Anything simpler than Open Water?

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Go for the whole enchilada -- Its not difficult and may help you deal with an unforeseen circumstance at 10 feet deep; later down the line.

 

[Minnesota Cricket]

FWIW, I did my OW with SSI back in 2003. A few years later my wife did hers with PADI. Based on what she was doing I agree with most here that there was not a whole lot different between the two.

 

[Diver0001]

I've heard that I only have 1 year to complete all the objectives before my class expires and I'd have to start again. It's looking like that's just not enough time to get those all done.

You should double check this. I'm not an SSI instructor but the PADI system has a similar rule. However, this '1 year' rule only applies to the situation where you take a break. The BREAK can't be any longer than a year, not the course. There's no time limit on the course.

Again I'm not an SSI instructor but SSI is a copy-cat that is basically the PADI system that is just different enough to avoid a copyright infringement and it would surprise me to hear that you must finish the course on any kind of a time line, notwithstanding breaks in training.

R..

 

[tursiops]

You should double check this. I'm not an SSI instructor but the PADI system has a similar rule. However, this '1 year' rule only applies to the situation where you take a break. The BREAK can't be any longer than a year, not the course. There's no time limit on the course.

Again I'm not an SSI instructor but SSI is a copy-cat that is basically the PADI system that is just different enough to avoid a copyright infringement and it would surprise me to hear that you must finish the course on any kind of a time line, notwithstanding breaks in training.

R..

For PDI, the 12-month limit is from the most recent training, not the first training. So if he could get another pool training session -- not self-practice session -- it would reset his clock.

 

[yle]

OP is not happy, so go somewhere else. But from the wording of my comment, i aimed to show it was toungue in cheek. In fact, I started with PADI, and switched to SSI, entirely because I liked the education And extra practice opportunity I got with the SSI LDS.

Sounds like an example of confusing the policies of a particular shop with the standards established by the cert agency. If the LDS gave you extra practice, I doubt that was mandated by SSI standards. Some PADI shops are also willing to provide extra practice.

It's a shop thing, not an agency thing.

 

[Bob DBF]

Anything simpler than Open Water?

No, nothing is simpler than open water.

I want to be able to get my tanks filled and go down 5-10 feet in the pool and those shallow lakes with my dive buddy and that's it.

You need an OW card in order to get tanks filled. This was not the case when I started diving and I avoided this for years, until I had to dive outside my local area and needed the card. 17 years of diving and in an OW class, priceless.


Bob

 

[1LE]

It seems the OP has had a lot of "open time" practicing in the pool, but has had a hard time coordinating his schedule with the instructor's schedule and the weather to find the right day to go to the quarry.

This. All the pool training, class work, and written test were done a long while ago. The shop is great and offers all the extra practice time you want, and we've done TONS of that as the shop is just a few minutes from the house. Easy to pop over there for a couple hours and then zip home. No issues with any of the skills. Getting the big block of time to hit the quarry (which is a bit of a drive) at the same time we have usable weather and an instructor is the issue.

Realized that I have no real interest other than the local shallow lakes that friends have cottages on. We're getting older and don't do real trips/vacations any more, so won't be doing any exotic dive destination or anything. So, thought I'd see if there was an easier way to get finished up/certified for what we'll actually use. Even if it meant starting over once. What I really do NOT want to do is to end up re-starting year after year and never getting to dive at all for real because I'm not able to get the quarry dives done. Diving's just not *that* important to me. I just like to swim around a few feet down without having to continually surface. If it takes a turn from fun to work, I've got plenty of other hobbies as well as a distinct shortage of time. I want diving to be one of the hobbies, but there's a certain pain threshold where it would not be worth it.

 

[cburgert]

At 10 might as well just free dive.

 

[cburgert]

10 feet that is.

 

[hroark2112]

When I got back into diving after a 25 year hiatus I told my local shop & instructor that I had no desire to go below 50'. I look back at that now and just laugh.

OW is like training wheels. You can go without a dive pro, but it is recommended that you keep your depth to above 60' and that you dive in conditions that approximate your training conditions while you build up experience and skill.