frogman159
Contributor
I guess I just don't follow what is being said here. In general I thought that when you pass your OW course and AOW course, you should easily be able to dive without the supervision of a DM or instructor. So why the above statement? When you say "one can not be considered having had the training to be an independent diver" who is doing the considering? Is that just some person's opinion of the PADI system? Is the NAUI system any different? If one passes the NAUI OW and AOW are they also considered not to be ready to be an independent diver? If that's really the case, then I would think both agencies are failing miserably.
I recall from my OW course that instructor told us with emphasis "In the conditions you were trained"
I was trained in a 25ft very cold dark quarry, after certification (NAUI) I went back the next weekend and dove w/o a DM and felt very comfortable.....Then I did my first open ocean dive off a boat in 82*F water with 100' vis...I was nervous as hell, nervous to do a true free decent into the blue abyss, nervous to go down to 60'. Why? Because that was not the conditions I was trained in, although they were nicer conditions, I needed/desired/obtained supervision there till I got used to things.
Does this mean NAUI passed me as an incompetent diver..No..It just means I didn't have the experience to dive independently in that environment.
Ditto all this for all my "firsts"; night dive, drift dive, etc, etc. Pretty much anywhere that is not a 25ft cold dark quarry, I would hire a DM, or tag along with someone experienced to accompany me for at least the 1st time maybe 2nd as well. At least thats what I was trained to do