Which is a better class option....

[jd950]

I searched and couldn't find this particular question asked before.

My son and I will be taking our OW classes soon. The options are basically these:

All day Saturday and Sunday
Two consecutive Saturdays, all day
Four hours per night on Tues & Thurs (or Mon & Fri) for two weeks

Or some variation like four hours Friday night and 6 hours each on Saturday and Sunday.

In any case, the total time is 16 hours class and pool.

Do any of you instructors or others with experience with classes have an opinion about which would be better? I want to get the most out of this limited time. The only real difference I can think of is that with the weekend class there no time to practice skills between classes, but I don't think there is anyplace where I can practice skills between classes anyway.

Please...I read the threads about how I will probably die due to inadequate training, but this is what's available to me. Once I get certified either I'll have to learn more later or die, but this is where I need to start.

 

[BigDaddyEd]

Personally, I'd opt for learning more later.

 

[Walter]

You aren't likely to die from inadequate training, but such a short class is inadequate. Are your sure that's all that's available? None of them sound like very good options. If you had a location listed, we might be able to help you find a better class, assuming you want to find a better class.

 

[Skooter]

This is only classroom and pool sessions I hope :shakehead

 

[webjr]

I prefer the all day classes. With the evening classes, it seems like by the time you finally start making real progress, it's time to go home.

 

[Scuba Brian]

Only 16 hours? Our weekend class is 22 hours, 20 minus lunch and dinner on saturday. Our weeknight classes equal 24 hours over 6 nights. More time to practice in the pool equals more proficiency in the open water. Once your done with your open water i suggest taking youe Advanced open water, it gives you more dives with a instructor and expands your knowledge in diving. After that is Rescue which i believe is probably the most important class for recreational divers. It teaches self rescue, rescueing others, and how to avoid and handle situations that can occur during a dive.
You can never get too much education when it comes to diving.

 

[drew52]

Depends on the size of the class. If you are going to be in a large class (More than 4 people ; just my personal opinion) then you may want more time. Otherwise the time seems ok.

I'd go the the two saturdays.

I've always found that my students do better if they have some time between sessions. If they have a gap between sessions it seems like when they return they have retained more and their skills seem better. Again this is just my experience.

I'm also presuming that this is just confined water & knowledge development. If it's PADI then I'm presuming the DVD is being watched at home not during this time & the knowledge reviews have been completed prior to starting.

If the class requires large amounts of lecture time then there isn't enough time.

 

[renpirate]

Those are pretty common options these days. To be honest it really depends upon you and your sons aptitude in the water and how well you absorb information. A weekend intensive course would be okay "IF" you are both very comfortable in the water already and can do a lot of self study ahead of time to make sure you grasp the theoretical concepts.

As you mentioned, the advantage of breaking it up gives you time to practice and also to digest the information presented in the academic sections. If you will not have a chance to practice between sessions, then it still gives you time to review the academics.

It also depends on the type of diving you plan on doing. If you plan on doing vacation dives in the Caribbean, where you are always led by an experienced divemaster, then either option will work. However, seek additional training and dive often with experienced people. If you are going to be diving in a more challenging area such as the Pacific North West or New England, then find a longer and more indepth course, dive with experienced people, seek more training, and dive some more.

 

[nymbus]

I have offered both types of classes. (Though typically, they are closer to 24 hours +). I prefer the T/T evenings over the weekends simply because you will have a bit more time to actually process the information between sessions. I am not a big fan of doing everything at once, if only because there is less time to really just let it sink in and come up with questions. Even if you don't have access to practicing actual skills in the pool between sessions, you will have some time to think about the different skills and book work you are given. Please don't think that the 16 hours isn't going to be enough to give you the information you need- however, if you feel like the instructor is not able to offer you good suggestions and answers to questions, let them know. The wonderful thing about OW classes is that most of the bookwork can be done on your own, with the instructor there as a guide to making sure that you are understanding the information you are getting. We don't need to go over something that you have already clearly demonstrated "mastery" over- in the form of quizzes, reviews and a final test.
16 hours is enough time- provided you do the reading you are asked to do and simply are present and practicing. That is the average amount of time I have for classes, and so far all 300 of the students I have certified are all still alive... including those who have gone on to do quite a bit of actual diving.
Ask a lot of questions, read everything you can, and take a grain of salt along with every bit of info you get from already certified divers with big fish stories online... (You'll have your own to add here soon!)
Also- this should just be the book work and pool sessions, not the actual dive check out weekend, I hope...?
-Karin

 

[spectrum]

All day Saturday and Sunday

Too compressed, not enough time to process the experience or do adaptive problem solving. If you have a mask fit problem the clock is ticking while you have a gun to your head to buy a new mask for instance.

Two consecutive Saturdays, all day

Given the options this may be the safest one if I were to guess.

Four hours per night on Tues & Thurs (or Mon & Fri) for two weeks

If each night gets you in the water then I like the fact that you are setting up with a fresh mind 4 times.

Will your mind be fresh and ready during the evening?

All things considered more is always better but for the the divers that adapt easily it's enough to give you your "learners permit" so to speak. For the diver that needs a little more time and practice to get comfortable the all important question is ,"what is the option if I don't get it down in the alloted time?"

Most courses let you jump in with the next class to log more pool hours as needed and do so at no charge. Make sure that you have that option. Beyond that if you study on your own and focus on continuous improvement you can do just fine.

Pete