Question Advanced Specialties Discussion

[ScubaBadger32]

Whats your favorite/most important advanced class to take? I am very interested in getting quite a few of these (already have my EAN), and was wondering what yall have done before, and what you have gone to complete first.

looking at doing night, nav, deep, and wreck soon!

(also i use SSI if that helps!)

 

[tursiops]

Rescue

 

[Cheizz]

Buoyancy, Deep diving, Navigation - I think some or all of these are mandatory in some systems. I really liked Night diving too, Current diving is also useful.

Than build experience/dives and then move towards rescue diver I would say

 

[rick00001967]

it really depends on what your goals are. the problem for most new divers is that the majority of them have no idea where they want to go with their training. and this is completely understandable.
first i would focus on building on your basics. buoyancy control, trim, finning etc.
if you need an instructors assistance to get better at these, then by all means choose a course they offer that can get you where you want to be, or simply hire an instructor to "coach" you until you achieve your goal.
that said, for many divers a nav course is def needed. for others, they are always being guided so they feel it is not necessary.
if you want to dive in deeper water, then some type of training that provides you with the info and skills you need would be warranted.
for me, hands down the most important class i ever took was my cavern training. i never had any desire to get my full cave cert, but this entry level course def put me on a much better path towards improving as a diver.

 

[Marie13]

My SDI Advanced was very similar to how SSI does it. I did wreck, nav, night, and deep. Other SDI specialities I’ve done that were not part of Advanced were nitrox, solo, and sidemount.

Forgot to add I did do Rescue, too.

 

[Belzelbub]

Whats your favorite/most important advanced class to take? I am very interested in getting quite a few of these (already have my EAN), and was wondering what yall have done before, and what you have gone to complete first.

looking at doing night, nav, deep, and wreck soon!

(also i use SSI if that helps!)

The next class for you to take is one that helps with something you are struggling with. If you aren't happy with your buoyancy, then that would be a good one. Wasn't really a problem for me, so I didn't take it.

My first class after OW was a second OW class. First OW course did not follow standards of any reputable agency, so I took the course again. Next on my list was EAN.

Then I dove for a few years before adding any others courses in. When I did, I took Night/Limited Vis, Deep, and Nav. I haven't taken Rescue yet, but I did actually participate in a diver rescue during a dive for Deep, so that counts for something. Will likely take Rescue soon.

I boat dive regularly, and never even considered taking a course for that, though there is one.

 

[stretchthepenn]

I've taken a handful of non-tec specialty courses, mostly through PADI. Here are my thoughts (organized solely by their order of appearance on PADI's website) on them:

• Dry Suit Diver -- Really useful, particularly at my basic experience level when I took the course. The core skills are pretty simple, true...but the course had good info and gave an excellent opportunity for practice.
• Rescue Diver -- Recommended. The material was mostly old hat for me, but I lifeguarded for almost two decades before taking this course. It's good stuff for most divers.
• Deep Diver -- Moderately useful, mostly fun. The skills are nothing you can't figure out on your own, but the course was a big confidence-builder, particularly in the low-viz quarry where I took the course.
• Wreck Diver -- Mostly meh. I took the class in a quarry, so the wreck we used was a scuttled cabin cruiser in relatively shallow water. I could see it being a good course if you take it in the ocean, on a seriously large wreck.
• Search and Recovery Diver -- 'Sawright. The material was mostly about search patterns and using a DSMB.
• Equipment Specialist -- Not particularly useful. The material was informative but basic/superficial. It didn't enable me to do anything to my gear.
• Cavern Diver -- A good class. I took this one through...um...don't have my cards handy right now...NSS-CDS? It was mostly easy, but I got to play with a reel for the first time, and the course opened my eyes to diving in overhead environments.
• Self-Reliant Diver -- Heck, yes. This class opens up a whole new world. You'll learn redundant systems and some gas calculations, and it's a huuuuuge confidence-builder. Consider it a doorway course for tec diving.
• Sidemount Diver -- Excellent class, but make sure your instructor actually knows how to dive SM. I took this course from a crusty, cave-diver SDI instructor, and he put me through the paces. SM meshed perfectly with the Self-Reliant class.

 

[toddthecat]

Night is great if you want to see two totally different worlds at the same dive site especially if you plan on doing any photography/videography.

 

[ScubaBadger32]

The next class for you to take is one that helps with something you are struggling with. If you aren't happy with your buoyancy, then that would be a good one. Wasn't really a problem for me, so I didn't take it.

My first class after OW was a second OW class. First OW course did not follow standards of any reputable agency, so I took the course again. Next on my list was EAN.

Then I dove for a few years before adding any others courses in. When I did, I took Night/Limited Vis, Deep, and Nav. I haven't taken Rescue yet, but I did actually participate in a diver rescue during a dive for Deep, so that counts for something. Will likely take Rescue soon.

I boat dive regularly, and never even considered taking a course for that, though there is one.

would you say night is worth it?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It may come to no surprise that my favorite con ed course was GUE fundies. The rest where all meh in terms of learning. Drift and wreck were fun though.