PADI Specialities

[diversam]

Hi all,

I am an Open Water diver and am thinking of doing my AOW course in the red sea at christmas however I might also do some specialities so I want to know what you guys think of the follwing:

Search and Recovery, Underwarter Propoltion Driving and Emergancy First Response (I think I will need this one as I hope to do Rescue Diver after). Also what is the boat diver one, I have done almost all my dives from baots so what do you learn from this??

What sort of things are involoved in these courses and are they fun and enjoyable.

Will look forward to reading some of your responses,

Sam

 

[teknitroxdiver]

S&R sounds good, I'm gueessing by "Underwarter Propoltion Driving" you mean the scooter class, that's a good one, EFR is a must. I wouldn't do the boat diver one. If that's the only other one you want to do, then do it, but otherwise I would choose another. If you've been diving off boats forever, you pretty much don't need it. Of course, if you find yourself wondering about how/why/when to do things on a boat, go ahead and take it. It can't hurt, and all of these count toward your MSD rating.

 

[Otter]

Remember, that dives you do for AOW is the same Dive #1 for the corresponding specialty. So say you decide to do a DEEP Speciality and you do the DEEP dive as part of AOW (required, along with U/W Nav) then you will only have 3 more dives to do for DEEP.

Candidly,if I were going to do a speciality in conjunction with AOW, it would be EAN/Nitrox. In 5 dives, you will have both AOW and EAN. EAN is probably the one OTHER certification that you will be required to show/prove if you want to dive it.

When I teach AOW, I usually teach DEEP, U/W Nav, Night, EAN, and PPB with PPB being dependent upon the student's buoyancy skill. I then add the full Nitrox class as a specialty.

 

[Xman]

In my opinion there are some PADI specialties that are worthwhile, and some that are really not. I have 13 PADI Specialties and would like to offer you some advice.
Firstly, Emergency First Response (or another first aid qualification) is definately worthwhile.
Whilst any experience gained in a safe manner is a good thing for your diving (IMO), there are some specialties that I wouldn't bother with. Two of those you have mentioned I would put into that category. I wouldn't bother with DPV (Diver Propulsion Vehicle), or Boat Diver. These really won't teach you much at all.
Navigation, Search and Recovery, Deep, Night, Wreck, and EANx are all worth doing if you want to (IMO). Please remember though, that there is probably not anything in them that you couldn't learn through being mentored by an experienced (and safe) Dive Buddy (except maybe EANx). The advantage is that you know that the instructor is there to impart their knowledge to you rather than just do their own thing.
At the end of the day, if you want to complete a specialty, and have the money, then go for it. Some you will find more rewarding than others. Feel free to message me with any questions you might have on specialties and I will do my best to answer them.

 

[DORSETBOY]

As an instructor I know that a lot of instructors have their own bias over what they consider to be worthwhile specialities and I guess I'm prob just as guilty. I'd agree that efr is deff a great course to do as my own bias means that I'd like to see all divers know what to do in an emergency in particular in terms of first aid. This course really is a lot of fun and I know that when I did it I felt more confident because I felt I owuld know what to do in a medical emergency.

 

[underwater daphne]

only thing is if you ever want to rent a diver propulsion vehicle, most places won't rent unless you have the specialty.
efr is a great choice. and for your aowd you can't do much wrong.
deep, night, navigation sound like a great choice. i did the same.
what i did after aowd was equipment specialist. that was really fun and you learn a lot about your equipment and how to fix minor things, like a wetsuit, check your stages, etc.
fish recognition (or what it's called in english) might be useful if you dive at the same place a lot or similar waters.

 

[Cudabait]

My 2 cents: EFR,Nitrox, deep, wreck & Equipment Specialist. I see you're from UK...Don't know what you have available there, but if I were making a recommendation to anyone here in the states, I would suggest they take a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boating course. (free except materials) or a U.S Power Squadron boatoing course, very cheap also. You will learn more about power boat handling and navigation, etc. than you imagine. You'll walk away knowing lots more than most of the boat handlers at dive operations worldwide. And if you already own a boat insurance is substantially reduced.

Regards,

 

[SmokingMirror]

only thing is if you ever want to rent a diver propulsion vehicle, most places won't rent unless you have the specialty.

Really? Just out of curiosity, what is involved in the DPV speciality training? I only ask as, after doing my OW in East Africa, the dive school I was with let me play about with DPVs for free on subsequent dives without giving training, not that I found an 'on/off-point-in-direction-you-want-to-go' vehicle really needed it...


With respect to AOW I would have preferred to choose my own specialities, but since I don't think this is possible (at least, not with the school I learnt), I was taught Deep Dive, Wreck Dive, Search and Recovery, Fish Identification, Underwater Navigator.

The Deep Dive was enjoyable, but it strikes me that this is a speciality that requires experience to become proficient at. The Wreck Dive - IMHO - should not be taught as part of the AOW, but as a speciality unto itself. Engendering the idea that one dive qualifies you to explore the hazardous enviroments of wrecks doesn't strike me as very sensible. S and R and Underwater Navigator are something which I believe should be taught right from the beginning, and to a much greater degree (especially Navigator). And Fish Identification is a great first step to making a proper study of marine conservation.

Whatever you choose/end up doing, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, and, as people here have already said, even if you don't intend to take your diving qualifications all the way to the top, I'd definitely advise taking EFS and Rescue Diver. Even if you never use the skills - and let's hope you never have to - the confidence having them brings can make for much more enjoyable dives.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Just out of curiosity, what is involved in the DPV speciality training?

(Yes, I am hereby changing my opinion on this class. That was way too early this morning when I posted previously...)

I've never taken it and don't plan on it, but I imagine that all it is is "don't zoom upward, don't zoom down, don't hit anything, remember what happens when it floods, etc" kind of stuff.

Here's what PADI says: http://www.padi.com/english/common/courses/rec/continue/diverpropulsion.asp

 

[SmokingMirror]

Hmm...interesting link, thanks. I'm wondering if the course involves any of the technical side of the operation (maintenance of the DPV, cleaning, and so on) or whether it's all purely techniques for using one. That said, the PADI site states the course as just 2 dives over 1 day, so there - presumably - isn't that much too learn.

Has anyone here taken the course and can enlighten us?