The right way to get certified

[TSandM]

Matt, you had a bad experience with your local class, but please don't generalize from that.

Yes, getting certified in warm weather and warm, clear water can be a physically more pleasant experience -- and I would guess you're right, that folks handling clients in a resort atmosphere are somewhat chosen for great people skills and the ability to motivate and create fun. But the flip side is that you spend several days of your vacation in class, which may not be what most people want to do, and you have little flexibility in time for people who run into issues with mask clearing or other skills, to get extra time to master them and STILL have some time to go diving!

There are pluses and minuses. I do think that it is, in general, easier to make the transition from cold water and low viz to warm and clear than it is to do the reverse. But I have had dive buddies who have gotten certified in the tropics, and have made the effort to come home and learn to dive in the Sound, so it can be done. There are things to be said for doing it either way, but a lot is going to come down to the instructor and the structure of the class, in either place.

 

[Steve50]

But the flip side is that you spend several days of your vacation in class, which may not be what most people want to do, and you have little flexibility in time for people who run into issues with mask clearing or other skills, to get extra time to master them and STILL have some time to go diving!

.

Oh yeah - that could ruin a vacation and maybe even start a family feud.

 

[MMM]

One observation I would make is that I would PREFER to have an ongoing relationship with the person who certified me, as it presents an opportunity to grown and learn more. That isn't possible, generally, when one does their certification in a vacation destination.

 

[Hawkwood]

My wife did her AOW and Enriched Air class on one of our vacations. Afterward she said she would never take a class on while on vacation again. She is very serious when taking a class and spend a fair amount of time reading and doing the Knowledge Reviews. To her, she lost out on her vacation.

Most of my students will do their OW dives in warmer locations - it's a fact of life were I live. Others will do their OW dives right here.

I tell the students who are going south that they are in for a treat because after their skills are done, the rest of the dive is the tour - they will have a great opportunity. However, if the weather or seas are not cooperative they may be out of luck or not have a good time.

Those students diving locally for their OW dives have a challenge - a challenge that some will "enjoy" and a challenge that some will "endure". However, when they go on that first dive vacation, they can concentrate on the dive and not the anticipation/anxiety of the pending certification.

As to eLearning? I have had some eLearners join in for the pool sessions with the regular Class and Pool folks. I let them stay for the Class as well if they wish (no extra cost) - there is so much more that comes from the classroom setting with questions from students and the extras that any instructor adds, whether through anecdotes, the props we use, etc. I have had others who just want the pool - that's cool too - it's what they want.

Bil

 

[Rhone Man]

Horses for courses. It is heresy on SB, but I have long believe that scuba diving in benign Caribbean locations is not difficult. I think it is perfectly safe to take someone diving under supervision for a week after an afternoon's instruction via a "resort course" so long as one is sensible about it. I am happy to extrapolate that logic to quick and easy certification courses in the Caribbean.

I have seen people as young as 10 and as old 80, grossly overweight, battling medical conditions, and subject to disability, all deal with scuba in benign conditions with little trouble at all.

Clearly, if you plan on diving in more challenging conditions, you ought to get appropriate training and develop the right skills. But if you just want to look at pretty fishies in 20 feet of clear, warm, currentless water whilst on vacation - about one afternoon's drills and skills is about right.

 

[RickyF]

Living in Virginia Beach, if I waitied until I went somewhere tropical to dive, I would only dive two weeks a year. Certifying in cold water wearing a 7 mil wetsuit at Lake Rawlings in February prepared me to dive in just about anything! LOL While I enjoy diving the tropics, most of my diving is in "green" water 35 miles offshore in 100+ feet of water here in Virginia Beach wearing a 7 Mil wetsuit. By taking all my courses thru my local LDS, I have a relationship that I know I can depend on them if and when I need something. I have taken and completed all my courses with them including all of my DM courses and they are right there if I need something done in a hurry to be able to dive or I have a question. To me, that's what it is all about!

 

[TMHeimer]

I did it all locally. If doing it all over I would never consider doing it in the tropics or doing the referrel (sp?) thing. 2 reasons. Locally is simpler (and probably better if locally is up North and you plan a lot of diving there). And I would never want to take up (paid) vacation time (dive vacation or other) doing anything that involves being inside, studying, or learning dive skills. Just one guy's opinion.

 

[freewillie]

This is going to be interesting. Just a few thoughts having experience with both.

In any teaching environment your experiences are dictated by the teacher's personality, skill, enthusiasm, and patients. Quite simply, a good or great teacher will make the whole experience enjoyable. The opposite for a bad teacher. The other wrinkle is that if not properly trained accidents and even death can result in this sport. That adds a whole extra dimension of importance to good solid training.

The actual location dictates the exposure gear, and generally speaking it's more fun to train in tropical places with colorful reefs. My first experience diving was an intro to scuba class on Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef. By comparison you could say everything since has been "downhill." I was hooked, came home and signed up for OW training at my LDS. Had to put on full exposure gear 7 mm wetsuit, hood, gloves, booties for cold California shore diving. That being said, I've been diving locally and enjoying the kelp forest we enjoy here. Not the same, but enjoyable nonetheless. I had such a great intructor we are still friends, and have found a new love diving cold water.

Now, my daughter certified in Turks n Caicos on our family vacation. It would not have been as stressful if she had done the intro to scuba earlier in the trip. Word to the wise, do plan on spending at least a week to allow for studies during vacation. Her original class was for Monday, but since the class was cancelled she rescheduled for Wednesday. Well, she and her friend fell in love with scuba, and of course after the sell for completing the course while on vacation we relented and allowed them to sign up and finish their OW course.

We were leaving the Sunday morning, and they had to complete their OW dives by Saturday morning to allow 24 hours before flying. That left no margin for error, and she and her friend disappeared for the rest of our family vacation. She essentially woke up, went to the dive center, and spent the rest of the day either in class, in the pool, or on a dive boat until dinner time. Her mom was getting a little annoyed and threatened to cancel the whole thing if she was going to skip dinners as a family to study.

Despite the compressed schedule I can assure you that the PADI center did not cut any corners with her training. She still took the same quizzes and written test I did for my training, did all the skills in the pool, and did every skill in the ocean that I did except a shore entry. She is actually now a very competent if not inexperience diver. Ironically I think she is a better dive buddy than many of the adult more experienced divers in my dive club.

My nephew is now completing a SSI scuba course at a different LDS near our house. Despite the subtle differences in curriculum he is essentially learning the same basic skills for diving. The shop has been very accomodating with his schedule changes due to school conflicts. Since there is no time restrictions he has been dragging out the course. He had to cancel a few times, once due to illness when he was too sick to get in the pool and another when he sprained his ankle playing basketball. From what I've been able to tell he is getting really good, solid training.

I would have no specific recommendation how a person goes about getting scuba certified. Despite my PADI cert I wouldn't necessarily recommend them over NAUI or SSI at this point. While I have my own personal bias that on line course is not as complete as in person classroom teaching that my be my own generational bias. My daughter and my nephew prefer learning on a computer since that has become a more prominent part of their regular school curriculum. Seems like more and more of their assignments are online.

Whether it takes 4 days like my daughter, 2 weeks for me, or now over 2 months (and counting) for my nephew the common denominator is a good instructor and a quality dive center.

 

[The Chairman]

I would PREFER to have an ongoing relationship with the person who certified me,

He was already married and so was I! He was Sagittarius and I was Capricorn. It was doomed from the start! :tmi2: Elena's cuter, anyway!

But really, I think it's important to have more than one instructor. A variety in this regard will expose you to their different strengths.

 

[FPDocMatt]

why not recommend just the classroom.

I don't think any instructor is going to verbally hit all the important points, but I could be wrong. On the other hand, the classroom involves reading a book also, and that would be comprehensive, wouldn't it?

Why not do all academic (either elearning or in class room setting) AND confined water pool work done at home locally BEFORE going on a island vacation?

Yes, that would work just fine. In fact, it's what I did. But I just felt that the people back home were a little too self-important, maybe even a little arrogant. The people at the resort (Sunset House) couldn't have been nicer.

On the other hand, learning the in-water portion over several weekends allowed me to absorb the teaching, and allowed my body to get used to the idea of breathing underwater. If I'd been in the open water on day 2, it probably would not have been as good.

I guess what would be best is a resort (read "nice") instructor back in the states.