PADI Wreck Diver Course - worth it?

[Crush]

I hope that this is not the wrong forum. If it is, mods feel free to move it.

I have a Cavern cert (NACD) and am interested in taking a Wreck Diving Course. The overview of the PADI Wreck Diver Course that I read here: Hawaii Scuba, PADI Scuba certification, Oahu scuba diving seems to be heavy into book knowledge, but makes little mention of requisite skills. PADI's page at: Wreck Diver Open Water Diving Adventure Courses - PADI Scuba Diving Training Instructor Organization offers little additional information.

My question: is the PADI Wreck Diver Course worth two days of my time, four dives, and $250?

Thanks

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

I don't think that's really a wreck penetration course if that's what you were looking for... I'd say not worth it at all!

 

[DevonDiver]

It all depends on what you are hoping to get out of it. The PADI course is a decent introduction to wreck diving, but IMHO really doesn't contain sufficient skills and procedures for wreck penetration diving.

There are some instructors around who are willing to go beyond the course limits...and teach an in-depth wreck course - but these are a rarity. They would need to have a strong technical background in wreck diving to have the experience to do that.

When I worked at Subic Bay, all we did was wreck diving. I enjoyed taking students further with their training, with extra dives post-course. However, within the 4 dives allocated by PADI there are a lot of restrictions on what you can achieve, especially in regards to penetration skills.

Depending on your time and budget, I would recommend that you sought a more comprehensive course. One example is the TDI Advanced Wreck course. (Check out the pre-requisites, below, you are ok )

TDI Advanced Wreck

The TDI Advanced Wreck course provides training and experience to competently conduct advanced wreck dives. This program includes penetration skills and techniques. Depths shall not exceed the level in which the diver is trained and competent, but in no case shall the maximum depth in this program exceed fifty five (55) metres. The objective of this course is to train divers in the proper techniques, equipment requirements and hazards of wreck diving.


Qualifications of Graduates
Upon successful completion of this course, graduates may engage in wreck diving activities without direct supervision so long as:

• The diving activities approximate those of training.
• The areas of activities approximate those of training.
• Environmental conditions approximate those of training.

Student Pre-Requisites

• Be a minimum age of eighteen (18).
• Be certified as an Advanced open water diver.
• Show proof of at least fifty (50) logged dives.
• Be certified as Basic Wreck or Cavern or equivalent (or take basic wreck in conjunction).

Course Structure and Duration

• Six (6) dives and an accumulated bottom time of one hundred (100) minutes.
• Only two (2) dives from Advanced Wreck course may be credited towards the total dives required for Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures, Extended Range or Entry Level Trimix.

Required Equipment

• Buoyancy Compensator(s) adequate for the open water environment.
• Back-up Depth and Timing Devices.
• Air decompression computers allowed for use as depth and timing devices.
• Light Systems (Primary & Back-up).
• Ascent reel with lift bag/surface marker buoy or up-line adequate for the planned maximum depth. Minimum of eleven (11) kg / twenty five (25) lb. Lift.
• Exposure suit adequate for the open water environment.
• Two (2) Line Cutting Devices.
• Underwater Slate.
• Reels: Primary penetration reel & Safety reel.
• Options that the instructor may require: Submersible dive tables. Bail-out cylinder with regulator. Jon-line. Slate, compass, surface signaling device (flare, strobe, etc.)

Regulators:

• Primary and primary redundant required on all primary breathing cylinders.
• Submersible pressure gauges are required on all primary cylinder(s).
• A contingency use long hose second stage should be designated and appropriately rigged to facilitate air sharing at depth if necessary.

Primary Cylinder(s):

• Cylinder volume appropriate for the planned dive and student gas consumption rate.
• Dual valve, double manifold or independent doubles.
• Labeled in accordance with TDI Standards.
  Travel or Decompression Cylinders as required by site conditions.

You will be expected to:

• Be competent in skills required to graduate from any prerequisite TDI course (or equivalent)
• Properly analyze all gas mixes to be used.
• Calculate and mark MOD of each mix appropriately.
• Demonstrate adequate pre-dive planning (limits based on team experience, gas consumption of individuals and of team as a whole, oxygen depth and time, inert gas depth and time, environment, contingency and so on).
• Properly execute a planned (dives within all predetermined limits.
• Satisfactorily complete TDI written exam.
• Demonstrate mature and responsible judgement concerning dive planning and execution.
• Maintain a high level of awareness and respect for environment in which all diving and dive preparation is conducted.
• Log all dives.

Required Skill Performance And Graduation Requirements
Land or field skills:

• Demonstrate familiarity with basic and intermediate hand signals.
• Select and prepare of equipment suitable for soft overhead environment with long decompression obligations.
• Conduct team oriented drills for SMB deployment and gas switching procedure.
• Drills for buddy rescue

Pre-dive skills:

• Use START* before every dive
• Stress analysis and mitigation

Skills during dive:

• Demonstrate buoyancy control (ability to hover at fixed position in water column without moving hands or feet).
• Show good awareness of buddy and other team members through communications, proximity and team oriented dive practices.
• Demonstrate competence managing two stage cylinders including drop and recovery while maintaining position in the water column.
• Demonstrate ability to confirm gas switches at depth with team members.
• Demonstrate SMB deployment from depth and use of SMB as back-up buoyancy device.
• Demonstrate air-sharing ascent from depth while one member of buddy team is without mask.
• Create contingency decompression schedule after simulated loss of decompression gas.
• Demonstrate ability to manage multiple failures simultaneously.
• Demonstrate controlled ascent with simulated toxed diver including surface tow at least 30 meters with gear removal on surface.
• Complete a horizontal breath hold swim at depth for 15 meters with mask off or blacked out.

In order to complete this course, students must:

• Satisfactorily complete the TDI Trimix Course written examination.
• Complete all open water requirements safely and efficiently.
• Demonstrate mature, sound judgment concerning dive planning and execution.

*) START is Sdril (OOA drill and bubble check), Team checks, Air (gas matching), Route (entry/exit and planned path underwater, Tables (depth, duration, waypoints and schedule).
Required Subject Areas:

The following land drills will be covered during this course

• Guideline Use.
• Guideline Following.
• Emergency Procedures.

The following topics are also covered during this course:

• Equipment Considerations: Redundant scuba, Lights, Reels and Tools.
• Procedures: Pre-dive, Pre-penetration, Penetration and Exiting the wreck.
• Hazards of Wreck Diving and Overhead Environments: Disorientation, Reduced visibility, Entrapment, Entanglement, Environmental, Loss of gas supply, Line traps and Separated buddy teams.
• Penetration Lines: Types and Proper use.
• Research and Locating: Local regulations, Sources of information, Tools and Surveying.
• Contingency Planning: Chamber locations, Communications and Emergency gases.

Required Skill Performance And Graduation Requirements:
Students are expected to complete the following skills during wreck dives. All dives are conducted with a maximum depth no deeper than the least certified student’s capabilities.

• Properly analyze all gas mixtures to be used.
• Demonstrate adequate pre-dive planning
  A. Limits based on personal and team gas consumption.
  B. Limits based on oxygen exposures at planned depths for actual mixes.
  C. Limits based on nitrogen absorption at planned depths for actual mixes.
• Properly execute the planned dive within all pre-determined limits.
• Demonstrate the proper navigational techniques for the specific dive.
• Demonstrate out of air sharing with long hose through a restriction.
• Demonstrate the proper procedures for switching and isolating a malfunctioning regulator (This exercise shall not be conducted deeper than forty (40) msw) / one hundred thirty (130) fsw.
• Demonstrate the proper techniques for locating a lost penetration line.
• Deployment of lift bag or up line for decompression.
• Silt-out procedures.
• Follow line with eyes closed.
• Follow line while sharing air.
• Follow line with eyes closed while air sharing.

In order to complete this course, students must:

• Complete all field exercise and open water requirements safely and efficiently.
• Demonstrate mature, sound judgment concerning dive planning and execution.

 

[Blackwood]

Given your background (cavern) and the fact that you're posting this in the "Technical" forum, I'm going to guess that PADI Wreck likely won't cover what you're interested in.

OTOH, if you don't have a lot of wreck experience, some valuable things that may be covered include how to "read" and navigate a wreck (externally or otherwise).

Is it worth 250? In hawaii? Shrug. I'm not big into destination courses unless it's a course I absolutely must travel for (cave, for example). I don't want to spend my vacation time in class. YMMV.

 

[Crush]

Thanks for all the responses.

I will be in Hawaii with work. Sometimes when traveling with work I dive for fun, sometimes I take a diving course. It seems to me that maybe I should just do the diving for fun this time.

What is a "good" place to do a wreck course? Not having any wreck experience I define "good" as excellent instructors + nice things to see.

A bit more on my background - I just bought a BP/w (did the Cavern course in a BC - yes, good trim is possible in one) but don't own doubles/don't foresee buying doubles in the near future. Yes, I know that Cave Diving and Wreck Penetration should only be done with doubles or side mount because of the safety of a redundant air supply. However, I learned a lot in the Cavern course and I feel that it made me a better single-tank diver. I would expect that a single-tank Wreck course ("Intro to wreck?") would have a similar effect.

Suggestions are welcome.

 

[TSandM]

I'm really not sure that a recreational wreck class will make you a better single tank diver, unless you take it from someone who is really into wreck diving and teaches you a lot about wrecks themselves. Especially in the tropics, it would be my guess that most of the people teaching recreational wreck classes don't have or expect to teach to the level of skill you got from cavern.

 

[Crush]

Again, thanks all.

To put my question in different terms, is the PADI Wreck Diver Course the equivalent of basic OW for wrecks, or is it more like discovering scuba? I think so far that it seems like a discovering scuba-type course.

 

[Rainer]

Mine was a waste of money.

 

[TMHeimer]

We did the limited penetration, taking turns with the reel. Don't know if I'll ever want to penetrate a wreck--maybe if it's the only place at the site to find shells. So this part of the course MAY come in handy someday. The rest of it (ei. mapping a wreck, which I'll never do), and general safety concerns (most of which are really pretty obvious anyway) was probably a waste of money.

 

[whodunit68]

you shouldn't even consider a wreck penetration course until you've learned the basics of navigating a wreck. My PADI wreck course....if I could go back and do it again, I would. Today I'm full cave, trimix, and all sorts of stuff and still consider going back to take a wreck course. The absolutely #1 biggest thing to look for is an instructor who KNOWS wreck diving, is NOT willing to go *beyond* what the course (going beyond limits in diving often kills) allows but really, and I mean really, takes the time to help you with the skills involved in diving a wreck.

You have to crawl before you can walk. Don't try to bypass wreck to do an advanced wreck course. I've wasted plenty of money in specialties that were not helpful for a variety of reasons. Now I'm willing to travel to get good instruction if I take a class.
One of the best classes I took early on was a dry suit class. Many people told me it would be a waste of money but I had the right instructor and it just worked for me.
All the advice you get may not work for you but I think you did a smart thing by asking and doing your research. My vote is spend the time researching solid instructors and go for it (then have a lot of fun with it).