mccabejc
Contributor
I want to encourage anyone who is seriously interested in a comprehensive advanced diver program to consider the LA County ADP. It should start sometime in July, and is typically a 10 weekend (including both Saturday and Sunday) program, with every third weekend off (kinda…
, and runs thru October. It’s a major time commitment, which is why you should start thinking about and planning for it now. But most agree it’s by far the best program and best value out there. Last year the cost was somewhere around $450, which is absolutely incredible considering all that’s included. In addition to an LA County Advanced Diver certification, the curriculum also covers the requirements for the NAUI Master Diver and NAUI Rescue Diver (including CPR/ First Aid, and AED). There is an additional nominal cost to cover the NAUI C-cards.
It’s a lot of fun, and a major challenge (both physically and mentally), but you will see a huge increase in your knowledge, skills, and confidence. You’ll do and learn things you won't get in any other dive class out there. Last year we experienced a hyperbaric chamber ride to 165 ft., did underwater search and salvage, spent a day visiting the Long Beach Harbor Patrol to learn about search and recovery, did altitude lake diving and a camp-out at Castaic Lake, had a lecture on dive medicine at UC Santa Barbara, experienced diving with commercial dive gear (full face mask and communications), learned many challenging shore diving and skindiving skills at many SoCal sites, and much much more.
I took the course after I had over 50 dives, and IMO that’s probably a good guideline. In my experience the course assumes that you are very comfortable with your gear, are very well versed in what you learned in OW class, and have your dive routine down very well (hydration and preparation, gear assembly, safe ascents, etc.). I also would recommend that you have your own gear (it will make things a lot easier), and have your weighting dialed in pretty well. You’ll be doing a lot of diving and skindiving, and will need to be very comfortable with the whole process so that you can focus on learning new skills.
If you can make the commitment, I’d highly recommend it. Not only a great opportunity for some incredible dive training, but also a great opportunity to make new friends and dive buddies. Here’s the LA County ADP website:
http://www.lascuba.com/adp.html
It’s still showing info for last year’s class, but should give you a good idea on how this year’s class will be. BTW, I’m not affiliated with LA County Scuba, just someone who is incredibly jazzed about the course. I'm even planning on attending some of the classes again this year just because it was so cool.
, and runs thru October. It’s a major time commitment, which is why you should start thinking about and planning for it now. But most agree it’s by far the best program and best value out there. Last year the cost was somewhere around $450, which is absolutely incredible considering all that’s included. In addition to an LA County Advanced Diver certification, the curriculum also covers the requirements for the NAUI Master Diver and NAUI Rescue Diver (including CPR/ First Aid, and AED). There is an additional nominal cost to cover the NAUI C-cards. It’s a lot of fun, and a major challenge (both physically and mentally), but you will see a huge increase in your knowledge, skills, and confidence. You’ll do and learn things you won't get in any other dive class out there. Last year we experienced a hyperbaric chamber ride to 165 ft., did underwater search and salvage, spent a day visiting the Long Beach Harbor Patrol to learn about search and recovery, did altitude lake diving and a camp-out at Castaic Lake, had a lecture on dive medicine at UC Santa Barbara, experienced diving with commercial dive gear (full face mask and communications), learned many challenging shore diving and skindiving skills at many SoCal sites, and much much more.
I took the course after I had over 50 dives, and IMO that’s probably a good guideline. In my experience the course assumes that you are very comfortable with your gear, are very well versed in what you learned in OW class, and have your dive routine down very well (hydration and preparation, gear assembly, safe ascents, etc.). I also would recommend that you have your own gear (it will make things a lot easier), and have your weighting dialed in pretty well. You’ll be doing a lot of diving and skindiving, and will need to be very comfortable with the whole process so that you can focus on learning new skills.
If you can make the commitment, I’d highly recommend it. Not only a great opportunity for some incredible dive training, but also a great opportunity to make new friends and dive buddies. Here’s the LA County ADP website:
http://www.lascuba.com/adp.html
It’s still showing info for last year’s class, but should give you a good idea on how this year’s class will be. BTW, I’m not affiliated with LA County Scuba, just someone who is incredibly jazzed about the course. I'm even planning on attending some of the classes again this year just because it was so cool.
