Codiak
Contributor
Unless you're a solo diver you and your buddy are a team - it's that simple.
I've been solo with so many pickup "buddies" it makes me sick.
To the original poster:
The term DiveCon implies this is an SSI shop, regardless the agency this person's comments do not reflect training standards. That the comments were made, even if in jest, reflects poor judgement on the speakers part and you were wise to select another dive operations.
Your desire to audit the class shows good judgement as well though I would suggest that you do more than just audit. If your not up to repeating an OW Scuba class, on even just doing book work, perhaps a scuba refresher course would be something that would be of interest. Even better you could start working toward a more advanced certification as the basics are always reviewed and you'll a great opertunity to ask questions. Considering you certified at a resort, I'm going to make a big leap here and guess you certified under PADI making AOW (Advanced Open Water) the next logical certification. You can find their online classes at www.padi.com/elearning/
Don't be concerned if you can't specifically find a PADI shop (Should not be an issue) as inter agency training is common. I've cross trained with PADI, SSI, NAUI, SDI and TDI and have enjoyed every class.
The trick is find an instructor you TRUST!