Open Water & Advanced Open Water - Private Coaching versus Group Coaching

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gnojoey

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Hey all divers, an urgent question here!
Would you pay an extra of about USD62 for private coaching than group coaching for your OW and AOW? Any pros and cons?
Given the choice to do your OW & AOW all over again, where would you do it? Phuket or Phi Phi or somewhere else? Whether I should rush into doing my AOW or should I gain more diving experience first?
All answers greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hi again, given if i had a choice of redoing my Ow and Aow, i would still have done as a grp(GEt to know more friends:D) and do my training at Huntu and Aur, though i would like to do my AOW in Huntu, esp the navigation part.

As for going into AOW after OW, i think it is all a matter of personal perference. I did mine after my OW and i was comfortable, though i would have liked to have my breathing and boyancy under control(i was using new equipments).

Safe Diving
Darren
 
Being a newb myself, from the experience I had with my OW this is my thought, although some may not agree. My OW was awesome and sucked at the same time. The instructor was top notch and very professional. He was truely a great person to learn from and I am considering getting my AOW from him also. Now the bad part. There was a kid in our group that all he wanted to do was screw around. And unfortunatly for me I was the closest to his age (even if I wasnt I hold my age well and blend well with others of all ages) he was always trying to inflate my BC or dump it or remove my mask. Several times I had to ask him to stop and he never got the idea. Not sure if he just didnt understand the hand siginals underwater or the comments above water. We also had a lady in our class that was just a little slow. She had a difficult time getting gear ready and comprehending and utillizing info learned. She also was rather un-athletic so certain things in the water took her longer and the instructor had to (hate to put it this way but its the way it seemed to play out) babysit her a magority of the time. God bless her heart though she did give it her all and tried her best. (she never went over the material at home either so she did not know what was going on during the classroom days) So as a stand point from my OW class, research your instructor and if possible meet the person BEFORE you take your class, if I had a choice to take a personal class over a group I would opt for the personal class-you get more attention and no jokers in the class. This would all depend on wether or not you know everybody in the group, sometimes a large group of friends can even be good too.

Now onto AOW- I wanted to purchase my own gear and get used to it before I took my AOW class. I also want some more dives in before I moved forward with my certification. I do think though that when I go for my AOW that these are people who want to go further and are more serious than the premees who take thier OW class. Really this is all new to anyone and moving too fast can be detrimental to anyones saftey. Sure it can be done but as many a member here on ScubaBoard has said "..you are not an AOW diver just because you got your C-card for AOW, you need dives and EXPERIENCE to be and AOW diver..." and I agree.
 
Thanks WingNutt, that's some good advice. I will take them into account. :)
And sorry to hear about your OW experience with that kid.
 
Hey man there is always a class clown and I tend to take things seriously. These lessons we learn in these classes are for our safety and our lives depend on what we learn in these classes. If something goes wrong you MUST have the information to save your life, its not like being lost in the woods where you can sit and wait for days for somebody to find you. Your air supply, abillity to communicate, and equipment are all things that severly limit your chances of survival if something should go wrong. Get your education, get your experience each to the fullest you can get. And yes in a group you can meet more new friends which is a good thing, as long as they are not screwballs. If you can take a group class with friends you know and are as serious as you then good, if not for a OW or maybe even AOW for me I am with the personal class to get as much as I can. As you move further through your certifications more and more these people will be more serious about what they are doing so taking those classes as a group in my opinion would not be as bad since those people would have more experience and more considerate to others (at least I would hope so). And trust me you will meet friends, at the shops in your town, and from this website, and other experiences you come across. But take your education seriously, thats what I tell my kids.
 
Did OW in Phuket last May- I say for only $62 go for private, especially if you are good, you won't be slowed down by other less able students. I'm doing DM training now with Calypso Divers in Phuket - good group of people. As for AOW, I think if you'll be diving at home with friends, you'll get more out of it if you wait and can get 15-20 or so dives first. On the other hand, if you'll only ever be resort diving, I'd take it right away. That way you'll get 5-6 (depending on your cert agency) more dives right away with an instructor to help you.
 
Find someone living/teaching in Phuket. Since it is low season now, or at least going into it, it might be possible that you get a very low instructor-student ratio without paying the private supplement anyway.

Like for me, when i did my OW in 02, I paid the normal quad/share group teaching, and ended up with an instructor and even a ROOM all to myself included in the package because I was idiotic enough to dive Tioman right in the middle of the monsoon season. (think first open water dive and 2-3m swells with howling winds)
 
Thanks for the info everyone!
With so much information and choices out there, I really wondered if I should at least hold out my break till ADEX where I can collect even more info. Will the diving visible and weather get really bad when Phuket/Phi Phi hits mid-May or even late-May?
 
Will the diving visible and weather get really bad when Phuket/Phi Phi hits mid-May or even late-May?
No, in general the open water training divesites are even better during the low season, because we can also go diving at the East side of Racha Yai, which is in the opinion of most people a lot more attractive than the West Side.

As already mentioned: most of the classes are small anyway, normally it should be possible to find a class of 2 people, and probably even private lessons will be possible for the normal course price.
 
Thanks Stevenl, it's reassuring to hear it from the people staying in Phuket. Now, I should seriously reconsider doing my course in May instead, and as for Songkran, I could always do it during my next year break. Thanks. :wink:
 

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