Restructuring Certifications

[Diver0001]

Basic Open Water

Open Water (becomes Advanced after 30 dives)

Basic Rescue ( becomes Rescue after 40 dives)

The rest remains the same. I just think that there needs to be more emphasis on experience. When I got my AOW, I was hardly an advanced diver, and I still am not that.

You mean like the master diver certification? Certain number of courses, certain number of specialties, certain number of dives.....

R..

 

[Diver0001]

People talk a lot of crap about GUE, but they were the ONLY agency I could see that had the stones to fail an unprepared student, even at the recreational level.

Agencies don't fail people, instructors do. I work with a group of PADI instructors who get quite a few "drop outs", meaning they will keep at it until the student gives it up. There are some students who should never be certified but on the whole it takes a poor instructor to give up before the student does.

IMO of course.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

Just as an example, I had a rescue diver as a customer last week....she asked for help, saying her weight belt was broken, and the belt kept sliding (this was in gearing up for the dive.) Turns out nothing was wrong with the belt...it was the typical kind of weight belt 99% of divers use (if they don't use integrated)....she was putting the "free" end of the belt through one of the unused "slots" on the BOTTOM of the buckle...rather then THROUGH the buckle itself. (A lot easier to show than to explain) I'd never even seen an OW diver do that! She actually only had 15 dives...so virtually all diving was designed to produce a card for her, ha ha.

Have you been away, Chris? I haven't seen you online for ages.

R..

 

[PerroneFord]

I am encouraged to hear this. But I would expect it from NAUI if no other. The more I hear about their programs, the more I like it.

I have seen failures at the OW level in PADI and the AOW level in NAUI.


Ken

 

[DennisS]

Ok, almost all of my dives have been training dives. Actually, I have very few dives, but I have my Rescue Cert with PADI. I don't begrudge that, the school I went through was very thorough and added extra days onto both my AOW and my Rescue training. However, I am no where near as good of a diver as someone with an AOW who has 100 dives. I am very inexpereinced and now my focus will be on gaining expereince, rather than getting any more cards. Anyway, I woke up about 3AM this morning thinking about this card system. Strange I know. I cam eup with this:

Basic Open Water

Open Water (becomes Advanced after 30 dives)

Basic Rescue ( becomes Rescue after 40 dives)

The rest remains the same. I just think that there needs to be more emphasis on experience. When I got my AOW, I was hardly an advanced diver, and I still am not that.

Why not get them all, one right after the other, that way the diver will be able to navigate, control bouyancy and rescue his buddy when they are diving. The cards are souvenirs.

 

[Tigern]

I'm guilty of the cert rush. I have less then 20 dives and will be taking my Rescue class here shortly. I have dives planned so I will be at 30-35 dives before I start Rescue at the end of the month.
I will say this though, and I'm not bragging, Many people that dive with me are surprised to find out how few dives I have. I've been asked 4 times if I was a divemaster and 1 guy on a boat dive asked if him and his partner could dive with me. I said yes becuase I love sharing the diving expierience with other people and more buddies is almost always a good thing. I asked him some general questions, how long have you been diving? How many dives to you have, Have you ever been on a boat dive before...etc. Turns out the guy was visiting from the states and had been diving for 3 years and had something like 500 dives. I asked him why he wanted to dive with me and my buddy and the guy said that he wanted to dive with someone who knew the area and he figured I'd be a good choice because he figured I was a divemaster. Needless to say he was surprised as hell when he found out I only had like 12 dives at the time.
The point to all this is that some people pick up certain things quickly. I'm not in anyway claiming to be the best diver here or the most knowledgeable but I am very comfortable in the water and I have a good amount of common sense. I think that the way certifications are set up is not perfect but not unsafe either. I am not very familiar with agencies other then PADI but I know that PADI does has restrictions when it comes to the more serious certifications like Divemaster, Asst Inst, OWSI.

 

[garyfotodiver]

Ok, almost all of my dives have been training dives. Actually, I have very few dives, but I have my Rescue Cert with PADI. I don't begrudge that, the school I went through was very thorough and added extra days onto both my AOW and my Rescue training. However, I am no where near as good of a diver as someone with an AOW who has 100 dives. I am very inexpereinced and now my focus will be on gaining expereince, rather than getting any more cards. Anyway, I woke up about 3AM this morning thinking about this card system. Strange I know. I cam eup with this:

Basic Open Water

Open Water (becomes Advanced after 30 dives)

Basic Rescue ( becomes Rescue after 40 dives)

The rest remains the same. I just think that there needs to be more emphasis on experience. When I got my AOW, I was hardly an advanced diver, and I still am not that.

Have you looked at the SSI website? You might find that is more of what you are looking for.

My own story... After more than 30 years of diving and a fair number of dives, I decided to take some additional training. Last year I did the SSI Stress/Rescue course and this year I took three more courses and , since I have more than the requisite number of dives (24), I ought to be geting my SSI AOW card soon. Eventually, I'll apply for their Master Diver card, and, if my family agrees, may go on to DiveCon (Divemaster to all you P-divers out there.)

Good luck on your own training.

 

[Butch103]

It is the instructor who fails students not the cert agency. A lazy, uncaring, and dangerous instructor will pass students who should fail.

 

[*Floater*]

A friend of my girlfriend failed OW in the US because he couldn't clear the mask. I guess he was one of those guys with really sensitive eyes, plus he couldn't see without his lenses. Not sure if he passed it later on...

 

[freediver]

It is the instructor who fails students not the cert agency. A lazy, uncaring, and dangerous instructor will pass students who should fail.

Then by this measure it is also a lazy, uncaring instructor who fails a student by not seeking new ways to help them achieve and succeed. Maybe I'm old school but I would much rather seek ways to help a diver candidate achieve than to fail them.
I am curious to learn from those who have seen a student or heard of a student failing OW, what was/were the reason(s)?