SDI Road to Rescue Diver

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The PADI prerequisite to take the PADI Rescue class is the PADI Adventure Diver certification (three dives, of which one must be the Underwater Navigation Adventure dive) or equivalent. PADI AOW is five dives, of which one is Navigation and one is Deep, so is slightly more training than PADI Adventure Diver. SDI does not have an equivalent certification to PADI Adventure Diver, so in the SDI system you'd have to take the Advanced Adventure Diver course, which is effectively identical to the PADI AOW course.
There is no PADI work-around like SDI has that allows you to do 40 dives to get into the SDI Rescue class.
Note that the SDI standards suggest 12h for the class, of which 8 should be in open water. PADI standards suggest 25h for the class, although it is usually taught in two days.
Both agencies require up-to-date CPR/First-Aid and preferably O2 provider, although this may be taught along with the Rescue class (with additional time, of course).
So I should find a good SDI Rescue class with another SDI shop cause swapping is tricky:p

I suppose I'll have to open a convo in the Florida section next year and ask for recommendations. I'm mostly driving to West Palm Beach for diving anyway lol
 
Interesting thread. I will throw in my 2 cents:
I was just as gung ho about certs when I started wanted all those cards. I am certified through PADI I have my OW, AOW, Night diver and Nitrox just for reference. All you have read so far is great advice not challenging any of it. That said I found out the hard way that just trying to get the certs wasn't necessarily going to mean I was proficient. I see you said you are at 25 or so dives that for me was where I started getting it. I tried doing the "zero to hero" thing not a good move for me. After a bad course experience I almost quit but thanks to the info and encouragement I found here I kept going. The one thing that seemed to keep repeating itself here was don't worry about the cards at first just dive and practice. So I took that advice and it has been the best advice about diving I have gotten. Everybody progresses at a different pace so maybe I was a little slower but I found that each dive was some learning experience. Now each dime I dive I try to work on something even if it is a simple task. Buoyancy was the hardest for me and I work on it constantly I have gotten much better at it to the point that I am now fine tuning it and not a train wreck any more. I also watch other divers when I go to check out how they dive and try to pick up on the good and the bad (and man there is some bad out there). It helps me get better. I am rambling on forgive me for that. Finally I will say at the proficiency level I have reached I am now ready to do the rescue course and the next dive I do will be number 100.
Hey maybe we will run into each other some time I live in SW Florida but I dive over in your area most of the time. I love drift dives and Palm Beach and Broward counties are full of that. Hope this helps and keep diving as much as you can. Lastly I noticed in one of your other threads I think about not going in the cold time of the year here I say BAH get a suit and get wet the best shark spotting time is the winter and they are awesome to watch!!
 
Interesting thread. I will throw in my 2 cents:
I was just as gung ho about certs when I started wanted all those cards. I am certified through PADI I have my OW, AOW, Night diver and Nitrox just for reference. All you have read so far is great advice not challenging any of it. That said I found out the hard way that just trying to get the certs wasn't necessarily going to mean I was proficient. I see you said you are at 25 or so dives that for me was where I started getting it. I tried doing the "zero to hero" thing not a good move for me. After a bad course experience I almost quit but thanks to the info and encouragement I found here I kept going. The one thing that seemed to keep repeating itself here was don't worry about the cards at first just dive and practice. So I took that advice and it has been the best advice about diving I have gotten. Everybody progresses at a different pace so maybe I was a little slower but I found that each dive was some learning experience. Now each dime I dive I try to work on something even if it is a simple task. Buoyancy was the hardest for me and I work on it constantly I have gotten much better at it to the point that I am now fine tuning it and not a train wreck any more. I also watch other divers when I go to check out how they dive and try to pick up on the good and the bad (and man there is some bad out there). It helps me get better. I am rambling on forgive me for that. Finally I will say at the proficiency level I have reached I am now ready to do the rescue course and the next dive I do will be number 100.
Hey maybe we will run into each other some time I live in SW Florida but I dive over in your area most of the time. I love drift dives and Palm Beach and Broward counties are full of that. Hope this helps and keep diving as much as you can. Lastly I noticed in one of your other threads I think about not going in the cold time of the year here I say BAH get a suit and get wet the best shark spotting time is the winter and they are awesome to watch!!
I'm ok at buoyancy, I had my Eureka moment on my first dive post-cert. It took a near emergency-ascent (by accident) for me to realize my issues, and past that point the dive went very well. Ignoring my safety stop ofc, I look like I'm riding a seesaw.

Yeah I was just trying to draw out my "diving roadmap" with this thread, I wanted to have a goal set for the future, which ironically is "don't worry till I qualify for Rescue next year." I wasn't deadset on doing tons of certs, especially after the parts tech at the shop I go to (who I really respect, he is incredibly knowledgeable) told me there "is no SCUBA police" and as long as I trust my buddies and they respect me "saying no," I could push to say 80 feet on a dive if I was mature and watched my gauges/computer. I figured I'll let "Rescue" unlock the deeper dives if I ever get questioned on charters.

I asked in a different place if drysuits were something Floridians had to worry about, and the consensus I got was "some say yes some say no." Sounds like something I'll decide for myself if I start shivering in my 3.2mm + 1mm under. I am pathetic in the cold though, I've got a jacket on as soon as the weather hits 60 with a breeze... Might be something I weigh out in the future. I also asked about FFMs, haha I kinda enjoy the debate on the topic. Seems like the pros are very very high and the cons are very very low.
 
"Seesaw" btw. I imagine I'll get closer and closer to a flat line over time.

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