PADI - Split up checkout dives?

[tuk]

My wife insists that father's day is an important thing and won't let me skip it so I told her I wanted her to get certified. The trouble is, we're land locked (Austin... ish) and the lakes are pretty murky and we have a 10 month old. I'd rather her do the open water dives some place where she can see and I'd really like to be there as her buddy. We'll be in FL for about a week in July but we won't have enough time to get in four dives.

I know she can do the classes online (holy crap is that etouch stuff terrible!) and the confined water dives here and the do open water somewhere else but can we split the open water dives? Can she do two and some skills on the FL trip and then a couple more down the line?

 

[Dogbowl]

My wife insists that father's day is an important thing and won't let me skip it so I told her I wanted her to get certified. The trouble is, we're land locked (Austin... ish) and the lakes are pretty murky and we have a 10 month old. I'd rather her do the open water dives some place where she can see and I'd really like to be there as her buddy. We'll be in FL for about a week in July but we won't have enough time to get in four dives.

I know she can do the classes online (holy crap is that etouch stuff terrible!) and the confined water dives here and the do open water somewhere else but can we split the open water dives? Can she do two and some skills on the FL trip and then a couple more down the line?

I think you can but you're gonna have to get the shop/instructor to ok it. FWIW, me and 3 of my friends went on a cruise and got certified. Two check-out dives were done in Grand Cayman and two were done in Roatan. All course work and confined pool skills were done locally.

Edit: I don't recommend doing it this way but it can be done.

 

[tuk]

FWIW, me and 3 of my friends went on a cruise and got certified.

The 10 month old makes anything like that impossible. I'm _hoping_ to be able to squeeze a dive day into the trip to Florida but it's not a vacation so I'm may be SOL regardless.

 

[sea_ledford]

I recommend just getting it done locally, and doing fun dives on vacation. Her instructor won't really want you as her dive buddy for the training dives, even if they allow it. If it is a regular class (vs a private class), it probably won't even be an option since you will count against the instructors ratios. More importantly for the both of you as a dive team, you do NOT want to set yourself up as a buddy pair where she is always depending on you to be the lead diver. Let her earn some independence first by completing her class without you. There will be plenty of buddy dives after certification.

Having taught classes with an already certified significant-other or parent, I can say 90% of the time the more experience diver ends up being a complete pain in the ass during the course. I'm sure you would be one of the 10% that aren't, but the instructor won't be happy about it regardless.

-Chris

 

[Dogbowl]

The 10 month old makes anything like that impossible. I'm _hoping_ to be able to squeeze a dive day into the trip to Florida but it's not a vacation so I'm may be SOL regardless.

I wasn't suggesting she do it on a cruise. Just answering your question if it was possible to split up the check-out dives. I guess I wasn't clear.

 

[tuk]

Having taught classes with an already certified significant-other or parent, I can say 90% of the time the more experience diver ends up being a complete pain in the ass during the course. I'm sure you would be one of the 10% that aren't, but the instructor won't be happy about it regardless.

-Chris

I actually thought about that but I appreciate the point. It would definitely be something I'd discuss before hand. I just know that one of the ways I can actually get her to do it is to go with her. Even if it was just a boat trip out where I did a fun dive and she did a skills/checkout dive, that'd work. There's no way I'd have her dive locally. The visibility here is terrible and I want her to enjoy it enough that she'd be willing to do it again, on vacation. I've done a lot of muck diving and the lake here can be really bad. I dive it but I enjoy a challenge.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I actually thought about that but I appreciate the point. It would definitely be something I'd discuss before hand. I just know that one of the ways I can actually get her to do it is to go with her. Even if it was just a boat trip out where I did a fun dive and she did a skills/checkout dive, that'd work. There's no way I'd have her dive locally. The visibility here is terrible and I want her to enjoy it enough that she'd be willing to do it again, on vacation. I've done a lot of muck diving and the lake here can be really bad. I dive it but I enjoy a challenge.

My guess is that you want your wife to have an amazing experience and be hooked. Doing checkout dives somewhere nice is definitely the right call. When I get my girlfriend certified, you better believe her open water dives won't be in the Puget Sound.

 

[Diver0001]

My wife insists that father's day is an important thing and won't let me skip it so I told her I wanted her to get certified. The trouble is, we're land locked (Austin... ish) and the lakes are pretty murky and we have a 10 month old. I'd rather her do the open water dives some place where she can see and I'd really like to be there as her buddy. We'll be in FL for about a week in July but we won't have enough time to get in four dives.

I know she can do the classes online (holy crap is that etouch stuff terrible!) and the confined water dives here and the do open water somewhere else but can we split the open water dives? Can she do two and some skills on the FL trip and then a couple more down the line?

You can split everything up. I'm not sure that always works to your advantage in terms of the quality of the end result (and certainly not costs) but you can literally take every module/dive with a different instructor if you want. The only requirement if you take a break in between dives is that you resume training within 12 months of your previous dive.

The name of the instructor on your card is the one who does the last check out dive and gives the final approval to certify you.

R..

 

[tuk]

My guess is that you want your wife to have an amazing experience and be hooked. Doing checkout dives somewhere nice is definitely the right call. When I get my girlfriend certified, you better believe her open water dives won't be in the Puget Sound.

Exactly. She's an animal lover and an athlete but she's not excited about all the gear. Throwing her in some muck (or the frigid waters* where I learned) would work against me. Good visibility and warm water with someone she trusts with her (even if only at the surface) gives me my best odds.

* Some of my favorite dives should probably have been done in a dry suit and I loved every minute.

 

[tuk]

You can split everything up. I'm not sure that always works to your advantage in terms of the quality of the end result (and certainly not costs) but you can literally take every module/dive with a different instructor if you want. The only requirement if you take a break in between dives is that you resume training within 12 months of your previous dive.

The name of the instructor on your card is the one who does the last check out dive and gives the final approval to certify you.

R..

Thank you. That's the information I needed. If she enjoys it, she's the type of person who will excel because she can't stand to not be great at the things she does. Just gotta get over the hump (and we have a pool we can use for practice drills to make sure she keeps with it between checkouts if it takes too long).