PADI confined and open water skills list

[TSandM]

Don't let posts by people who have had problems deter you. It's not uncommon for students to have problems with one skill or another . . . if they never did, why would they need instructors? Part of why we're there is to help you learn to do all these things, and do them comfortably and without stress. Some things may sound impossible, but I think you'll find that, as they are sequentially introduced, you can master them with little difficulty.

 

[Colliam7]

what are the skills we'll need to perform for the confined and open water portions?

My shop colleague (Easdem) has provided the CW skill list. I have excerpted, below, the OW skill list, which is similar, as you will see.

PADI OW Diver
Dive-Flexible Skills
Surface:
· Cramp Removal
· Tired Diver Tow (25 metres/yards)
· Straight Line Surface (Snorkel) Swim With Compass (50 metres/yards)
· Snorkel/Regulator Exchange
· Remove and Replace Weight System and Scuba Unit.
Underwater:
· Safety Stop
· Compass Navigation (out and back)
· Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA)

Dive 1
At the surface:
1. Put on and adjust equipment.
2. Perform a predive safety check.
3. Adjust weighting.
Underwater:
4. Controlled descent using a descent line or sloping bottom contour

Dive 2
At the surface:
1. Plan dive with dive computer or RDP.
2. Put on and adjust equipment.
3. Perform a predive safety check.
4. Adjust weighting.
5. Establish buoyancy by removing weights using the quick release mechanism.
Underwater:
6. Five point descent (reference line or bottom reference, no deeper than 40 feet)
7. Establish neutral buoyancy (BCD or dry suit) with the low pressure inflator.
8. Clear a partially flooded mask
9. Clear a fully flooded mask
10. Recover and clear the regulator at depth
11. Out of air skills (alternate air source use) – donor and receiver
12. Alternate air source ascent (either donor or receiver)
13. Five point ascent

Dive 3
At the surface:
1. Plan dive with dive computer or RDP.
2. Put on and adjust equipment.
3. Perform a predive safety check.
4. Adjust weighting.
Underwater:
5. Five point descent using a visual reference
6. Establish neutral buoyancy by inflating the BCD orally.
7. Clear a fully flooded mask.
8. Five point ascent

Dive 4
At the surface:
1. Plan dive with dive computer or RDP.
2. Put on and adjust equipment.
3. Perform a predive safety check.
4. Adjust weighting.
Underwater:
5. Five point descent - no visual reference (no deeper than 18 metres/60 feet).
6. Hover using buoyancy control, without kicking or sculling.
7. Remove, replace and clear the mask.
8. Five point ascent

I read a thread about the "don and doff" skill and that scares the heck out of me.

The don and doff thread that I think you are referring to involved doffing the scuba unit (and mask and fins) at the bottom of the pool, swimming to the surface, then descending and donning the gear again. That type of skill is not performed in the PADI OW course. You WILL learn how to remove and replace the scuba unit, and the weight system, underwater, and at the surface. But, underwater, your reg is always in your mouth.

The doff and don skilll is actually fun to perform, but there are reasons that it is generally no longer included in the initial Open Water programs.

do they tell tell you everything or do they keep some things a secret to test your abilities with a surprise skill?

No surprises. Open Water instruction is not a game, it does not involve tricks, and you won't be set up to fail by having unexpected skills thrown at you. The purpose of the course is to prepare you to dive safely, by providing training in the necessary skills and them having you demonstrate, in open water, that you have mastered them.

 

[boulderjohn]

. Do shops usually tell you everything or do they keep some things a secret to test your abilities with a surprise skill?

One of the things I tell my students is that this is very much different from what most people experience in school.

In school, teachers teach a topic for a specified length of time and then measure how much you learned during that time. They will frequently put "gotchas" into the assessments to try to make sure a certain percentage of students get low enough grades that they cannot be accused of grade inflation. If they do a superb job and teach all the students so well that they are all successful, then people see that as a sign that they are bad teachers with low standards. If they do a really crappy job so that none of the students learn much and most of them fail, many people see that as a sign that they are good, solid teachers with high and uncompromising standards. In such a system, students learn to hide their deficiencies so that they will not be held against them on the final grade. (BTW, as an educator by career, I deplore that style of education but realize that it is in many cases the norm.)

In scuba instruction, the instructor does not have a set period of time, at least, they're not supposed to. They are supposed to teach you until you do well on every skill and know all the academic material well, however long that takes. If you do not succeed, they must reteach you until do succeed. Having "gotchas" on an assessment would be counterproductive. Scuba students should not hide lack of understanding and inability but should rather bring those misunderstandings forward so that the instructor can more easily help the student understand. A skilled instructor is expected to keep working with a student until the student succeeds or decides that scuba is not in his or her future. A skilled instructor should therefore have a very high success rate, and only the poorest of instructors will have a high failure rate.

 

[Heatheroe]

Thanks for all of the responses! Especially Easdem and Colliam7 for the list of skills. I kind of like to know what's coming next. I don't know why, I just do.
The more I think about it the more I think we should hire a private instructor. We'll see. We live in Gastonia, NC but will be looking for a shop in Charlotte most likely.
I have the SDI manual from a few years ago and I don't remember it listing the skills. It may, haven't looked at it since our last botched attempt.
It's really funny to read "in water too deep to stand" because the 1st time we tried to get certified the shop owner had us in an outdoor hotel pool that was only 5 feet deep. Four out of five of us aborted because of the poor conditions of the pool and weather issues. We need to get on this soon. We're hoping to dive on a trip in July. Thanks again!

 

[boulderjohn]

It's really funny to read "in water too deep to stand" because the 1st time we tried to get certified the shop owner had us in an outdoor hotel pool that was only 5 feet deep.

Same thing happened to me when I certified. It's good to ask about things like that ahead of time.

 

[TMHeimer]

Heatheroe, Hawkwood & Easdem have given all the info. needed. I will add that I got my manuel 2 months ahead of class and studied it a lot. Had no problems. If you like, you can look around the internet for PADI videos, as I believe there is some stuff out there that wasn't there when I started. But this is probably not something you need. As well, instructors tend to vary slightly in how they require each skill to be done, so you may wind up memorizing something that is slightly different that what your instructor may demonstrate-- ei. there are different Deep Water Entries, and you may be taught this one or that. All within standards, of course. I can't myself recall anything taught by my inctructor that differed from the book, but it was a while ago.

 

[261311]

Once you get the material to read, read through it and write down any questions you may have so you can address them if they haven't been covered during the modules of your course. As per skills, much as I love to say "practice", without knowing how yet through instruction, don't. Bad habits are harder to get rid of if you've already established them. The skills are relatively easy to grasp (not necessarily master, that takes practice) if you have a relative amount of confidence in and under water so if you have a snorkel and a place to swim, I'd recommend just getting some time in below the water without a mask to just feel at home in the environment. It sounds weird but we're not supposed to be there and a lot of anxiety people seem to have from skills is the unfamiliarity to the part of staying under water.

While reading through everyone's problems and accidents are important for awareness, don't stress yourself out you could have none of the problems you're reading about and have a blast, just remember if you do have issues you're not alone and don't be embarassed. If you have a question, speak up. Outside of class it's your life and when your life is on the line the only dumb question is the one that wasn't asked.

 

[starelf]

I got my OW on Mar 26th. During the course, all specific skills about diving will be well interpreted and practised under coach's supervision. So I think you do not need to prepare that before your course.
What you need to be prepared is some general swimming skills. You need to choose to swimming without equipments for 200m or swimming with snorkel and fins for 300m. And you also have to have the ability to stay on the surf of sea without any equipments and assistance for 10mins. I think that's all you need to get ready before your course.
Wish you have a nice OW learning experience.