Refresher vs. Recertification

[asp9208]

Hi, Just wanted to get some opinions.
I took the PADI OW Cert. with my dad aprox. 6 years ago and that was just about enough for him given that it was more my idea than his and he is slightly claustrophobic. However, I have recently been considering diving again. Unfortunately, I have basically forgotten all that was taught to me and all of the training books and papers were lost during a move. Should I repurchase and refamiliarize myself with the OW material then take a refresher or take the entire course over again. Just for further information I took a refresher a year after cert. that included all of 20 min. in a classroom and under an hour in the pool and if this is your typical refresher it doesn't inspire confidence. Any ideas would be helpful.
Thanks,
Adam

 

[AggieDad]

Hi, Just wanted to get some opinions.
I took the PADI OW Cert. with my dad aprox. 6 years ago and that was just about enough for him given that it was more my idea than his and he is slightly claustrophobic. However, I have recently been considering diving again. Unfortunately, I have basically forgotten all that was taught to me and all of the training books and papers were lost during a move. Should I repurchase and refamiliarize myself with the OW material then take a refresher or take the entire course over again. Just for further information I took a refresher a year after cert. that included all of 20 min. in a classroom and under an hour in the pool and if this is your typical refresher it doesn't inspire confidence. Any ideas would be helpful.
Thanks,
Adam

Just my opinion. Sounds like you might be more comfortable doing the recertification again. Do you still have your card? Logbook? I think the time and money involved are so small that it wouldn't make that much difference.

 

[pasley]

I would start over. Much has changed in the past 6 years.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Definitely the recert. You won't have much of a choice in who does a refresher. It could be another hour long thing or a two to three hour thing. But even after three hours in the classroom and a pool, would you feel comfortable jumping in the ocean?

 

[stevethepirate]

i just took a refresher course. i havent done anything in a year so my parents wanted me to do something before going on vacation.
it consisted of 2 2 hour sessions in a pool with a group of people who were becoming certified, however there were plenty of instructors who helped my sister and i. the things that we needed were like the steps in getting gear ready, and most of the little details. we were also able to just swim around in a large pool and get the feel of being under water, which was very helpful.
if i were you i would go to a dive shop near you and ask if they can do anything like this.
for my sister and i, we paid a total of $90, which wasnt bad for 2 sessions.

 

[asp9208]

I have time to decide seeing that due to personal and financial complications I can't do anything until atleast december.

However, if I decide to recertify I wondered if anyone had any personal recommendations for instructors in jacksonville, fl or boca raton, fl.

I also wondered what was a decent price for training from what I've seen in these two areas $200-300 is the norm.

 

[BrianS]

I would assume that a Refresher course is also a bit cheaper than taking OW all over again as well.

I have time to decide seeing that due to personal and financial complications I can't do anything until atleast december.

However, if I decide to recertify I wondered if anyone had any personal recommendations for instructors in jacksonville, fl or boca raton, fl.

I also wondered what was a decent price for training from what I've seen in these two areas $200-300 is the norm.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'm an instructor and while you may not actually need a recert it seems like you want one. If you haven't dove much then why not go over?

 

[Marek K]

I don't see a need to actually re-certify. Your PADI certification is on file with PADI, and is good forever (for better or worse).

I'm pretty sure there's a charge involved for actually processing the certification paperwork -- isn't there? The PADI dive operation we've been using at the Red Sea charges a 50-Euro certification charge, on top of the cost of courses; that cost would normally be included in normal course charges elsewhere.

On the other hand, I definitely concur that it would be worthwhile for you to re-do the substance of the entire course; to include classroom work, pool sessions, and open-water dives with an instructor. You should be able to negotiate a significant discount with a local instructor; seeing as neither he/she nor PADI will need to do the certification paperwork, and your instructor hopefully won't have to spend as much time working with you as with a true newbie. There are plenty of practice tests and quizzes for you to make sure you understand the concepts. And you should have no problem finding a new or used OW dive manual and tables.

--Marek

 

[artusor]

I concur with what most evryone else has said. If you have not done anything in 6 years and do not even have the RDP etc. At a minimum, buy the book and re-read it to see how comfortable you are, but I think most of the refreshers are about what you have seen.

Talk to an instructor and see if he can give you some kind of deal, but if it were me, I would retake the class.