PADI necessary hidden skills

[David Novo]

Perhaps it is better to break up the course into modules/milestones with proof of completion and competency for each module (c-cards). This is what the specialty program is all about.

And revenue: do not forget the role of the green.

 

[Edward3c]

The important point here is the the skills and experiences Edward listed aren't taught all in the same entry level course. They are divided up over at least two courses. It must also be noted that not all BSAC courses around the world teach the same list from Edward.

The list is from the instructor manual, no additions are permitted. However, not all activities are required for every student.

Ocean Divers (OD) are to have experience in four (4) items from these eight (8):
• Shore dive – a dive beginning and ending on either a gently shelving shore or a deep water entry/exit.
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit.
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m.
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers.
• Nitrox dive – a dive using a breathing gas mix containing up to 36 per cent oxygen.
• Small-boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 8m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water.
• Large-boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 8m overall length, and where exit does not removal of equipment in the water.
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.25 knots and 0.5 knots

Sports Divers, five (5) from these eleven (11):
• Small boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 9m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water
• Large boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 9m overall length, and where exit does not require removal of equipment in the water
• Boat dive with mechanical lift – a dive from a boat equipped with diver lift
• Nitrox dive – a dive where the nitrox mix is greater than 23%
• Dive using shot line – a dive using a shot line as the only visual reference for descent and ascent
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.5 knots and 1 knot. Students must have successfully completed modules ST1, ST3 and SO
• Night dive – a dive during the hours of darkness
• Cold water dive – a dive in water where the overall temperature is below 10°C

Its not unusual for OD students to get 'diving in a protective', 'shore dive', 'dive from small boat' and 'Nitrox dive' signed-off at the same time as doing their open water lessons. That wouldn't happen with one of the commercial agencies unless the student paid extra - as they're seperate income streams.

We wouldn’t expect a student in Thailand or the Red Sea to be diving in water below 10°C.

One of the very disadvantageous of the BSAC system is that it is difficult to get a real schedule for the course(s) to be completed in a reasonable time. Their courses go on and on and on and may take a year to complete. It is a volunteer system and hence the instructors don't have a motivation to stick to a schedule. It is a system that produces prepared divers to dive in the UK environment but often the implementation takes a very long time. Perhaps it is better to break up the course into modules/milestones with proof of completion and competency for each module (c-cards). This is what the specialty program is all about.

BSAC courses are taught by overseas commercial entities, see here.

 

[Julius SCHMIDT]

Courses are a guide to learning after which it's left to the diver to uphold their end, many fail
When I first decided to wear shorts and shirt diving it was a real production choosing which ones

 

[Jcp2]

Some of those descriptions seem to be valid technical skills to have a significant teaching component that requires signing off, like drysuit or nitrox. But a lot of them are self evident depending on the circumstances of where and how one dives.

 

[Edward3c]

Some of those descriptions seem to be valid technical skills to have a significant teaching component that requires signing off, like drysuit or nitrox. But a lot of them are self evident depending on the circumstances of where and how one dives.

If a student did their Ocean Diver or Sports Diver in a drysuit they would have reseived ample training over the 4/5 dives.
Nitrox theory is taught as part of the core sylabus, there is nothing 'technical' in it.

 

[BoltSnap]

And revenue: do not forget the role of the green.

Nothing is for free in this world, what matters is the difference in the value you get for your green. I'd rather pay more money for a better program and more quality training. As they say, free stuff is never cheap.

 

[BoltSnap]

Its not unusual for OD students to get 'diving in a protective', 'shore dive', 'dive from small boat' and 'Nitrox dive' signed-off at the same time as doing their open water lessons. That wouldn't happen with one of the commercial agencies unless the student paid extra - as they're seperate income streams.

You can combine courses and get trained as you wish. I do 8 - 10 dives in my NAUI entry level courses over 4 - 5 days in addition to 25 hours in pool and 25 hours in class (in addition to the online eLearning that is second to none) but I charge more than the jokesters around me.

What you are describing is an advanced openwater course that has a sample from different specialties. My NAUI advanced courses has 8 - 12 dives in addition to classroom, eLearning and some pool work.

 

[GF99/99]

The list is from the instructor manual, no additions are permitted. However, not all activities are required for every student.

Ocean Divers (OD) are to have experience in four (4) items from these eight (8):
• Shore dive – a dive beginning and ending on either a gently shelving shore or a deep water entry/exit.
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit.
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m.
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers.
• Nitrox dive – a dive using a breathing gas mix containing up to 36 per cent oxygen.
• Small-boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 8m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water.
• Large-boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 8m overall length, and where exit does not removal of equipment in the water.
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.25 knots and 0.5 knots

Sports Divers, five (5) from these eleven (11):
• Small boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 9m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water
• Large boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 9m overall length, and where exit does not require removal of equipment in the water
• Boat dive with mechanical lift – a dive from a boat equipped with diver lift
• Nitrox dive – a dive where the nitrox mix is greater than 23%
• Dive using shot line – a dive using a shot line as the only visual reference for descent and ascent
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.5 knots and 1 knot. Students must have successfully completed modules ST1, ST3 and SO
• Night dive – a dive during the hours of darkness
• Cold water dive – a dive in water where the overall temperature is below 10°C

Its not unusual for OD students to get 'diving in a protective', 'shore dive', 'dive from small boat' and 'Nitrox dive' signed-off at the same time as doing their open water lessons. That wouldn't happen with one of the commercial agencies unless the student paid extra - as they're seperate income streams.

We wouldn’t expect a student in Thailand or the Red Sea to be diving in water below 10°C.



BSAC courses are taught by overseas commercial entities, see here.

I think what others are trying to say is the BSAC program is very much setup for UK style of diving. There is nothing wrong with it, I think the BSAC program is a great program but it is very region specific.

Lets say for example you go on holiday to the Great Barrier Reef one of most famous and well known dive destinations in the world and you want to get your Open Water certification there like thousands do every year. I think more PADI certs come out the the Cairns/Port Douglas area than any other area in the world. Maybe Kho Tao being a runner up if you combine PADI and SSI cert numbers together.

Well if you tried to do this under the BSAC program it would not work out very. Here is why:

Ocean Divers (OD) are to have experience in four (4) items from these eight (8): I only see two for sure maybe 3 of these you can do
• Shore dive – a dive beginning and ending on either a gently shelving shore or a deep water entry/exit. There is no shore diving to dive the GBR you take a 1+ hour boat ride out the to dive sites. The "shore" by Cairns is kind of a mangrove mud hole full of crocodiles and jelly fish, trust me no dive company is taking clients shore diving.
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit. I guess in theory yes you could force your paying customers to wear a wetsuit however its the tropics, this is half the reason why people come diving in hot tropical destinations.
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m. It the GBR on a bad day the "low visibility" is 25 meters
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers. GBR is just sallow reef dives there are no "walls"
• Nitrox dive – a dive using a breathing gas mix containing up to 36 per cent oxygen. Yes this one you can do
• Small-boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 8m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water. The dive centers only use very very large boats small boats for diving do not exist.
• Large-boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 8m overall length, and where exit does not removal of equipment in the water. This one you can do
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.25 knots and 0.5 knots Its the GBR there is no current

Sports Divers, five (5) from these eleven (11): I only see 3 maybe 4 of these that can be done
• Small boat dive – a dive from a boat of less than 9m overall length, using a backward roll entry, and where exit requires removal of equipment in the water Same thing as above, can not do.
• Large boat dive – a dive from a boat of greater than 9m overall length, and where exit does not require removal of equipment in the water Yes this one you can do
• Boat dive with mechanical lift – a dive from a boat equipped with diver lift This is not a thing on the dive boats in GBR
• Nitrox dive – a dive where the nitrox mix is greater than 23% Yes this you can do
• Dive using shot line – a dive using a shot line as the only visual reference for descent and ascent Yes this they could setup for you
• Wall dive – a dive along a vertical or near vertical wall with no solid bottom a minimum of 4m below the divers same as above, can not do
• Dive in protective clothing – a dive wearing either a wetsuit or drysuit Possible to do if the customer is up for it
• Low-visibility dive – a dive in visibility ranging between 2m and 4m Same as above, can not do
• Drift dive – a dive in water moving at between 0.5 knots and 1 knot. Students must have successfully completed modules ST1, ST3 and SO same as above, can not do
• Night dive – a dive during the hours of darkness Can not do, no dive charter does night dives unless you book on a liveabord trip but you can not expect all your customers to book a liveabord trip just so they can get there OW cert .
• Cold water dive – a dive in water where the overall temperature is below 10°C for obvious reason this one is not possible either.

 

[BoltSnap]

BSAC courses are taught by overseas commercial entities, see here.

All of the supposedly BSAC dive centers I have contacted in the past "say" that they offer BSAC training in their advertising but when you contact them or show up at their facility to discuss training they will steer you to PADI or other agency's program. BSAC program is disappearing from the scene gradually and it is almost non-existent at the international scene.

 

[David Novo]

Nothing is for free in this world, what matters is the difference in the value you get for your green. I'd rather pay more money for a better program and more quality training. As they say, free stuff is never cheap.

I agree with this. However, there is a level of spreading basic skills in specialties at which the specialties programs start to be less about value and more about money.