Putting Another Dollar In - taking more classes

[TexasKaren68]

Well, if all goes according to plan I'll finish up my AOW on Monday. Later next week I'm heading to Florida to just dive (no classes, just fishes). All the dives I'm scheduled to do are shallow reef dives. I doubt I'll ever get below 40 feet at the sites we're going to.

I'd really like to dive some of the deeper wrecks there when I go back in October. However I don't really want to spend the money for the Deep Diver specialty here in Texas. I have no desire to submerge myself into 61 feet of 50 degree water to look at floating particles for 5 minutes, do a couple skills, and then come back up because I don't think that will help me much with the 100 fsw dives that I want to do in FL. Also, I don't think the conditions would be even close to the same so I think getting the deep diver specialty in Texas still wouldn't really qualify me to dive the Spiegel Grove.

Sooo, I just ordered the Deep Diver manual and will hopefully be able to do the three remaining deep dives in warm clear water in October and see the Spiegel Grove with an instructor by my side.

Then of course I want to take the Nitrox class (or should I do that one before deep?)

And then there's Rescue which really is a must.

Oh, and I can't forget Underwater Navigation so I don't get lost.

Oooh, and night diving so I can learn how to operate a flashlight under water.

Wait, I almost forgot drift diving so I don't die when I go Cozumel.

Of course I should also take the boat diver course since the dives in Florida will all be from a boat.

When does it end

 

[TMHeimer]

Points taken. "Put Another Dollar In" is certainly valid and discussed often. One thing to consider, though, is how much would one pay to do say, the 4 dives required for Deep Diver if one just paid a charter for the dives--and that way there is no instructor to learn from. I guess it depends on the course. Of most of the specialties I have taken, I guess I could've learned most of it by buying the manuals (or just learning from a veteran buddy) and just diving. Depends on how you look at it.

 

[DevonDiver]

It's a modular course system... so 'putting another dollar in' represents a staged progression with training. The alternative would be to 'put a LOT of dollars in' for a single, utterly comprehensive, initial training course.

Being a prudent, safety-orientated, diver means that you should obtain the correct training and experience for the dives that you wish to undertake. This is especially true when progressing depths or operating in overhead or deco environments.

Deep, wreck and cavern/cave courses have a specific skill content, that will mitigate risks you might encounter in those environments.

The Rescue Diver course obviously adds specific skills with regard to your personal safety (self-rescue) and your ability to assist others.

Other courses have a less definable benefit. For instance, night diver is a course that you might not need to do. These really boil down to the quality of the instructor that you choose (actually, most courses rely on that factor). A well motivated, knowledgeable instructor will make sure that the course far exceeds the basic 'dive at night with a torch' minimums.

Courses like Boat diving, photography, fish ID, naturalist etc are more interest-driven. If you have a particular interest in a subject or activity, then you have the option to seek expert tuition in that subject (not that every instructor is an expert tutor in every subject).

Where does it stop? Well, after 16 years of diving, with 4000 dives, I still have a list of courses I want to take that is as long as my arm....

 

[Dr Wu]

When does it end

As soon as you want it to.

 

[fnfalman]

When does it end? When you get a Master Scuba Diver cert card.

Well, if all goes according to plan I'll finish up my AOW on Monday. Later next week I'm heading to Florida to just dive (no classes, just fishes). All the dives I'm scheduled to do are shallow reef dives. I doubt I'll ever get below 40 feet at the sites we're going to.

I'd really like to dive some of the deeper wrecks there when I go back in October. However I don't really want to spend the money for the Deep Diver specialty here in Texas. I have no desire to submerge myself into 61 feet of 50 degree water to look at floating particles for 5 minutes, do a couple skills, and then come back up because I don't think that will help me much with the 100 fsw dives that I want to do in FL. Also, I don't think the conditions would be even close to the same so I think getting the deep diver specialty in Texas still wouldn't really qualify me to dive the Spiegel Grove.

Sooo, I just ordered the Deep Diver manual and will hopefully be able to do the three remaining deep dives in warm clear water in October and see the Spiegel Grove with an instructor by my side.

Then of course I want to take the Nitrox class (or should I do that one before deep?)

And then there's Rescue which really is a must.

Oh, and I can't forget Underwater Navigation so I don't get lost.

Oooh, and night diving so I can learn how to operate a flashlight under water.

Wait, I almost forgot drift diving so I don't die when I go Cozumel.

Of course I should also take the boat diver course since the dives in Florida will all be from a boat.

When does it end

 

[DevonDiver]

When does it end? When you get a Master Scuba Diver cert card.

I got that 10 years ago.... and somehow managed to spend many $000's since...

Just when I think I reach a pinnacle (MSDT/Tec Instructor), then I find out that I reached a false summit and there's more that I want to do. Side-mount... hmmm... that's my next project. Must have that!

 

[NorCalDM]

Training should never end but it comes in many different ways and not all of them are in classes. In my opinion training in the cold low viz water will build your skills faster than 100ft of viz in warm water so don't dismiss doing your training in your local waters.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I started to say, "With Fundies," and then I reflected on the amount of money and time I have spent on classes since I took that one . . .

As far as I can tell, if you love to dive and love to learn, training stops when you run out of classes there are to take, and at that point, you're probably doing some kind of exploration.

I'm considering a sidemount class, either this month or in November. I thought I was DONE with classes!

But as far as YOUR further education goes, a lot of what you want can be learned through doing. You learn to navigate, once you can do a simple course on your compass, by navigating -- by using depth contours and bottom features and compass information in an integrated fashion to find your way home. And although I think there are a couple of skills that are useful in drift diving (shooting a bag being one of them, and not part of the PADI class) drift diving itself is something you learn from doing it.

Nitrox, on the other hand, is a classroom education, and is immensely useful, especially for dives like the SG which are moderately deep. Nitrox has its greatest utility in the 80 to 110 foot range, where it offers significant increases in no deco time, without huge increases in risk. Deeper than that, you have to go to a weak Nitrox mix, which offers little advantage; shallower, and you can stay long enough to run low on gas or get cold, without using Nitrox. (Assuming you do any dives without using Nitrox, which some of us do not.)

Classes are great, and shortcut learning if they are done well. But there is nothing that teaches diving like having to be responsible for your own dive from start to finish, and you need to make sure the majority of your dives are of that sort.

 

[k ellis]

Well, if all goes according to plan I'll finish up my AOW on Monday. Later next week I'm heading to Florida to just dive (no classes, just fishes). All the dives I'm scheduled to do are shallow reef dives. I doubt I'll ever get below 40 feet at the sites we're going to.

I'd really like to dive some of the deeper wrecks there when I go back in October. However I don't really want to spend the money for the Deep Diver specialty here in Texas. I have no desire to submerge myself into 61 feet of 50 degree water to look at floating particles for 5 minutes, do a couple skills, and then come back up because I don't think that will help me much with the 100 fsw dives that I want to do in FL. Also, I don't think the conditions would be even close to the same so I think getting the deep diver specialty in Texas still wouldn't really qualify me to dive the Spiegel Grove.
Sooo, I just ordered the Deep Diver manual and will hopefully be able to do the three remaining deep dives in warm clear water in October and see the Spiegel Grove with an instructor by my side.

Then of course I want to take the Nitrox class (or should I do that one before deep?)

And then there's Rescue which really is a must.

Oh, and I can't forget Underwater Navigation so I don't get lost.

Oooh, and night diving so I can learn how to operate a flashlight under water.
Wait, I almost forgot drift diving so I don't die when I go Cozumel.

Of course I should also take the boat diver course since the dives in Florida will all be from a boat.
When does it end

Ummmm Karen as someone who can relate in reguards to the Spiegel Grove its not exactly first timer friendly. The Spiegel Grove sits in a current sensitive area and it can cause some serious problems for divers not used to those conditions. Id get some traing in the deep and get some experience in some drift dives first and learn the process for what to do if you get ripped away from the decent line. It can be rough.

Also your correct I dont do deep dives in area lakes because the amount of dive time available to see just a rock is not appealing to me plus most often the temperature is way too cold at depth and visibility in neal at best.

Flashlights are simple just read the night diver book and you should be fine.

Boat diver? Ok I get it you really are just putting another dollar in LOL This course is a serious WTF was some one thinking?

 

[BDSC]

Training should never end but it comes in many different ways and not all of them are in classes.

Excellent point!

Let me say right up front that there is nothing wrong with taking all those classes the OP listed. It's your time and money and if you want to spend it on classes go for it. But if you can find a good veteran dive buddy with experience to dive with, you can learn a lot from them and just by diving. I have taken three courses in my 20 years of diving, OW, AOW, and Nitrox. If I could do it over I probably would have skipped the AOW class. I have successfully and safely taken many deep dives but have never taken a deep diver specialty. I have done numerous wreck dives yet never taken a wreck diver specialty. Recreational scuba diving isn't rocket science. It's really pretty easy to learn and understand and if you have a good grasp of the diving basics and some common sense, that will carry you a long way.

Again, there is nothing wrong with taking a more formal approach to training by taking all the classes but it's not necessary to learn about diving and becoming a really good diver. If it were me, I'd use that money and buy some top of the line equipment.