PADI open water - seeking private refresher course

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euroguycc

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Messages
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Location
Los Angeles, CA
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Hi,

looking for a private open water scuba instructor for a refresher course.

indeed, having had my first pool session on 7/18 and going to my first open water boat diving session this coming Sunday 8/9, I would feel better going over the basics one on one with an instructor before then.

Any recommendations or suggestions about finding someone?
 
I would contact your instructor/shop and tell them you would like some more pool time
 
Hi,

looking for a private open water scuba instructor for a refresher course.

indeed, having had my first pool session on 7/18 and going to my first open water boat diving session this coming Sunday 8/9, I would feel better going over the basics one on one with an instructor before then.

Any recommendations or suggestions about finding someone?

Have you tried a google search. I hired a PADI private instructor last year while in Bonaire to get my AOW. This is the way to go for the OW certification as well. This way you can dictate the schedule.
 
I would contact your instructor/shop and tell them you would like some more pool time

This. Have you thought about delaying your check out dives to get some more pool sessions in with your instructor if you feel unprepared? That said, I did not feel prepared before my open water checkout dives even though my instructor signed off on everything. The only difference was my confined water dives were the week before my open water dives.
 
Also, living in Canada I did my O/W pool component in the winter and then went down to Curacao for my 5 dives in the early spring. About a 3 month gap. I was concerned about whether I remembered everything and so on. I YouTubed refreshers and focused on gear set-up the most. All PADI instructors that I have had have been excellent. A good PADI instructor will guide you through the exercises at your pace. Also, ask questions, lots of questions. Plan the dive, it's fun. Go slow, go easy and stay safe. A relax state underwater, is a safe state. Enjoy and smell the roses. Note that I was so concerned about how much air I had, the direction I was going and my trim that I forgot to look at the pretty fishees and environment. Don't worry if this is you, as time will increase your comfort level. Most of us when we first started shared these common experiences. Call it underwater initiation.
 
I would echo the advice to call the shop where you're doing the course. I know Pacific Wilderness in San Pedro offers refresher pool courses for certified divers for only $50 including the use of equipment, though there might be an extra fee for a private or on-demand course, and I'm not sure what they'd say to someone midway through their OW cert. But they're generally affordable and accommodating, and since they have their own pool in the shop that makes things pretty simple.
 
Hi,

looking for a private open water scuba instructor for a refresher course.

indeed, having had my first pool session on 7/18 and going to my first open water boat diving session this coming Sunday 8/9, I would feel better going over the basics one on one with an instructor before then.

Any recommendations or suggestions about finding someone?

If you're in the middle of your OW course and you want an instructor to essentially act as a "tutor" (i.e. give you extra help outside of your class...), you'll likely find this difficult to arrange. This is because of the liability involved. Scuba agencies (PADI, SSI, etc) have rigid standards for their instructors, and there isn't really any allowance for free-form help for non-certified divers (in the way you could hire a tutor for a regular academic class.)

If an instructor that is not part of your OW course wants to take you in a pool for practice, they'll at least have to ask you to sign up for a "Discover Scuba" course. This is so that the instructor is covered for liability by following standards.

As others have said here, the best option that you have is to ask your shop where you are taking the OW course to give you more time in the pool. If you have had only one pool session, and then a three week gap with nothing, and then an OW dive, you are perfectly justified in asking the shop for more pool time. Instructors should want their students to have as much pool time as necessary to feel comfortable before going to the ocean... it's better for the student and the instructor and the rest of the class, because it minimizes the chance of problems during the dive.

If the shop refuses to allow you more pool time, you might want to consider cutting your losses and finding a different shop.
 
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