of competence required for that skill. Even if the instructor is blowing smoke about how you're the best and most natural diver ever to pass through the course, *you* will know how you felt doing the skill, and whether it was easy or difficult. If you thought it was difficult, or stressful, you will appreciate the need to continue working on that skill. Imagine doing the same skill in the open water of the ocean; if you aren't confident that you could do it easily, you need to keep working on it, even after passing the course.

So, you are going to earn your certification. But you cannot take the certification to mean that the instructor has certified your competence to go out and dive anywhere in the world, in any conditions. The certification is just like a driver's license - it doesn't mean you're a good driver, it just means you have demonstrated the skills required to start driving on your own, so you can learn to become a good driver through experience. The idea is to go get that experience without having an accident, as you become more confident in your abilities and perfect your skills (and learn some new ones).

You have to be aware of your own limitations, and you are responsible for choosing when and where to dive after you are certified. Your OW instructor is no longer going to have anything to do with the decisions *you* make, and in the big scheme of things, those decisions are MUCH more important than his decision to certify you, by several orders of magnitude. I would suggest that you start out diving in conditions just like those chosen for your OW certification dives, and move on from there consistent with your comfort level.

 

[Walter]

Look here for some questions to ask.