Most useful specialty courses

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Too bad I didn't realize that before going all the way to RD on the PADI ladder.

Because I'm definitely not a "vacation diver".
Didn’t mean it as only good for vacation clearly.

Please don’t take offence.
 
Would you recommend I do rescue sooner than later or is it better to have done several regular dives before going back and doing rescue? I'd probably try to do the CPR/first aid stuff at home to cut down on the length of the course. I have prior emergency medical training so the medical portion will be pretty quick for me to get through.

If it were me, I’d get more dives under your belt. Depending on the instructor, it can be a challenging course. I think I had maybe 50 dive or so before I took it. Of course everyone is different but that worked for me.
 
The reason I didn't do buoyancy as part of my advance class was that the instructors opinion was that we will be working on buoyancy on every dive, so he merged it into the other dive classes and he would critique our buoyancy and go over the different kicks and proper positioning, breathing techniques etc.

Are you familiar with interference theory? Buoyancy/trim/proper weighting and placement, body mechanics are just so critical in my opinion is that they should not be mixed with anything else.
 
Diver Stress & Rescue or Search & Recovery. Both very good and kinda overlap. If you’re of the Scout mindset (Always be prepared) you will enjoy the course and be a diving asset during group dives. Also there is a SSI course called Perfect Buoyancy. My dive shop gives the course for free with any SSI scuba course. You might want to see if your dive shop will throw Perfect Buoyancy in for free if paying for a specialty course. Though perfect buoyancy is mastered the more time you spend in the water. I’m lucky to live down south where either you have a pool or at the very least your HOA clubhouse has a pool.
 
Diver Stress & Rescue or Search & Recovery. Both very good and kinda overlap. If you’re of the Scout mindset (Always be prepared) you will enjoy the course and be a diving asset during group dives. Also there is a SSI course called Perfect Buoyancy. My dive shop gives the course for free with any SSI scuba course. You might want to see if your dive shop will throw Perfect Buoyancy in for free if paying for a specialty course. Though perfect buoyancy is mastered the more time you spend in the water. I’m lucky to live down south where either you have a pool or at the very least your HOA clubhouse has a pool.

Hmm I will look into whether or not there are any SSI schools that will throw perfect buoyancy in. With these non-professional courses is there any reason to pick PADI over SSI or vice versa? I did my OW with PADI but my Advanced Adventurer/Nitrox with SSI. Wasn't sure if there is any benefit in committing to one program or another for my other specialty courses going forward.
 
Hmm I will look into whether or not there are any SSI schools that will throw perfect buoyancy in. With these non-professional courses is there any reason to pick PADI over SSI or vice versa? I did my OW with PADI but my Advanced Adventurer/Nitrox with SSI. Wasn't sure if there is any benefit in committing to one program or another for my other specialty courses going forward.
Cost could be a factor, but honestly it should always come down to the instructors. When you think about it the course book learning and exams with all agencies are pretty much the exact same. The instructors are what matter. ie there classroom teaching, stories, and water instruction.
 
Hi @Jryan1204

So you have 13 dives, 9 training and 4 fun. You're nitrox certified and have AOW, in case an operator wants it. Go diving and practice your skills before more training. Some of the suggestions are just so SB. Glad you did not ask what gear to buy :)
 
Cost could be a factor, but honestly it should always come down to the instructors. When you think about it the course book learning and exams with all agencies are pretty much the exact same. The instructors are what matter. ie there classroom teaching, stories, and water instruction.

Hmm, I went with SSI for the advanced because of cost. The instructor was actually certified to teach both PADI and SSI and gave us the option of which certification we wanted, but PADI would have cost an extra $75 for the same exact course. I will always base my decision on the instructors and school though, because there is just too much risk if you deal with people who cut corners or have equipment that is not properly maintained. Just didn't know if there was any other reason to try to focus on one organization vs another.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom