Perhaps Judy is a vacation diver, like me.....she gets 15 days of vacation a year, maybe. If she does AOW, it will require sacrificing precious vacation time and dives. Five of her 20 dives in Palau will be spent navigating, doing fin pivots, doing math problems at 30 meters, or whatever else AOW dives entail, under close supervision. Not my idea of a vacation.
Wow... your AOW course must have sucked. Whole dives doing fin pivots and maths problems??
I guess imagination and creativity are in short supply
Here's how it
could run...
Deep Dive: Student has to complete a narc test. Should take less than a minute. Student gets to enjoy a deep dive at a fantastic site. In Palau, that would mean a beautiful, coral encrusted wall dive, with a higher chance of pelgic sightings.. Student gets to see application of proper technique for conducting the dive safely, including a controlled ascent up the wall and safety stop in mid-water under the instructor's DSMB. Emphasis remains on enjoying the dive.
Nav Dive: Student has to complete a straight-line and square pattern navigation with compass & natural navigation. Instructor incorporates these drills into his overall dive plan. Student is responsible for using compass and natural navigation to take the team on a square pattern dive around an awesome coral reef. Emphasis is on enjoying the dive, whilst maintaining sufficient situational and navigational awareness. Student is encouraged not to maintain focus on the compass, to the exclusion of enjoying the dive... as this isn't how dives are conducted. The pace is slow and the team stop to view critters during the dive. The purpose remains to enjoy the dive, but the student has some additional responsibility to nav lead the team. No biggie...
PPB: Conducted on a shallow wreck, the instructor instigates a game of 'follow the leader', directing the student diver around, above and below various wreck features. Student is 'challenged' not to kick silt or make contact, whilst attempting various swim-throughs and maneuvres on the wreck structure. Student conducts hovers whilst observing the wreck. Instructor works with the student at the end of the dive, to perfectly tune their weighting whilst holding a stop with only their reserve gas remaining in the cylinder Nope... not a single fin pivot...that stuff ended when the student climbed out of the pool at the end of their OW confined training.
Digital Photography: Student is loaned a digital camera and escorted around an awesome dive site by an instructor who is expert in finding the most interesting photo subjects. Student takes 150 photos of various macro, pelagic and human subjects. Student's buoyancy training is further reinforced, to enable a stable shooting platform without contacting the environment. Student is shown how to process, edit and file their photos. Whilst enjoying a beer at the dive centre bar that evening, the student uploads their favorite 40 shots of nudibranch, shrimp, crabs, octopus, schooling fish, reef sharks...and a few diver portraits onto Facebook and instantly recieves jealous replies from their friends at home..
Night Dive: Student is taken for a night dive on a shallow coral reef. The instructor ensures that they are properly equiped and briefs them on the basic procedures for using lights and communicating in the dark. Student buddies with the instructor and gains confidence and reassurance to dive in the night time enviroment. During the dive, the student gets to witness the changes that occur on a coral reef iwhen the sun sets and enjoys seeing a diverse selection of nocturnal creatures that they wouldn't otherwise have seen.
That is
my idea of 2 really enjoyable days on a fantasic vacation....
It just takes some imagination.... and imagination is what separates the good instructors from the bad...