I was wondering about getting into drysuit diving, and I was wondering if the drysuit classes offered by most agencies were mandatory for safety or more intended to make the transition to a new piece of gear easier. Your thoughts?
What is the value of a drysuit class?
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GJC
Contributor
It depends on what kind of learner you are.
If you have good buoyancy in a wetsuit, don't have any problems getting your weight dialed in, like to read manuals thoroughly and like to learn skills on your own, you might be able to skip the class.
If you plan on renting a drysuit you may have to show a drysuit cert. You might get by if you show a bunch of dives from your log using a drysuit but that won't be good enough for some shops.
If you are a learner that needs the advice of an instructor to learn new dive techniques and how to care for your drysuit, you will probably get a lot out of taking the class.
If you have good buoyancy in a wetsuit, don't have any problems getting your weight dialed in, like to read manuals thoroughly and like to learn skills on your own, you might be able to skip the class.
If you plan on renting a drysuit you may have to show a drysuit cert. You might get by if you show a bunch of dives from your log using a drysuit but that won't be good enough for some shops.
If you are a learner that needs the advice of an instructor to learn new dive techniques and how to care for your drysuit, you will probably get a lot out of taking the class.
DogDiver
Contributor
A good class and instructor will teach you how not to kill yourself if you have the misfortune to rocket to the surface feet first.
It really depends on the instructor. Some classes, whatever you paid, was too much. Others taught by good instructors, are worth every penny, even if they are expensive.
If you're a new diver, and you have a decent instructor, you're likely to learn something beyond the four corners of any specific course you take.
^^^^ this
I dove dry for years, when I took the class I still learned a good bit. But I had a really good instructor.
I upped my game after I was already an instructor. I got help on how to teach drysuit from @custureri and after that, started receiving accolades from other instructors in my areas for how well my students did.
drk5036
Contributor
I took a drysuit class from not a good instructor (or at least not good for me) and I can say I certainly learned more from scubaboard reading about how to dive drysuits than I did in person.
The most important thing is to have someone to keep an eye on you when you’re getting the hang of things. I think a friend who’s willing to spend two dives keeping a close eye on you will suffice. But paying an instructor to do it takes care of that and potentially gives you someone to bounce questions off of.
The most important thing is to have someone to keep an eye on you when you’re getting the hang of things. I think a friend who’s willing to spend two dives keeping a close eye on you will suffice. But paying an instructor to do it takes care of that and potentially gives you someone to bounce questions off of.
One of the tips that Ryan gave to me which I passed onto my students is, add gas to your dry suit as you dump gas from your BCD/wing and vice versa. Feel the change in your trim, how you can see saw. By focusing on that in shallow water, I find that students start to develop a fairly decent awareness of how/where inflation affects trim. That alone made a huge difference in my students.
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