Over the course of this summer, I did a series of PADI speciality courses just to get myself back in the water and to give myself something to do other than look at fish (I did wonder if that made me what is derisively referred to as a 'badge collector' and then decided that I didn't care). Purely for the purposes of throwing it out there for discussion, I thought I would give my 5 cents on the relative merits of the various courses that I did.
Wreck Diver. Enjoyed the course and thought that I learned something, although some bits of it were pitched a bit too low. I initially thought reel handing would be extremely intuitive, and still held that view when we did the practice drills in wide open water. Was actually a bit surprised how much more challenging it was in an overhead environment trying to pay close attention to buoyancy to avoid kicking up silt and/or hitting my head on the ceiling. Greatly increased my respect for technical divers who do deep wreck and cave penetration (and made it much less likely I would ever try and do something stupid without proper training).
Night Diver. On the upside, I got to do some night dives whilst getting the certification, and I love night diving. But I can't honestly think of anything that I was taught which I didn't remember from my AOW class.
Deep Diver. Can't honestly think of anything that I was taught that I didn't remember from my original basic open water certification. Colours change. Air spaces get squeezed. Water gets colder. Air runs out faster. Watch your tables/computer and SPG more carefully when deep. Watch your depth. Watch out for Narcosis.
U/W Photographer. Learned a lot (speaking as someone who had never before done it). My only complaint was that the course, I felt, was too short. For newbies like me there was a lot to learn (and I suspect a lifetime to master). Finished it in serious danger of becoming expensively addicted to underwater photography. That may become next summer's "thing" for me.
Multilevel Diver. Was pleasantly surprised by this course, which I had thought would be a bit of a waste of time ("watch your computer"). But we spent a lot of time learning what we know (and don't know) about decompression theory. Found it really interesting, and just a little bit disturbing at some points. Nice to finally learn how the much vaunted "Wheel" works (good invention, just 10 years too late). Didn't feel that the "training dives" added much to the theory lessons though.
U/W Navigation. Not sure that I learned a great deal that I hadn't learned during the AOW course, but practising the skills was actually quite good fun, especially the "point to point" exercise. Quite useful to go over compass skills again, as the waters are so clear in the Caribbean that we rarely actually use them.
Search & Recovery. The LDS tried to discourage me from taking this one, as it is pretty hard to combine teaching the course with taking tourists out on tours (which is how they make their money), but the instructors were all keen to teach it as they rarely get a chance to break out the lift bags. I am certainly glad that I did it, although it got a bit repetitive at points, after (a) having done the U/W Navigation course previously, and (b) for some reason the LDS refused to give me credit for the S&R training dive that I did on my AOW course (I know, it's discretionary, but they exercised their discretion the other way for all of the others). I have to say Dive #3 in particular was hugely physically exhausting (big search pattern, moving a heavy object a long way at neutral bouyancy in a current before lifting it to the boat), so if nothing else I learned more about my own limits!
DPV. Lots of fun whizzing about on a DPV. I didn't honestly think that I would learn anything, but it was a bit trickier than I had thought - they can be tempramental beasts. Mastering clearing your ears whilst manoeuvring a DPV on a mild descent is a bit of a skill. Not likely to dive on a DPV much, but glad to think that if I do ever do it again, the same things that surprised me whilst I was safely under instructor supervision won't surprise me again.
Not sure what other views people have of these courses, but those are my views on the courses that I took, for what little they are worth.
Wreck Diver. Enjoyed the course and thought that I learned something, although some bits of it were pitched a bit too low. I initially thought reel handing would be extremely intuitive, and still held that view when we did the practice drills in wide open water. Was actually a bit surprised how much more challenging it was in an overhead environment trying to pay close attention to buoyancy to avoid kicking up silt and/or hitting my head on the ceiling. Greatly increased my respect for technical divers who do deep wreck and cave penetration (and made it much less likely I would ever try and do something stupid without proper training).
Night Diver. On the upside, I got to do some night dives whilst getting the certification, and I love night diving. But I can't honestly think of anything that I was taught which I didn't remember from my AOW class.
Deep Diver. Can't honestly think of anything that I was taught that I didn't remember from my original basic open water certification. Colours change. Air spaces get squeezed. Water gets colder. Air runs out faster. Watch your tables/computer and SPG more carefully when deep. Watch your depth. Watch out for Narcosis.
U/W Photographer. Learned a lot (speaking as someone who had never before done it). My only complaint was that the course, I felt, was too short. For newbies like me there was a lot to learn (and I suspect a lifetime to master). Finished it in serious danger of becoming expensively addicted to underwater photography. That may become next summer's "thing" for me.
Multilevel Diver. Was pleasantly surprised by this course, which I had thought would be a bit of a waste of time ("watch your computer"). But we spent a lot of time learning what we know (and don't know) about decompression theory. Found it really interesting, and just a little bit disturbing at some points. Nice to finally learn how the much vaunted "Wheel" works (good invention, just 10 years too late). Didn't feel that the "training dives" added much to the theory lessons though.
U/W Navigation. Not sure that I learned a great deal that I hadn't learned during the AOW course, but practising the skills was actually quite good fun, especially the "point to point" exercise. Quite useful to go over compass skills again, as the waters are so clear in the Caribbean that we rarely actually use them.
Search & Recovery. The LDS tried to discourage me from taking this one, as it is pretty hard to combine teaching the course with taking tourists out on tours (which is how they make their money), but the instructors were all keen to teach it as they rarely get a chance to break out the lift bags. I am certainly glad that I did it, although it got a bit repetitive at points, after (a) having done the U/W Navigation course previously, and (b) for some reason the LDS refused to give me credit for the S&R training dive that I did on my AOW course (I know, it's discretionary, but they exercised their discretion the other way for all of the others). I have to say Dive #3 in particular was hugely physically exhausting (big search pattern, moving a heavy object a long way at neutral bouyancy in a current before lifting it to the boat), so if nothing else I learned more about my own limits!
DPV. Lots of fun whizzing about on a DPV. I didn't honestly think that I would learn anything, but it was a bit trickier than I had thought - they can be tempramental beasts. Mastering clearing your ears whilst manoeuvring a DPV on a mild descent is a bit of a skill. Not likely to dive on a DPV much, but glad to think that if I do ever do it again, the same things that surprised me whilst I was safely under instructor supervision won't surprise me again.
Not sure what other views people have of these courses, but those are my views on the courses that I took, for what little they are worth.
