Nitrox cert company,

[The Chairman]

Here in Bonaire where i certified 9 divers on nitrox for free. It’s something I do for every Invasion or Surge.

 

[tursiops]

Same here. When I lead a trip, a Nitrox class is free if needed. The students pay for training materials or on-line, their choice, but the class/hands-on time and the cert card are free.

 

[KeithG]

Is the problem with this company that they are shady or is it simply because they are offering a Nitrox course on line?
Is PADI instructing PADI affiliated dive shops not to honor this training and to refuse nitrox fills an attempt by PADI to maintain standards in the industry or an attempt to limit competition, especially competition that substantially under cuts their prices?

Scuba training certificates (c cards) are just that. A training certificate. They are not a license. When you travel the dive operator you use is totally free to decide which training agencies they recognize. A 5 star PADI approved resort will obviously honour PADI c cards.

Ralph's dive shop is free to accept or deny any c card they choose. In general they only accept cards from well known training agencies. The definition of well known varies.

 

[JohnN]

While nitrox is not particularly scary (so long as you know and follow the rules), it is important to get proper training on it.

There is no reputable agency that will allow you to do this entirely on line AFAIK.

Way back when, I was able to take a TDI Nitrox on-line course (without any dives) That no longer seems to be an option. . . pity . . .

 

[BoltSnap]

My Nitrox course (NAUI) is about 16 hours of classroom time and includes 4 dives (over two days). The students must demonstrate their ability to plan their dives and their nitrox mix based on depth/MOD/Best Mix. They must also demonstrate efficiency with using dive tables and dive computers (we provide dive computers for the students in all of our courses in addition to dive tables) for planning and executing the dives using the mix they need to use based on their intended depth. The student must show mastery of their working knowledge of calculating "Best Mix," "MOD," "EAD," and the rest of the concepts presented in the course.

In my view, not requiring dives in the openwater for the nitrox course is like not requiring dives in openwater for the entry level scuba course. I believe that the students must show their ability to use all of the concepts they learned in the course, any course, in the planning and execution of their dives in openwater conditions using these concepts. Anything else is just trying to push more people through the mill in the shortest time possible with the least effort for the least cost and most profit (to the agency and instructor) all which I abhor and certainly disagree with entirely.

 

[tursiops]

Way back when, I was able to take a TDI Nitrox on-line course (without any dives) That no longer seems to be an option. . . pity . . .

Why do you think it is not still available?
TDI | SDI | TDI | ERDI

 

[JohnN]

Why do you think it is not still available?
TDI | SDI | TDI | ERDI

I looked at the TDI site and found this:
How to take this course?

• Available as an Online Course: Start eLearning today!
• Find an Instructor for this Course
• Find your local Dive Center: here
• Course Cost: $139.95 USD for eLearning only. Pool and open water training not included. Contact your local dive shop for full course cost.

Looks like they're no longer allowing on-line only

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I looked at the TDI site and found this:
How to take this course?

• Available as an Online Course: Start eLearning today!
• Find an Instructor for this Course
• Find your local Dive Center: here
• Course Cost: $139.95 USD for eLearning only. Pool and open water training not included. Contact your local dive shop for full course cost.

Looks like they're no longer allowing online only

It never was completely online. To complete the class you had to find a TDI Instructor to get together with and analyze cylinders at a minimum and go over the quiz you took. Then the instructor would send in the final paperwork and order the cert card. Dives are optional. I'm teaching a TDI Nitrox class tomorrow. But I'm doing the full class with them. Good things dives are not needed. I don't have a saw to get through the ice :=)
Currently, I'm the only TDI Instructor in my part of the state it seems.

 

[Steve_C]

My Nitrox course (NAUI) is about 16 hours of classroom time and includes 4 dives (over two days). The students must demonstrate their ability to plan their dives and their nitrox mix based on depth/MOD/Best Mix. They must also demonstrate efficiency with using dive tables and dive computers (we provide dive computers for the students in all of our courses in addition to dive tables) for planning and executing the dives using the mix they need to use based on their intended depth. The student must show mastery of their working knowledge of calculating "Best Mix," "MOD," "EAD," and the rest of the concepts presented in the course.

All of this is done out of the water.

In my view, not requiring dives in the openwater for the nitrox course is like not requiring dives in openwater for the entry level scuba course. I believe that the students must show their ability to use all of the concepts they learned in the course, any course, in the planning and execution of their dives in openwater conditions using these concepts. Anything else is just trying to push more people through the mill in the shortest time possible with the least effort for the least cost and most profit (to the agency and instructor) all which I abhor and certainly disagree with entirely.

Please explain what the student in doing in the water that is required for the course? I dive Nitrox all the time. Other than getting different numbers out of the computer it is like any other dive.

Like a lot of folks in this area, we get the tanks filled in our home town. Dives are a couple hours away and are frequently canceled and the tanks used on a later dive. So best mix is based on the deepest dives I could possibly do over the next couple of months.

 

[ljpm]

In my view, not requiring dives in the openwater for the nitrox course is like not requiring dives in openwater for the entry level scuba course. I believe that the students must show their ability to use all of the concepts they learned in the course, any course, in the planning and execution of their dives in openwater conditions using these concepts.

Are the dives so that you can verify they breath the various concentrations of O2 correctly?