New Diver Certification: Shallow Water Diver

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Don Wray

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
1,600
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Location
Sardis lake, Ms.
# of dives
200 - 499
Has anyone else read the latest Alert article on the newest less than Basic Open Water Cert? It's a shallow diver certification which limits the unsupervised diver to 30 feet. It is promoted as a cheaper course requiring less time to become certified. And no, it's not a PADI course, it's SDI.
 
Sounds like they're trying to compete with PADI Scuba Diver err "course".

Effectively glorified try dives.
 
Kinda strikes me as a bad idea... Seems to me that a person can drown at 30 ft just as easily as 60 ft. Anyone know the differences in the training?
 
Nah, you are not nearly as dead at 30' as you are at 60'. :)
 
What is cut out from the standard OW SDI course?
 
String:
Sounds like they're trying to compete with PADI Scuba Diver err "course".

Effectively glorified try dives.

Except the Scuba Diver course requires you dive with a Divemaster or above. Hang on Rakkis, let me go outside and get the article. It's in the newest Alert Diver I just got yesterday.
 
Let's see, since all diving is to be 30 feet or less, no teaching about repetitive diving concerns; looks like academics even though taken online are pretty close to BOW; 2 open water dives instead of 4, which must be conducted in warm, clear water ranging in depth from 15 to 30 feet. After certification, they are "limited" (by whom?) to 3 divers per day in daylight hours. The guy that invented the Hart's mini B diving system went to SDI and got them to certify the course. When ask who is going to ensure the shallow water diver's maintain the depth, and maximum daily dive requirements, "no one'.

Wonder why when it appears the major difference is 2 open water dives, someone would even want those restrictions. I know lots of folks that rarely go deeper than 30 feet.
 
Yeah, that article in DAN made me wonder about a few things. There is a reference in there that it would appeal to people who didn't want to do (or commit to) a whole OW course. Man, with courses down to 1 or 2 weekends now, it is hard to imagine that someone who is serious about wanting to spend time underwater who can't commit to a weekend or 2. Another thing is that parts of the article sounded to me like it really started by a guy trying to sell his new hardware. Hardly a good reason for a new cert IMO.
 
It's a resort course yall.

Open water dives must be conducted in warm, clear water.

It's an excuse for a resort course.

TwoBit
 
Anyone want to tell me exactly what IS a resort course?

Heard the term countless times but still no idea what it is.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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