anyone on here into diving or have done their padi open water course?
I did a try dive last night and im absolutely hooked. Just wondered if anyone could provide any insight into doing the padi open water course etc?
anyone on here into diving or have done their padi open water course?
I did a try dive last night and im absolutely hooked. Just wondered if anyone could provide any insight into doing the padi open water course etc?
I completed padi open water a few week ago and did a two tank dive in Antigua recently. Awesome.
What do you need to know?
CallmeGoose (28th August 2014)
Just how hard is it? Do you still have your manual and would you he willing to sell it for a few quid? I can't afford the full course right now, but would like to read up
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im a BSAC open water instructor & TDI mixed gas rebreather diver.
PADI is good for getting the ticket and going diving relatively quickly, BSAC have local clubs that meet usually weekly and have volunteer instructors that teach you - takes longer but they have a more social side and the clubs often organise dives, trips and whatnot.
CallmeGoose (28th August 2014)
I've been a PADI instructor for 11 years.
The course is essentially broken into 3 parts.
Class room, which you can do at a dive centre pr by yourself online. There are 5 sections with a small review and quiz at the end of each. There is final exam, 50 question multiple choice. Its not hard so don't worry.
Confined water section. You have 5 sessions in the pool which your instructor may combine together seamlessly or not. It just depends on his teaching style, your performance. The whole point here is that they should go at your pace, not just rush you through it.
Then the open water stuff. 4 dives over 2 days ( you are only allowed to complete 3 training dives in any one day).
The whole course is module based, so you can do it over weekends, spare days, evenings, basically around your availability. You can also do the class and pool stuff at home and the open water dives in somewhere hot and sunny.
For the class room, while you can do it online, I feel that you miss a lot of time with the instructor and that whole student/mentor thing that comes with learning. Instructors can now buy an electronic manual and email you a serial to download. This is better as you can keep the book after. Online learning only gives you access to the materials for 12 months. There is also old skool hard copies too.
My recommendation is find a school, BSAC, PADI, SSI. Go and talk to them, tell them what you want, and go from there. Just don't accept being pushed through the course, take your time and earn the cert rather than pay for it. All diver certs are regulated by the World Recreational Scuba Council so are all more pr less the same. PADI has been doing it the longest and have developed the most recognised materials and courses. That is partly marketing, but the system does work well.
If you do a PADI course and have any questions just bounce me a message.
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"The Internet" is an acronym for "Totally Free"
CallmeGoose (30th August 2014)
Superb information there mate. Thank you :-) I reckon I'm going to do the classroom side over the course of a few months when I'm at work.
Looking forward to doing it and getting down there! :-)
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g_wizkid (31st August 2014)
Peace of piss mate i did acuc (Canadian version due to politics and is slightly tougher but allows deeper) in Cuba a while back I had one on one instruction with a doctor (as it paid more to be a diving instruction) and it cost about £50 if that more than the dives themselves would have cost.
Sure.
I haven't got the time to reduce the ISO size any further -they are big! (7.4GB rar'ed). Do you want them upped or I can post a couple of DVDs instead? PM me details if you want the later.
CallmeGoose (8th September 2014)
You have to have the manual anyway as its a required material for certification (paper or E version). The whole PADI system is based around repetition. The video and manual work hand in hand.
I've found its better to use the video as a way to answer the questions in the manual rather than having to read through the whole book, but the you have the book if you miss something.
BTW, just be warned it is very US-centric sales based, both of them.
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Or you could do bsac which is a bit more technical very safety orientated. Fairly sure you can do that at stones cove, got a mate who's a bsac instructor that I could ask about details/he might have e copies of stuff and as its british based theres lots of support/clubs about.
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