New Diver Logs

[krbailey]

Should my OW class dives be logged? My last cert dive was logged by my instructor (I had 3 instructors during my OW dives), but I didn't releaize that my other dives might need to be logged. I have received my C-card and plan to do my AOW at the end of the month. I need at least 20 dives for a volunteer project I am interested in and those extra 4 dives will put me over that limit.

I realize that it is not the number of dives you do, but how well you put the skills you have learned to use during them that counts.

I plan to have my AOW instructor evaluate my skills with respect to the volunteer project requirements and consider his evaluation in my decision.


Are there any rules/guidelines for this?

Thanks!

Cozumel in 13 days!!

 

[UndrWatrDan]

Congratulations on your certification. I always have my students log their lake OW dives, not the pool sessions, and I sign off on them and mark the skills they complete on each dive. Some people do not log dives, but if you desire to pursue advanced certifications, a minimum number of logged dives to begin and complete the cert may be required. I've been logging my dives since I became certified and will continue to log them.

 

[fisherdvm]

My confined water dives (pool) were not counted. My OW and AOW open water dives were counted- at least this is PADI.

My son's SSI OW dives were counted, it was "prenumbered" on the top. Even his silly snorkeling excursion was counted as a dive! (bunch of nonsense in my book).

 

[Damselfish]

There aren't really hard and fast rules about logging dives. But as far as OW cert dives, they're real dives that can and should be logged.

 

[muddiver]

 

[Ron Brandt]

Yep,Log all dives !

Ron

 

[muddiver]

You are going to get a wide range of opinions from "only log dives deeper than 20 feet that are atleast 20 minutes long" to "any dive in clorinated water is not loggable" or "log what ever you want to log".

Any time you subject yourself to a hyperbarric environment while breathing a compressed gas you have made a "loggable" dive. Therefore, I include chamber runs, training dives in swimming pools, training dives in shallow water, inspection (working) dives in swimming pools and any dive in the ocean or freshwater. It does depend on why you want to keep a log. If it is just for personal enjoyment then log the fish you saw and call it good. If you are serious about keeping a recod of your physical exposure to nitorgen loading and other diving medical stuff, log everything. It's up to you.

But don't expect an instructor to accept your pool dives or possably any dives before completion of your basic SCUBA as qualification for a higher certification. Most will give you a rational or agency standard why they don't count (i.e. the infamous PADI 20'/:20 rule).

 

[Damselfish]

I wouldn't expect a pool dive, and certainly not a chamber dive, to "count" towards anything that requires a particular number of dives. For someone that wants to log these for informational purposes, one approach is to log but not number them.

By definition, cert dives are supposed to be of a depth and time that they are within what "counts" as a dive, assuming standards were met, no? But since it's not like some magic switch gets flipped at 20 dives anyway, well if it's that close well do some more dives, or talk to the people with the volunteer thing, or get your instructor to talk to them. Your instructors opinion of your diving for whatever the program is ought to be more meaningful than dive count, at least in an ideal world. I'd think the OP will have enough after Coz anyway, if they're so close. (What's the volunteer thing anyway, what's the rush?)

 

[krbailey]

I only plan on logging my Open Water dives. Thanks for the info!!

 

[krbailey]

I'd think the OP will have enough after Coz anyway, if they're so close. (What's the volunteer thing anyway, what's the rush?)

I have an window of opportunity to volunteer at the local aquarium assisting with tank maintenance, habitat repair etc. I have 11 dives planned for my Cozumel trip, including my AOW class, which would put me at 24 (still a noob!), but you can't count your dives 'til you're wet!