EAN Class

I hope this is the right place to ask...,

can an SSI Open Water diver take a PADI EAN class? Without taking the PADI AOW ?

Reason why I want to change organization is that a friend of mine is a PADI instructor and I dove with him quite a bit.

Thanks

Sure you can. Any one can take the PADI EAN class. Good luck

Mix and match all you want. I'm sure this will start one of those certifying agency arguments, but the basic requirements are the same for PADI NAUI and SSI. It really IS the instructor, not the agency. If you feel comfortable learning from your friend/buddy, by all means do the Nitrox class with him.

Here's a bit of info: As far as I am aware, none of the agencies requires any actual diving for EAN. It's all theoretical and you will learn how to use an O2 tester. You can take the PADI class almost entirely online.

Happy Diving!

thanks for the replies so far.

I dont want to start the agency arguments, what i would like to know is more along the line of should i be a PADI AOW before taking the nitrox class and is there any pre reqs if I am an OW from another agency.

Thanks

Hi Nautica, the only prerequisite is an OW certification from ANY agency. Some OW-courses even include a basic nitrox certification.

Also, specialties from agency A can be used to gain a AOW certification with agency B. It might make things a little bit more complicated or more expensive as you won't get a 'package deal' for your AOW-certification, but feel free to spend your money at the dive shop you like most

Nautica2706:

thanks for the replies so far.

I dont want to start the agency arguments, what i would like to know is more along the line of should i be a PADI AOW before taking the nitrox class and is there any pre reqs if I am an OW from another agency.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I'm not an instructor, but, to the best of my knowledge, the only pre-requisite for taking the PADI EAN class is that you be certified as an OW diver from one of the agencies they recognize (which is most of them, including SSI).

I would tend to feel that having the AOW cert could only be a bonus, even though it's not required. It's a chance to do some more dives and gain a little more experience in different environments.

I recently did the PADI EAN class online in preperation for an upcoming trip and found it to be an *interesting* experience. It did teach the basics, but I didn't feel that I got anything out of it. If I hadn't done any research ahead of time, would I have learned a fair amount? Sure. But I had already done some basic research about diving with gases other than air, so I didn't really get anything out of the online class. I plan on repeating the class next year with a different instructor/agency, just to get a more in-depth experience.

Sorry if this was a rambling post.....I didn't intend for it to be. Basically, yes, you can take the PADI EAN class with no problems and, no, you don't need to be AOW before taking the class. Have fun taking the class!

Kristopher

If you think you will use the certification by all means go for it. I got my EAN before AOW because I was going on a trip where it would allow me to get more dives with shorter surface intervals.

You could also include nitrox as one of your dives during your AOW checkout. Even though a dive is not required, some people feel more comfortable doing it that way.

I took OW thru SSI class and did my cert dives in Mexico thru a PADI shop referral and they gave me a PADI OW card ,then wan I got back to the states LDS and showed them my dives they gave me a SSI OW card.
I checked about going to AOW class and was told by a PADI Instructor that PADI will accept / recognize the SSI OW card but SSI doesn't recognize the PADI OW training. I will continue with PADI.
Hope this helps.

ccx2:

I checked about going to AOW class and was told by a PADI Instructor that PADI will accept / recognize the SSI OW card but SSI doesn't recognize the PADI OW training. I will continue with PADI.
Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

You'll continue with the instructor who lied to you?

There is certainly nothing in the AOW class that you will need to understand the Nitrox class. However, the greatest utility of Nitrox is really in the 60 to 100 foot range. Above that, air will give you no-decompression limits that are generally longer than a novice diver can stay down with his gas supply. And some of us think that it's a good idea to have a bit more diving experience in general before venturing deeper. So from that perspective, doing the AOW class or doing just more diving might be a good foundation for the dives you might want Nitrox for.

Of course, some of us just dive all Nitrox, all the time. It does make managing the stable of tanks easier!