What is "confined water?"

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Kingpatzer

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The PADI Instructor Manual breaks up the open water training into confined water and open water dives.

I get that 'confined water,' is the pool work. But can/is it more than that? Does 'confined water' simply mean 'swimming pool,' or is there a broader definition that would apply to some natural bodies of water?
 
Because not everyone has access to swimming pools, PADI allows confined water activities to be accomplished in either pools or "confined open water", which is open water with very benign conditions. But since the latter is still open water, they sometimes change ratios etc. So when reading standards, carefully watch for whether they say confined water or confined open water.

For definitions of confined water and confined open water, look in General Standards and Procedures under Confined Water Training (page 10, at the top).

If you don't have access to an Instructor Manual yet, PM me and I can provide you the quote.
 
From the Instructor Manual....

Confined water is defined as a: 1) swimming pool or 2) confined open water which
is an open water site that offers swimming-pool-like conditions with respect to clarity,
calmness, and depth. Confined water is a general term that refers to either a
pool or confined open water site.
1. The depth of the confined water site used for a particular session must allow
student divers to meet all performance requirements outlined for that session.
2. If you conduct confined water training sessions in a confined open water area,
the confined water sessions cannot be combined with open water training dives.
After a confined water session, student divers must leave the water and remove
their equipment before beginning any open water training dive activities.
 
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