Completed OW today

[stuartv]

I completed my SDI Open Water certification today.

We did all 4 OW dives in one day at the local quarry. Water temps were 52-55 and visibility was about 10 feet. I had a Lavacore farmer john and socks with a 7mm suit and hood (and boots, of course) over it and I was actually very comfortable.

If you read my thread from last weekend about the weighting and trim issues I had in the pool, you may appreciate how happy I was today. I had a back inflate BCD and 20 # of weight today and I had absolutely no trouble staying vertical on the surface and staying horizontal (or vertical) at depth.

The only thing I felt challenged by was the last skill of the day - underwater navigation. I'm a grown up Boy Scout and lifetime backpacker. Navigating with a compass was not an issue. Navigating using a compass, in 10' of visibility, while trying to maintain a consistent depth of 20' was what was challenging.

I felt pretty good about my buoyancy control before today. I was already looking forward to taking Advanced Adventure Diver, but I wasn't thinking that I would select Advanced Buoyancy Control as one of my electives for that course. Now I think I will. Seeing a clear opportunity for improvement definitely motivates me.

Riviera Maya (in December) here I come! Woohoo!

 

[Ocean County Diver]

Congrats!

 

[RJP]

I completed my SDI Open Water certification today.

We did all 4 OW dives in one day at the local quarry.

Per Section 6.6.3 of the SDI instructors manual states: "A maximum of 3 scuba dives per day are allowed." (Version 13.2, Revised 07/01/2013)

I wonder what other standards your instructor violated during his/her conduct of the course. Perhaps you would have done better on "the last skill of the day" if you had a night a good night's sleep between Dive 3 and Dive 4... as the standard would have allowed for?

I don't have any info handy about max depths for each of the four SDI OW course dives (other than max of 60ft for any OW dive)... but assuming typical progression dives 3 & 4 are usually deeper than 1 & 2, so I'd guess you ended up doing some reverse-profile diving today as well. What were the max depths of each of your four dives.

This is a pretty significant violation in my mind. Having an OW student do FOUR dives in a day - in cold water no less - presents multiple safety issues.

 

[TSandM]

Where in the Riviera Maya are you going to be in December? We will be in Puerto Aventuras the 10th through the 21st.

 

[1bubbleoff]

Completed all 4 dives in one day huh...interesting...unless I'm mistaken...your instructor violated training standards...makes me wonder what else he did or didn't do that he should or should not of...jus saying.

Stuart....theres a reason there are standards...and new O/W divers don't know what they don't know. I hope that in the future you'll realize that the protocols and skill sets you develop now..will stay with you your entire dive life. I guess what I mean is...there are no shortcuts to safety. Learn GOOD dive habits now. And for the sake of future students...think VERY carefully about referring others to that particular instructor. Thats a HUGE no no as far as I'm concerned.

Congratulations on your O/W!! Go forth and use that "license" to learn!

Bubs

 

[stuartv]

We will be somewhere between PDC and Cancun from Dec 17-23. We booked a Mystery package and won't know exactly which resort until 7 days before we leave. We just know that we'll be in one of 4 specific resorts.

---------- Post added November 1st, 2014 at 09:12 PM ----------

There are several things I would constructively criticize about my OW class, but getting us through all our OW dives today is not one of them. Our instructors will be at the quarry again tomorrow and they made it very clear that any of us were welcome to come back and dive more. But, with the conditions, nobody wanted to come back and get in that water again.

Several of the instructors made remarks to the effect that if we could do everything today, in those conditions, we were really ready and good to go. One girl actually was too cold and could not continue and had to get out and plan to finish later.

 

[tursiops]

There used to be a website called crappydivesites.com, and the quarry you were in today was the number one listing.

I hope you will say to SDI management, if you get a quality assurance survey, that you did four dives today. That is not allowed, for good reason. The fact that you were OK with it is irrelevant; it broke standards. I appreciate the info you have provided about that dive shop; they are now on my sh*t list.

Congrats. I hope you got decent training, but I'm beginning to doubt it.

 

[CptTightPants21]

I am sure I will get **** on for this, but I have no problem with what the shop did doing the 4 OW dives in a day. It clearly wasn't mandatory as they held an open invitation to dive again the next day and one person actually took them up on the offer to split up her dives. If you have a good class and/or the students are up for doing the 4 dives in the day, let them. Classes and students are all different, as long as the same standard of training it held it shouldn't make a different if it is done in one day or four.

Edit: I thought this name looked familiar. While I don't have a problem with the 4 dives, I have a problem with a lot of the other things that you have posted on this site about the shop in terms of equipment and your OOA training. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things and the 4 dives in a day from the context of the other things you have posted does not show your LDS in a good light and makes it look like they are certifying cattle.

 

[RJP]

There are several things I would constructively criticize about my OW class, but getting us through all our OW dives today is not one of them. Our instructors will be at the quarry again tomorrow and they made it very clear that any of us were welcome to come back and dive more. But, with the conditions, nobody wanted to come back and get in that water again.

As a new diver, it's easy to see why you might not criticize them for doing four dives in one day. However, as a new diver you need to understand that what they did sends a clear signal that they have no regard for standards that have been put in place to help ensure your safety. Instead, what they have "made very clear" is that they prioritize their own expedience - and likely finances - over your well-being and the well-being of everyone else in the class. They did you no favors "getting you through" all your OW dives today. The mere fact that the conditions were such none of you wanted to go back tomorrow underscores how inappropriate it was to do four dives in one day.

As was mentioned above, you do need to let SDI know about this standards violation. Not just if you receive a QA survey. This isn't just a mix-up or someone misinterpreting something that was unclear. This particular case is a willful decision by your instructors to disregard a key safety standard. You need to pick up the phone and call SDI and tell them. Not to get the dive shop in trouble... but to protect any future students who might not be as lucky as you were to "get through" safely.

ScubaBoard is rife with stories from divers who only realize in a few months or years that they were not taught certain things or were trained improperly during their OW course. You really do need to ask yourself - if not your instructors - what other corners were cut in the conduct of YOUR class.

---------- Post added November 1st, 2014 at 11:08 PM ----------

...as long as the same standard of training it held it shouldn't make a different if it is done in one day or four.

By pure definition the "standards of training" were not observed. And that DOES make a difference.

 

[rockystock1]

My instructor has told me if we do well on the 9th and things go smoothly and the conditions are good we may get 4 dives done in one day.. Ow passed in one day of diving. Get in


Mike

---------- Post added November 2nd, 2014 at 11:10 AM ----------

Btw I'm a carpenwray on the 9th if anyone's there


Mike