What Was Your OW Like?
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mcohen1021
Contributor
I knew I was in good hands when my instructor said things like "take nothing but memories and leave nothing but bubbles"
We did our OW when PADI just updated the book so there was a "slight delay"... our instructor received the books after the 2nd or the 3rd pool dive, I forget which. Those were on Sundays, i.e. the books arrived 3 weeks after the course actually started. I don't remember how many weeks that was from when we enrolled, more than two for sure.
Did not have to buy any book at all. It was loaned by the operator at that time.
4 full days and did not notice anything was missing from the lecture/practice(according to the book). BTW, there were only 2 students in the class.
No complaint at all.
My subsequent AOW instructor did not make any comment about my basic skill. And I believe I was taught well in the beginning.
4 full days and did not notice anything was missing from the lecture/practice(according to the book). BTW, there were only 2 students in the class.
No complaint at all.
My subsequent AOW instructor did not make any comment about my basic skill. And I believe I was taught well in the beginning.
Bazzathemammoth
Contributor
My OW was bad enough that i got an unsolicited apology for it.
Here in nz people on welfare stop getting hassled to get a job if they are studying. A common option was for them to get a student loan and become a dive master/instructor, even though they were completely unemployable. This gave them 6 months of scuba diving with gear that they could sell off once they finished the course.
Dive shops here rely on this to survive, and my local had a policy to keep their courses segregated with the welfare crew kept away from their walk in customers.
Unfortunately there was a mix up and i ended up in the welfare group. Aside from the usual lack of interest/attention, we also had a thief and drunk. This was in addition to the crap instruction that was typical of padi in 2005 with no proper trim/buoyancy training, skills on knees etc.
My instructor also dove solo once while we were waiting for pickup and said he had the skills to do it. No pony, redundancy etc. A great example.
They apologized after the course and gave me a discount for some dive trips afterwards. Ultimately i didn't care, i had learnt the skills and was just happy to have the confidence and ticket to dive.
Here in nz people on welfare stop getting hassled to get a job if they are studying. A common option was for them to get a student loan and become a dive master/instructor, even though they were completely unemployable. This gave them 6 months of scuba diving with gear that they could sell off once they finished the course.
Dive shops here rely on this to survive, and my local had a policy to keep their courses segregated with the welfare crew kept away from their walk in customers.
Unfortunately there was a mix up and i ended up in the welfare group. Aside from the usual lack of interest/attention, we also had a thief and drunk. This was in addition to the crap instruction that was typical of padi in 2005 with no proper trim/buoyancy training, skills on knees etc.
My instructor also dove solo once while we were waiting for pickup and said he had the skills to do it. No pony, redundancy etc. A great example.
They apologized after the course and gave me a discount for some dive trips afterwards. Ultimately i didn't care, i had learnt the skills and was just happy to have the confidence and ticket to dive.
Did my OW & AOW in the warm, clear, tideless Mediterranean in Spain. Was OK for diving around there, but definitely wasn't appropriate for diving in UK waters which are most definitely not warm, clear nor tideless (choppy, lots of current, poor visibility, dark...).
It then dawned on me that the OW and AOW are similar to first-grade schooling. You learn a lot, but there's so much more once you really go diving.
It was only when I went through Rescue Diver that it began to work, especially in the more challenging conditions. Had moved on to 5th grade.
Taking GUE Fundies was an massive eye opener. The standards required, especially the core skills, were far greater than any of the PADI courses. 10th grade had arrived! All the Fundies skills were far more important on subsequent decompression, trimix and rebreather courses.
It then dawned on me that the OW and AOW are similar to first-grade schooling. You learn a lot, but there's so much more once you really go diving.
It was only when I went through Rescue Diver that it began to work, especially in the more challenging conditions. Had moved on to 5th grade.
Taking GUE Fundies was an massive eye opener. The standards required, especially the core skills, were far greater than any of the PADI courses. 10th grade had arrived! All the Fundies skills were far more important on subsequent decompression, trimix and rebreather courses.
stretchthepenn
Contributor
My OW class took place in mid-late December 1996, so my memory is a tad fuzzy, but here's what I remember.
The course was a NAUI course, which was kind ironic, given that a YMCA hosted it. The instructor later went on to be some kind of big wheel at NAUI, and he's now working at Huish.
There were only four students: two YMCA lifeguards (me and my coworker) taking the class at a significant discount, a YMCA member (a nice guy), and his friend (a raging arsehole) who was getting re-certified after being out of the water for years. We got lots of individual attention.
Classroom sessions and pool sessions were spread over two weeks in the evenings; the first meeting was just dry-land, and the rest involved a classroom lecture followed by in-water skills practice. The instructor had us do a decent amount of hovering, but we performed the static skills on our knees.
Our equipment was pretty standard stuff for the time: jacket BCDs, beat-to-crap Scubapro rental regulators.
The YMCA's pool was nice and warm (low 80s), so we didn't wear any wetsuits, but even so, after spending a half-hour or more underwater, we felt chillled. The drafty pool barn that let in the December night air didn't help matters much. Plus, the Y's boiler system was ancient and underpowered; the showers' hot water would always give out just as we were starting to warm up, so I always left class nearly shivering.
Our first two checkout dives took place on a gray, windy day in Corona Del Mar. Forget anything you've seen about sunny SoCal beaches. It was plain-ass miserable.
The next three dives that finished the OW class were at Casino Point on Catalina. I got seasick on the ferry ride over, but the dives themselves were much more pleasant, with sunny weather and only a light breeze.
The course was a NAUI course, which was kind ironic, given that a YMCA hosted it. The instructor later went on to be some kind of big wheel at NAUI, and he's now working at Huish.
There were only four students: two YMCA lifeguards (me and my coworker) taking the class at a significant discount, a YMCA member (a nice guy), and his friend (a raging arsehole) who was getting re-certified after being out of the water for years. We got lots of individual attention.
Classroom sessions and pool sessions were spread over two weeks in the evenings; the first meeting was just dry-land, and the rest involved a classroom lecture followed by in-water skills practice. The instructor had us do a decent amount of hovering, but we performed the static skills on our knees.
Our equipment was pretty standard stuff for the time: jacket BCDs, beat-to-crap Scubapro rental regulators.
The YMCA's pool was nice and warm (low 80s), so we didn't wear any wetsuits, but even so, after spending a half-hour or more underwater, we felt chillled. The drafty pool barn that let in the December night air didn't help matters much. Plus, the Y's boiler system was ancient and underpowered; the showers' hot water would always give out just as we were starting to warm up, so I always left class nearly shivering.
Our first two checkout dives took place on a gray, windy day in Corona Del Mar. Forget anything you've seen about sunny SoCal beaches. It was plain-ass miserable.
The next three dives that finished the OW class were at Casino Point on Catalina. I got seasick on the ferry ride over, but the dives themselves were much more pleasant, with sunny weather and only a light breeze.
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My OW course was fine (2005). We had a different instructor for the checkout dives, but that was OK. I don't think he did a weight check for each student at the ocean, but maybe because it was Nov. in Nova Scotia diving wet, so every minute counted. We did "learn on out knees". I still say that's OK too IF the student is very comfortable in water beforehand, as it didn't take me many post OW dives to get to where my buoyancy is today (I THINK....).
I am gad I took it the old 2 nights a week for 3 weeks then the checkouts. After assisting on those "weekend" courses, I am sure I would have felt rushed with so much to do all at once in the pool. Not much time to absorb skills, as I see it.
I am gad I took it the old 2 nights a week for 3 weeks then the checkouts. After assisting on those "weekend" courses, I am sure I would have felt rushed with so much to do all at once in the pool. Not much time to absorb skills, as I see it.
TuckerIdaho
Contributor
SSI OW through a very well known new england shop. Every last bit was awesome. I've taken multiple courses through them since and have yet to be disappointed.
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