Experience or Qualifications first?

[wwtmcc]

I must agree that experience should come first prior to more courses, as a retired paramedic I found that the best patient care people were those with experience - not qualifications.
Sure you may have a goal in mind - as I and my son do (commercial diver) but it will not be for a good 12 months as he is a new diver and we will dive as often as possible in the intervening period during which time we will allways practice scenarios during each dive, head knowledge is good but is allways outdone by active experience.

Cheers

Wayne

 

[easyrider]

I must agree that experience should come first prior to more courses, as a retired paramedic I found that the best patient care people were those with experience - not qualifications.

How can you possible get the qualifications with out the experience?

 

[Kriterian]

How can you possible get the qualifications with out the experience?

That's a little backwards. You can certainly get qualified to do something BEFORE you gain experience. You cannot get experience though unless you're qualified, not legally anyway.

I think what he was trying to say is he would take someone with one certification and 30 years experience over someone with 20 certifications in his first year. It equates to real-life on the job experience versus paper, from the book, or internet learning.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I'd say a combination of the two. You can't learn most things without getting certified for them. For example, you're never going to learn Nitrox until you are certified for it. You'll never learn about wreck penetration until you're certified.

So, get some basic experience, take a class, learn some more, take a class. Repeat as needed.

 

[Keysdrifter454]

It may seem odd for an instructor to post a question like this but I'm interested in the opinions of new divers generally.

When you completed your entry level qual did you look at doing further courses straight away or did you want to get further experience before possibly doing courses at a later date?

My personal bias is that I think that people rush into courses too quickly sometimes and would be better getting more experience first.

I think some people take for granted the amount of diving available to others. Waiting ten or twenty dives before AOW may be a years' worth of diving for some.

Plus, the experience level isn't static.

Some just don't feel challenged by OW checkout, and want the next level.

Some people are more than ready for AOW after ten dives, some aren't ready after 50.

My first 4 classes were paid for before I took a single lesson, BTW.

 

[DarkWaterDiver]

I agree that experience is a plus before taking more advanced classes. The experience helps to build your diving abilities and skills. Taking classes is without a doubt recommended, but waiting and learning more about the sport would be better than a fast track to gaining different certifications.

Tim

 

[scubamurray]

Hello to all divers reading this

I'm commenting on this thread not as one who is new to diving.

I am re-connecting with diving now and moving to a professional level.

I never got many certifications, but dove Northeast US wrecks extensively.

I'm now working in a shop and taking the classes I neglected all along while diving.

I'm glad newcomers know they need diving experience. I definately think there is too much pressure to "get the certs."

On the other hand, good instructors have a great deal of knowledge to impart to students; even ones like myself.

I probably have thousands of dives in the forty years of on-and-off diving, through which my house burned down and I've purchased several sets of gear (including a new set starting to take shape as I work in the shop).

I've come to learn there's always something, usually a great number, of things to learn about diving and dive equipment.

There's more to learn in diving now than ever before. The art of the diver is to find just the right mix (no pun intended) of instructor, shop, class, gear and experience, in the right order.

"Everything's OK until it isn't OK" we often say. It's when things don't go well underwater that you find out how much you don't know. It's very hard to impress this fact on newcomers.

I've got one more comment: the help we provide you in a full-service shop, if you get the right one, is worth ten thousand times the money you save on e-bay or mail-order.

We've been there and done it a hundred times and know what works and what doesn't, and if you use an inadequate piece of gear it will come back to bite you on the rear end, guaranteed.

That's my thoughts for now. I hope to comment more in the future when I have time. I'm working tomorrow so it's off to bed for me.

Good diving and good luck.

 

[ThatsMe]

I think I saw another thread along these lines around here somewhere...

Anyway, I completed my OW certification in May of this year. My instructors suggested that I go right into the Advanced class as a means to get some experience. At the time I didn't have any "built-in" buddies to dive with, so the instructor said the Advanced class is a good opportunity to get some more dives in with an instructor. Long story short, my first OW dive after certification (or almost the first) was to be a deep dive, the first dive of an Advanced class. At the time I still hadn't gotten my trim and buoyancy straightened out with all the new gear I had purchased. Thankfully, I stepped back and said to myself "wait a minute, this isn't right". Not necessarily because it was a bad idea, but more because I didn't feel comfortable enough with my diving yet to be thinking about taking photos, going deep, etc. From my experience, in the first 10-20 dives you are still getting your routine down, tweaking your buoyancy, learning to breathe and relax, etc.

So now I am going to wait until I have somewhere between 25-50 dives before I do the Advanced class. From what I've seen posted here, the majority opinion seems to agree with you, and favor getting some dives under your belt before doing Advanced.

However, the day after I finish my Advanced class I will be taking my Dive Master and Instructor certification. Think that's too soon ??? :11:

With SSI you have to have the dive experiance before taking AOW. I think 25 or 30 dives. + 4 specialty courses before you can take the class

 

[String]

The padi "deep dive" isnt actually that deep - i believe its in the region of 20-30m so its not an enourmous leap past basic open water. It shouldnt be attempted before buoyancy control is reasonably coped with though.

Generally you'll know yourself when you're ready for advanced. Would you feel lost and well outside your comfort zone or do you think you could cope with the (few) extra tasks demanded by the course?

 

[scubaranger]

I agree in experience but when it comes to diving I would take some one with 2 yrs diving with over 100 dives then some one with 20 yrs with 100 dives. The first one average 50 dives a year the second 5 dives a year.Also his dive location Exp. if all was in lakes then he wants to be a DM in the chaning current of the carribean he has no Exp. in those conditions. Experiance is not only how long but how much and different locations.