Private Certification?

[Lopez116]

Thanks guys for all your responses. That is what I suspected. I am kind of at the point now where I am really comfortable in the water, but want to learn new skills and improve on existing ones.

To be honest, one issue I am apprehensive about is diving deep. I've been good about not diving below 60 feet. I don't necessarily want to dive any deeper, but I also don't want to be scared to if that's where the site is.

 

[uncfnp]

If it is possible, I recommend doing it with a buddy as well. My dive/life buddy and I took AOW together in private class and I highly recommend it.

When we first started diving, Eric was rather a reluctant participant and stated several times he didn't want to go past about 45 feet but he discovered it really is true that 90 feet feels just like 30. Now he thinks nothing of diving to 90.

Good luck with your class.

 

[divingpyrate]

It is possible, but more expensive.
Is it worth it, YES

I was due to be Married and do our certification in Cozumel. Trip planned out months ahead of time.
6 weeks before going, I had to have neck surgery. Unexpected.

I wrote of getting my diving cert
then My doctor contacted some of her fellow doctors familiar with diving.
She said she would do the surgery and sign off on my diving in time if I did accelerated Physical Therapy and my incision healed properly

Long story short, I had one weekend to do the pool portion before leaving. So I hired a DM to do mine one on one
Worth every penny

When we do our AOW we are going to pay the extra cash to have a private DM do it.


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[Jim Lapenta]

One other thing to note is that with the Advanced class you don't have the same "sit at the bottom in 54 degree water and wait for 12 other people to take their mask off, put it back on and clear it, fin pivot, buddy breathe, etc" that you do in the OW classes. You are more doing fun dives in different environments vs. doing skills. In my Advanced class the only skills were on the Navigation dive where we had to swim 100 yards to get time/kick counts, out and back with compass, out and back with natural navigation (let me tell you, *that* was fun in 5ft visibilty with nothing but sand, lol!) and navigating a square with the compass. The rest was just actual fun diving. I will give the caveat I only had one other person in my class so it was essentially a private lesson by default though.

I would not call that an advanced class by any measure. Some of us teach classes where every dive for AOW has new skills, knowledge, and tasks to complete. As well as six to eight hours in the classroom.

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[Damselfish]

You might also consider looking for a small class for AOW. I think it's good to have at least one other person to do stuff with, other than the instructor. It's more like you will actually be diving in real life, plus experience with other divers can also be educational, and hopefully fun. I totally understand having a lousy experience with 12-14 divers, which is nuts, but there is a big difference between 12-14 and 2-4. The catch here might be the scheduling and choice of dives, where of course a private class gives you the most flexibility.

 

[TSandM]

I'd just like to weigh in here to say that Robert would be a good choice for an instructor. He's had a lot of good training, and is a really nice guy.

We've had students take months to finish multi-dive classes like AOW. Sometimes it's planned, but other times it's because of weather or somebody got a cold.

 

[TMHeimer]

Our shop charges close to double for individual courses. I also believe you do have to do the whole course within a year. But check with the agency in case things change. It is a good choice if you have the money, and I'd believe it wouldn't matter if you do it through a shop or with an independent. Obviously, one on one instruction is both better for the student and easier for the instructor (regardless of his/her ability). This is true regardless of the subject you are learning. You miss the social aspect of meeting other divers--potential buddies-- but that is a small downside.

 

[Lopez116]

I would like to clarify that it would be my wife and I taking the class, not just me.

Thanks again to everyone who weighed in and gave their advice and shared their experience.