Requirements Padi deep diver specialty

[stuartv]

Student Diver Prerequisites

By the start of the course, a diver must be:

1. Certified as a PADI Adventure Diver or Advanced Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization.

It says right there that Adventure Diver is sufficient. So, NO you don't have to do AOW in order to do Deep.

Also, SDI Deep only requires OW - not even Adventure Diver. So, you could find an SDI shop to get your Deep specialty card without any other extra courses. Probably SSI would offer Deep with only OW as a prerequisite, too.

You can take SDI or SSI recreational courses based on a PADI OW certification. There is no reason you have to stick with PADI for any of your further training..

 

[DiverDownD3]

Happens everyday in the Keys. Local dive ops wont let you dive the Spiegel Grove, Duane, Vandenberg without an AOW cert unless you are in a class or hire a guide due to depths & currents.

It's similar for my LDS in NC. They take the number of dives you have into consideration. If you have OW certification you have to take a divemaster with you until you have 10 dives for dives up to 60'. If you have AOW they require a divemaster for dives over 60' until you hit 20 dives. They will allow you to go on deep dives without AOW, but you need to hire a divemaster and they want to see your logbook to see what you have done.

 

[AdivingBel]

I feel no need to dive deep EXCEPT some nice dives on vacation. (Wrecks)

My 2 cents as a vacation diver. AOW and Nitrox. That's what you'll get asked for. I'm not a fan of the requirement, but I understand the logic behind it. If you accept that you may be asked for it while dive traveling, I don't understand the reticence about going ahead and getting the AOW. Generally the cost of the AOW is not that much more (in the larger scheme of things) than the dives themselves, plus you get the dives with an instructor. An average instructor can probably give you some pointers and a good instructor may blow your mind. I understand the urge to balk at additional requirements that you may not feel are necessary, but stacked up against the hassle of "dancing around" it while on an otherwise laid back vacation, well, to each their own. All additional training for other advanced or specialized diving or just to better your skills (or make you feel safer), excellent idea. All IMHO. Enjoy your diving.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

What some of these posts seem to be saying is they were shocked to learn that two entirely different courses with entirely different purposes ended up being--wait for it--different! Who could possibly have expected that?

Well, the OP's question was about PADI deep, and the second post suggest going the GUE route instead, since the OP was already signed up for fundies. I think Lorenzoid and I were just pointing out that these are two very different routes. PADI deep will get the OP certified to rec limits, in rec gear. It is a lower-cost course and will require lower-cost gear. The difference could easily be thousands of dollars, which would pay for several dive vacations. This is worth pointing out.

Not saying that the GUE route is a bad idea--far from it. But the OP could consider doing fundies and then PADI deep, and he would have his bases covered for rec diving. If he wanted more GUE training, and more tech-oriented gear, he always has that option in the future.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . But the OP could consider doing fundies and then PADI deep, and he would have his bases covered for rec diving. . . .

The other part of my comment--a point others alluded to but didn't state so explicitly--was that after taking Fundies, the OP may not think about deep dives in the same way he thinks about them now. His philosophy on "deep"--whatever that means to him now--might change. His philosophy on various things in diving might change. I say just take it one step at a time. If the OP is attracted to GUE, then take Fundies first and then decide what's next based on how you (the OP) feel at that time.

Yes, as John put it, two entirely different courses with entirely different purposes.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yes the purpose of a c card is to prove you have been trained to a particular level. However, do you really think that in court thats going to hold up on its on? "Well your honor, I checked his/her c card and they said they were experienced. I had no idea the person………….enter whatever here."

Yes. Can you give an example when it has not?

why are we as an industry allowing persons that are unfit to dive or take a class take part in the sport?

Who is "we"? Who (be specific) is going to institute a rule that the entire scuba industry will follow?

It says right there that Adventure Diver is sufficient. So, NO you don't have to do AOW in order to do Deep.

The Deep Diver specialty requires 4 dives, but the deep dive from the AOW course is the first one. If you have AOW, you only have to do the other three. So, one way or another, the AOW deep dive is required.

Yes, as John put it, two entirely different courses with entirely different purposes.

I teach a course that is very much like Fundies, with the primary difference being that we don't require specific gear. You can take the course in whatever gear you want. The primary focus is diving skills and philosophy. Depth is barely an issue. With the Deep Diver course, the instruction is focused on issues related to deeper recreational diving. These are two different courses, and it is silly even to suggest that it should be a one or the other decision. It is like suggesting a student choose between taking math or history.

 

[redacted]

Go ahead, awap, get the card! Why would you cut yourself off from some if the finest diving over a couple hundred bucks for "the card.?" I went ahead and got mine after 1200 dives because many ops in the Keys won't take you out to the good wrecks without one. I expect the trend will spread.

I do have the card. It cost me an extra $15 when I qualified for solo diver training based on experience. I have just never had cause to use it

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

That was a good deal, wish I had thought of it when I took my course.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I teach a course that is very much like Fundies, with the primary difference being that we don't require specific gear. You can take the course in whatever gear you want. The primary focus is diving skills and philosophy. Depth is barely an issue. With the Deep Diver course, the instruction is focused on issues related to deeper recreational diving. These are two different courses, and it is silly even to suggest that it should be a one or the other decision. It is like suggesting a student choose between taking math or history.

I can't address your course that is "very much like Fundies," but as far as Fundies versus PADI Deep (which are the courses the OP said he is planning to take), I think "choosing between taking math or history" would be a poor analogy, because nothing taught in math and history courses could even remotely be interpreted as inconsistent with the other. I interpreted my PADI Deep course's message as something along the lines of: "We're not going to tell you what to do or not do, but if you decide to dive to between around 100 and 130 feet, here are some issues you should consider and ways that might help mitigate the risks. But we're not telling you it's okay to dive that deep." At least that's the confusing message I believed I got from my PADI Deep course. I realize a PADI course may differ somewhat from one instructor to another. GUE Fundies sent what I perceived as a much stronger message against diving without additional training and gear to even to the 130 foot depth that other agencies consider their recommended maximum. Fundies taught the same issues pertaining to deep diving as the PADI Deep course I took, but I felt it came with an admonition. If after taking Fundies a diver has really drunk the Kool-Aid, er, I mean, bought into GUE's philosophies, he may decide to limit himself to what the vast majority of recreational divers consider to be relatively shallow dives until he goes further in his GUE training. I can't speak for anyone else or any other courses, such as your own, but if I had taken my Deep course after Fundies, I suspect I would have yawned at the repetition of the same material I learned in Fundies and wondered whether the instructor was suggesting behavior that I had already labeled in my mind as too risky for me.

I realize my experience is limited. I know nothing of PADI on the level that you do, and I haven't progressed beyond the recreational Fundamentals level with GUE. Different students may perceive different messages from the same course. I can only speak based on my limited experience with these two courses and how I felt after taking them.