what were your first certifications?

[kathydee]

OW class was a whim while on vacation. Logged 36 dives in 2 years then fell in love with scuba in May 2008. First 200 dives were in warm water and most guided by instructors or DM's.

It was around dive 100, that I asked the DIR divers to help me transition to independant local cold water diving. Needless to say, in the next 340 dives they taught me a whole lot more than I expected ;-). Thanks!

Jun 2006 Padi OW

July 2008 Padi AOW

Jan 2009 Padi Rescue

March 2009 Padi Nitrox

April 2009 Padi Drysuit

Oct 2009 UTD Essentials

Feb 2010 GUE Fundementals (rec pass)

Jun 2010 GUE Fundementals (tech pass) & spent some time in the caverns with GUE instructors learning pre-cave skills / will head back soon for more.

I hope to take GUE Cave 1 mid 2011 with Danny

And someday I think I'd like to give GUE Rec3/ or T1 a try & maybe learn to dive wrecks - but I'm taking it slow & not in any hurry ;-).

 

[tstocum]

I remember as a little kid seeing scuba divers in the water during my hometown's annual river float for charity. I remember thinking how cool it was to see the diver descend and resurface a 100+ feet away. Since then I wanted to be a diver. So shortly after my then wife and I split, I signed up for the open water course.

Padi OW - Aug 1995
Padi AOW - Sept 1995
Nitrox - Aug 2010
Night diver - Sept 2010
PPB - Sept 2010
U/W Naturalist - Sept 2010
Equip Specialist - Oct 2010

Rescue starts Sunday.

I'll probably continue to take additional classes over the years to continue to experience new areas of diving, but after rescue I think I'll just dive for a year or so and work on improving my skills.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Fist several dives - Uncertified - early 1976: This was not uncommon "back in the day" to have a "friend/mentor" take you diving.

PADI - "Scuba Diver" - late 1976: This was the basic certification back then. It was a longer class than the current PADI OW.

PADI - "AOW" - 2007: I did it when my kids were first certified (I had them do OW and then a few months later AOW).

I waited many years (and many dives ) between "certifications".

Most of the classes/training offered today did not exist until well after I began diving.

I think it is great that so many good training options exist now...

FYI: My experience with AOW was that it was a "just for fun" class.... over the years I had already done decompression dives, deep air, night spear fishing and lobster hunting... there was nothing "new" in the class, but the instructor was great, did a good job with my kids, and we all had fun.

Best wishes.

 

[Moonglow]

NAUI or IANTD:

OW - June 2005 (University Academic Diving Program, semester long course)
Nitrox - Sept 2005
AOW - Oct 2005
Rescue - Nov 2005
Master - June 2006
Assistant Instructor - Dec 2006
DM - Mar 2007
Wreck (External) - May 2007 (This works for rig diving in the Gulf as well.)
Drysuit Specialty - June 2007
Adv. Nitrox & Deco Procedures - July 2008
Cavern - Aug 2008 (Certified NACD)
Intro - Oct 2008 (Certified NACD)
Full Cave - Dec 2008 (Certified NACD)
Helitrox - June 2009
Instructor - June 2009
Cave DPV - July 2009
Heliox - Aug 2009
Trimix I - Dec 2009
Trimix II - Mar 2010

Over the last five years, I have taken First Aid / CPR, several DAN oxygen courses, equipment manufacturer repair certification courses, and a PSI cylinder course (Visual).

 

[DiveLympus]

I got my OW, then waited 7 years and did Deep, Nitrox, and Advanced nitrox within 2 years. I have done much more diving in the last two years than in did in the 7!

 

[nikos81]

I remember myself as a kid,watching TV documentaries about underwater life.What inspired me the most was the "back entry"technique the divers were using(yes it is true,that inspired me the most) And now I'm one of them,doing the same at my own dives...

Certified at OW-June 2009
Certified at AOW- August 2009
Nitrox specialty-August 2009

Since then, I'm just diving for recreational purposes and not having attended any new classe s yet. There is a slight possibility of having drysuit or Ice diving specialty on Christmas time. Who knows...

 

[waterpirate]

Naui open water 1981

Nitrox 2006

The rest is just good memories

Eric

 

[D_B]

PADI
back to back ... OW - AOW - National Geographic Diver
We did AOW before NGD so that we could do more challenging dive location to map a wreck

Rescue (and DAN O2) at about 16 dives ... I had specific reason to , warm water vaction diver friend wanted me to buddy with her here for her first ever cold water dives, in hood, gloves, thick wetsuit, etc.

Nitrox at about 35 dives so that I would have a better gas for an upcoming 6 dives a day liveaboard in the Dry Tortugas (that I was able to go on because of the friends made here)

Drysuit at about 50 dives ... because it's cold here, and because they have some serious failure modes that you need to train for

Bottom line is that I'm a better diver because of the training I have received, and that is due to my instructor, Ian

 

[captndale]

This was my certification sequence:

5/73 YMCA Scuba Diver
10/76 YMCA Assistant SCUBA Instructor
10/78 YMCA SCUBA Instructor
5/79 PADI Underwater Instructor (Cross-over)
6/79 YMCA Gold Star SCUBA Instructor (This was roughly equivalent to Instructor-Trainer)
7/79 YMCA SCUBA Lifesaving and Accident Management Instructor (This was my first specialty. Note - This was the first Scuba Rescue Course specifically designed for scuba divers by any agency. Before this, instructors were required to have standard Red Cross Lifesaving.)

In the 70's few divers bothered with any kind of specialty courses. Since I started in the YMCA program and at the time the YMCA did not have Dive Masters, I have never been certified as a Dive Master.

 

[DMDavid]

YMCA OW - March 2001
YMCA AOW - May 2001
YMCA SLAM (Rescue) - August 2001

SDI/TDI Nitrox - April 2002

NAUI DM - January 2003

NAUI Instructor - May 2004
GUE Fundamentals - June 2004

DAN Instructor - March 2005
GUE Fundamentals - May 2005
IANTD Recreational Trimix - November 2005

NAUI Advanced Nitrox/Deco - April 2006

NAUI Trimix I & II - Summer 2007

NAUI Wreck Penetration - May 2008
NAUI Tech Support Leader - November 2008

NSS-CDS Apprentice Cave - August 2009

NSS-CDS Full Cave - May 2010

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

It appears that you have been a little busy this past decade.