PADI Drift Diver Course, private guide, neither, or both?

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I would find out what the particular instructor plans on teaching you.
If it's going to be a couple buoyancy drills and two dives just drifting, save you cash and hire a DM.

If they're going to teach you how to read the flow, efficient ways to move into or across currents, deploy a dSMB along with why and when, hazards, team awareness, entries and exits from a boat or shore. You may get your money's worth.
 
I didn't even know they had a drift dive course! wow, PADI will hit your pocketbook from any angle!

I would say no, you don't need the course. I have never met anyone with that cert ( that I know of), and I've been diving Coz for over 20 years.

Any specific concerns you may have about drift diving, I would discuss with your dive op before going out though.

to dive in the Marine park (where most the dive sites are), you HAVE to go out with a DM/instructor by park rules.

Just find a good dive op, there are many very good ones on the island, the divemaser/instructor will be included in the dive trip.
 
tursiops:
...or that YOU can hurt
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First of all, Don't touch or harass ANYTHING in the Marine Park ... period! It could lead to a hefty fine.

Especially in the ocean, don't touch anything that you don't know what it is, or what it can do to you.
I still to this day have no idea WHAT I touched, but I came home from Coz one year with extremely sensitive fingertips on one hand, just tapping them on a table would send shooting pain up my arm. This lasted almost 9 months. the whole time the top layers of skin on my fingertips would peel off.

Best policy is to not touch anything while diving, even if you know what it is.
 
If you still have your AOW books, there's a section in there on drift diving you can read if you want to supplement the instruction/ assistance given by a private DM.
 
ReefHound:
My bet is that by the time you add in book and card fees required by PADI, the course is going to run around $200. Per person. A private DM will run about $50.
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If that class includes the dives, the difference is smaller.


Bob
 
Does the drift dive speciality teach deployment of a SMB? Maybe a private DM can teach that on the side? Seems to me they could teach it well seeing as they do it so very often.
 
Bob DBF:
If that class includes the dives, the difference is smaller.

Bob
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Not from a couple of Coz shops I just checked. DWM says $200 includes dives but not book and pic card. It's a wash. Factoring out cost of dives, it will be about $400 for him and kid to take the course, $50 for private DM. But it isn't really even the money. There just isn't that much new material.
 
sharky60:
to dive in the Marine park (where most the dive sites are), you HAVE to go out with a DM/instructor by park rules.

Just find a good dive op, there are many very good ones on the island, the divemaser/instructor will be included in the dive trip.
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True, but a big difference imo between a DM guide for a group and a private DM that will be your buddy for the dives and focusing on you.
 
I did the drift dive course when I was on a group trip to Cozumel over 10 years ago. It was one of the subspecialties that was part of my SSI AOW so it wasn't like I was paying extra for it. Learned a few tips from it but looking back on it, there's nothing I learned from the course that I wouldn't have picked up along the way. If the money is meaningless to you then go for it but I can think of better ways to spend it. A good competent private DM will tell you and show you everything you need to know.

One thing's for sure- drift diving often requires you to be ready to go when the crew tells you to splash, and sometimes you not only need to jump when called but you may also need to descend immediately so as not to drift past the dive site. Even better may be to do a negative entry- splash and keep right on going down. But you need to know what you're doing. It doesn't hurt to practice this on the easier dives.
 
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