Help me pick another specialty

[Jim Lapenta]

I look forward to the day I can get my grandson hooked up with an instructor that works in/around the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Someone that has this stuff down cold for the Monterey area. I don't care what the course costs and I hope it has a bunch of dives. A plastic card is not required.

My goals for his diving aren't about swimming around, I consider diving to be just another form of transportation. It's the marine biology that's important. Try getting a kid to read a book! Swim and point will work much better.

Richard

Check with the Aquarium man! They have a kids program and I'm sure could recommend an instructor. When my son and I were there I saw some of the smallest DUI drysuits I've ever seen on kids as young as 10! Some of em looked even younger but I doubt they were. They were letting them dive in the outside tide pool with each one having an adult ( I'm guessing instructor or DM) right with them. Full gear and all. It was a really neat thing to see! If you PM me your email I'll try to dig up some of the pics I took of them.

 

[rstofer]

Check with the Aquarium man! They have a kids program and I'm sure could recommend an instructor. When my son and I were there I saw some of the smallest DUI drysuits I've ever seen on kids as young as 10! Some of em looked even younger but I doubt they were. They were letting them dive in the outside tide pool with each one having an adult ( I'm guessing instructor or DM) right with them. Full gear and all. It was a really neat thing to see! If you PM me your email I'll try to dig up some of the pics I took of them.

My grandson has done that tidal pool dive for the last 3 years and he loves it! I think you have to be 8 to participate - in any event, he did it right after his 8th, 9th and 10th birthdays. There's a pattern here... Next summer he will do it again but this time he will be a Jr OW with a dozen or more OW dives.

I think each guide has perhaps 4 kids and there is another 'overseer' who just monitors everybody.

I give the program credit for getting him interested in diving in general and diving Monterey in particular.

Next time we're there, I'll ask around about instructors for some kind of naturalist program. I'm sure the Aquarium won't allow him to participate in anything but there may be some private programs.

I highly recommend this program to any grandparents I encounter!

Richard

 

[ligersandtions]

I agree with this sentiment in theory, but point out that you need a good instructor. Mine was terrible, she just wanted to push me through the certification mill. What could have been the cornerstone of my development as a diver turned out to be a waste of time. Make sure you get somebody who is passionate about teaching proper buoyancy and weighting.

Ouch, mine too. We swam through a few (maybe five) hula hoops at different depths....all getting progressively more shallow by maybe six inches to a foot. They were so close together that by the time your head was in the next hoop, your feet (not your fins) were just leaving the previous one.

Many failed miserably at the task, but no one failed the course. While I do think that it had the potential to be a great learning experience, it wasn't in my case, and apparently not in Reg's case. Find yourself a great instructor and take the class....or, in my opinion, find yourself a great mentor (and experienced dive buddy) and go out with them often. Watch them, emulate them, pick their brains....you will learn a lot that way.

 

[String]

PPB done properly and with a student at the right experience level to benefit (ie fairly new) can be a very worthwhile course.

Like anything else though the standards are lax enough to allow a lazy instructor to provide a really low quality course.

 

[Joefri]

I am not taking the actual full specialty courses. In order to get my AOW, it includes 5 dives, 2 of them are Deep and Nav, and then I pick 3 other "preview" specialty dives to do, so technically all I'm doing is AOW and Nitrox.

I'm pretty sure that the Deep and Nav included with the AOW are only considered preview as well. I would do the Deep Specialty and then the Wreck Specialty.

 

[String]

All of the AOW options are considered previews to the full speciality.

 

[cooperscuba]

Okay, this has already been said but I`ve not posted for "several weeks" and need to post something (now there`s dedication for you):

PPB is very good, but it depends on your bouyancy control to begin with. I (generally) use PPB where I think a certıfying ınstructor has "tıcked boxes" (hate them, hate them, hate them) or someone completed OW eons ago and has never dived sınce. Personally I lıke to see my OW students hover and then perform backward & forward rolls wıth out changıng depth (although I`m happy wıth 0.5m), and would be p****ed wıth somebody ıf they recommended PPB for most of the dıvers I`ve certıfıed.

Dısagree about whoever saıd dont do nıght dıve, I always try to encourage people to do thıs one (my favourıte type of dıve), I thınk out of the typıcal adventure dıves ıts the most unıque.

UWNat - yuck! such a cop out optıon
Fısh Id - see above
Boat dıvıng - see above

UWphotography - ıf you need PPB, no, no, no ... and even ıf you dont need PPB, no, no, no (buy yourself a camera and take photos, ıts the best way me thınks)

Multı-level ıs a good one to make you thınk (and you get to plan and execute a dıve)

Would love to recommend S&R but I`ve never taught it (never been able to get anyone to take ıt)

Nıtrox ıs good esp. ıf you ıntend to take the full certıfıcatıon as well

Off the poınt slıghtly, dıslıke ınstructors who go 18m on the deep dıve (often theyre the same ones who gıve 20 mınute OW dıves). Can understand ıt a lıttle ıf theyre dıvıng ın cold water wıth lıttle vız but ın warm, clear water - Grrrr!

Erm ... that`s my 2 pennıes (or cents) worth

 

[TheWetRookie]

Go diving and enjoy yourself. Dive, Dive, Dive. The only other course I would recomend at this time would be rescue. For night diving, get a good light and enjoy the dive. Find a group of divers to get out diving with regularily.