Trouble in my openwater course

[spectrum]

kasdeva

You and your instructor are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I know your type, I was very similar going into OW and while I got drilled and coached there was hardly a lecture that I could not have extended considerably. The bottom line is that an OW class is not an expert ever class, it's the basics to get you started. While you may have found the classes unfulfilling I would bet that classmates were on information overload.

As for your instructor she certainly was not a top performer. My experience sadly says that the highly regarded instructors such as those that posted in this thread are the rare exception. More often that not it's a compressed session with distractions and multitasking. Standards get adjusted for conditions and any other reason and you get what you get.

It is rare to find that instructor that understands the science of diving, is willing to engage in it and who will go beyond the outline to make you a well rounded diver. However being well read and apparently instantly comfortable this class probably gives you most of what you need. As disappointing as it may seem, you will have days when you are sorting something out and her words come back to and solve the problem. Entry level diving is not rocket science. It's what you do and who you dive with once you have your card between classes that will make you.

Pete

 

[on_two_wheels]

Three sides to every story.

 

[japan-diver]

Boulderjohn suggested to me in a series of PM that perhaps I was not clear enough and was taking too much for granted. So I'll post my PMs to him in the hope of clarifying what I was trying to say:

I don't know what standard NAUI in SA operates under. The current NAUI Experienced Diver standard requires that one be 15 years of age and have proof of at least 25 open water scuba dives to enroll in an Experienced Scuba Diver course. Candidates are first encouraged to take the "next class up," but they may take a written exam and do 4 dives. Earlier standards were somewhat vaguer, as I recall, and just required that all of the learning objectives of the entry level course be met (which could happen in a single dive). These earlier standards (or similar) could still be in effect in SA.

Under previous standards it was possible (though rather unlikely since the days of shop cards have long gone by) for a shop to teach a course that did not meet NAUI Standards (let's make it extreme, offer a course that was not taught by a certified instructor of any sort) and at the end issue a shop card. Then they could bring in a NAUI Certified Instructor who could administer a written exam and who make a single O/W dive with the student and issue a NAUI entry level credential. NAUI has closed this gap by requiring a log of 25 dives, a written exam and all four dives (which I'm sure pisses off the Navy guys for whom this clause was originally designed). I do not know if this is the standard that is in effect in SA, because there has been a separate NAUI South Africa organization since the late 1990s.

My only point was that the shop owner could respond (giving the older NAUI Standard) that the student was certified as a diver (shop card, the X-certification) with no dives (that was common in the old days, O/W was optional) and that he did all the required skills during his one and only dive. Shady business, but do you see the possibility?

Also, one of the open question here is, regardless of what the LDS owner's affiliations are, what certifications did the instructor hold?

NAUI South Africa is a service center and falls under the same standards as NAUI Worldwide-( the only NAUI center that still has its own standards is NAUI Japan and the process of bringing them back in line with the rest of NAUI Worldwide is slowly happening). The experienced diver program would not work in this case as the 25 dives would not be met. Now NAUI does allow its instructors to use different training materials and we can design our own courses as long as they meet the NAUI minimum standards- there seems to be some things missing in this course- the swim test did not meet standards and if we look at the full description of the course over the OP's two threads there definitely seem to be some problems here.