Looking to get friend certified; first time doing this - can anyone help?

[AlexRD]

So basically I am looking to get a friend certified and want to know the process.

I did a 2 day weekend course, intensive-ish, for both OW and AOW. I did all my pool drills, went to a dive shop, did pool drills again, then all the open water business. I want to help a friend get certified and am unsure of the time commitment for them to get normal open water certified.

What is the process and can anyone give me a bullet point guide through it? I was thinking of doing it in the Grand Cayman or Cozumel.

 

[flyboy08]

PADI or SSI or NAUI! Should take four days for the OW...any shorter you'll have a dangerous diver.

 

[AlexRD]

Looking at PADI; so if I do a 4 day course and want to dive with them is there a way to do that? How long is the non-diving portion where I would be doing my own thing? Sorry for dumb questions, I want to get a friend into diving and realize it could be daunting without a familiar face around

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Why not at home? I'd recommend reading James Lapenta's first book to help guide you/your friend to the training that best suits their needs/wants/preferences.

 

[AlexRD]

I'll take a look I figured I'd get them started on course stuff regardless. I am trying to figure out a trip to Cozumel or Grand Cayman and they expressed interest, I figured why not be a guide

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'll take a look I figured I'd get them started on course stuff regardless. I am trying to figure out a trip to Cozumel or Grand Cayman and they expressed interest, I figured why not be a guide

You really need to interview the instructor. No time spent on the knees is the starting point. I’m probably going to ruffle some feathers, but I’d take recommendations from people. Many will say “oh my instructor was amazing” which translates often to “my instructor told great jokes and told me I am great.” Your friend should be challenged. Too many places, instructors are paid by the cert, they know they’ll probably never see you again, and prioritize beer money (or rent and food) over ensuring their students are solid divers who can plan and execute their own dives instead of just competent enough to follow a guide and not kick the coral more often than every two minutes.

 

[MichaelMc]

In terms of being there for them, doing the classroom work online first would be the best as they can touch base with you on questions. This is the bulk of the non diving portion.

if I do a 4 day course and want to dive with them is there a way to do that? How long is the non-diving portion where I would be doing my own thing?

In terms of confined water, pool, training sessions, I think most instructors would be hesitant to add extra non-student divers to their pool sessions. You are an extra person they do not know that they have to worry about. Talking with your friend between training days/nights would be the most feasible expectation and approach. Or hanging out to the side of the pool deck out of the way. Doing the pool sessions locally would likely be the best, it should give them more time to assimilate between sessions and talk with you. This is likely two days or a few more weekday nights. Spread out is likely better than all compressed.

Absolutely ask about no training on the knees; on your knees is not how you should or want to dive, it is much less fun.

This would leave ocean training dives for vacation, likely more fun use of vacation time than going to the tropics to train in a pool. Again, the instructor may not be happy with an extra, non-professional, body on the training dive. But if they do the dives from a boat, you could likely dive from the boat with a different group, just not part of the small group of instructor and OW students. I was with a group where a girl was doing some AOW checkout dives, but that is different from OW when students are still very new. This is likely two days/mornings.

 

[Wallin's of the Peninsula]

Congratulations on deciding to get certified! It's a whole new and amazing world down there.

PADI or SSI or NAUI! Should take four days for the OW...any shorter you'll have a dangerous diver.

Yes, this. Or even 5 days. Yelp reviews can help as a good shop will often have good instructors, but not always.

 

[TMHeimer]

All good advice. Personal experience assisting with courses tells me the TWO weekend course crams an awful lot into a short period of time. OK for some, not for others. I took OW over 3 weeks with some classroom & pool twice weekly and days in between to absorb what we did. Then the weekend checkout ocean dives. Seemed good to me.
Instructors I've talked to vary on the pros and cons of e learning. Personally I think it would've been an excellent choice for a guy like me (had it been available back in 2005). Lots of threads on this somewhere.

 

[tursiops]

If you want to spend time with your friend in Grand Cayman or Cozumel or wherever, then your best bet is for them to do all the classroom and pool stuff at home, and get a "referral" to the vacation spot for the OW dives. That will take two days for the OW dives, and then you'll be able to dive together. You can do the at-home stuff with any PADI shop, but as you've been advised here, don't do it on the cheap; spend enough to get a good instructor with a lot of pool time. Do it as a private class if necessary. But ask about the pool work: "Is it on the knees on the bottom, or neutrally-buoyant in mid-water?" If they don't understand your question, find another shop/instructor. If they hem and haw, find another shop/instructor. If they say, "On the bottom, of course," find another shop/instructor. If they smile and say "mid-water" and look at your like you are special, then you've found your shop/instructor.