PADI Wreck Diving class

[k4man]

That's why PADI differentiates between wreck diving and penetration (of a wreck)...well, and maybe to make a few more bucks??? ;-)

Kevin

 

[Diver Du]

I've heard from many people that it is not nessarily the dive society but the instructor who teaches the course. I find this to be true in certain circumstances. My PADI wreck training was an obsolute joke. I'd definitly look into the instructor your using and get a detailed lesson plan. I've looked into NAUI and am impressed with they're courses. I've earned my Master scuba diver cert through PADI; when I looked at NAUI's requirements they actually have a class and require 100 dives, PADI only requires 50 dives, recue diver, and 5 specialties. All I had to do for master was send in a paper with an instructor endorcement and $40 to get the card. No class , no skills to demonstrate. I think I've been cheated even though i feel I am an experienced diver.

 

[*Floater*]

I am considering taking the PADI Wreck diving class. What are the pros and cons?

I considered this class but decided against it.

Pro would have been that I could have done some limited wreck penetration (daylight zone) at the resort had I paid the $180 (4 dives included). i.e. basically double from just 4 regular dives.

The con was that I felt it was extortion since daylight zone is not big deal imo and most resort DM's would have taken me there anyway. Also I wanted to go straight to the tech wreck course (full penetration) but the instructor said I would have to take the PADI specialty first which was BS. When I get a chance I'll take the tech wreck from a good instructor.

 

[matt_unique]

I've heard from many people that it is not nessarily the dive society but the instructor who teaches the course. I find this to be true in certain circumstances. My PADI wreck training was an obsolute joke. I'd definitly look into the instructor your using and get a detailed lesson plan. I've looked into NAUI and am impressed with they're courses. I've earned my Master scuba diver cert through PADI; when I looked at NAUI's requirements they actually have a class and require 100 dives, PADI only requires 50 dives, recue diver, and 5 specialties. All I had to do for master was send in a paper with an instructor endorcement and $40 to get the card. No class , no skills to demonstrate. I think I've been cheated even though i feel I am an experienced diver.

The NAUI Master Diver requires only OW and AOW which means 8 logged dives. PADI requires the 50 in addition to everything else you listed.

Instructor and location baby...I did some of my PADI Wreck Diver dives on the U853 for example. It all depends on the effort YOU put into getting a good class as much as the instructor.

--Matt

 

[Don Wray]

I've heard from many people that it is not nessarily the dive society but the instructor who teaches the course. I find this to be true in certain circumstances. My PADI wreck training was an obsolute joke. I'd definitly look into the instructor your using and get a detailed lesson plan. I've looked into NAUI and am impressed with they're courses. I've earned my Master scuba diver cert through PADI; when I looked at NAUI's requirements they actually have a class and require 100 dives, PADI only requires 50 dives, recue diver, and 5 specialties. All I had to do for master was send in a paper with an instructor endorcement and $40 to get the card. No class , no skills to demonstrate. I think I've been cheated even though i feel I am an experienced diver.

I see no requirement for 100 dives from NAUI.

From their website:

Open Water Dives

A minimum of eight open water dives is required. A maximum of three dives per day shall be applied toward course requirements. No more than one skin dive may count toward the eight dive minimum.
Required Dives

• Emergency procedures and rescue
• Deep/simulated decompression diving
• Limited visibility or night diving
• Underwater navigation
• Search and recovery – light salvage

Elective Dives

• Skin diving
• Review of basic scuba skills
• Environmental study or survey
• Air consumption (practical application)
• Boat diving
• Shore diving
• Hunting and collecting
• Special interest

Prerequisites for Entering This Course

• Age - Minimum is 15 years.
• Diver Certification - NAUI advanced certification or the equivalent is required. The instructor is to ensure adequate student knowledge and capability before any open water training and shall use skill or other evaluations to do so.
• Equipment - Students shall furnish and be responsible for the care and maintenance of their own diving equipment. The instructor shall initially assist the student in checking all student gear to insure it is adequate and in proper working order.

 

[jviehe]

I've heard from many people that it is not nessarily the dive society but the instructor who teaches the course. I find this to be true in certain circumstances. My PADI wreck training was an obsolute joke. I'd definitly look into the instructor your using and get a detailed lesson plan. I've looked into NAUI and am impressed with they're courses. I've earned my Master scuba diver cert through PADI; when I looked at NAUI's requirements they actually have a class and require 100 dives, PADI only requires 50 dives, recue diver, and 5 specialties. All I had to do for master was send in a paper with an instructor endorcement and $40 to get the card. No class , no skills to demonstrate. I think I've been cheated even though i feel I am an experienced diver.

What do you call having to do AOW, Rescue, and 5 specialities if not a class? Just because you had already done them, doesnt mean you got cheated. For you it was recognition that you had gotten to a certain point in diving. For others, they may just be a OW diver with 5 dives, and sign up for the Master Scuba Diver course which includes...50 dives, aow, rescue, and 5 specialities.

Same thing goes for the wreck class. It is not designed for Advanced Nitrox divers, or NJ wreck divers. It is designed for those who have little dive experience beyond AOW, and want to do limited penetration (think cavern), but do not have the experience or the knowledge do so safely.

I think you guys who just bash PADI all day have no idea what you are talking about. Try thinking for a minute.

 

[Don Wray]

I'd be interested to know what 5 specialties you have if you feel cheated. Those are solely chosen at your discretion. Sure you could pick 5 easy one dive courses plus a complete Rescue class which isn't a breeze and bounce quick dives pay your money and have the card, but the course is really up to you. Pick 5 that interest you plus Rescue and dive. If you want the card, get it. If not, don't. As has been said many times before, pick an instructor, tell them what you expect from the course and if it meets your requirements, take it. All my courses have been PADI and I've enjoyed each and every one of them. As far as a money making scheme by PADI, I don't know of any agency giving away their courses, but then again, I'm not familiar with England so I may be wrong.

 

[TheHobster]

Back to what was originally said about the wreck class - I teach PADI Wreck, and we have a couple quarries we do the first two dives in, and the last 2 we do in Lake Michigan, Panama City, the Keys or someplace we can get a neat wreck or 2.

As someone said we need to discuss things beyond the outline and we do; we search books and the internet to get info on the wrecks, we work on modified frog kick, beat the bejeezus out of them about buoyancy control, run lines outside the wreck, run lines on land (usually in the shop during the classroom session), run lines on the penetration dive and we discuss the differences between recreation wreck diving and technical wreck diving

130' of linear distance from the surface given that this is a recreational wreck class is conservative. Should you wish to go further, it's time to get into technical diving. Spend the money and the time for the gear, training and travel involved. You cannot short yourself in either for tech diving, unless you want a short tech diving career.

Lastly, someone mentioned just follow the DM. The standards of wreck diving have been built on the accidents and near accidents of those that have gone before us. Learning on the cheap is not a good idea unless you wish to be a statistic. And what about those dive ops where a DM doesn't dive w/you?

As Joek Silverstein said to me many years ago "Safety is non-negotiable."

 

[TheHobster]

As Joek Silverstein said to me many years ago "Safety is non-negotiable."

I guess spell checking should be non-negotiable with my typing skills as well - Joel Silverstein

 

[Diver Du]

100 dives for master scuba diver not open water