Certifications worth earning

[boulderjohn]

My interpretation of the difference between technical and recreational.

Recreational is any dive where free ascent to the surface is possible at any and all portions of the dive.
Technical is any dive where free ascent is not possible due to a virtual or hard ceiling. A virtual ceiling would be a deco obligation. A hard ceiling would be like in Cavern or Cave Diving, Ice Diving, Wreck Penetration, etc.

Now, most wouldn't agree that Cavern Diving is technical. I'm kind of on the fence myself to be honest. But when I teach (and the mentors I surround myself with) cavern diving, I'm teaching it as if everything went wrong that could go wrong, can you still survive. Yes. Well, not literally, because if a submarine fired a torpedo in the cavern, you're pretty screwed. Technically it could happen, but not very likely.

First of all, I agree with your definition on the difference between technical and recreational diving. When it comes to whether or not cavern diving is technical or recreational, I think we are straying into what I earlier defined as that middle path between the two. To understand how I see it, remember that quite possibly the majority of recreational divers have gone through short swim throughs and entered prepared wrecks without technical training. I still think those are recreational dives. In those cases, they have made the judgment that although they will not at that point have direct access to the surface, it won't take them very long at all to get direct access to the surface. As long as they don't go into blind panic, they should still be able to get out of the overhead and go straight up without difficulty.

 

[kafkaland]

In cooler climes I would say definitely drysuit and rescue. I didn't think much of padi's peak performance buoyancy.

The drysuit was well worth it for me. Has me now even thinking about doing the ice course . And I'm looking forward to rescue. Nitrox was boring, but then I already know a lot about physiology and physics and learned only a few procedural things. On the fluff side, why not fish ID? It's the ultimate licence to tell fish tales on the boat and at the bar. And if anyone doubts you, you invoke the magic of certification: "With the powers vested in my by PADI, I declare that seabass a f*ing big tiger shark!" No matter what you do, make sure you have fun while learning a thing or two.

 

[cdemith]

I also received training through SSI. If I had to do it over again I would go with Nitrox, Perfect Buoyancy, Navigation, Deep. That gets you SSI AOW. It also gives you a pretty solid foundation, though the rest is up to you. A lot will depend on your instructor too.

I would also add Solo to that list. You may never intend to dive solo, but this course can help you develop better self-reliance skills. One day you may find yourself with someone who is a buddy in name only.

As soon as you can, though, you should take stress and rescue. Be sure you are comfortable in the water, but take this class.

 

[johngayle]

ow,aow,nitrox, and gue fundamentals then you are a competent diver in my opinion.

 

[tursiops]

On the fluff side, why not fish ID?

I really have to disagree. A good Fish ID class, including two dives doing species/abundance counts and REEF certification, is a terrific way to open your eyes about the life around you, teach you what is special and unique about the site you are diving, and actually do something worthwhile underwater by submitting your surveys to the REEF database. Calling it fluff demeans both the class and most Fish ID instructors. And it is not that easy, either!

 

[TSandM]

It's actually a very hard question to answer, because essentially ALL learning has value -- how much value depends on the curriculum of the class, the desire of the student to master that curriculum, and the diligence and dedication of the instructor teaching it. You can teach almost any specialty class to absolute minimums and have it all but worthless; you can take most of them and teach everything the manual says you MAY teach, throw in some of your own experience to flavor it, and make it well worth the student's while.

For example, we do the "Underwater Photography" dive fairly often in our AOW class. Students don't come out photographers . . . but they do come away with a significant insight into the role of task loading in degrading buoyancy and situational awareness, which is really a more valuable lesson than how to focus a camera.

So I believe that the most important thing is to find an instructor who has high standards for himself, and who really cares that students learn. At that point, any class will be a good one.

Time spent on perfecting buoyancy, trim, propulsion and situational awareness is always time well spent, whether it's being mentored by someone or in a formal class. The blueprint for an open water class focused on those things was the GUE Fundamentals class, which is still a superb investment. Cavern adds line work and some cave-specific skills to the recipe. Boulderjohn has mentioned the Techreational class, which is an equipment-agnostic takeoff on the Fundamentals class. UTD has Essentials, which is similar, but again, has fewer gear prescriptions. All these classes are good ones, but if you can't or don't want to take any of them, find yourself a more experienced buddy with some cave or technical training, and go diving and model him. Learn from copying good diving. Knowing what's possible is the first step toward mastering those skills for yourself.

 

[MikkelBC]

For "actual experience", I got to say that what you need is the GUE fundamentals course. I just completed it myself a few months ago and I never knew how much I needed to learn about diving.
Also GUE instructors are the some of the most passionate people about diving and teaching diving. You won't find better teachers.
I also think that GUE is gaining more recognition in the diving world, so among those who know what it is, a GUE fundamentals card will get you a lot of respect.

 

[boulderjohn]

Just to add to the fine comments of TSandM...

You have to remember the true purpose of the Advanced Open Water certification. It was created in the 1960s by the first certifying agency--Los Angeles County. Their purpose was to find a way to counter the problem that so many divers were dropping out of the sport after relatively little diving. NAUI then added the program for that same purpose. PADI and then SSI followed. As a PADI instructor, I am well aware of the question students must answer on their knowledge reviews that asks them the purpose of the AOW course, and it clearly says that same thing. The primary purpose is to give you new experiences and expand your diving horizons with the hope that you will find something that stimulates you and makes you want to dive more. Yes, you will gain more skills as you do these classes, and that is partially why you do them, but that is not primarily why the program was created.

Is there something that interests you and may become an important part of your diving? If so, then that is a good choice for you.

 

[Akimbo]

Depends on how serious you are. Given the sorry state of today’s Scuba course requirement I would start with Red Cross Swimming Levels 1-6.

Then I would become a proficient freediver, culminating in a something like Performance Freediving’ Intermediate course. These will make you a far better Scuba diver.

Then I would go for AOW, Nitrox, and maybe Advanced Nitrox mostly for the physics and physiology you should have gotten in an OW class.

Rescue is good if you can get an instructor who considers it an important lifesaving skill rather than just another income source. This is one case where being pushed like a drill sergeant would be a good thing.

A good Solo course is worth considering even if you never intentionally dive alone. Again, the instructor makes the difference between a waste of time and money or a change in mindset. It “should” make you think about safety in a very different way.

Forget nonsense courses like boat diving. Take the US Coast Guard Auxiliary Suddenly In Command Course instead. See http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/485101-diving-seamanship.html

This thread might be interesting if you are interested in wreck diving.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/wreck-diving/485747-wreck-penetration.html

 

[industrious95]

I just want to be in the water.

I took the Nitrox course. One of these days, I'll get around to the Rescue Diver course. But that's enough for me, I just want to dive. I figure at my age, I don't need to be on Trimix, in caves or setting records for depth. I'm perfectly happy tooling around on the shallow wrecks and reefs up here, spearfishing, catching lobsters, and just relaxing.