Time between confined and open water dives?

[Xitesmai]

Is there a time limit that open water dives must be completed after confined water dives. I tried searching for this but came up blank.

The reason I ask is that my wife might not be able to do her OW dives until a month after her CW dives.

Secondly is this a bad idea with regards to "what isnt used isnt remembered?" I would hate for her to fail an OW dive because she has forgotten skills learned in the pool.

Help?

 

[spectrum]

I'm sure the real answer is agency specific but 1 month will not be an issue.

A string of bad weather can easily push many to more than a month.

I would not worry to much about getting rusty. There is room for refreshing and teaching moments in the check-out dives. It's not a draconian pass or fail process. I will say that visualizing in the meantime can be a very powerful tool.

Lastly, if the shop has a progression of classes she may get to jump in the pool with a current class at the last minute to freshen up.

Pete

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, visualization on the skills (and physically go through the motions) and re-read the book. Amazing how that helps.

 

[oly5050user]

Is there a time limit that open water dives must be completed after confined water dives. I tried searching for this but came up blank.

The reason I ask is that my wife might not be able to do her OW dives until a month after her CW dives.

Secondly is this a bad idea with regards to "what isnt used isnt remembered?" I would hate for her to fail an OW dive because she has forgotten skills learned in the pool.

Help?

She has 1 year to complete her training dives. sooner is better, but 1 month should be nothing to worry about. If it is a concern perhaps she is not yet ready for the training dives. After getting the 4 training dives in I would hope that if she stays away from diving for a few months that she would not forget how to dive safely.

 

[tstormdiver]

By SSI's standards, if it has been 6 mos or more since the student went through classroom/ pool sessions, they must go through a refresher course (done free of charge at our shop). If it is a year or more, then the entire course must be repeated.

 

[dwhthediver]

You do have 1 year after taking confined and classroom to do your open water dives, if it going to be a length of time between, I will take students back in the pool for a skills review, before doing the open water dives.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

One month isn't bad. Earlier this year I had a student who did his academic/CW work in April and his checkout dives in August. Although I was a bit concerned with how much he would retain, he did very well during the check-out dives.

It really depends on the individual ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[henryrendleman]

We found out my wife was preg. right before our open water dives. We decided best for her to stay out since there is not enough info on that in the world. She got in the next year and finished after a little refresher in shallows there. No worries with a month.