Check Dives

[gitmo234]

Was curious as to what's required on the check dives for OW? when I was in Aruba and dove on the DSD course there was a very young girl there getting certified and it was her last dive. Apparently all she had to do was remove her mask, reapply it and clear it, then she was certified

 

[DM_cappie]

Depends on the cert agency.... PADI requires four separate dives, and you complete all the skills you’ve practiced in the pool but in open water. Sounds like she may have either missed, or freaked on a previous check dive and the instructor gave her another chance to complete a required skill she missed.

 

[gitmo234]

I'm not sure but I wouldnt put it past that particular school/shop that they would have just made her do a few things then sign off on it. Not some place I would go again as a newby. I sympathized with the girl though...she obviously cared a whole lot less about getting certified than her parents did.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The skills to be demonstrated are most of those done in a pool. They include,at depth: partially flooding and clearing a mask, removing and replacing the mask, doing a share air with a buddy exercise, discard and locate regulator, demonstration of buoyancy control, a very basic navigational swim, a controlled emergency ascent, etc. With each dive is a "tour", just diving and getting used to it and excited by it. There are also surface skills regarding setting up equipment, removing and replacing equipment and weights at the surface, snorkel-regulator exchange, navigation swim, tired diver tow or push, buddy check, weight check, and etc. Most importantly the 4 open water dives offer the student a chance to to demonstrate and improve the fundamental skill of buoyancy control and body control in the water, and to have an initial "real scuba experience" times four under the watchful eye of a professional. To learn more, take a certification class. I highly recommend it!
DivemasterDennis

 

[mikeytmh]

My fellow dive professionals are right on the money. the skills you performed in the pool are also done in open water. A good instructor will ensure you skills are adequate before you get to open water.

 

[TSandM]

On each of the four OW dives, you demonstrate some of the skills you learned and practiced in the pool. By the fourth one, you have done most of them, if things have gone well, and so there isn't a whole lot left to do. The fourth dive is mostly getting a chance to do something akin to a real "dive".

 

[znolan]

if the class was a PADI class, your observation would be correct. Each dive has skills attached to it. Dive #4, the last for OW, requires a hover and mask removal and replacement.

 

[spectrum]

The process is highly adapted based on conditions and student progress. Sometimes skills are compressed into fewer dives and what constitutes a 'dives" is also inconsistent. In any case a single encounter is only a snap shot of the process.

While competency is expected when exiting the pool to OW there are often teaching moments in the check out dives. OW conditions will sometimes throw a student off as they adapt. It's quite possible that a difficult skill is being checked or rechecked on a final dive.

Pete

 

[maiker]

you demonstrate some of the skills you learned and practiced in the pool.