Wow, I mean with some of the courses it's kind of obvious that it might not be essential. But this video is brutally honest and on point. For a newbie like me, super helpful and good to know!
You all prolly dont care at all but does someone know of a method to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost my account password. I love any assistance you can offer me.
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Being a diver for over fifty years, I just sat in my chair nodding my head over and over as I watched this one. I have been diving with so many new divers that had major issues in the water, that I would like to strangle their instructors. And then read, that the new diver can go on to the next level of training with virtually no experience!!!! It is truly sad. As you stated in one of your other videos, "when you look for a diving course, look for the instructor" (more or less) When I get asked by potential new divers "what course to take?", I have a short list of instructors in the back of my mind who will train, guide, and mentor the new diver to give them the best chance of starting off on the right foot. Keep up the good work; even old dudes like me still learn..
@Cyber Explorer After open water, that's debatable. For most, Nitrox will probably open up your possibilities the most. Then again, if you dive inland lakes without much to see below 30ft, that's probably useless.
After dropping a few grand on dive equipment & the open water course, my dive center is already trying to sell me on the next cerification & my funds are diminishing! This video was extremely helpful & honest for those looking to avoid what's actually pretty scammy. P.S. The video is not too long it is simply thorough! Don't make shorter videos to appease those that want instant gratification; instead maybe add little tabs for the different sections. Thank you!
I totally agree with this video ! It’s sad when dive shops take advantage of new divers that don’t know any better .. thank you for this video I have a lot of students ask me what there next step should be and I tell them to watch this video 😇
"that's a very big camera, are you sure you're qualified to use it?" I asked once, underwater, while the guy was completely out of trim and kicking up the coral behind him
List of courses that are a must have here in Denmark: Nitrox Dry suit (it gets cold in the winter on the surface as well, small boats and often long time until getting on land). First aid / probably rescue diver under ssi (we have CMAS as sports diver club, which contain it under two star). For historical interest, I recommend wreck and deep diving courses. I would say night dive is a bs course, because it is mostly to remember to have 2 lights with you, and circumstances doesn't differ that much from a low visibility dive (you only need like 3 signals with the light), in which you get a lot of in this area of the world.
Decompression chamber specialty is fun. Just because you get a legal high 😁 when you hit -60meters and everyone starts singing in the chamber.. good times 😁
@@Convexhull210 I did a chamber ride (as an exercise, not in anger), and it doesn't *feel* weird, but there are weird effects, like the density of the air making light things like paper falls noticeably more slowly. Also the temperature swings are pretty wild as the chamber depth is changed. I felt absolutely freezing when we ascended. Despite that it felt pretty uneventful to me - though it should be said that I have a very high tolerence for weird stuff. I'm not brave, I'm just not bright enough to be scared ;) lol
EVERY diver should take a cavern course. If they never dive in a cavern again, the redundancy skills, buoyancy expertise, air sharing excersize and methods to streamline gear to avoid drag are all skills that will make anyone a much better diver.
Amazing, you said exactly what I always stay. "If an instructor trys to sell you a peak performance buoyance course, you should demand your money back for your basic open water course". SCUBA Basic Open Water standards of most (pretty sure all) Certification agencies require the student to demonstrate "competency in buoyancy control". My students must hover a foot above the pool bottom, come to midwater in the pool then 1 foot below the surface and back to 1 foot off the bottom with only lung control before we leave the pool for the open water. Open water, max depth is 5 feet above the bottom (and above 60 feet) at all times. We will do skills above the bottom and not kneeling ever on the bottom. Handicapped SCUBA Association International (HSA) and NAUI Instructor
As a newly certified open water diver this video is extremely helpful to put diver progression in a better light. Thank you for all of the videos and all of them have been extremely helpful and relevant years later. Love the platform!
Great video! I have only one thought: Drysuit I don't know what it's like in the rest of the world... and I've never rented a drysuit before (I bought my own right after OW)... but here in Manitoba, Canada (the prairies) you will absolutely be asked to show your drysuit cert when renting a drysuit. Shops here in Winnipeg will not rent out a DS without a cert. So, regionally, the DS cert in my opinion is essential, not an add on. :)
I was surprised that Ice was listed as essential, and Drysuit was not. I live in MI, and had issues finding someone that would allow me to take Ice in a wetsuit (with an established low SAC in cold water - plus shallow lake, excellent wetsuit fit, and previous confined water experience). It took two years to get into a class with a competing agency, and I almost had to drive 3hrs each way.
I get why they require some form of proof that you know whats what ith dry suit. The way you manage your buoyancy is entirely different, and novice ivers with poor control, trim and improper weighting can get into some really nasty spots if they don't know how to manage the air in the suit. Especially considering a rental suit may not be the best fit always. Everything from the feet first rocket mentioned in the video to severe suit squeeze and general michelin man ungainlyness can easily ensue. If I was renting out stuff I would want to be covered from the shenanigans of idiots.
My friend did his OW in Calgary and taking a drysuit certification was mandatory as well. I think the dive shop was trying to cover their butt, because when you're in 8-10C water in summer, even with a 7mm wetsuit you may still experience some cold stress, and not only would that be dangerous but also pretty uncomfortable (it may even turn you off the hobby completely)
I see that both ways. If you were certified in a shortly in warm water, then yes, you need to take a class for sure. If the drysuit was part of your OW course because it's cold where you learned, I'd say probably not. Learning the basics of drysuit diving would likely be part of the OW course.
Just finished my OW and trying to decide where to go next. Thankfully I have a great instructor who seems to agree with this video and is suggesting first I get several easy dives under my belt, and after that get the courses that are really necessary, like the Deep diving. He offered Enriched Air combined with OW, so I'm already starting with that. He took time with me over the last several weeks to discuss what my diving goals were, both immediate and long term, and discuss what certs I needed, and what I could learn without taking a class directly. He'll sell me whatever course I want, and I know he has some card collector clients, but he also knows not everything needs a card. I passed on another local shop whose plan is OW straight to AOW straight to MD (I think) with all training classes and no outside experience. May be fine for some people, but not what I'm looking for.
Awesome video some people get so wrapped up in getting the "next certification" they forget to just got out and dive ! Obviously you need the essential certifications and never dive above your limits, but experience is where you REALLY LEARN !! Go dive
I always love it when someone can genuinely give you good advice, and especially one that comes from honesty. This video is quite informative and useful. As a passionate-beginner diver, I feel better informed. I thank you so much for making this video, it has been very helpful. Great job 👍🏻 and God bless.
As someone about to start their instructor course and someone who would say just give me the works, this information is invaluable to me. Really appreciate it.
i quote "if your bouyancy is bad your instructor didnt do the job, go and get your money back"... because of the industry there are far to many people coming from for example koh tao who did the OWD in THREE days with absolutely no possibility for additional training time, if needed. Those are definitely in need of a Bouyancy Course! Sometimes they are lacking even the basic knowledge about it.Anyhow, i agree that all those bouyancy skills could be solved in privat guiding/instructor sessions. I am lucky i am working in a small divecenter and mostly have a maximum of 2 students at a time, which gives me the possibility to focus on their particular needs and bouyancy. But i also worked in big DC where 6 students were the norm. Apart from the above I like your list, but i disagree with Navigation, in some lakes with visibility of 1m you need at least to know how to handle a compass properly, i would pack it into add ons. have a nice weekend... (what is a weekend?)
Hi Irina! Thanks for watching. Yes, a lot of people thought my selection of Navigation into the BS category was controversial. I agree that Nav is a massively important skill. I just don't think you need to pay an agency to do a specialty course. Bad Nav skills can be improved with a private session. No dive center anywhere in the world has ever asked a diver to show a Navigation Specialty cert and it doesn't qualify you for any future courses. But yes, some people struggle with compass skills and extra training in those skills is valuable. James
I was certified with my wife over a course of 3 days. I will say however that we at all times had 1 or two instructors to ourselves . We also did the course study at home so we were able to focus on the diving aspect. By the time I got to my 6th dive I was able to shed 2lbs of weight because my buoyancy had improved. I would like to think it will continue to improve with experience as well. I just don’t know that a class in buoyancy would be my next step as a diver. I also am fine with enjoying my status as a newly certified open water diver and spending my money on DIVING rather than courses for the time being.
Divers Ready I agreed completely with your placement of Nav since it’s part of the advanced course. There’s a few of those B.S. category specialties that are and should be categorized in B.S. given that the skill can be learned/refined in a much more useful course.
In general I think this a good video. My thoughts: If you like to learn formally and study, a bookish person like myself, don't be afraid to take any of these courses, even if they are in the first or second categories. I took PPB (Peak Performance Buoyancy) for example. Did I really need it? Probably not. Would I have figured everything out? With enough time and advice from divers, possibly. But it fast tracked a lot of those details into a few hours instead of months of diving. What did I learn specifically? I learned about positioning the tank differently on my back (for me I needed to place it higher). I also found out I had been overweighted for dozens of dives. My instructor also gave me advice on how to hover which I had been struggling with and still need to practice, but I'm much better at it than I had been. All of these things were specific to me and another dive might not need them, but instead have other blind spots. The point is, find what is valuable to you, and if it is worth actually studying it, then that is your business and don't let anyone convince you that it was wasted money if you personally feel like you've gotten something out of it. (Except for those books. Those thin little things are overpriced, but that's true for most of the courses.)
@@miks8 Yes, and you can get a lot of the knowledge by viewing RUclips videos and asking feedback questions from buddies / divemasters / instructors. The course information is available in PADI course information for free. Most divemasters and instructors are good at offering PPB feedback to you without paying for a specific certification course. So according to James' categorization, it is BS and I agree. Is PPB essential knowledge to progress, absolutely. And Tristan accelerated this training which made sense to him.
I am a new diver and only been diving fir two years. Last month I just got my Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certification. I felt this was an awesome video and extremely helpful. Thank you for the advice. I really enjoy you videos, keep them coming 👍🏽
I have been diving for 24 years and fully agree with what you said... been a divemaster for 21 years... the more you dive the more experienced you shall become...👌👌
I agree!.... I do believe all you really need is an open water diver course... everything else comes with experience and keeping up skills and learning new knowledge... unless you want to do a specific type of diving that you need training to be safe... like cave diving, penetration ship diving, nitrox, tec diving etc.
I agree with much of what our man says here. As a dive center manager I often talk people out of specialties because I believe they are BS as well (I prefer them to spend money on diving rather than books and plastic!) and a good dive centre/instructor/DM will always be looking to improve their clients in the general course of each dive. Better divers are safer, and more enjoyable to dive with, not to mention better for the environment! I tend to push specialties if I have an instructor who has exceptional experience in that particular field (not just bought the instructor rating) so, I have encouraged Underwater Photography when I had a professional cameraman as an instructor and Underwater Naturalist when I had a marine biologist working for us. Ultimately, any specialty is worth it if you have a passion for the subject AND you have an instructor who is exceptional in that particular field. I can't fault the list of 'essential' specialties, though Wreck can be a bit of a joke and sidemount is a personal choice and only useful for some people.
This video has so much more views and likes compared to your other vids, glad you’re starting to get the recognition and appreciation you deserve!! Hopefully they watch the other videos for more great content
Just like your other videos, this one is loaded with common sense. I am occasionally asked by my dive shop and other divers if I’m going to take specialty courses or get AOWC. With only a dozen dives under my belt since my OWC from last year, I told them (as you recommended) that I just want to get more experience to perfect buoyancy, equalizing, breathing, trim, etc. This is all very similar to martial arts, which I’ve trained on for over 13 years. Almost all instructors now guarantee that if you pay testing fees, along with class fees, you’ll get your black belt (sometimes in a year). But it actually is a matter of what you know through years of training, not your rank or certification.
Cracking video. I was just about to get sucked into this trap. I am planning my advanced course and was going to pick buoyancy over Nitrox as I thought it would help me be safer. Your right. I can learn on point buoyancy at my dive club. Great video. 10/10.
Hi Pete! Thanks for watching! You can also ask an Instructor or DM to go dive with you and give you some skills and drills. There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve your buoyancy, you just don't need to pay for a formal course to do it! Keep rocking buddy! James
No such crap as a buoyancy course i.m.o, do another 10 dives, get yourself a smb and play around with that and before you know it you mastered it yourself
I have recently completed a dry suite training with BSAC (The British Sub-Aqua Club). It consisted of two theory sessions, one pool practice session, and one open water session. I was not expecting to learn so much about dry suites, it's dangers in case of misuse, it's advantages and all related skill practice. I would call this course an essential one, especially if you are diving in UK.
Yep, in Northern Europe its pretty much essential. You will not be rented or sold a drysuit without cert and most dives for most the year require drysuit to participate in
This had me laughing out loud! I have my Advanced, Dry Suit and Nitrox certs. You are , in my opinion, mostly right on. I decided to get my nitrox cert after getting bent diving in the Pac NW in Washington State, USA. That was 20 years ago, and I haven't used it since. But I still appreciate the extra knowledge I gained. I think if you dive a lot, and have a lot of diving friends, you can learn a lot from them. But if you dive a few times a year, mostly on vacation, a real dive class can be a great refresher, and remind you of the skills you may be rusty on.
This was awesome. I am emerging as a diver and at just over 100 dives am justn ow starting to feel in control in a variety of dive conditions. I've done the deep diver (SSI) and Mitrix (PADI) courses and agree, 100% with Boat, Computer, Drift, Ecosystem/Fish ID, Beach/Shore, Hunter, and Photo/Videographer courses as B.S. I can see some value in some of them, like navigation and bouyancy for divers who want to jump-start their skill set and learn more quickly; but cannot argue with the reality that you can learn these things informally. Personally, I think the DPV course could be a B.S. listing. A class would accelerate mastery, but skills will come down to practice more than training. I love the whole - I am a horrible underwater photographer thing, because, though I am a retired professional photojournalist, my under water photos suck, not because I don't know how to make good pictures, but because good photography is effortful and when I'm diving I am in the moment and enjoying the unique environment first, second, and third. Taking pictures is a an ancillary thing I do to help me relive the diving later. I just do not put the effort into thinking about composition, lighting, focus and so on during the dive. Otherwise, I think the list is spot-on and a good guide for people with limited budgets who want to prioritize their scuba training.
Hi! Fellow instructor here! In general, I agree with you; however, talking to a good friend with a ton of experience. We were discussing exactly that, and we came to the conclusion that buying a specialty course for a customer is often not about the course in itself, but rather they are buying some focused 1:1 time with an instructor that could not be otherwise available to them, and they are learning some skills in the process.
By far the most valuable piece of info i ever got and i fully agree on your selection criteria. Thanks you James for the best info ever. That said where i dive its a small close diving community and we have a pretty passionate instructor earning his living / money elsewhere, that said he will certainly not try sell you a bs course, however a good weekend of propper diving ( we dive mainly deep lakes ) will put you back a fair ammount of dollars in terms of bottle rental and nitrox refills. The cost of the gas and bottle rent may exceed the amount of a small bs course, which we then buy from the instructor who only charges us the ammount due in commision for the said training agency and adds no personal profit. We pay him for that in copious ammounts af alcohol after a good day of diving. Bonus is the proposed bs course content includes kit en bottle/gas, we actually use or abuse the system a little, all these courses have a min duration or ammount of dives but none specify a max number and these are incl in the costs of the said course at the expense of the agency. Thus we get to pay less for a bs course and save more than what a normal bottle rent/ refill weekend would cost you and bonus is you get the plasticy thingi for braging rights
I absolutely love this video, the honesty, the delivery, and everything else about it. Much of it is pure common sense. Everything you do when diving, you get better with more dives. So anything that is just going to teach you how to wear a mask better, be better at buoyancy, take better pics, hunting, whatever, you will get better at it the more you do it, and getting help from someone that does it a lot, is way better. DEEP DIVING, Nitrox, Wrecks, caverns, that should be all common sense to someone. You can't do these things without serious training and you do not want to unless you like dying. Pure and simple.
Thanks for your videos they are great. I've been diving for 24 years and the only 2 specialty courses I've taken is EAN & Rescue Diver. Being a hazmat tech safety is always on my mine for my dive buddy and I. Thank for keeping it real.
I really appreciate this and many of your other videos that help people navigate the dive training/certification industry. My first experience was SSI/OW during a three month University course taught by a commercial/Tec Instructor back in the mid 90’s. We spent three hours per week in the classroom and pool. You would have thought we were training for a S.E.A.L/Special Boat Service mission! I see and hear a lot of his attitude/philosophy on diving and dive training in these videos. Now PADI AOW/Nitrox.... looking to work on Deep and Wreck Specialty next. Keep posting these great insights into the world of Scuba Diving!
Mike, thanks! I appreciate your kind words. That’s kind of how I learned in the 90s too! It was eight weeks of 2hrs in the classroom before we even got in the pool.
I learned the same way in the 80s with a comprehensive OW course taught by an experienced commercial instructor. Now, I have switched to PADI and they want a cert for almost every nit pick e.g. I did deep dives (120') as part of OW, but now you have to take AOW or the divemasters say "how can you prove you have experience at that depth? I don't trust your log book." Now I have a card 🎉🙂.
I think navigation is pretty important because you want to learn how to get back to the boat, especially where there aren't (free) dive guides. I would personally put that under the essential specialty courses.
Hi Mauricio, thanks for watching! I absolutely agree that Navigation is important and can be improved after an OW course's compass swims. The reason I chose not to put it in the Essentials is because no one will ever ask to see an UW Navigation Specialty cert card before they let you dive, and a Navigation Specialty is not a prerequisite for any future courses. I'm not rating which skills are most or least important here, I'm rating how valuable a formal course in each skill is. If a diver came to me wanting to improve their navigation, I wouldn't sell them a course. I'd just take them diving and work on their navigation. That's the difference. Safe diving, James
@@DiversReady Hey, thanks for your video, but a follow up about Navigation. Maybe I miss something, but for Padi AOWD(www.padi.com/courses/advanced-open-water) navigation is a mandatory course together with deep dive, or your point is that it is not valuable to take it as an independent speciality?
Loved Peak Performance Buoyancy and recommend it to new divers. It was helpful in me building confidence back when I did it and it was a lot of fun. I still laugh when I recall some of the antics of our group.
Hey James. PADI to BSAC to GUE diver here. I discovered you and subbed about a month ago via a friend who's interested in getting into the sport. I'm really enjoying your content and woukd thoroughly recommend it as essential viewing to any new or developing divers. Love your bluntly honest attitude, and how you never hesitate to say it how it is. Always for the betterment of others. Good job.
I did the Drysuit course and found it was worth it. I dive in the UK so it has value for me. Plus, the drysuit can cause problems if you don't understand how to use it.
I am an advanced open water diver and as soon as I landed to seeing this video I knew my peak performance buoyancy certification wud be a BS LOL. I knew it from the time I finished this specialty and till date I don't know my weight-checks & trim. I'd rather go out diving more to arrive at the right weights OR consult someone. Awesome vid James. Gr8 going. Thumbs Up.
It's pretty much agreed across the board in the " sport " diving industry, that the " Speedo " speciality course is the best value for money. Keeping up with latest trends, it's now morphed into " Iridescent green , over the shoulder G-string " speciality course. An absolute must for any diving enthusiast !
Just found your channel and I must say, "Great content with great enthusiasm and passion!!! Love it! It is so refreshing and validating to hear you say what I've thought for years. Some of these classes are total BS. My OW instructor and I spoke of this very topic when I wanted further training and I'll never forget what he said about the Boat Diving cert; "If you wanna learn how to dive from a boat, lets book a charter and go diving from a boat." LOL! I speculated early on in my dive career that many of the add on specialty classes were simply money makers for the dive agency and I still believe that to be true. Wanna attain perfect buoyancy, dive more often and with divers who have more experience than you. Great content in this video and your categorized chart is spot on. Safe diving.
I would include drysuit in essential. It is a different way of diving. Buoyancy control and skills are different, streamlining is different, it’s very different. It also leads into cold water / ice diving as you can. Or do these without a drysuit. I would not feel safe giving someone a drysuit n letting them crack on. you can be shown how to use it and not certified but that’s true of all courses. I could show you how to use side-mount and not certify you. Great video thought!
Very interesting, and I agree with you... based on the criteria that you mentioned. That's important because it allows for everyone to make their own list. As an example, I put Drysuit in the essential column for me: that's because I learned to dive in tropical waters, and only recently moved to NYC. Without Drysuit, I cannot dive (and learn additional skills) around home now, so it's definitely a stepping stone for me to then go with Deep and Wreck.
Thanks Antoine! I learned to dive in England and did my OW course in a Dry Suit. I never did a Specialty Course because it was all I knew. If I did my OW in a wetsuit, I would have definitely needed a Dry Suit specialty class. Thanks for watching. James
@@DiversReady you might be thinking about a different course. Not sure about PADI, in SSI there are 2 wreck specialties. There is a basic one, which is BS... they tell you that you can find info about a wreck in Google (how could I guess?), and then you go around a wreck with an instructor, sketching it on a slate. No penetration, the words "frog kick" not mentioned once, I think we ran one line from front to back on the outside, or something like that. I felt cheated after that one as well. Then there is a proper wreck specialty course... but it has the BS one as prerequisite.
I loved my wreck course. I did it in Coron, Philippines on some Japanese WW2 wrecks and my instructor put a lot into that course. He was very informative and experienced (he had over 7000 dives logged, and almost 1000 exclusively on wrecks), and really made it clear the hazards of what we were doing. He was almost too scary, because I was hesitant to even penetrate the wreck the first time. Like anything though, just because I have my certification doesn't mean I'm going to go off exploring wrecks on my own, it just gives me a jump off point and makes me aware of the hazards that go along with the specialty.
Awesome video. I saw a PADI speciality badge board in a Scottish dive centre.If you got every badge there wouldn't be suit big enough to display them on and that's when I realised "Put Another Dollar In" was purely a moneymaker. Went to a PADI centre on holiday. Our guide would take us near wrecks. We asked if there was exclusion zones. He said we weren't qualified wreck divers. We had trimix, rebreather, advanced open water, instructors of various levels in the group who had all dived Scapa, Narvik, Truk. He took us into the wreck. We asked if we could go at night. No, we weren't qualified night divers. We stopped using a guide after that. He said that was how the centre made money. They would do OW near a wreck, student would then be sold AOW but told they would need wreck diver before going into it. They would rave about the night life on the wreck to sell the night diver course. Show photos of all the fish to sell the photography course. Tell them about a better bigger wreck that needed a boat diver course and suggested a DSMB course before boat diving. Since they were so qualified it made sense to become a divemaster where 1st aid course and rescue Diver course would be great. We then found out on the last night in the pub that our guide had only been diving for 1 year after a mid life crisis and divorce, he fled to work as an intern at the dive centre and that where he'd learned everything he knew. Diving, teaching almost every day for a year on a dozen or so sites and racked up 2000 dives ( he included pool sessions).
Perfectly stated. There are a few classes that are well worth taking. None, in and of themselves, make you an expert. That being said, I believe all of them are useful for simply keeping skills sharper and to co tinue to learn about this awesome sport.
I don’t mind “putting another dollar in” I get to know new instructors ask them questions while I am paying for their time. I get to meet others who want to learn new skills as well. Deep dive was awesome, nitrox was not as in-depth so I am doing more self study. Mine diving was great and reinforced more skills that I needed.
I agree with your assessment that much of this is just about the certification agency and the teachers getting paid. I do think that more is better from a learning perspective so getting exposure to concepts that perhaps a person (who isn't a self-starter) would otherwise not, is a good thing. I was surprised that night wasn't in the right column however. All in, a very good video.
I also believe that "Advanced Open Water Diver" needs to be renamed. Actually it should be combined with open water diver as I think that only after I finished both of those did I really become barely proficient and confident as a diver. I still see a lot divers on liveaboards flailing with their hands in the water, no buoyancy control etc etc. Before AOW I was like that too. The PPB part of the AOW course needs to be part of the OW as does the deep dive because inevitably you are going to 30 m for something or another even if you didn't plan for it. The navigation was ok but most people usually follow a dive guide around anyway.
James, I could not agree more. Nothing in the BS section did i need an instructor for and the Add on section i would agree with you on as well and i think you are spot on in the Essentials. Thanks again for more great content.
Honesty and straight forward communication is a VERY rare good on RUclips, let alone in the real life. PADI = Put Another Dollar In. But it's not to blame only PADI for this kind of system. Most of businesses around the world work this way, trying to sell you something you don't need.
I did one of the B.S. certs, but I think it was a good idea. I had not dived for about 15 years, already advanced certified and I didn't really think the quick refresher in the pool was enough to get me back on my game so I did a peak performance buoyancy. It was good to do the drills with the instructor and get a couple actual ocean dives in. But as for drift diver, no need, the southeast coast of Florida is going to teach you that right away 🙂, nothing but drift.
Brother, you are spot on. Took a Divemaster Course, a few years back. The curriculum was good, instructors were amazing, most of the staff were pretty decent. Watching your vid however, gives you a whole new point of view. I remember thinking during the Underwater Photography phase.."man, what a waste of money and time!, this Go Pro sucks, I hate it, and I hate taking UW photos" lmao. Peak performance buoyancy though, I disagree on. As a public safety diver, we always "catfished" straight to the bottom, and heavy because we were searching. However on a recreational dive, I struggled with it for years. The course I took as part of the Divemaster cert. was really insightful. I got some major tips from the instructors and I would strive to emulate them. As I got better during the weeks, I would see once or twice a year divers come on trips and absolutely destroy decades of coral growth by stepping on it and breaking it, because they were weighted way too heavy. Your other essentials are all on point, but I dont fancy penetrating any wrecks, or going into caves. I definitely see the value though.
Great video! My only comment would be that a dive course or certification is only as good as the person teaching it. I imagine doing a ‘bs’ course from you could teach a great deal more than a class certifying me for something the instructor isn’t (actually) experienced enough to be teaching (and yeah- I’ve run into plenty of those, especially on vacation). Just because you’re ‘certified’ by some agency or money-driven dive school doesn’t mean you’re competent and ready do that type of dive solo or as lead. I think some of the touristy, profit-focused schools get people to dive over their head (literally), because they tell a diver he/she’s ‘certified’.
I took the navigation course and was amazing was an extension of the aow training, the exercises that I made help me to improve my skills and I feel very happy to had taken this course. By the way good videos!
I completely agree with your three columns. Even before watching this I had done Deep, Ice, Nitrox, Drysuit as well as AOWD, Rescue courses. I've never saw anyone who've certification in any of those B.S. courses..
I really love this video overall, but I might offer a small critique: I think CPR/Rescue is essential. Honestly I think it should be a part of AOW. It's my personal opinion that every citizen should be CPR/First Aid certified and maintain that certification at all times. It's just an essential life skill. For divers I think it's indispensable, and my Rescue Diver course remains the single best course I have taken as a diver.
I completely agree Benjamin Fabian!, I literally used the Medical training that I went onto learn AFTER my rescue training in the last few weeks on dry land, frankly I think if you want to be a useful person(especially if you plan to travel) you should learn SOME medical training, and I definitely feel that CPR/Rescue is essential to Diving.
Awesome video, thanks so much for this honest review! One thing I would classify differently tho is CPR. IMHO that is essential - You might not have to show the card, but it's a prerequisite for the PADI rescue diver and you can't really properly learn by observing or asking others, I think. If you dive a lot, you hopefully won't need it, but keeping it fresh in your mind is definitely not a bad idea.
I am recreational rescue diver. I took navigation thinking it would be marginally helpful but it turned out to be a great class for me and probably one of my favorites so far. I was rubbish with a compass and my buddy and I primarily dive in 5-20 ft vis and we took the navigation class in those conditions. Improving my compass skills has made me a much more comfortable diver. I have an awesome dive shop though so i usually feel like I get my money's worth. I dont think I would have gotten as much out of an ocean nav course because nav is stupid easy when you can see 50+ feet ahead of you. I dont plan on taking things like boat diver or fish I'd because those are things you just pick up if you have eyes and pay attention. The search and recovery course was a fun add on class and my rescue class really helped change my diving approach.
I would comment on a few on the list. Some of it may be location based as different places have different attitudes, eg the dive charters off pensacola like to use the "Don't exceed the limits of your training" and leave it at that. 1. Sidemount - never heard of anyone ask for a sidemount card and there are many divers that taught themselves. More you hear from the dive op grumbling about equipment setup and the fact it doesn't fit with their normal layout on the boat. Good knowledge and it can be tricky without some guidance but not "required" per your 3 rules 2. Solo is essential around this area unless you are shore diving or from your own boat. No charter or even quarries will let you dive solo without seeing a card. 3. Wreck can vary, there are a few joke courses that view it as getting near a wreck. For that no training is really needed. For others it is wreck penetration and gets into spools, redundant lights, close quarters, etc. Those are essential if you want to do that kind of diving and don't have something that supersedes it, like cave Another great place to get the addon ones is demo days. I learned dry suit at a DUI demo day and it gave me the fundamentals to practice on my own. There are tons of places doing FFM training to the point that you could probably then learn the rest on your own.
Hi Rick, thanks for watching buddy! To your points: 1. Agreed, no one will ask for the card and no further course requires it BUT of those people who self-teach, the results can vary wildly (I'm being polite here!) Also, the caveheads between yourself and myself see Sidemount as a rite of passage. 2. Agreed - with the exception that Solo is a dead end course. It's not a prerequisite for any future learning. 3. Again, agreed. The basic Wreck Specialty is a prerequisite for the tech course Advanced Wreck (at least for TDI.) Thanks again! James
@@DiversReady I agree on all the points - but to bring up a question what if Solo wasn't a dead end. What if all the dive orgs recognized that the "never dive alone" mantra is kinda garbage and that hundreds of dives for DMs, Instructors and even those who show up without a trusted buddy to a boat. I think PADI sees this somewhat with calling their cert "self reliant" and when you consider it anyone doing any type of technical diving needs to be "self reliant" even if they are not "solo". I see the solo diving thing much like hiking vs hunting. People frown on hiking alone in the woods but you tell them your hunting and it's fine to walk in the woods alone (and not even on a trail usually) and no one bats an eye. We claim as divers that you should never dive alone but an instructor surrounded by 4-5 students is alone in an emergency. A dive master tying off is alone, but those are ok - they are "instructing" or "divemastering". Perhaps "Self Reliant" or Solo should be a prerequisite to DM/Instructor/Technical?
Brilliant video 👍. As a new PADI diver at “ open water certification” 6 months getting wet .... I have just received my Drysuit certification as the water was 14 degs C at surface and becoming not enjoyable and I wanted to dive through the “ Spanish winter”. And enjoy and not freeze my nuts off. I will now focus on Advanced open water and on essential access. Looking at Nitrox as my next training. I was happy to pay my instructor for the reassurance of using a dry suit under his instruction for the first training dives and pool work ..plus it gave us time to choose a dry suit to buy which would be with me fir a very long time .
don't you think AOW is also a BS course? It can be a prerequisite in PADI, but if you go with SDI (for example) you can skip this and just do the deep speciality
Before I went for my OW Cert dives, spent $100 for some private instruction just for buoyancy and learn my harness system. The amount of improvement was amazing, and even my OW Instructor was impressed from how much I improved from last pool session and my OW dives.
I've done the DPV and I think that it is essential for someone to show it to you, I mean how it works, how to do the maintenance, if you own one, also to teach you the maneuvers you need to know, how the buoyancy works as you handle this knew thing in your hands, to practice a little bit before you take it and go on a dive on your own..it takes practice because it is dangerous and very easy to exceed depth or ascend very fast in a matter of seconds! But on the other hand no one will show it to you for free....and it's an equipment that is not a standard in diving...so in my opinion it is worth paying it for.... I fully agree on everything else.... I also did nitrox of PADI and C.S.U. of ANDI which includes sidemount as well, I'm sure you knew that.... I was thinking to try dry suit, but on second thought I don't need that because I don't dive from January to March...
Solo - its a true add-on. In the sense that its not for everyone, but those who do wish to pursue this line, its essential access. You need formal training and certificate, not only for yourself, but for insurance reasons. You get to train with special gear setup that you otherwise wont ever do. That gear setup and skills you practice becomes kinda good stepping stone for further tec and/or cave diving tracks, imho.
I just finished the pool portion of my open water course, and I'll be doing my dives next weekend. I already selected Nitrox as my first specialty, it was recommended to me. Thanks for the list to help guide my future choices.
I've been diving recreationally since 2003 and completely agree with your lists and reasoning. Happily the dive shop where I did most of my training agreed with your lists, too. If you pretty much did any of column A while diving with one of their instructors or divemasters, you'd get "credit" for that specialty (no card, buy they would check it off in your log). If you bought a computer, etc. they would train you and give you credit for the computer class. I'd hope these days pretty much everyone is on computers and automatically gets that one. The only deviation from my personal experience is altitude: because I learned to dive a altitude, they made it part of the OW class. I'm surprised they don't teach a Dive Tables specialty course for the hipsters :P
Hi James, just found your channel and wanted to say keep up the good work. Now, your claim that nobody has ever been asked to produce a buoyancy cert. BSAC has a buoyancy and trim workshop in which you will be assessed to different standards. For instance, "gold standard" pass of the course is prerequisite for accelerated decompression and mixed gas diving as it is imperative to be able to hold a stop and you don't want to have a bunch of students who can keep their buoyancy but not quite well enough to be safe with rich gases. "Silver standard" is necessary for search and recovery. Similarly, the Navigation course is prerequisite in the German diving federation (part of CMAS) to progress to ** diver.
Hi Tobias, thanks for watching. I was not too familiar with the CMAS standards, so I looked them up online. I can't see anything about a Navigation Specialty course being a prerequisite for **. I can only see a sentence that says you have to do 1 Navigation dive as part of the ** course? Please correct me if you know of a different standard. I couldn't see a BSAC standard for the Gold or Silver either. Please share a link with me if you have one. I'm interested to learn more. Dive safe, James.
@@DiversReady Hi James, if you go to the BSAC SDC Bouyancy and Trim workshop page www.bsac.com/training/skill-development-courses/club-diving-courses/buoyancy-and-trim-workshop/#tab-3 and look at the "What you'll be able to do" tab, it says "The Buoyancy and Trim Workshop is a prerequisite for some other BSAC practical SDC courses. You will need to be silver standard to do an Underwater Photography or Search and Recovery SDC for example, and gold standard is a prerequisite for Accelerated Decompression Procedures (ADP) and all mixed gas diving training." Similarly, on the ADP page under "Who is this course for?" it says "You also need to be able to demonstrate buoyancy and trim to Gold standard (+ 0.5 m)." Going to the diver training progression chart www.bsac.com/document/diver-training-progression-chart/ you will see Buoyancy and Trim Gold standard listed as prerequisite for ADP and thus all mixed gas diving (since ADP is prerequisite for all mixed gas diving). The navigation in the German federation is in addition to the CMAS requirements, so you need to check with the German federation for it. I'm afraid the documents are in German. The link is www.vdst.de/fileadmin/dateien/Ausbildung/Ordnungen/2019/VDST-DTSA%20Ordnung%2001.01.2019.pdf ** Diver starts on page 20 with age, certification, and number dives requirements. It then lists "other prerequisites": - current medical - specialty "navigation" (German: Orientierung beim Tauchen) - specialty "group leading" - basic life support - recommended specialties "fresh water biology" or "salt water biology". As you can see the specialties navigation and group leading are not listed as recommended like the others. They are necessary. They also have a different course designation. AK = "Aufbaukurs" which roughly translates to continuation/advanced/extension course indicating that these are prerequisites for diver progression as opposed to specialties that are not required for diver progression. The latter are designated SK = "Spezialkurs", i.e., literally "specialty course". Other specialties that are designated AK are "Dive safety and rescue" and "Night diving" which are required for 3* as well as "basic life support" which is recommended for * and required to be current (attended within the last 12 months) for the remaining diver progression. Best wishes, Tobias
Hi James. You may be a horrible photographer, but you do know how to make great RUclips videos. Very entertaining and informative. Keep 'em coming. I'll be sure to point students to your site. Anyway, back to teaching in a cold, muddy puddle in Blighty! Thanks. Graeme
In fact, navigation and night/restricted visibility are two of the 4 required specialties for Divemaster Education at SSI. (Deep 40, Navigation, Night, Stress & Rescue). For night dives in our local lake you must present a night & lim. vis. certification, even in a guided group.
The only speciality classes I did as a ''recreational'' diver were Cavern (with a cave instructor and definitely got my moneys worth), Wreck (kind of a waste although a good review of techniques I'd learned in Cavern), and of course Nitrox. I'm certified to teach a bunch of specialties but the only ones I teach really are Nitrox and Deep. Both cards are required to do certain dives. I do get people asking me to teach them underwater photography but normally I give them a couple of recommendations for books, a few tips, and tell them to just shoot. I'm happy to critique their photos and give them advice on how to improve. I'll also help get them started with photo editing software. I understand its a business for a lot of people. My problem was by the time I became an instructor I had close to 800 dives. I genuinely believe most specialties aren't necessary based on my many years as a recreational diver. I just love to dive and sharing that with others is pretty cool 🙂
I’m getting ready to get my basic open water cert in the next few months and am already setting goals that I want to attain. (Master diver eventually). This video really helped me write down a list of speciality certs that I should get to help me get there. I love your videos, keep me coming!!
@@DiversReady welcome dude, as professionals we understand the importance of good informative and practical training. Sadly however the whole concept of some organisations is geared to pushing further education, much of which is as you correctly point out " unnecessary". The sad part is it's essential for the survival of dive centers in a competitive world. I could also rant on and I've not named boat or photography speciality courses.
Perfect video for many fresh OW and AOW divers who are stepping around whats next. I am still confused about SOLO .. for example in the Egypt (Red Sea) there are many nice house reefs where you can dive in relative shallow water (5-15meters) just in front of your dive center. You can buy unlimited diving day and dive almost as much as you want but you need to have buddy. Water is crystal clear, warm, calm, usually without currents, and there is almost no risk at least if you have partner who is snorkeling or freediving above you like my girlfriend. I think ideal place where to start SOLO. And even if I have Rescue Diver course, hundred dives and read a lot about solo diving I can not dive alone. Do I need two tanks, two computers, in this safe and shallow environment where NO DECO time is longer than my dive time - no. But SOLO plastic card for hundrets bucks could solve it...
Thanks James. I am fairly new, OW/Dry suit together in APRIL 2019, Nitrox MAY 2019, AOW MAY 2019. Waiting on dry suit to arrive for Rescue diver course.
"Essential" yeah said no greek diver ever after diving about 10meters deeper than allowed while diving in a wreck with live bullets and real skeletons. It was epic
Excellent synopsis of specialty course’s James, and very helpful to see them classified into relevant groups like that. Just a little pointer though, my other half and I did the PADI Public Safety Diver course in the uk a few years ago and required both drysuit and full face mask specialties before undertaking the PSD course. Now I know it could be argued that the PSD certification is totally superfluous in the UK as not recognised by any professional body for purpose of working, that is obviously covered by HSE level certifications. However, strictly speaking, outside of the UK it may be more relevant. That said, we both really enjoyed the PSD course done with Island Divers in the Isle of Wight, it was challenging and very rewarding, and moreover, we have adopted many of the principles learnt in the course in our day to day diving. I mostly wanted to do the course as I simply enjoy the learning experience and having been a diver for nearly 30 years, a tech diver for 20 of those, and an recreational instructor for nearly the last 10 years, I still get a buzz out of expanding my knowledge and skills and therefore hunt out courses that may push my boundaries a little further. All the best, Gary Johnson
You should definitely add stress and rescue to the essential access list or the add on list, you definitely need formal training you might be asked to show the certificate but it’s definitely a must have for most future advanced certification like divemaster
Great video again! I have a different point as it regards navigation and drysuit. Navigation goes to add ons and dry suit to essential. Try to find your way in an unknown place and without compass, bad visibility, or at night...You get the point. A dry suit can harm or kill you if not used and maintained properly. So I would take formal training for myself.
I have to agree on a lot of those BS ones. Navigation could be useful but mainly if you are cave diving or something like that or there is no way to surface to find where you need to go. That could bump it to the Add-On but at the same time learning how to use a compass isn't that hard either. Anyway, I started diving a few months ago after my wife passed away. I am already doing things that PADI stresses people should not do, like rebuilding regulators and such. To be honest if you can't replace the o-rings on a second stage and adjust it you probably can't change the spark plugs in your car either. It's just too easy to slip off the old ones and slip on some new ones, add a little silicone lube and put it back together. The first stage is a little more involved and daunting, I pulled apart and reassembled a SP MK5 but need to test the IP and adjust it. If that comes out good my SP MK20 is next on the list. I do have to say that I am technically inclined and have done a lot more than replace the plugs on my truck. In January I will be in Jamaica visiting for two weeks and have seriously contemplated doing the AOW course. Navigation and deep are required but then I think Nitrox and wreck but not sure on the last one but may just do buoyancy for more time in the water. Night would be my third choice but that center does not have it available along with the other essential ones or add-on's. But I have my BCD and some other stuff already in Jamaica and the course is 315 for all of them the only thing I will need is weights and tanks for the dives.
I was in Bonaire and had to take the hunter course to hunt lion fish. I would put it in the middle group mostly because in some areas like Bonaire you have to have that certification to be allowed to hunt lion fish because the whole island is a preserve.
@@DiversReady I agree that being said doing the class in Bonaire there was a huge emphasis on thinking about the coral and making smart shots etc. I got yelled at (definitely not bragging) for pinning a lion fish against live coral to keep it from coming off of the ELF.
Yeah, payed for our OW, EANx, and PPB at the same time... just did our enclosed dive this weekend, and the instructor told me how good I was at controlling my buoyancy... $#!+
Took a screenshot, subscribed & liked your video. Unfortunately a lot of establishments are $ driven. I have my OW & FFM cert., waiting on quarantine to be over to do my AOW/ Nitrox & my Deep diver cert. Happy to see I didn’t fall into the “other” categories 👍🏼
To properly frame my point of reference, I am a mostly inland freshwater diver in a northern local, initial basic certification in 1969. I start by thanking you for your presentation, in my experience, such candor is the exception rather than the rule. I mostly agree with your assessment, with a few exceptions. Buoyancy is a critical skill that should be introduced in open water and mastered completely to gain advanced open water. That it could stand alone, lacks logic so I guess that it being in the BS class, left handedly does make sense. My most significant points of disagreement are Drysuit and Search & Recovery. I would have them in the essential category, at least for inland divers because it is rather common to be asked to look for and recover things, and also for that to happen in cool / cold weather and or water. Example, I once went to an APBA hydroplane regatta in 1969 and I pointed out how lacking their preparations were for recovering boats (and people) that got into trouble. For 22 years thereafter, I was the director of the crash crews, charged with recovering both the drivers and the boats. I can forgive your lack of attention to these details, as you much newer to the sport and probably never been in fresh water....lol!
I was with you until I saw your final list. Buoyancy can be mixed into everything, obviously. Hunter, however, I'd put into add-on. Most places probably wouldn't give a spear without and hunter/hunting is the greatest buoyancy practice I've ever had-along with my awesome buddy who's had to help me get a few shots lately. Navigation should (and is, for PADI) essential-requirement for AOW notwithstanding, no one asks for your card but the training is crucial. Solo/self-reliant should be essential access as well because some places won't give you that pony without it and some carry even more restrictions if you're going off alone.
Hi Yuriy D, thanks for watching! The only reason solo is in Add-On is because it fails the test: does this cert give me access to further training? The answer is no, no other course for higher scuba education has Solo diver as a prerequisite. I agree that you definitely need the cert if you intend to solo dive with a commercial charter operation, for sure. As for Nav, if it's taught well at OW and AOW level, as it should be, there's no need for the specialty cert. Again, I'm not ranking the importance of the skills... No one is questioning the importance of Buoyancy and Navigation skills, but if someone needs a specialty course in these skills, it's because their Instructor passed them when he/she shouldn't have. James
Thank you for your videos and insight! I'm a PADI DM with I think about 12 specialties over the course of three years. Some were no doubt a waste of money/time but one good aspect is it got me in the water much more and sort of forced me to get over initial discomfort. Also a couple were PADI Distinctive specialties which to me were "nice to have " as it was geographically geared. Please continue giving the truly valuable advice as I incorporate it in my advice to my fiancé who recently obtained her PADI MSD credential.
Oh By the way my list of specialties are as follows: Boat, Drift, Night, Peak Performance, Tokai Comoran (WWI/WWII ships colocated) Guam Shore Diver, Guam Blue Hole Diver, Wreck, EAN, Underwater Navigator, Self Reliant, and Deep.
Isn't Buoyancy skill number 1. I spent most of my spare time in the pool tuning it. The only "course" I took was for a a Dry Suit and most of it was fairly easy like how to recover from certain situations if they occur, like the feet first situation you mention, recover is easy once shown, I was taught 4 different recover methods, all were easy, did not take long either and I feel a lot safer using them since I know how to handle any problems calmly now. Like there, it is COLD here, 40 on the surface, 45 in the summer, and below 32 at depth. I was no given any separate card since that is how I was equipped when certified in OW. Diving around here is more like going to the moon the but you get to see a lifetime's worth of crabs. They are everywhere. Lots of people here do wreck diving. Full Face Mask is pretty quick, any place selling you one should offer it as part of the purchase. I observed one during my training. Altitude, it really is not done much. Good luck finding someone properly qualified that isn't in you altitude divers club already. It is mostly a regional thing. Cave Diving or Wreck Diving which is certainly in the last group but also going with experienced Cave or Wreck divers is still recommended even with training. For navigation I just bought the book, it was informative but I agree NOBODY needs it. If you dive often it has useful tips but I would never bother getting training in it. You left off Oxygen, if many regions it is REQUIRED to get separate training in just Oxygen treatment separate from your Rescue courses. It is considered a legal specialty where I live. For CPR it is better to uses a medical agency not a dive shop. Personally, I took a first aid course no just CPR. You learn at least a dozen times as much. The main problem is you need to retake them since information is constantly being updated even if just a little bit. I took mine with Red Cross which actually offers legal protection for a year if you follow their procedures. They are that confident in their information. You will not get that from a dive shop.
I am a NASE student. Besides doing the basic courses (now preparing for advanced) what i want to do is Nitrox and Deep. The rest of the specialties are dry-suit, navi, equipment, night, naturalist and digital imaging. Nothing too fancy tho, as far as i can see these are all could be useful for certain goals. Other than that you have the basic courses like rescue and divemaster, and then comes tech diving, which is a whole other story if you ask me. I agree with your opinions on buoyancy btw. It should be taught right if you want your certificate. It's such an integrated part of the scuba diving itself.
Hi. I really enjoyed your video. Some other add on courses people might be interested in that require certification are: Advanced Nitrox, Mixed Gas Blending, Trimix, Intro to Cave Diving, Advanced Cave Diving and Decompression Diving. I realize that most of these are Technical Diving but they are all interesting. I really appreciate your honesty about the fluff courses.This is my first time to your site and I subscribed.
Solo I feel Needs to be in last column. That is one I’m on the fence about. There is good training on the solo diver. And yes the instructor is everything with any agency. Well done my friend
Excellent video. One minor gripe with regards to the Nitrox... you stated that it absolutely requires structured instruction. Whilst I agree that in order to fill or dive nitrox in commercial setting a certificate is absolutely required, the theorhetical, physiological and safety information and knowledge is easily obtainable through outside courses. It's basically just Dalton and Henrys Laws with an understanding of oxygen toxicity hazards and the associated maximum safe partial pressures. Just my 2 cents.
under the "Add-On" category, I love the CPR, it's is actually vital, I believe everyone should be 1st aide,CPR,AED certified. I actually loved the reaction my O.W. instructor had when I told him I am a Firefighter/Paramedic, and showed him my credentials to back it up.....LOL, And just throwing this out there, I also promote folks volunteering at their local volunteer FD's, it's mandatory to be trained CPR and AED, and be a oxygen caregiver as a Firefighter. plus, if you have the "first responder" CPR cert, you can bypass the prerequisite for the diving CPR course. believe it or not, there is a huge difference between the CPR folks learn from the red cross or even dive schools and the CPR course in the fire service, as I mentioned, with the fire service you are also certified as an oxygen caregiver. Paid departments, not all, but it's getting their, require firefighters to be EMT basics, MINIMUM EMR( Emergency Medical Responder), this replaced the 1st Responder Course. Just F.Y.I, but this is why I love diving, because, there are so many things that I can bring to the perverial table. plus, it's a good thing to have a medic with you on a dive trip, so many things can happen. I don't go anywhere without my I.F.A.K with my CAT Tourniquet.
Wow, I mean with some of the courses it's kind of obvious that it might not be essential. But this video is brutally honest and on point. For a newbie like me, super helpful and good to know!
Thanks again Janina! Welcome to the channel and the scuba community! James
You all prolly dont care at all but does someone know of a method to get back into an instagram account??
I somehow lost my account password. I love any assistance you can offer me.
@Arlo Matthias Instablaster =)
@Nathaniel Morgan Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now.
I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.
@@DiversReady What would you say about Public Safety Diving and or Courses tailored to that? Thank you for any insight.
Being a diver for over fifty years, I just sat in my chair nodding my head over and over as I watched this one. I have been diving with so many new divers that had major issues in the water, that I would like to strangle their instructors. And then read, that the new diver can go on to the next level of training with virtually no experience!!!! It is truly sad. As you stated in one of your other videos, "when you look for a diving course, look for the instructor" (more or less) When I get asked by potential new divers "what course to take?", I have a short list of instructors in the back of my mind who will train, guide, and mentor the new diver to give them the best chance of starting off on the right foot. Keep up the good work; even old dudes like me still learn..
Barry, thanks for watching, Friend. James
@Cyber Explorer After open water, that's debatable. For most, Nitrox will probably open up your possibilities the most. Then again, if you dive inland lakes without much to see below 30ft, that's probably useless.
problem is a good majority of dive classes due the very bare minimum instead of actually taking the time to teach.
After dropping a few grand on dive equipment & the open water course, my dive center is already trying to sell me on the next cerification & my funds are diminishing! This video was extremely helpful & honest for those looking to avoid what's actually pretty scammy.
P.S. The video is not too long it is simply thorough! Don't make shorter videos to appease those that want instant gratification; instead maybe add little tabs for the different sections.
Thank you!
I totally agree with this video ! It’s sad when dive shops take advantage of new divers that don’t know any better .. thank you for this video I have a lot of students ask me what there next step should be and I tell them to watch this video 😇
Thanks so much She Snydr! Let me know what other videos you wish you had available to show your students! Thanks for watching! James
"that's a very big camera, are you sure you're qualified to use it?" I asked once, underwater, while the guy was completely out of trim and kicking up the coral behind him
Thats normal. 5 logged dives after OWD but the biggest Canon and underwaterhousing including lamps and flashes ...
List of courses that are a must have here in Denmark:
Nitrox
Dry suit (it gets cold in the winter on the surface as well, small boats and often long time until getting on land).
First aid / probably rescue diver under ssi (we have CMAS as sports diver club, which contain it under two star).
For historical interest, I recommend wreck and deep diving courses.
I would say night dive is a bs course, because it is mostly to remember to have 2 lights with you, and circumstances doesn't differ that much from a low visibility dive (you only need like 3 signals with the light), in which you get a lot of in this area of the world.
Decompression chamber specialty is fun. Just because you get a legal high 😁 when you hit -60meters and everyone starts singing in the chamber.. good times 😁
Does it feel weird came in the chamber?
@@Convexhull210 I did a chamber ride (as an exercise, not in anger), and it doesn't *feel* weird, but there are weird effects, like the density of the air making light things like paper falls noticeably more slowly. Also the temperature swings are pretty wild as the chamber depth is changed. I felt absolutely freezing when we ascended. Despite that it felt pretty uneventful to me - though it should be said that I have a very high tolerence for weird stuff. I'm not brave, I'm just not bright enough to be scared ;) lol
EVERY diver should take a cavern course. If they never dive in a cavern again, the redundancy skills, buoyancy expertise, air sharing excersize and methods to streamline gear to avoid drag are all skills that will make anyone a much better diver.
Amazing, you said exactly what I always stay. "If an instructor trys to sell you a peak performance buoyance course, you should demand your money back for your basic open water course". SCUBA Basic Open Water standards of most (pretty sure all) Certification agencies require the student to demonstrate "competency in buoyancy control". My students must hover a foot above the pool bottom, come to midwater in the pool then 1 foot below the surface and back to 1 foot off the bottom with only lung control before we leave the pool for the open water. Open water, max depth is 5 feet above the bottom (and above 60 feet) at all times. We will do skills above the bottom and not kneeling ever on the bottom.
Handicapped SCUBA Association International (HSA) and NAUI Instructor
As a newly certified open water diver this video is extremely helpful to put diver progression in a better light. Thank you for all of the videos and all of them have been extremely helpful and relevant years later. Love the platform!
Great video!
I have only one thought: Drysuit
I don't know what it's like in the rest of the world... and I've never rented a drysuit before (I bought my own right after OW)... but here in Manitoba, Canada (the prairies) you will absolutely be asked to show your drysuit cert when renting a drysuit. Shops here in Winnipeg will not rent out a DS without a cert. So, regionally, the DS cert in my opinion is essential, not an add on. :)
I was surprised that Ice was listed as essential, and Drysuit was not. I live in MI, and had issues finding someone that would allow me to take Ice in a wetsuit (with an established low SAC in cold water - plus shallow lake, excellent wetsuit fit, and previous confined water experience). It took two years to get into a class with a competing agency, and I almost had to drive 3hrs each way.
I get why they require some form of proof that you know whats what ith dry suit. The way you manage your buoyancy is entirely different, and novice ivers with poor control, trim and improper weighting can get into some really nasty spots if they don't know how to manage the air in the suit. Especially considering a rental suit may not be the best fit always.
Everything from the feet first rocket mentioned in the video to severe suit squeeze and general michelin man ungainlyness can easily ensue. If I was renting out stuff I would want to be covered from the shenanigans of idiots.
My friend did his OW in Calgary and taking a drysuit certification was mandatory as well. I think the dive shop was trying to cover their butt, because when you're in 8-10C water in summer, even with a 7mm wetsuit you may still experience some cold stress, and not only would that be dangerous but also pretty uncomfortable (it may even turn you off the hobby completely)
Not only renting but its an insurance thing too.
I see that both ways. If you were certified in a shortly in warm water, then yes, you need to take a class for sure. If the drysuit was part of your OW course because it's cold where you learned, I'd say probably not. Learning the basics of drysuit diving would likely be part of the OW course.
Just finished my OW and trying to decide where to go next. Thankfully I have a great instructor who seems to agree with this video and is suggesting first I get several easy dives under my belt, and after that get the courses that are really necessary, like the Deep diving. He offered Enriched Air combined with OW, so I'm already starting with that. He took time with me over the last several weeks to discuss what my diving goals were, both immediate and long term, and discuss what certs I needed, and what I could learn without taking a class directly. He'll sell me whatever course I want, and I know he has some card collector clients, but he also knows not everything needs a card. I passed on another local shop whose plan is OW straight to AOW straight to MD (I think) with all training classes and no outside experience. May be fine for some people, but not what I'm looking for.
Awesome video some people get so wrapped up in getting the "next certification" they forget to just got out and dive ! Obviously you need the essential certifications and never dive above your limits, but experience is where you REALLY LEARN !! Go dive
I always love it when someone can genuinely give you good advice, and especially one that comes from honesty. This video is quite informative and useful. As a passionate-beginner diver, I feel better informed. I thank you so much for making this video, it has been very helpful. Great job 👍🏻 and God bless.
As someone about to start their instructor course and someone who would say just give me the works, this information is invaluable to me. Really appreciate it.
i quote "if your bouyancy is bad your instructor didnt do the job, go and get your money back"...
because of the industry there are far to many people coming from for example koh tao who did the OWD in THREE days with absolutely no possibility for additional training time, if needed. Those are definitely in need of a Bouyancy Course! Sometimes they are lacking even the basic knowledge about it.Anyhow, i agree that all those bouyancy skills could be solved in privat guiding/instructor sessions.
I am lucky i am working in a small divecenter and mostly have a maximum of 2 students at a time, which gives me the possibility to focus on their particular needs and bouyancy. But i also worked in big DC where 6 students were the norm.
Apart from the above I like your list, but i disagree with Navigation, in some lakes with visibility of 1m you need at least to know how to handle a compass properly, i would pack it into add ons.
have a nice weekend... (what is a weekend?)
Hi Irina! Thanks for watching.
Yes, a lot of people thought my selection of Navigation into the BS category was controversial. I agree that Nav is a massively important skill. I just don't think you need to pay an agency to do a specialty course. Bad Nav skills can be improved with a private session. No dive center anywhere in the world has ever asked a diver to show a Navigation Specialty cert and it doesn't qualify you for any future courses. But yes, some people struggle with compass skills and extra training in those skills is valuable.
James
I was certified with my wife over a course of 3 days. I will say however that we at all times had 1 or two instructors to ourselves . We also did the course study at home so we were able to focus on the diving aspect. By the time I got to my 6th dive I was able to shed 2lbs of weight because my buoyancy had improved. I would like to think it will continue to improve with experience as well. I just don’t know that a class in buoyancy would be my next step as a diver. I also am fine with enjoying my status as a newly certified open water diver and spending my money on DIVING rather than courses for the time being.
Divers Ready I agreed completely with your placement of Nav since it’s part of the advanced course. There’s a few of those B.S. category specialties that are and should be categorized in B.S. given that the skill can be learned/refined in a much more useful course.
In general I think this a good video. My thoughts: If you like to learn formally and study, a bookish person like myself, don't be afraid to take any of these courses, even if they are in the first or second categories. I took PPB (Peak Performance Buoyancy) for example. Did I really need it? Probably not. Would I have figured everything out? With enough time and advice from divers, possibly. But it fast tracked a lot of those details into a few hours instead of months of diving. What did I learn specifically? I learned about positioning the tank differently on my back (for me I needed to place it higher). I also found out I had been overweighted for dozens of dives. My instructor also gave me advice on how to hover which I had been struggling with and still need to practice, but I'm much better at it than I had been. All of these things were specific to me and another dive might not need them, but instead have other blind spots.
The point is, find what is valuable to you, and if it is worth actually studying it, then that is your business and don't let anyone convince you that it was wasted money if you personally feel like you've gotten something out of it. (Except for those books. Those thin little things are overpriced, but that's true for most of the courses.)
Yes all true, but what is the value of that certificate? Why couldn't you just get the instructor to do all that but without Padi issuing you a card?
@@miks8 Yes, and you can get a lot of the knowledge by viewing RUclips videos and asking feedback questions from buddies / divemasters / instructors. The course information is available in PADI course information for free. Most divemasters and instructors are good at offering PPB feedback to you without paying for a specific certification course. So according to James' categorization, it is BS and I agree. Is PPB essential knowledge to progress, absolutely. And Tristan accelerated this training which made sense to him.
Thanks for this. New to diving and you've just opened my eyes and saved me some money
I am a new diver and only been diving fir two years. Last month I just got my Advanced Open Water and Nitrox certification. I felt this was an awesome video and extremely helpful. Thank you for the advice. I really enjoy you videos, keep them coming 👍🏽
I have been diving for 24 years and fully agree with what you said... been a divemaster for 21 years... the more you dive the more experienced you shall become...👌👌
I agree!.... I do believe all you really need is an open water diver course... everything else comes with experience and keeping up skills and learning new knowledge... unless you want to do a specific type of diving that you need training to be safe... like cave diving, penetration ship diving, nitrox, tec diving etc.
Thanks for watching Jonathan! Glad you liked the video! James
I agree with much of what our man says here. As a dive center manager I often talk people out of specialties because I believe they are BS as well (I prefer them to spend money on diving rather than books and plastic!) and a good dive centre/instructor/DM will always be looking to improve their clients in the general course of each dive. Better divers are safer, and more enjoyable to dive with, not to mention better for the environment!
I tend to push specialties if I have an instructor who has exceptional experience in that particular field (not just bought the instructor rating) so, I have encouraged Underwater Photography when I had a professional cameraman as an instructor and Underwater Naturalist when I had a marine biologist working for us.
Ultimately, any specialty is worth it if you have a passion for the subject AND you have an instructor who is exceptional in that particular field.
I can't fault the list of 'essential' specialties, though Wreck can be a bit of a joke and sidemount is a personal choice and only useful for some people.
I want to come dive at your Dive Center! We need more people like you in the industry.
This video has so much more views and likes compared to your other vids, glad you’re starting to get the recognition and appreciation you deserve!! Hopefully they watch the other videos for more great content
Thanks Austin! Appreciate your support, buddy! This was a good hit for us. Plenty more coming! James
Just like your other videos, this one is loaded with common sense. I am occasionally asked by my dive shop and other divers if I’m going to take specialty courses or get AOWC. With only a dozen dives under my belt since my OWC from last year, I told them (as you recommended) that I just want to get more experience to perfect buoyancy, equalizing, breathing, trim, etc.
This is all very similar to martial arts, which I’ve trained on for over 13 years. Almost all instructors now guarantee that if you pay testing fees, along with class fees, you’ll get your black belt (sometimes in a year). But it actually is a matter of what you know through years of training, not your rank or certification.
Excellent video! I am in agreement with most if it. I would add Rebreather (probably as Add-on) and Cave (as Essential Access).
Cracking video. I was just about to get sucked into this trap.
I am planning my advanced course and was going to pick buoyancy over Nitrox as I thought it would help me be safer.
Your right. I can learn on point buoyancy at my dive club.
Great video. 10/10.
Hi Pete! Thanks for watching! You can also ask an Instructor or DM to go dive with you and give you some skills and drills. There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve your buoyancy, you just don't need to pay for a formal course to do it! Keep rocking buddy! James
No such crap as a buoyancy course i.m.o, do another 10 dives, get yourself a smb and play around with that and before you know it you mastered it yourself
Spot on! I'm an instructor and I'M 100% AGREED WITH YOU! Thank you for sharing this.
I have recently completed a dry suite training with BSAC (The British Sub-Aqua Club). It consisted of two theory sessions, one pool practice session, and one open water session. I was not expecting to learn so much about dry suites, it's dangers in case of misuse, it's advantages and all related skill practice. I would call this course an essential one, especially if you are diving in UK.
Thanks for sharing!
Yep, in Northern Europe its pretty much essential. You will not be rented or sold a drysuit without cert and most dives for most the year require drysuit to participate in
This had me laughing out loud! I have my Advanced, Dry Suit and Nitrox certs. You are , in my opinion, mostly right on. I decided to get my nitrox cert after getting bent diving in the Pac NW in Washington State, USA. That was 20 years ago, and I haven't used it since. But I still appreciate the extra knowledge I gained. I think if you dive a lot, and have a lot of diving friends, you can learn a lot from them. But if you dive a few times a year, mostly on vacation, a real dive class can be a great refresher, and remind you of the skills you may be rusty on.
Nice to see an instructor be so honest.there again honesty is not on commision
This was awesome. I am emerging as a diver and at just over 100 dives am justn ow starting to feel in control in a variety of dive conditions. I've done the deep diver (SSI) and Mitrix (PADI) courses and agree, 100% with Boat, Computer, Drift, Ecosystem/Fish ID, Beach/Shore, Hunter, and Photo/Videographer courses as B.S. I can see some value in some of them, like navigation and bouyancy for divers who want to jump-start their skill set and learn more quickly; but cannot argue with the reality that you can learn these things informally. Personally, I think the DPV course could be a B.S. listing. A class would accelerate mastery, but skills will come down to practice more than training.
I love the whole - I am a horrible underwater photographer thing, because, though I am a retired professional photojournalist, my under water photos suck, not because I don't know how to make good pictures, but because good photography is effortful and when I'm diving I am in the moment and enjoying the unique environment first, second, and third. Taking pictures is a an ancillary thing I do to help me relive the diving later. I just do not put the effort into thinking about composition, lighting, focus and so on during the dive.
Otherwise, I think the list is spot-on and a good guide for people with limited budgets who want to prioritize their scuba training.
Hi! Fellow instructor here! In general, I agree with you; however, talking to a good friend with a ton of experience. We were discussing exactly that, and we came to the conclusion that buying a specialty course for a customer is often not about the course in itself, but rather they are buying some focused 1:1 time with an instructor that could not be otherwise available to them, and they are learning some skills in the process.
By far the most valuable piece of info i ever got and i fully agree on your selection criteria. Thanks you James for the best info ever. That said where i dive its a small close diving community and we have a pretty passionate instructor earning his living / money elsewhere, that said he will certainly not try sell you a bs course, however a good weekend of propper diving ( we dive mainly deep lakes ) will put you back a fair ammount of dollars in terms of bottle rental and nitrox refills. The cost of the gas and bottle rent may exceed the amount of a small bs course, which we then buy from the instructor who only charges us the ammount due in commision for the said training agency and adds no personal profit. We pay him for that in copious ammounts af alcohol after a good day of diving. Bonus is the proposed bs course content includes kit en bottle/gas, we actually use or abuse the system a little, all these courses have a min duration or ammount of dives but none specify a max number and these are incl in the costs of the said course at the expense of the agency. Thus we get to pay less for a bs course and save more than what a normal bottle rent/ refill weekend would cost you and bonus is you get the plasticy thingi for braging rights
I absolutely love this video, the honesty, the delivery, and everything else about it. Much of it is pure common sense. Everything you do when diving, you get better with more dives. So anything that is just going to teach you how to wear a mask better, be better at buoyancy, take better pics, hunting, whatever, you will get better at it the more you do it, and getting help from someone that does it a lot, is way better. DEEP DIVING, Nitrox, Wrecks, caverns, that should be all common sense to someone. You can't do these things without serious training and you do not want to unless you like dying. Pure and simple.
Thanks for your videos they are great. I've been diving for 24 years and the only 2 specialty courses I've taken is EAN & Rescue Diver. Being a hazmat tech safety is always on my mine for my dive buddy and I. Thank for keeping it real.
I really appreciate this and many of your other videos that help people navigate the dive training/certification industry. My first experience was SSI/OW during a three month University course taught by a commercial/Tec Instructor back in the mid 90’s. We spent three hours per week in the classroom and pool. You would have thought we were training for a S.E.A.L/Special Boat Service mission! I see and hear a lot of his attitude/philosophy on diving and dive training in these videos. Now PADI AOW/Nitrox.... looking to work on Deep and Wreck Specialty next. Keep posting these great insights into the world of Scuba Diving!
Mike, thanks! I appreciate your kind words. That’s kind of how I learned in the 90s too! It was eight weeks of 2hrs in the classroom before we even got in the pool.
I learned the same way in the 80s with a comprehensive OW course taught by an experienced commercial instructor. Now, I have switched to PADI and they want a cert for almost every nit pick e.g. I did deep dives (120') as part of OW, but now you have to take AOW or the divemasters say "how can you prove you have experience at that depth? I don't trust your log book." Now I have a card 🎉🙂.
Cavern speciality, also known as Suicide speciality.
I think navigation is pretty important because you want to learn how to get back to the boat, especially where there aren't (free) dive guides. I would personally put that under the essential specialty courses.
Hi Mauricio, thanks for watching!
I absolutely agree that Navigation is important and can be improved after an OW course's compass swims. The reason I chose not to put it in the Essentials is because no one will ever ask to see an UW Navigation Specialty cert card before they let you dive, and a Navigation Specialty is not a prerequisite for any future courses.
I'm not rating which skills are most or least important here, I'm rating how valuable a formal course in each skill is. If a diver came to me wanting to improve their navigation, I wouldn't sell them a course. I'd just take them diving and work on their navigation. That's the difference.
Safe diving, James
@@DiversReady Hey, thanks for your video, but a follow up about Navigation. Maybe I miss something, but for Padi AOWD(www.padi.com/courses/advanced-open-water) navigation is a mandatory course together with deep dive, or your point is that it is not valuable to take it as an independent speciality?
Loved Peak Performance Buoyancy and recommend it to new divers. It was helpful in me building confidence back when I did it and it was a lot of fun. I still laugh when I recall some of the antics of our group.
Hey James. PADI to BSAC to GUE diver here. I discovered you and subbed about a month ago via a friend who's interested in getting into the sport. I'm really enjoying your content and woukd thoroughly recommend it as essential viewing to any new or developing divers. Love your bluntly honest attitude, and how you never hesitate to say it how it is. Always for the betterment of others. Good job.
I did the Drysuit course and found it was worth it. I dive in the UK so it has value for me. Plus, the drysuit can cause problems if you don't understand how to use it.
I am an advanced open water diver and as soon as I landed to seeing this video I knew my peak performance buoyancy certification wud be a BS LOL. I knew it from the time I finished this specialty and till date I don't know my weight-checks & trim. I'd rather go out diving more to arrive at the right weights OR consult someone. Awesome vid James. Gr8 going. Thumbs Up.
It's pretty much agreed across the board in the " sport " diving industry, that the " Speedo " speciality course is the best value for money. Keeping up with latest trends, it's now morphed into " Iridescent green , over the shoulder G-string " speciality course. An absolute must for any diving enthusiast !
Just found your channel and I must say, "Great content with great enthusiasm and passion!!! Love it! It is so refreshing and validating to hear you say what I've thought for years. Some of these classes are total BS. My OW instructor and I spoke of this very topic when I wanted further training and I'll never forget what he said about the Boat Diving cert; "If you wanna learn how to dive from a boat, lets book a charter and go diving from a boat." LOL! I speculated early on in my dive career that many of the add on specialty classes were simply money makers for the dive agency and I still believe that to be true. Wanna attain perfect buoyancy, dive more often and with divers who have more experience than you. Great content in this video and your categorized chart is spot on. Safe diving.
I would include drysuit in essential. It is a different way of diving. Buoyancy control and skills are different, streamlining is different, it’s very different. It also leads into cold water / ice diving as you can. Or do these without a drysuit. I would not feel safe giving someone a drysuit n letting them crack on. you can be shown how to use it and not certified but that’s true of all courses. I could show you how to use side-mount and not certify you. Great video thought!
Very interesting, and I agree with you... based on the criteria that you mentioned. That's important because it allows for everyone to make their own list. As an example, I put Drysuit in the essential column for me: that's because I learned to dive in tropical waters, and only recently moved to NYC. Without Drysuit, I cannot dive (and learn additional skills) around home now, so it's definitely a stepping stone for me to then go with Deep and Wreck.
Thanks Antoine! I learned to dive in England and did my OW course in a Dry Suit. I never did a Specialty Course because it was all I knew. If I did my OW in a wetsuit, I would have definitely needed a Dry Suit specialty class. Thanks for watching. James
I did the Padi Wreck Card and i felt the instructor just took my money for nothing. I cud have just read a book.
Saeed Balala should have done your wreck very with me! I would put you through your paces!
@@DiversReady you might be thinking about a different course. Not sure about PADI, in SSI there are 2 wreck specialties. There is a basic one, which is BS... they tell you that you can find info about a wreck in Google (how could I guess?), and then you go around a wreck with an instructor, sketching it on a slate. No penetration, the words "frog kick" not mentioned once, I think we ran one line from front to back on the outside, or something like that. I felt cheated after that one as well. Then there is a proper wreck specialty course... but it has the BS one as prerequisite.
I loved my wreck course. I did it in Coron, Philippines on some Japanese WW2 wrecks and my instructor put a lot into that course. He was very informative and experienced (he had over 7000 dives logged, and almost 1000 exclusively on wrecks), and really made it clear the hazards of what we were doing. He was almost too scary, because I was hesitant to even penetrate the wreck the first time. Like anything though, just because I have my certification doesn't mean I'm going to go off exploring wrecks on my own, it just gives me a jump off point and makes me aware of the hazards that go along with the specialty.
Awesome video. I saw a PADI speciality badge board in a Scottish dive centre.If you got every badge there wouldn't be suit big enough to display them on and that's when I realised "Put Another Dollar In" was purely a moneymaker. Went to a PADI centre on holiday. Our guide would take us near wrecks. We asked if there was exclusion zones. He said we weren't qualified wreck divers. We had trimix, rebreather, advanced open water, instructors of various levels in the group who had all dived Scapa, Narvik, Truk. He took us into the wreck. We asked if we could go at night. No, we weren't qualified night divers. We stopped using a guide after that. He said that was how the centre made money. They would do OW near a wreck, student would then be sold AOW but told they would need wreck diver before going into it. They would rave about the night life on the wreck to sell the night diver course. Show photos of all the fish to sell the photography course. Tell them about a better bigger wreck that needed a boat diver course and suggested a DSMB course before boat diving. Since they were so qualified it made sense to become a divemaster where 1st aid course and rescue Diver course would be great. We then found out on the last night in the pub that our guide had only been diving for 1 year after a mid life crisis and divorce, he fled to work as an intern at the dive centre and that where he'd learned everything he knew. Diving, teaching almost every day for a year on a dozen or so sites and racked up 2000 dives ( he included pool sessions).
Perfectly stated. There are a few classes that are well worth taking. None, in and of themselves, make you an expert. That being said, I believe all of them are useful for simply keeping skills sharper and to co tinue to learn about this awesome sport.
I don’t mind “putting another dollar in” I get to know new instructors ask them questions while I am paying for their time. I get to meet others who want to learn new skills as well. Deep dive was awesome, nitrox was not as in-depth so I am doing more self study. Mine diving was great and reinforced more skills that I needed.
Hi Ivory, thanks for watching. Agree 100%. I'm glad you got value out of most of your courses.
Dive safe,
James
I agree with your assessment that much of this is just about the certification agency and the teachers getting paid. I do think that more is better from a learning perspective so getting exposure to concepts that perhaps a person (who isn't a self-starter) would otherwise not, is a good thing. I was surprised that night wasn't in the right column however. All in, a very good video.
Propably the very best and most informative info i ever came across and a agree 100% with your selections on criteria.
Thanks Louw!
I also believe that "Advanced Open Water Diver" needs to be renamed. Actually it should be combined with open water diver as I think that only after I finished both of those did I really become barely proficient and confident as a diver. I still see a lot divers on liveaboards flailing with their hands in the water, no buoyancy control etc etc. Before AOW I was like that too. The PPB part of the AOW course needs to be part of the OW as does the deep dive because inevitably you are going to 30 m for something or another even if you didn't plan for it. The navigation was ok but most people usually follow a dive guide around anyway.
James, I could not agree more. Nothing in the BS section did i need an instructor for and the Add on section i would agree with you on as well and i think you are spot on in the Essentials. Thanks again for more great content.
Honesty and straight forward communication is a VERY rare good on RUclips, let alone in the real life. PADI = Put Another Dollar In. But it's not to blame only PADI for this kind of system. Most of businesses around the world work this way, trying to sell you something you don't need.
Thank you for summing up what I have felt since getting my open water card. It's nice to hear someone in the dive industry say this.
I did one of the B.S. certs, but I think it was a good idea. I had not dived for about 15 years, already advanced certified and I didn't really think the quick refresher in the pool was enough to get me back on my game so I did a peak performance buoyancy. It was good to do the drills with the instructor and get a couple actual ocean dives in. But as for drift diver, no need, the southeast coast of Florida is going to teach you that right away 🙂, nothing but drift.
Brother, you are spot on. Took a Divemaster Course, a few years back. The curriculum was good, instructors were amazing, most of the staff were pretty decent. Watching your vid however, gives you a whole new point of view. I remember thinking during the Underwater Photography phase.."man, what a waste of money and time!, this Go Pro sucks, I hate it, and I hate taking UW photos" lmao. Peak performance buoyancy though, I disagree on. As a public safety diver, we always "catfished" straight to the bottom, and heavy because we were searching. However on a recreational dive, I struggled with it for years. The course I took as part of the Divemaster cert. was really insightful. I got some major tips from the instructors and I would strive to emulate them. As I got better during the weeks, I would see once or twice a year divers come on trips and absolutely destroy decades of coral growth by stepping on it and breaking it, because they were weighted way too heavy. Your other essentials are all on point, but I dont fancy penetrating any wrecks, or going into caves. I definitely see the value though.
Great video! My only comment would be that a dive course or certification is only as good as the person teaching it. I imagine doing a ‘bs’ course from you could teach a great deal more than a class certifying me for something the instructor isn’t (actually) experienced enough to be teaching (and yeah- I’ve run into plenty of those, especially on vacation). Just because you’re ‘certified’ by some agency or money-driven dive school doesn’t mean you’re competent and ready do that type of dive solo or as lead. I think some of the touristy, profit-focused schools get people to dive over their head (literally), because they tell a diver he/she’s ‘certified’.
I took the navigation course and was amazing was an extension of the aow training, the exercises that I made help me to improve my skills and I feel very happy to had taken this course. By the way good videos!
I completely agree with your three columns. Even before watching this I had done Deep, Ice, Nitrox, Drysuit as well as AOWD, Rescue courses. I've never saw anyone who've certification in any of those B.S. courses..
I really love this video overall, but I might offer a small critique: I think CPR/Rescue is essential. Honestly I think it should be a part of AOW. It's my personal opinion that every citizen should be CPR/First Aid certified and maintain that certification at all times. It's just an essential life skill. For divers I think it's indispensable, and my Rescue Diver course remains the single best course I have taken as a diver.
same, i absolutely loved my rescue diver course
I completely agree Benjamin Fabian!,
I literally used the Medical training that I went onto learn AFTER my rescue training in the last few weeks on dry land, frankly I think if you want to be a useful person(especially if you plan to travel) you should learn SOME medical training, and I definitely feel that CPR/Rescue is essential to Diving.
Pro tip for James :
- open excel
- type in a cell "sidemount"
- right click on the red underlined word
- select add to dictionary
😁
Awesome video, thanks so much for this honest review! One thing I would classify differently tho is CPR. IMHO that is essential - You might not have to show the card, but it's a prerequisite for the PADI rescue diver and you can't really properly learn by observing or asking others, I think. If you dive a lot, you hopefully won't need it, but keeping it fresh in your mind is definitely not a bad idea.
I am recreational rescue diver. I took navigation thinking it would be marginally helpful but it turned out to be a great class for me and probably one of my favorites so far. I was rubbish with a compass and my buddy and I primarily dive in 5-20 ft vis and we took the navigation class in those conditions. Improving my compass skills has made me a much more comfortable diver. I have an awesome dive shop though so i usually feel like I get my money's worth. I dont think I would have gotten as much out of an ocean nav course because nav is stupid easy when you can see 50+ feet ahead of you. I dont plan on taking things like boat diver or fish I'd because those are things you just pick up if you have eyes and pay attention. The search and recovery course was a fun add on class and my rescue class really helped change my diving approach.
Hi Cpersin! Thanks so much for watching. I'm really happy to hear that. Dive safe. James
I would comment on a few on the list. Some of it may be location based as different places have different attitudes, eg the dive charters off pensacola like to use the "Don't exceed the limits of your training" and leave it at that.
1. Sidemount - never heard of anyone ask for a sidemount card and there are many divers that taught themselves. More you hear from the dive op grumbling about equipment setup and the fact it doesn't fit with their normal layout on the boat. Good knowledge and it can be tricky without some guidance but not "required" per your 3 rules
2. Solo is essential around this area unless you are shore diving or from your own boat. No charter or even quarries will let you dive solo without seeing a card.
3. Wreck can vary, there are a few joke courses that view it as getting near a wreck. For that no training is really needed. For others it is wreck penetration and gets into spools, redundant lights, close quarters, etc. Those are essential if you want to do that kind of diving and don't have something that supersedes it, like cave
Another great place to get the addon ones is demo days. I learned dry suit at a DUI demo day and it gave me the fundamentals to practice on my own. There are tons of places doing FFM training to the point that you could probably then learn the rest on your own.
Hi Rick, thanks for watching buddy! To your points:
1. Agreed, no one will ask for the card and no further course requires it BUT of those people who self-teach, the results can vary wildly (I'm being polite here!) Also, the caveheads between yourself and myself see Sidemount as a rite of passage.
2. Agreed - with the exception that Solo is a dead end course. It's not a prerequisite for any future learning.
3. Again, agreed. The basic Wreck Specialty is a prerequisite for the tech course Advanced Wreck (at least for TDI.)
Thanks again!
James
@@DiversReady I agree on all the points - but to bring up a question what if Solo wasn't a dead end. What if all the dive orgs recognized that the "never dive alone" mantra is kinda garbage and that hundreds of dives for DMs, Instructors and even those who show up without a trusted buddy to a boat. I think PADI sees this somewhat with calling their cert "self reliant" and when you consider it anyone doing any type of technical diving needs to be "self reliant" even if they are not "solo".
I see the solo diving thing much like hiking vs hunting. People frown on hiking alone in the woods but you tell them your hunting and it's fine to walk in the woods alone (and not even on a trail usually) and no one bats an eye. We claim as divers that you should never dive alone but an instructor surrounded by 4-5 students is alone in an emergency. A dive master tying off is alone, but those are ok - they are "instructing" or "divemastering".
Perhaps "Self Reliant" or Solo should be a prerequisite to DM/Instructor/Technical?
Brilliant video 👍. As a new PADI diver at “ open water certification” 6 months getting wet .... I have just received my Drysuit certification as the water was 14 degs C at surface and becoming not enjoyable and I wanted to dive through the “ Spanish winter”. And enjoy and not freeze my nuts off. I will now focus on Advanced open water and on essential access. Looking at Nitrox as my next training. I was happy to pay my instructor for the reassurance of using a dry suit under his instruction for the first training dives and pool work ..plus it gave us time to choose a dry suit to buy which would be with me fir a very long time .
don't you think AOW is also a BS course? It can be a prerequisite in PADI, but if you go with SDI (for example) you can skip this and just do the deep speciality
Excellant video. In the old days when I was certified, we didn’t even have Nitrox! Open Water was about it! Been diving for around 60 years!
Before I went for my OW Cert dives, spent $100 for some private instruction just for buoyancy and learn my harness system. The amount of improvement was amazing, and even my OW Instructor was impressed from how much I improved from last pool session and my OW dives.
I've done the DPV and I think that it is essential for someone to show it to you, I mean how it works, how to do the maintenance, if you own one, also to teach you the maneuvers you need to know, how the buoyancy works as you handle this knew thing in your hands, to practice a little bit before you take it and go on a dive on your own..it takes practice because it is dangerous and very easy to exceed depth or ascend very fast in a matter of seconds!
But on the other hand no one will show it to you for free....and it's an equipment that is not a standard in diving...so in my opinion it is worth paying it for....
I fully agree on everything else.... I also did nitrox of PADI and C.S.U. of ANDI which includes sidemount as well, I'm sure you knew that....
I was thinking to try dry suit, but on second thought I don't need that because I don't dive from January to March...
Solo - its a true add-on. In the sense that its not for everyone, but those who do wish to pursue this line, its essential access. You need formal training and certificate, not only for yourself, but for insurance reasons. You get to train with special gear setup that you otherwise wont ever do. That gear setup and skills you practice becomes kinda good stepping stone for further tec and/or cave diving tracks, imho.
I just finished the pool portion of my open water course, and I'll be doing my dives next weekend. I already selected Nitrox as my first specialty, it was recommended to me. Thanks for the list to help guide my future choices.
I've been diving recreationally since 2003 and completely agree with your lists and reasoning. Happily the dive shop where I did most of my training agreed with your lists, too. If you pretty much did any of column A while diving with one of their instructors or divemasters, you'd get "credit" for that specialty (no card, buy they would check it off in your log). If you bought a computer, etc. they would train you and give you credit for the computer class. I'd hope these days pretty much everyone is on computers and automatically gets that one. The only deviation from my personal experience is altitude: because I learned to dive a altitude, they made it part of the OW class. I'm surprised they don't teach a Dive Tables specialty course for the hipsters :P
Hi James,
just found your channel and wanted to say keep up the good work.
Now, your claim that nobody has ever been asked to produce a buoyancy cert. BSAC has a buoyancy and trim workshop in which you will be assessed to different standards. For instance, "gold standard" pass of the course is prerequisite for accelerated decompression and mixed gas diving as it is imperative to be able to hold a stop and you don't want to have a bunch of students who can keep their buoyancy but not quite well enough to be safe with rich gases. "Silver standard" is necessary for search and recovery.
Similarly, the Navigation course is prerequisite in the German diving federation (part of CMAS) to progress to ** diver.
Hi Tobias, thanks for watching. I was not too familiar with the CMAS standards, so I looked them up online. I can't see anything about a Navigation Specialty course being a prerequisite for **. I can only see a sentence that says you have to do 1 Navigation dive as part of the ** course? Please correct me if you know of a different standard.
I couldn't see a BSAC standard for the Gold or Silver either. Please share a link with me if you have one. I'm interested to learn more.
Dive safe, James.
@@DiversReady Hi James,
if you go to the BSAC SDC Bouyancy and Trim workshop page
www.bsac.com/training/skill-development-courses/club-diving-courses/buoyancy-and-trim-workshop/#tab-3
and look at the "What you'll be able to do" tab, it says
"The Buoyancy and Trim Workshop is a prerequisite for some other BSAC practical SDC courses. You will need to be silver standard to do an Underwater Photography or Search and Recovery SDC for example, and gold standard is a prerequisite for Accelerated Decompression Procedures (ADP) and all mixed gas diving training."
Similarly, on the ADP page under "Who is this course for?" it says "You also need to be able to demonstrate buoyancy and trim to Gold standard (+ 0.5 m)." Going to the diver training progression chart
www.bsac.com/document/diver-training-progression-chart/
you will see Buoyancy and Trim Gold standard listed as prerequisite for ADP and thus all mixed gas diving (since ADP is prerequisite for all mixed gas diving).
The navigation in the German federation is in addition to the CMAS requirements, so you need to check with the German federation for it. I'm afraid the documents are in German. The link is
www.vdst.de/fileadmin/dateien/Ausbildung/Ordnungen/2019/VDST-DTSA%20Ordnung%2001.01.2019.pdf
** Diver starts on page 20 with age, certification, and number dives requirements. It then lists "other prerequisites":
- current medical
- specialty "navigation" (German: Orientierung beim Tauchen)
- specialty "group leading"
- basic life support
- recommended specialties "fresh water biology" or "salt water biology".
As you can see the specialties navigation and group leading are not listed as recommended like the others. They are necessary. They also have a different course designation. AK = "Aufbaukurs" which roughly translates to continuation/advanced/extension course indicating that these are prerequisites for diver progression as opposed to specialties that are not required for diver progression. The latter are designated SK = "Spezialkurs", i.e., literally "specialty course". Other specialties that are designated AK are "Dive safety and rescue" and "Night diving" which are required for 3* as well as "basic life support" which is recommended for * and required to be current (attended within the last 12 months) for the remaining diver progression.
Best wishes,
Tobias
Hi James. You may be a horrible photographer, but you do know how to make great RUclips videos. Very entertaining and informative. Keep 'em coming. I'll be sure to point students to your site.
Anyway, back to teaching in a cold, muddy puddle in Blighty! Thanks. Graeme
Thanks Greame! Appreciate your support, buddy. James
I wish there was more talking about the content and less lead-up. Still gave thumbs up.
Q
Agreed
It's just part of why the majority of his viewers watch him. This is very much like talking to your dive buddy in real life.
In fact, navigation and night/restricted visibility are two of the 4 required specialties for Divemaster Education at SSI. (Deep 40, Navigation, Night, Stress & Rescue).
For night dives in our local lake you must present a night & lim. vis. certification, even in a guided group.
The only speciality classes I did as a ''recreational'' diver were Cavern (with a cave instructor and definitely got my moneys worth), Wreck (kind of a waste although a good review of techniques I'd learned in Cavern), and of course Nitrox.
I'm certified to teach a bunch of specialties but the only ones I teach really are Nitrox and Deep. Both cards are required to do certain dives. I do get people asking me to teach them underwater photography but normally I give them a couple of recommendations for books, a few tips, and tell them to just shoot. I'm happy to critique their photos and give them advice on how to improve. I'll also help get them started with photo editing software.
I understand its a business for a lot of people. My problem was by the time I became an instructor I had close to 800 dives. I genuinely believe most specialties aren't necessary based on my many years as a recreational diver. I just love to dive and sharing that with others is pretty cool 🙂
I’m getting ready to get my basic open water cert in the next few months and am already setting goals that I want to attain. (Master diver eventually). This video really helped me write down a list of speciality certs that I should get to help me get there. I love your videos, keep me coming!!
Thanks Robert! Good luck with your OW course. Where are you doing it? Thanks for watching. James
Divers Ready live in Tuscaloosa, AL. There are a few dive centers about an hour or so away. Probably going to do it at scuba ventures in Pelham, AL.
For once I agree totally, apart from the part saying it's controversial. For most experienced divers this just makes sense ...
Thanks for watching Rik! Appreciate ya, brother.
@@DiversReady welcome dude, as professionals we understand the importance of good informative and practical training. Sadly however the whole concept of some organisations is geared to pushing further education, much of which is as you correctly point out " unnecessary".
The sad part is it's essential for the survival of dive centers in a competitive world.
I could also rant on and I've not named boat or photography speciality courses.
Perfect video for many fresh OW and AOW divers who are stepping around whats next. I am still confused about SOLO .. for example in the Egypt (Red Sea) there are many nice house reefs where you can dive in relative shallow water (5-15meters) just in front of your dive center. You can buy unlimited diving day and dive almost as much as you want but you need to have buddy. Water is crystal clear, warm, calm, usually without currents, and there is almost no risk at least if you have partner who is snorkeling or freediving above you like my girlfriend. I think ideal place where to start SOLO. And even if I have Rescue Diver course, hundred dives and read a lot about solo diving I can not dive alone. Do I need two tanks, two computers, in this safe and shallow environment where NO DECO time is longer than my dive time - no. But SOLO plastic card for hundrets bucks could solve it...
Thanks James. I am fairly new, OW/Dry suit together in APRIL 2019, Nitrox MAY 2019, AOW MAY 2019. Waiting on dry suit to arrive for Rescue diver course.
Love it! Thanks for watching JPM Productions! James
"Essential" yeah said no greek diver ever after diving about 10meters deeper than allowed while diving in a wreck with live bullets and real skeletons. It was epic
Excellent synopsis of specialty course’s James, and very helpful to see them classified into relevant groups like that. Just a little pointer though, my other half and I did the PADI Public Safety Diver course in the uk a few years ago and required both drysuit and full face mask specialties before undertaking the PSD course. Now I know it could be argued that the PSD certification is totally superfluous in the UK as not recognised by any professional body for purpose of working, that is obviously covered by HSE level certifications. However, strictly speaking, outside of the UK it may be more relevant. That said, we both really enjoyed the PSD course done with Island Divers in the Isle of Wight, it was challenging and very rewarding, and moreover, we have adopted many of the principles learnt in the course in our day to day diving. I mostly wanted to do the course as I simply enjoy the learning experience and having been a diver for nearly 30 years, a tech diver for 20 of those, and an recreational instructor for nearly the last 10 years, I still get a buzz out of expanding my knowledge and skills and therefore hunt out courses that may push my boundaries a little further.
All the best,
Gary Johnson
You should definitely add stress and rescue to the essential access list or the add on list, you definitely need formal training you might be asked to show the certificate but it’s definitely a must have for most future advanced certification like divemaster
Great video again! I have a different point as it regards navigation and drysuit. Navigation goes to add ons and dry suit to essential. Try to find your way in an unknown place and without compass, bad visibility, or at night...You get the point.
A dry suit can harm or kill you if not used and maintained properly. So I would take formal training for myself.
I have to agree on a lot of those BS ones. Navigation could be useful but mainly if you are cave diving or something like that or there is no way to surface to find where you need to go. That could bump it to the Add-On but at the same time learning how to use a compass isn't that hard either.
Anyway, I started diving a few months ago after my wife passed away. I am already doing things that PADI stresses people should not do, like rebuilding regulators and such. To be honest if you can't replace the o-rings on a second stage and adjust it you probably can't change the spark plugs in your car either. It's just too easy to slip off the old ones and slip on some new ones, add a little silicone lube and put it back together. The first stage is a little more involved and daunting, I pulled apart and reassembled a SP MK5 but need to test the IP and adjust it. If that comes out good my SP MK20 is next on the list. I do have to say that I am technically inclined and have done a lot more than replace the plugs on my truck.
In January I will be in Jamaica visiting for two weeks and have seriously contemplated doing the AOW course. Navigation and deep are required but then I think Nitrox and wreck but not sure on the last one but may just do buoyancy for more time in the water. Night would be my third choice but that center does not have it available along with the other essential ones or add-on's. But I have my BCD and some other stuff already in Jamaica and the course is 315 for all of them the only thing I will need is weights and tanks for the dives.
I was in Bonaire and had to take the hunter course to hunt lion fish. I would put it in the middle group mostly because in some areas like Bonaire you have to have that certification to be allowed to hunt lion fish because the whole island is a preserve.
Hi Chris, thanks for watching buddy! For Bonaire, agreed! For everywhere else... hmmmm...
James
@@DiversReady I agree that being said doing the class in Bonaire there was a huge emphasis on thinking about the coral and making smart shots etc. I got yelled at (definitely not bragging) for pinning a lion fish against live coral to keep it from coming off of the ELF.
Yeah, payed for our OW, EANx, and PPB at the same time... just did our enclosed dive this weekend, and the instructor told me how good I was at controlling my buoyancy... $#!+
Took a screenshot, subscribed & liked your video. Unfortunately a lot of establishments are $ driven. I have my OW & FFM cert., waiting on quarantine to be over to do my AOW/ Nitrox & my Deep diver cert. Happy to see I didn’t fall into the “other” categories 👍🏼
To properly frame my point of reference, I am a mostly inland freshwater diver in a northern local, initial basic certification in 1969. I start by thanking you for your presentation, in my experience, such candor is the exception rather than the rule. I mostly agree with your assessment, with a few exceptions. Buoyancy is a critical skill that should be introduced in open water and mastered completely to gain advanced open water. That it could stand alone, lacks logic so I guess that it being in the BS class, left handedly does make sense.
My most significant points of disagreement are Drysuit and Search & Recovery. I would have them in the essential category, at least for inland divers because it is rather common to be asked to look for and recover things, and also for that to happen in cool / cold weather and or water. Example, I once went to an APBA hydroplane regatta in 1969 and I pointed out how lacking their preparations were for recovering boats (and people) that got into trouble. For 22 years thereafter, I was the director of the crash crews, charged with recovering both the drivers and the boats.
I can forgive your lack of attention to these details, as you much newer to the sport and probably never been in fresh water....lol!
I was with you until I saw your final list. Buoyancy can be mixed into everything, obviously. Hunter, however, I'd put into add-on. Most places probably wouldn't give a spear without and hunter/hunting is the greatest buoyancy practice I've ever had-along with my awesome buddy who's had to help me get a few shots lately. Navigation should (and is, for PADI) essential-requirement for AOW notwithstanding, no one asks for your card but the training is crucial. Solo/self-reliant should be essential access as well because some places won't give you that pony without it and some carry even more restrictions if you're going off alone.
Hi Yuriy D, thanks for watching! The only reason solo is in Add-On is because it fails the test: does this cert give me access to further training? The answer is no, no other course for higher scuba education has Solo diver as a prerequisite. I agree that you definitely need the cert if you intend to solo dive with a commercial charter operation, for sure. As for Nav, if it's taught well at OW and AOW level, as it should be, there's no need for the specialty cert. Again, I'm not ranking the importance of the skills... No one is questioning the importance of Buoyancy and Navigation skills, but if someone needs a specialty course in these skills, it's because their Instructor passed them when he/she shouldn't have. James
Thank you for your videos and insight! I'm a PADI DM with I think about 12 specialties over the course of three years. Some were no doubt a waste of money/time but one good aspect is it got me in the water much more and sort of forced me to get over initial discomfort. Also a couple were PADI Distinctive specialties which to me were "nice to have " as it was geographically geared. Please continue giving the truly valuable advice as I incorporate it in my advice to my fiancé who recently obtained her PADI MSD credential.
Oh By the way my list of specialties are as follows: Boat, Drift, Night, Peak Performance, Tokai Comoran (WWI/WWII ships colocated) Guam Shore Diver, Guam Blue Hole Diver, Wreck, EAN, Underwater Navigator, Self Reliant, and Deep.
@@billhazel4476 That's awesome! Thanks so much for watching. Guam?! Awesome!
Isn't Buoyancy skill number 1. I spent most of my spare time in the pool tuning it. The only "course" I took was for a a Dry Suit and most of it was fairly easy like how to recover from certain situations if they occur, like the feet first situation you mention, recover is easy once shown, I was taught 4 different recover methods, all were easy, did not take long either and I feel a lot safer using them since I know how to handle any problems calmly now. Like there, it is COLD here, 40 on the surface, 45 in the summer, and below 32 at depth. I was no given any separate card since that is how I was equipped when certified in OW. Diving around here is more like going to the moon the but you get to see a lifetime's worth of crabs. They are everywhere. Lots of people here do wreck diving.
Full Face Mask is pretty quick, any place selling you one should offer it as part of the purchase. I observed one during my training. Altitude, it really is not done much. Good luck finding someone properly qualified that isn't in you altitude divers club already. It is mostly a regional thing.
Cave Diving or Wreck Diving which is certainly in the last group but also going with experienced Cave or Wreck divers is still recommended even with training. For navigation I just bought the book, it was informative but I agree NOBODY needs it. If you dive often it has useful tips but I would never bother getting training in it.
You left off Oxygen, if many regions it is REQUIRED to get separate training in just Oxygen treatment separate from your Rescue courses. It is considered a legal specialty where I live. For CPR it is better to uses a medical agency not a dive shop. Personally, I took a first aid course no just CPR. You learn at least a dozen times as much. The main problem is you need to retake them since information is constantly being updated even if just a little bit. I took mine with Red Cross which actually offers legal protection for a year if you follow their procedures. They are that confident in their information. You will not get that from a dive shop.
I am a NASE student. Besides doing the basic courses (now preparing for advanced) what i want to do is Nitrox and Deep. The rest of the specialties are dry-suit, navi, equipment, night, naturalist and digital imaging. Nothing too fancy tho, as far as i can see these are all could be useful for certain goals. Other than that you have the basic courses like rescue and divemaster, and then comes tech diving, which is a whole other story if you ask me.
I agree with your opinions on buoyancy btw. It should be taught right if you want your certificate. It's such an integrated part of the scuba diving itself.
Hi. I really enjoyed your video. Some other add on courses people might be interested in that require certification are: Advanced Nitrox, Mixed Gas Blending, Trimix, Intro to Cave Diving, Advanced Cave Diving and Decompression Diving. I realize that most of these are Technical Diving but they are all interesting. I really appreciate your honesty about the fluff courses.This is my first time to your site and I subscribed.
Hi Peter! Thanks and welcome to the channel! James
Solo I feel Needs to be in last column. That is one I’m on the fence about. There is good training on the solo diver. And yes the instructor is everything with any agency. Well done my friend
Great stuff. Hate background music in videos, though.
Excellent video. One minor gripe with regards to the Nitrox... you stated that it absolutely requires structured instruction. Whilst I agree that in order to fill or dive nitrox in commercial setting a certificate is absolutely required, the theorhetical, physiological and safety information and knowledge is easily obtainable through outside courses.
It's basically just Dalton and Henrys Laws with an understanding of oxygen toxicity hazards and the associated maximum safe partial pressures.
Just my 2 cents.
I totally agree with the video but i think "Navigation" is essential for every diver for obvious reasons!
thanks for sharing
under the "Add-On" category, I love the CPR, it's is actually vital, I believe everyone should be 1st aide,CPR,AED certified.
I actually loved the reaction my O.W. instructor had when I told him I am a Firefighter/Paramedic, and showed him my credentials to back it up.....LOL, And just throwing this out there, I also promote folks volunteering at their local volunteer FD's, it's mandatory to be trained CPR and AED, and be a oxygen caregiver as a Firefighter. plus, if you have the "first responder" CPR cert, you can bypass the prerequisite for the diving CPR course. believe it or not, there is a huge difference between the CPR folks learn from the red cross or even dive schools and the CPR course in the fire service, as I mentioned, with the fire service you are also certified as an oxygen caregiver. Paid departments, not all, but it's getting their, require firefighters to be EMT basics, MINIMUM EMR( Emergency Medical Responder), this replaced the 1st Responder Course. Just F.Y.I, but this is why I love diving, because, there are so many things that I can bring to the perverial table. plus, it's a good thing to have a medic with you on a dive trip, so many things can happen. I don't go anywhere without my I.F.A.K with my CAT Tourniquet.