filmguy123
Contributor
First class tonight of a 5 week course. 2 hour classroom, 2 hours pool.
I guess I'm not sure what's the norm or what to expect, so maybe my expectations were too high, but i left pretty annoyed at the experience.
Let me start by saying I'm a 31y/o athletic male that races motorcycles, snowboards, hikes, has snorkeled, and works in video production. I'm used to complicated technical stuff and a variety of physical tasks, in good shape, and came in well read and well prepared.
And left very frustrated.
I have heard this is a well respected and good dive shop and training center, and to be fair, the main instructor was absent tonight and will be with us for the remainder. But here's what I experienced:
1 instructor, 1 DM assistant. Class of 10.
First 2 hours in classroom weren't used that well - it took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to outfit us with the gear we would be using in the pool session and give intros of why were were diving. I'm guessing this had to do with being short staffed.
Last 45-60 min of classroom rushed through gear overview and the basics of not holding your breath. I found it mostly useless. Yes, I've read my PADI manual first plus a ton more online and in other books I got. But I found the overview in the classroom to be so basic and utterly useless, I was really hoping to solidify some of those concepts, have time to ask any questions, have some good instruction and examples, etc. But it was just super rushed. The instructor was whipping along - I am he was sure aware of how behind schedule we were - but there was no room to interject, or to give any topic the attention I felt it deserved.
Beyond that, what was covered was covered so fast that it just didn't give any time to allow for processing, he was onto the next thing before he finished the last. Since it was basic stuff this was ok, but I did have a number of practical questions I had come up that I didn't get to ask, and a number of things I wanted to see demonstrated better in person, etc. We also skipped a few things and the end class quiz, because we were behind and he said our main instructor would have to do it next week.
As for the pool... my real problem is here...
We got there late because of being behind, and due to this we had to rush through gear setup with one person explaining to 10 of us in a long row - and without much detail or pause - the setup process. It's not that any of this is that hard, its that I again didn't learn much of anything because so little detail was given, it moved so fast, and there was no personal instruction because it was a 10:2 ratio. And being in a long row, if you weren't in front of the instructor, couldn't really see him to make out what he was talking about.
I had a concern about my mask being too loose and was told it would be fine and I didn't want it too tight. I said I knew that but I thought it was a little too loose... but was just told "no no its good" BOOM onto next. Alright...
Well, It wasn't fine, it filled completely with water as soon as we went down. I can deal, it doesnt bother me or freak me ou - I had already read how to clear my mask so I did that.. repeatedly. I was just super annoyed because it was indicative of the whole thing - no time to ask questions, very little detail given, feeling like you had to fight to get any clarification or question in edge wise. And having a valid concern rushed over. I had others too - like how my BC was fitted, positioning of gear, etc.
The whole session in the pool with actual scuba gear was less than 25 minutes - inadequate time to practice doing any of the mentioned drills, and poor + rushed descriptions of each. Half the time I didn't know what we were doing or why before I was under water, trying to respond to hand signals that were never demonstrated, and trying to remember off of the pictures I saw in the book.
And when an instructor is 20 feet away rushing through cook book like instructions, its hard to see what he is talking about and you spend half your time trying to figure out what he just did way over there instead of listening to the next thing.
Anyway. Point is. I came in super prepared, and left completely unsatisfied in not having learned much of anything - in either the classroom session OR the pool session - and am concerned at the depth or thoroughness of training I am going to get. I don't just want a c-card so I can go dive. I want to know my stuff, super well, and that starts with a good foundation...
Left feeling overwhelmed, rushed, tons of unanswered questions on minor practical things, unconfident in any of the drills we did practice, and with no opportunity to have any sort of conversation or interaction in terms of gaining clarity on things. And no time to practice in more depth any of the "skills" we rushed through.
Sorry this is long...
Is this normal for PADI Open Water cert courses? It felt like elementary knowledge, herding cattle, and no time for personal help.
I am pretty sure this will get better on the next course when the main instructor is there and (supposedly) more DMs to help, and not all the gear selecting and pool tests that ate up so much time...
Are my expectations too high for OW? Will I find that most of my learning needs to come from post OW training and mentors? Should I have gotten either a class capped with half the people instead of 10, or personal training?
I guess I'm not sure what's the norm or what to expect, so maybe my expectations were too high, but i left pretty annoyed at the experience.
Let me start by saying I'm a 31y/o athletic male that races motorcycles, snowboards, hikes, has snorkeled, and works in video production. I'm used to complicated technical stuff and a variety of physical tasks, in good shape, and came in well read and well prepared.
And left very frustrated.
I have heard this is a well respected and good dive shop and training center, and to be fair, the main instructor was absent tonight and will be with us for the remainder. But here's what I experienced:
1 instructor, 1 DM assistant. Class of 10.
First 2 hours in classroom weren't used that well - it took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to outfit us with the gear we would be using in the pool session and give intros of why were were diving. I'm guessing this had to do with being short staffed.
Last 45-60 min of classroom rushed through gear overview and the basics of not holding your breath. I found it mostly useless. Yes, I've read my PADI manual first plus a ton more online and in other books I got. But I found the overview in the classroom to be so basic and utterly useless, I was really hoping to solidify some of those concepts, have time to ask any questions, have some good instruction and examples, etc. But it was just super rushed. The instructor was whipping along - I am he was sure aware of how behind schedule we were - but there was no room to interject, or to give any topic the attention I felt it deserved.
Beyond that, what was covered was covered so fast that it just didn't give any time to allow for processing, he was onto the next thing before he finished the last. Since it was basic stuff this was ok, but I did have a number of practical questions I had come up that I didn't get to ask, and a number of things I wanted to see demonstrated better in person, etc. We also skipped a few things and the end class quiz, because we were behind and he said our main instructor would have to do it next week.
As for the pool... my real problem is here...
We got there late because of being behind, and due to this we had to rush through gear setup with one person explaining to 10 of us in a long row - and without much detail or pause - the setup process. It's not that any of this is that hard, its that I again didn't learn much of anything because so little detail was given, it moved so fast, and there was no personal instruction because it was a 10:2 ratio. And being in a long row, if you weren't in front of the instructor, couldn't really see him to make out what he was talking about.
I had a concern about my mask being too loose and was told it would be fine and I didn't want it too tight. I said I knew that but I thought it was a little too loose... but was just told "no no its good" BOOM onto next. Alright...
Well, It wasn't fine, it filled completely with water as soon as we went down. I can deal, it doesnt bother me or freak me ou - I had already read how to clear my mask so I did that.. repeatedly. I was just super annoyed because it was indicative of the whole thing - no time to ask questions, very little detail given, feeling like you had to fight to get any clarification or question in edge wise. And having a valid concern rushed over. I had others too - like how my BC was fitted, positioning of gear, etc.
The whole session in the pool with actual scuba gear was less than 25 minutes - inadequate time to practice doing any of the mentioned drills, and poor + rushed descriptions of each. Half the time I didn't know what we were doing or why before I was under water, trying to respond to hand signals that were never demonstrated, and trying to remember off of the pictures I saw in the book.
And when an instructor is 20 feet away rushing through cook book like instructions, its hard to see what he is talking about and you spend half your time trying to figure out what he just did way over there instead of listening to the next thing.
Anyway. Point is. I came in super prepared, and left completely unsatisfied in not having learned much of anything - in either the classroom session OR the pool session - and am concerned at the depth or thoroughness of training I am going to get. I don't just want a c-card so I can go dive. I want to know my stuff, super well, and that starts with a good foundation...
Left feeling overwhelmed, rushed, tons of unanswered questions on minor practical things, unconfident in any of the drills we did practice, and with no opportunity to have any sort of conversation or interaction in terms of gaining clarity on things. And no time to practice in more depth any of the "skills" we rushed through.
Sorry this is long...
Is this normal for PADI Open Water cert courses? It felt like elementary knowledge, herding cattle, and no time for personal help.
I am pretty sure this will get better on the next course when the main instructor is there and (supposedly) more DMs to help, and not all the gear selecting and pool tests that ate up so much time...
Are my expectations too high for OW? Will I find that most of my learning needs to come from post OW training and mentors? Should I have gotten either a class capped with half the people instead of 10, or personal training?