What to do after Open Water PADI

[Saudi-Diver]

Oh....summer in Plymouth... the James Egan Layne and HMS Scylla. Peeling off my drysuit and heading for fish n' chips and an ice cool pint of Cider...

Makes me want to return from the tropics....

Or alternatively blundering around in Loch Fyne in 3ft vis, 42F water, getting out and getting changed in a snow storm (last week Furnace Quarry). It was fun though

If I was the OP I would contact my local BSAC club and see what they are like. Club diving is alive and well in the UK and the standard of instruction is good. I came through the PADI system up to Rescue Diver. I then joined a BSAC club did my Sports Diver conversion and Assistant Instuctor. I did do a PADI drysuit course with Aberdeen Watersports which was very good and enjoyable ( it was a birthday pressie). In the Uk though I would definatly go with a club.

 

[DevonDiver]

Hi Adam,

Not sure where you are in Surrey... but there are a few good clubs in the area. Have a look at Scuba Dolphins Subaqua Club | Scuba Dolphins Subaqua Club

If you are happy to travel for your diving, then plan a weekend trip to Plymouth. Talk to Doug at Aquanauts. They are excellent. In addition to PADI courses, they also run GUE 'Fundies' (Fundamentals) courses... which are perhaps the best 'core skills development' scuba courses available. They also have a very active dive club, which runs national and international club diving trips/holidays.

My other question is about diving buddies. At the moment I don't know anyone else who dives. If I was to plan a trip diving, should I really find a buddy before I go (maybe online), or is it ok to go on your own and buddy up when I am there?

One of the greatest things about scuba diving is that it is very social and you get to meet (and dive with) new people. I've never had a problem with making friends and getting dive buddies when on holiday. However, as novice divers, it would be worth searching some of the threads here on SB about 'insta-buddies' (badly trained, unsafe buddies that you can meet on holiday...and how to deal with them).

 

[Picasso89]

Thanks. I have a friend in Plymouth. Having just Google mapped it, it seems he's pretty close to Aquanauts so I will definitely look in to going down for a weekend.

 

[KY]

agreed.

Go diving, join a club, and enjoy yourself

 

[40Fathoms]

You've gotten a lot of great advice here. Go diving, first and foremost, and, if you have done your certification in tropical waters (as it appears you have), go diving in less ideal situations. Get some low viz and colder water experience. Get some experience diving the sort of diving you want to do from here on in. Once you get some dives under your belt, the next step in PADI is AOWD, which is basically only five dives, each with a theme, not much of a course as such. Then there's Rescue, which is a great course and fun to do. But demanding, so you'll definitely want some experience before heading for that.

It's easy to get the idea that you need to advance in the system of C-cards when you look at those education progression charts in dive shops, but really, certification and courses is only part of it. The other part, the bigger part, is diving.

See you under water.

 

[myscubastory.com]

As an instructor i always advise my students to do continuing education courses.

However I would recommend taking time outs to fun dive between courses - especially between the Advanced and the Rescue and betweent he rescue and divemaster course. Also take time outs from diving so to ask yourself do i want to invest that extra amount to do the next course or shall i spend it on something else.

I made the mistake of taking a year long time out after my advanced course and now im an instructor ! LOVE IT ALL THE WAY!

Regards,

 

[rk288]

This reply is mainly directed to Jim Lapenta and RJP. What, were you guys sitting at the same computer drinking too many beers...(i.e. replies within minutes of each other using the same icon )

I forgot to mention the time my son and I were in the Canadian wilds and we canoed our gear in to a campsite. Our dive plan was a flag on a flag pole: west for 750 lbs, north 500, east 500, south 500...at this point we crossed our silt line at about 90 degrees , we then swam outside it for about 20 ft. The last left turn put us about 18 ft from where we started. Vis was about 8 ft and we didn't want to be doing the last leg face first into our original silt line.

So, 3 dives solo. One of the main points in our training was if you are going to dive in a place where you've never been before your best course of action is to contact a local dive professional or experienced diver and it's really great if you can get them to go with you. Sounds like a good plan to me...

 

[diver 85]

My recommendation to new OW divers who DO want to take a class is Peak Performance Buoyancy. Just diving is great; diving with some attention from an instructor who is helping you focus on how to become a better diver is, IMO, better.

Good luck and enjoy your journey!

Better on someone's pocket book & worse on another's??........

 

[Karibelle]

Better on someone's pocket book & worse on another's??........

Haha. Right. I'm making a fortune teaching PPB.

I just think that while trial and error will work, having a good solid foundation of how this "buoyancy" thing works makes the process go much faster, and good buoyancy is the foundation of good diving.

YMMV, of course.

-kari

 

[diver 85]

Haha. Right. I'm making a fortune teaching PPB.

I just think that while trial and error will work, having a good solid foundation of how this "buoyancy" thing works makes the process go much faster, and good buoyancy is the foundation of good diving.

YMMV, of course.

-kari

Guess you're correct-I just love (more) degrees from The School of OTJT......