Peak Buoyancy Specialty Course

[TMHeimer]

Holy crap. I would have been shocked to see that in water that warm.

Definitely goes to show how much personal tolerances differ, and that they are not always geographically distributed. Despite living almost my entire life south of the 28th parallel, I can comfortably do 60+ minute dives in mid 70s water wearing a 3 mil wetsuit.

Not always geographically distributed as you say. But my experience has been that you are one of the fairly unusual exceptions. I've seen drysuits on charters out of Destin in winter--I'd bet they weren't from Canada or Massachusetts...

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Not always geographically distributed as you say. But my experience has been that you are one of the fairly unusual exceptions. I've seen drysuits on charters out of Destin in winter--I'd bet they weren't from Canada or Massachusetts...

To be perfectly honest, I toughen up when my Russian wife (who hates Putin just to be clear) makes me swim in mid 60s degree water. I stop using my heated vest for a while after that.

 

[saharasurfer]

My advice would be to complete the Advanced OW training and certification before a class focused on advanced buoyancy. But I'm only saying that because that's what I did. There is an element of personal preference with the decision you're making and you should trust your instincts. A lot also depends on the instructor and the curriculum of these courses. If you like the people that have been teaching you to dive up to this point then the best thing to do is probably to follow their advice. But don't hesitate to look into other dive shops and diver groups to gain new perspectives on diving techniques and philosophies. There are many different approaches and most of them have both good and not-so-great points. Expose yourself to them, go on a lot of dives, and build your own way to dive. A good buoyancy instructor will teach you techniques to fine tune your diving. Weighting, Trim, etc. are such important parts of controlling your dive. When you combine the imparted knowledge with time in the water you really start to gain more control of you diving. And the more in control you are, the more relaxed you'll be in the water. And a relaxed diver has longer and more enjoyable dives. Keep training but even more importantly get in the water and dive.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

My advice would be to complete the Advanced OW training and certification before a class focused on advanced buoyancy. But I'm only saying that because that's what I did. There is an element of personal preference with the decision you're making and you should trust your instincts. A lot also depends on the instructor and the curriculum of these courses. If you like the people that have been teaching you to dive up to this point then the best thing to do is probably to follow their advice. But don't hesitate to look into other dive shops and diver groups to gain new perspectives on diving techniques and philosophies. There are many different approaches and most of them have both good and not-so-great points. Expose yourself to them, go on a lot of dives, and build your own way to dive. A good buoyancy instructor will teach you techniques to fine tune your diving. Weighting, Trim, etc. are such important parts of controlling your dive. When you combine the imparted knowledge with time in the water you really start to gain more control of you diving. And the more in control you are, the more relaxed you'll be in the water. And a relaxed diver has longer and more enjoyable dives. Keep training but even more importantly get in the water and dive.

there's so much I disagree with this advice. I have to think a bit on how to articulate the reasons why. I'll be back.

 

[alexdives]

Warning: climbing onto soapbox!

Currently to be one of the "Cool Kids" on ScubaBoard, groupthink says you must:
1. Dive backplate and wing
2. Throw recommendations of GUE Fundamentals course around, extra points for calling it "fundies"
3. Sprinkle in "I'm thinking of getting into cave diving"
4. Be sure to make fun of PADI and especially split fins!
5. Disparage any "for profit" endeavor
6. Hide the fact that you were ever a beginner!
7. Disparage the quality of all entry level courses (even though you took one)
8. Make fun of people who like warm water, good viz, and pretty ocean life

There are so many facets to scuba diving and what I have seen would have frankly turned me off. Be generous, allow for the (gasp!) recreational diver, encourage the novice gently and positively. What if taking PB eventually inspires someone to delve further into improving their diving? What if they do decide to dip their toe into GUE courses? We can all move upward and onward without looking askance at those less experienced than ourselves. If we need to put others down to lift ourselves up, we are to be pitied.

OK, off soapbox.

I can see this....
I wanted to give a bit of a different perspective.
I have been certified since 1986, over 36 years but honestly I have probably dove 50 times. I live in the North East and just have never gotten into the dry suit, cold water thing.
On a trip to Jamaica my wife, who had no desire to dive, tried a hotel dive and loved it! An excellent instructor got her on the boat and in the water. She was certified on our next trip down in Aruba
We had a trip planned to Key Largo and we are going to dive with Rainbow Reef. As I was thinking about it I realized that a boat with 26 divers wasn't exactly the most comfortable environment for a newly certified diver. By signing up for the class we get an instructor and hopefully learn some of this foundational knowledge that we could both use help with. I get that there are alternative paths, finding people online, joining a dive group etc. I just hope people realize that different people take different paths for their own reasons. In my case even if it's not the greatest instructor (although I have no reason to think it won't be) it still makes sense.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

My advice would be to complete the Advanced OW training and certification before a class focused on advanced buoyancy. But I'm only saying that because that's what I did. There is an element of personal preference with the decision you're making and you should trust your instincts. A lot also depends on the instructor and the curriculum of these courses. If you like the people that have been teaching you to dive up to this point then the best thing to do is probably to follow their advice.

I realize I never responded. The problem with this advice is you don't know what you don't know. Just because you like your instructor doesn't mean they have taught you properly. I have taken many con ed courses, and I figured most of them were alright. I didn't at the time think any of them were terrible. That came later.

It comes down to what is the return for the time/money placed in a course. Does a student really advance in their skills and knowledge?
I know a lot of people hate how I recommend fundies, but it is for this reason. Add up all my con ed courses, and I spent far more time and far more money than what I did in just one GUE course.

The industry is slowly getting better, but the pace is glacial.

But don't hesitate to look into other dive shops and diver groups to gain new perspectives on diving techniques and philosophies. There are many different approaches and most of them have both good and not-so-great points. Expose yourself to them, go on a lot of dives, and build your own way to dive. A good buoyancy instructor will teach you techniques to fine tune your diving. Weighting, Trim, etc. are such important parts of controlling your dive. When you combine the imparted knowledge with time in the water you really start to gain more control of you diving.

Just hard to know often what makes a good instructor.

And the more in control you are, the more relaxed you'll be in the water. And a relaxed diver has longer and more enjoyable dives.

Agreed

Keep proper training

FIFY

but even more importantly get in the water and dive.

The part I disagree here is that if you have a poor foundation (like I did), it can be really painful to break those habits. That's why it is so important to seek out training where the content of the course is consistent and people don't say "its the instructor not the agency" as that phrase indicates a real problem.

I'm not trying to be confrontational or condescending here ("Oh but Kosta you always are" - well I try not to be). The frustration I express is due to the shortcomings of the industry and how frequently divers are simply ripped off.

 

[RobPNW]

if it was me i would skip the aow altogether and just take the specialties you are interested in.

Guess it depends if the person has interest in the Rescue Diver class.

 

[RobPNW]

For me the class just made me think about all aspects of buoyancy and get some practice in. I assume it'll take a lot more than the class before I feel like I'm a subject matter expert. In addition to the sheer number of dives, I expect I will learn a lot when doing dives requiring different types of exposure suits that change weight requirements and trim.

 

[The Chairman]

How badly do you want to master trim, buoyancy, and propulsion? If that's your goal, as opposed to just getting a card, then commit the time and money to do a cavern course or a GUE fundies course.

It's been my experience that most (95%) of the PPB courses I have seen taught leave a lot to be desired, mostly because the instructor has not mastered those three skills adequately.

 

[alexdives]

How badly do you want to master trim, buoyancy, and propulsion? If that's your goal, as opposed to just getting a card, then commit the time and money to do a cavern course or a GUE fundies course.

It's been my experience that most (95%) of the PPB courses I have seen taught leave a lot to be desired, mostly because the instructor has not mastered those three skills adequately.

I feel a trip report coming on....