PADI training courses on live aboard operations?

[DivemasterDennis]

If you travel with a group and there is an instructor in your group, every boat I have been on will allow you to train with that instructor, and most boat have instructors as DM's or dive leaders. As for cert level to do the dives on a liveaboard, my wife is open water certified, but has hundreds of dives and is an excellent diver. She has never been denied any dive experience. Competence counts.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Ben Prusinski]

Thanks guys, in that case since I am a newbie diver, I will do a few more resort based dive trip first to gain another 50-100 dives under my belt and experience before heading for a live aboard situation. Thinking Bonaire, Fiji and Grand Cayman sound like my next trips to do so. Once I am near dive master level training wise and have my PADI specialities than I can do these advanced level trips.

 

[scubaskipper]

Yes you can take AOW on most liveaboards. All that I've been associated with only want instructors as DMs, so they can teach if asked, most are PADI instructors. Most boats are franchised, contact individual boat and tell them what you want to do so they have any required student materials on the boat when you get there. a lot depends on how far in the middle of no where the boat is. Most try to keep 2-3 student kits for any specialty classes that are good for the area they operate in. Aggressor was trying to get everyone to cross over to SSI but most that I know didn't, too much $ to cross over for the number of classes you would do. My guess would be some sort of cross marketing going on. Nitrox was a big specialty, U/W photo and a few AOW. I would try the e-learn for class and concentrate on the dive, dive, dive while on the boat. I had people take my classes just to get a private dive guide on each site.

 

[Darnold9999]

I also would suggest that a liveaboard is not the ideal place to do training. With one exception. Nitrox is a course most offer and does not interrupt your diving. You can do the reading in between dives and the required dive is just that - a dive - no skills to demonstrate.

However I would not forgo the liveaboard experience just because you are a beginner diver. Many trips, Belize comes to mind, are simple easy dives and appropriate for divers with a lower number of dives. you may get more out of a liveaboard if you are more experienced, but I would not avoid them just because you are less experienced. Just let everyone know up front that you are a beginner and don't try to go beyond what you are comfortable doing.

 

[Oldbear]

...I would not forgo the liveaboard experience just because you are a beginner diver...

Ditto to everything that Darold9999 said.

I did my first liveaboard after taking my AOW and with about 20 dives. The Operator knew that when I booked the trip and DMs were fantastic and placed me in an appropriate group of divers. Like I mentioned before, yes I was the weakest link (my own self imposed label, not theirs), but held my own and was not a distraction to the rest of the group. But IMO the shear number of dives/day that the liveaboard offered me let my diving skills progress much more effectively than all of the resort diving I had done up then, especially in the given time frame. Even the DMs commented on my bouyance improvement.

I would not discount the liveaboards until you reach 50 or 100 dives.

Plus they are a blast...depending upon the trip, if there are any day excursion opertors, the Liveaboard's diving schedule will most likely be off-set from thiers. You first dive is about the same time as they are gathering at the docks, your second dive is about the time they are on the way, your third dive is about the time they are in their surface interval rest time...ect...

Good luck and happy diving.

~ME~

 

[Ben Prusinski]

Cool well after the Bonaire trip, I will do live aboards and have time to dive more and gain experience. Belize, T&C, Caymans and Galapagos sound like great places for this to dive and see more places. Hawaii, Fiji, Palau and PNG are great too.