My PADI Open Water Experience

[T Mogle]

Hope you don't have to wait all that time. My wife and I were dive buddies when we first started. w.

Thank you for good advice!

It is not so bad. We are offshore and coastal sailors with our on yacht. Sailing only two-handed. Done so for the last ten years. Diving is something I would like to take on. Nice activities when we are on anchor somewhere. I still think I need a solo diver mentality.

 

[Dubious]

My dive buddy will quickly become my wife. It scares me.

I think doing the class and planning future dives with my wife has been great for our marriage. It is the first hobby we started together. What has not been so great is the expenses!

 

[Marie13]

I think doing the class and planning future dives with my wife has been great for our marriage. It is the first hobby we started together. What has not been so great is the expenses!

Haha! Everything times two! Just wait on the drysuit bills if you ever get serious about diving locally!

 

[T Mogle]

What has not been so great is the expenses!

We can only hope the scuba industry take on "Bye one get one free".

Or even better: "Bye one, get one for your wife!"

 

[loosenit2]

As my wife and I went through all of the material, we felt that it would have been much better to take a class that covered a section at a time. We found it strange that we not only read about theory but also watched videos about the water skills we would need to complete. We found it even stranger that the manual and videos build off of each other. It seemed to us that the class was meant to be completed over several weekends instead of one.

This particular statement is a highly insightful one. My daughter finished OW last fall and her training was very similar. Do all the book work and watch the videos before you begin any of the pool work. That is a much different methodology than I was trained with 20 years ago. When I was trained we would do a section, do the pool work associated with that section and then begin the next section. Yes that made the training take longer but it accomplished two things. 1. The pool work reinforced the learning. The act of physically doing something reinforced the reading and cemented it in my mind. 2. Getting in the pool was exciting and it was something I looked forward to every week, in other words it generated excitement for diving. My daughter, much like Dubious, was a bit overwhelmed by all the reading and really struggled to maintain enthusiasm. It wasn't until we started doing pool work that she got excited.

I realize the reasons most shops don't teach this way. It takes more time, not everyone wants to make the time commitment of 5-6 sessions for classwork and pool work, pressure to churn out students on the production line etc; but, I think there is real value in this more methodical teaching methodology. I wish more shops would offer folks a choice and explain the choice they are making.

 

[TMHeimer]

This particular statement is a highly insightful one. My daughter finished OW last fall and her training was very similar. Do all the book work and watch the videos before you begin any of the pool work. That is a much different methodology than I was trained with 20 years ago. When I was trained we would do a section, do the pool work associated with that section and then begin the next section. Yes that made the training take longer but it accomplished two things. 1. The pool work reinforced the learning. The act of physically doing something reinforced the reading and cemented it in my mind. 2. Getting in the pool was exciting and it was something I looked forward to every week, in other words it generated excitement for diving. My daughter, much like Dubious, was a bit overwhelmed by all the reading and really struggled to maintain enthusiasm. It wasn't until we started doing pool work that she got excited.

I realize the reasons most shops don't teach this way. It takes more time, not everyone wants to make the time commitment of 5-6 sessions for classwork and pool work, pressure to churn out students on the production line etc; but, I think there is real value in this more methodical teaching methodology. I wish more shops would offer folks a choice and explain the choice they are making.

I took a similar 3 week type classroom course in 2005 and found it very good. Much better that the weekend courses I later assisted on--glad I didn't do that type myself (a lot in 2 days). I do also like the e learning idea though, as I'm sure it succeeds in letting the student progress at their own rate. When I was a school teacher in the '80s I actually was thinking something like e learning would be great for some courses, eliminating wasted time in the classroom (if you know the work but others don't--Or if you don't get the concept and need more review).
In an ideal world, e learning mixed with spaced out pool sessions (when you are ready for them after each "chapter") would be ideal. That would have to be a one on one course and very costly I would guess. Can't have everything.

 

[D_Fresh]

Or even better: "Bye one, get one for your wife!"

Oh that sale runs 24/7 - 365, only problem is it says nothing about included or reduced....

But really, great write up. I've enjoyed reading through. Please rest assured that things should improve very quickly once you're making some real dives. I would recommend doing AOW (if it interests you) after a few OW dives. Mostly because it will give you an opportunity to work on whatever you feel necessary with an instructor again. It will expand upon what (I understand) you're looking to achieve.

My girlfriend will be doing her OW soon, so I'm definitely taking note of some of your experiences.

Cheers, good luck, and welcome to diving!

 

[Dubious]

But really, great write up. I've enjoyed reading through. Please rest assured that things should improve very quickly once you're making some real dives. I would recommend doing AOW (if it interests you) after a few OW dives.

Thanks. I really had no idea what to expect . I have since read similar experiences on here. As for AOW, we are scheduled for it in July. The plan is to get in more dives before than.

We realized that we are much more likely to get out and dive if we have our own equipment. I have everything except a tank. Looking at a few used steel 100 right now. I may drop the dive rite I bought and get the same regulator set we ordered my wife

We are waiting for the APEKS xtx50 set we ordered for my wife. Still trying to find her a used 7mm but might just have to buy new. We also need some tanks for her as well.

 

[mac66]

Man, your OW class was so much different from mine. I didn't have to buy any gear up front. Everything was provided. The instructor provided a link to bootleg copies of the PADI videos, no books or online study. After getting hooked up with equipment we were in the pool off and on Saturday morning for about 4 hours, then a debrief. On Sunday morning, back in the pool doing skill testing then a couple hours of classroom time and taking the test, then a question by question review of the test.

I did my OW cert referral dives on two Caribbean islands a couple months later while on a cruise. The two different instructors retested me on all the stuff I needed to know but I was well prepared. The dives were like regular dives, in warm water, on ship wrecks. Easy peasy and a great experience.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Man, your OW class was so much different from mine. I didn't have to buy any gear up front. Everything was provided. The instructor provided a link to bootleg copies of the PADI videos, no books or online study. .

PADI has cracked down on that. They want to ensure that students have paid for training materials.