PADI Specialities

[mjatkins]

Oh boy, that sure ain't true!

Naturally navigate back to an anchor line, miss it by just a little bit, end up down current from the boat. Trouble.

Long story short, I can't imagine ending a dive thinking "The only thing that would have made that dive better is if I had gotten lost!"

Perhaps you could be a little more specific in your answer. If you did miss the anchorline and had to surface past the boat, what would be the "trouble" that you invision? Also, perhaps you could mention a little more about what skills are required to find the exit point on a typical OW level DM lead dive.

Thanks

 

[Rainer]

If you shore dive the So. Cal coast without this happening at least once, you are probably getting kicked by the dive leader's fins all through the dive.

I lose dive buddies that are not paying attention all the time out here.

Yea, navigation is important. Especially in low visability.

Just comes down to team awareness. I mainly shore dive SoCal and MA. MA vis is much worse. That said, haven't lost a dive buddy in quite awhile (and that only lasted about 35 seconds). Conditions just force better attention. Can light helps, too. But you're right, don't pay attention (which many other divers don't seem to do) and you're going to lose a buddy pretty quick. Navigating back to your exit is then very important (assuming you aren't directly ascending.

 

[Stogie8]

Rescue Diver was a great course for me. I would highly recommend taking the time to do it.

 

[Advokat]

Is Cavern Speciality intresting and worth doing?

 

[stargazer61]

In my (very limited) experience the standard plan for if the group gets separated is to look around for one minute then reunite on the surface. I have sometimes agreed with the DM that me and my buddy might split off on our own half way through - but only after informing them. If your intention is to stick with the DM then you will be surfacing in the event that you get split up.

 

[thomjinx]

Ask yourself what do you need. If your bouyancy control is excellent, you might not need a course on that.

Obviously Rescue is good to have.

I would agree with many that navigation is useful, often when you wouldn't think you would need it.

Recently I was diving out of Phuket, Thailand. Warm tropical water, good vis, moderate current, DM leading our group. No problem, right? We were going in at one pinnacle, crossing some open sandy bottom and getting picked up at another pinnacle some distance away. Getting in the water, our DM and most of our group got into the water, then some divers from another group got in front of my buddy and I, messed around with their gear, then decided not to dive for some reason. The DM we were supposed to follow took off without my buddy and I. By the time we got in the water, there were no other divers in sight, and our boat was pulling away to go to the pickup location. Thank goodness I had paid attention during the dive briefing and knew what direction the other pinnacle was in. I had my wrist compass, not because I thought I would need it, but out of habit.
So after spending some time around the first pinnacle, I took a heading, corrected for the modest current, and set off across the sand flats. My buddy was looking a bit concerned as we swam out of sight of the first pinnacle. But after a few minutes, the other pinnacle came into view, we explored that for awhile and came up near our boat. My dive buddy thought I was a genius! Haha. Had we gotten lost, it would only have been inconvenient, not life threatening, but I was still very happy I knew how to navigate.
By the way, I have never taken a PADI Nav course.
I am a private pilot, and learned to navigate in my plane with just a map, stopwatch and compass. The same methods work underwater, thank goodness!

 

[Dive-aholic]

Is Cavern Speciality intresting and worth doing?

Definitely, as long as you have the right instructor. I recommend it to everyone, even if you have no desire to dive caverns. The training you get is invaluable in any kind of diving.

 

[DiveMaven]

I think that most of the specialties would be extremely interesting and valuable IF YOU HAVE A GOOD INSTRUCTOR.

But I agree that Rescue certification should be on every diver's "must do" list.

 

[ianr33]

Is Cavern Speciality intresting and worth doing?

If there is ANY chance that you might progress on to cave diving I would suggest doing cavern with a different agency. PADI cavern is not universally accepted as a prerequisite for more advanced training.

 

[ekewaka]

You definitely need nitrox and rescue.

Dry suit if you want to dive dry.

PPB can be good if you get the right instructor.