I’m doing my checkout dive today for my ow cert. appreciate the help! I thankfully love my instructor and SSI has been working well for me. I also wanted to thank you for the mask fitting video. I tried on like 20 something masks till I found the best one, I never would have done that/known what to look for without you.
I hope it all came out great. Remember it is a marathon and not a sprint. The skills come with lots of practice. So if you aren't perfect now, then lots of time to get there. Congratulations. Thanks for watching. Freddy
@@coralkeyscuba Thanks Freddy! It has been a blast these past 2 months. Passed my checkout dive, then went to Cozumel for a fun dive, met some people in my local area doing some (cold) lake dives, plus found out my local dive shop has a pool I can practice in whenever. Scuba has become my favorite activity and I just wanted to thank you for the information you have out there.
I liked this video. I hope you don't mind, but I shared your video on my facebook account. I stated about how this is so true, and I referenced James from Divers Ready because he has stated the same. Thanks again for your words of wisdom and a great video. I have my Master Diver certification through SSI, but I started out in PADI. I have watched a lot of RUclips videos in between my actual courses and felt they have helped me with understanding the hands-on experiences.
No worries. We all need to share our love and passion for scuba diving and get as many people interested in it as possible. Thanks for watching. Freddy
Freddy. So pleased I’ve happened upon your channel and videos. I received my PADI OW certification in 1982 while in college. Then life happened. Marriage. Law school. Job. 4 kids. And here I am at 63 years of age. Wondering if I should even attempt to pick up diving (which I’d do next March in Playa del Carmen, MX where we have timeshare). I have not dove since my OW certification dive in 1982. I know a PADI certification never expires but I am not comfortable diving without pool training. The question I have for you is how much training should I seek? Is a refresher enough? I’m reviewing the PADI OW manual and the first 3 chapters of the SSI OW materials (free on their website). How much pool time should I seek here at home? Our timeshare has a SSI dive shop on site and I’d seek more training there also. But, is this old dog too old to re-learn old tricks?
Love the honesty and your questions. Let me start by saying that I am also 63 and diving is great for me, even at age. Better maybe as we are more mature and that helps a lot in diving. A great sport to age with because it really isn't that strenuous, and it is easy on the joints. So, how do you get back in the water. First, you are doing the right thing by going back to the manual. Brush up on the basics and then practice some of the skills. Start with a refresher for some of the safety skills like clearing a mask remove and replace your regulator etc. Then a bit of pool time is good, but it won't take much. Really the best part of the pool will be just thinking it all through without a rigorous training schedule. And assembling the gear in the right order etc. I don't recommend taking any more training before your trip. Let it all come back to you at your own pace. Then once you make the mental and emotional commitment to continue your dive career then think about taking a perfect buoyancy course and especially Nitrox at our age you will love/need it. Find my video on Nitrox and learn a bit more. Now, the hard part for me to share is that the diving has changed dramatically since you dove after college. My normal recommendation for people heading to Cancun, Playa del Carmen is don't even take your mask. I mean you will blow bubbles, and it might be good for you to get back into the water there but please do not think that is diving. Cancun is pretty much the worse place on earth to dive today. Totally ruined by tens of thousands of people getting into the water without reef safe sunblock. Very little life left in the water there. Cancun is fun to play eat and tour but sorry to say the diving is terrible. BUT, there are still great destinations left to dive if you find yourself getting back into it. You can check our website out for some of our trips and see if we have some that would be enjoyable for you to try when you go again. I only go to good places. Hey thanks for the question and watching the channel. Freddy
@ Freddy, thank you for your honest feedback and recommendations. Question, have Playa del Carmen and Cozumel also been ruined for diving? Our resort is in Playa so I wouldn’t be diving near Cancun. Dean B.
Unfortunately, Playa and Cancun are really one and the same. No need to bring a mask. Sorry for the delay, I was in Tulum diving a whole week of Cenotes. You could try them as long as you will be close by. Freddy
@Freddy; I bet free diving is going up year over year. I seem to encounter more and more twenty-something free-divers throughout Hawaii, the Caribbean and South Pacific. In addition I know a handful of scuba divers that have transitioned to free diving.
I think it is growing but actually I see so many do both. They compliment each other well. When you develop your breath holding abilities it naturally aids your body in using air from your tank better. I would never consider myself a true free diver but I could hold my breath for 3 min 30 seconds at my best and it helped my scuba diving a lot. Thanks for watching. Freddy
My shop is SSI and my buoyancy is better then my partners who did SDI (or whatever) Super happy with my instructor and the shop! Shout out to Idaho Dive Pirates
Congratulations. Yes, we noticed when we switched to SSI that our students graduated with better buoyancy skills as a result of the try dive position during the course. Thanks for watching. Freddy
Loved this, so informative! I had an unfortunate ow training experience and yours and other common sense programs on here, helped me through it all. One of my sons is now interested in diving, my other 2 kids are not because they think they will be nervous. Too bad your shop is all the way in Colorado! 😀
Congratulations on making it through. It is a strange thing teaching your brain that it is ok to breathe underwater. Tricky to get through some times. I hope your sons will want to give it a try so you can all do it together. Thanks for watching. Freddy
I did not yet watch the whole thing, but saying "not many ppl are interested to learn to dive, and it is not that important for them anymore" is borderline infuriating. I live in Europe, landlocked country. 7/10 of my personal friends said to me this summer, when they learned that I'm getting certified, that they really want to learn to dive. The reason why that 7 is not getting a cert, is because in many places in the world the ppl in their 20s can't even afford to move out from the family home, and diving is expensive as hell. I think with all the respect simply saying they are not interested or it is not that important anymore is kind of ignorant? It is not surprising that it is going down, when the overall financial status of ppl is going down at an insane rate. Looking at my US friends, the ppl in the US are actually in a great bubble despite their financial struggles. If you leave the US, the product prices go up by 50-100%, you get a bunch of new fees and all those good stuff, and the salary drops significantly. The training cost the same if not more, but while you have around 29,8$ hourly wage, we in central Europe have 6-10$....
You obviously have the interest. But I am not being ignorant to state the sad fact that there really is a lack of interest today. I live it every day of my life. I have a business that is conditional upon this trend. We (the dive industry) are doing everything we can to stimulate that interest. Yes, it is expensive, but people always find a way to pursue their passion. And those that live on coasts or near good diving locations still notice a severe decline in the interest of those from 18-28 years of age. Trust me, I wish it was simply an ignorant statement, but it is all too true. Makes me sad. Thanks for watching. Freddy
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I’m doing my checkout dive today for my ow cert. appreciate the help! I thankfully love my instructor and SSI has been working well for me. I also wanted to thank you for the mask fitting video. I tried on like 20 something masks till I found the best one, I never would have done that/known what to look for without you.
I hope it all came out great. Remember it is a marathon and not a sprint. The skills come with lots of practice. So if you aren't perfect now, then lots of time to get there. Congratulations. Thanks for watching. Freddy
@@coralkeyscuba Thanks Freddy! It has been a blast these past 2 months. Passed my checkout dive, then went to Cozumel for a fun dive, met some people in my local area doing some (cold) lake dives, plus found out my local dive shop has a pool I can practice in whenever. Scuba has become my favorite activity and I just wanted to thank you for the information you have out there.
I liked this video. I hope you don't mind, but I shared your video on my facebook account. I stated about how this is so true, and I referenced James from Divers Ready because he has stated the same.
Thanks again for your words of wisdom and a great video.
I have my Master Diver certification through SSI, but I started out in PADI. I have watched a lot of RUclips videos in between my actual courses and felt they have helped me with understanding the hands-on experiences.
No worries. We all need to share our love and passion for scuba diving and get as many people interested in it as possible. Thanks for watching. Freddy
Freddy. So pleased I’ve happened upon your channel and videos. I received my PADI OW certification in 1982 while in college. Then life happened. Marriage. Law school. Job. 4 kids. And here I am at 63 years of age. Wondering if I should even attempt to pick up diving (which I’d do next March in Playa del Carmen, MX where we have timeshare). I have not dove since my OW certification dive in 1982. I know a PADI certification never expires but I am not comfortable diving without pool training. The question I have for you is how much training should I seek? Is a refresher enough? I’m reviewing the PADI OW manual and the first 3 chapters of the SSI OW materials (free on their website). How much pool time should I seek here at home? Our timeshare has a SSI dive shop on site and I’d seek more training there also. But, is this old dog too old to re-learn old tricks?
Love the honesty and your questions. Let me start by saying that I am also 63 and diving is great for me, even at age. Better maybe as we are more mature and that helps a lot in diving. A great sport to age with because it really isn't that strenuous, and it is easy on the joints. So, how do you get back in the water. First, you are doing the right thing by going back to the manual. Brush up on the basics and then practice some of the skills. Start with a refresher for some of the safety skills like clearing a mask remove and replace your regulator etc. Then a bit of pool time is good, but it won't take much. Really the best part of the pool will be just thinking it all through without a rigorous training schedule. And assembling the gear in the right order etc. I don't recommend taking any more training before your trip. Let it all come back to you at your own pace. Then once you make the mental and emotional commitment to continue your dive career then think about taking a perfect buoyancy course and especially Nitrox at our age you will love/need it. Find my video on Nitrox and learn a bit more. Now, the hard part for me to share is that the diving has changed dramatically since you dove after college. My normal recommendation for people heading to Cancun, Playa del Carmen is don't even take your mask. I mean you will blow bubbles, and it might be good for you to get back into the water there but please do not think that is diving. Cancun is pretty much the worse place on earth to dive today. Totally ruined by tens of thousands of people getting into the water without reef safe sunblock. Very little life left in the water there. Cancun is fun to play eat and tour but sorry to say the diving is terrible. BUT, there are still great destinations left to dive if you find yourself getting back into it. You can check our website out for some of our trips and see if we have some that would be enjoyable for you to try when you go again. I only go to good places. Hey thanks for the question and watching the channel. Freddy
@ Freddy, thank you for your honest feedback and recommendations. Question, have Playa del Carmen and Cozumel also been ruined for diving? Our resort is in Playa so I wouldn’t be diving near Cancun. Dean B.
Unfortunately, Playa and Cancun are really one and the same. No need to bring a mask. Sorry for the delay, I was in Tulum diving a whole week of Cenotes. You could try them as long as you will be close by. Freddy
@Freddy; I bet free diving is going up year over year. I seem to encounter more and more twenty-something free-divers throughout Hawaii, the Caribbean and South Pacific. In addition I know a handful of scuba divers that have transitioned to free diving.
I think it is growing but actually I see so many do both. They compliment each other well. When you develop your breath holding abilities it naturally aids your body in using air from your tank better. I would never consider myself a true free diver but I could hold my breath for 3 min 30 seconds at my best and it helped my scuba diving a lot. Thanks for watching. Freddy
My shop is SSI and my buoyancy is better then my partners who did SDI (or whatever)
Super happy with my instructor and the shop! Shout out to Idaho Dive Pirates
Congratulations. Yes, we noticed when we switched to SSI that our students graduated with better buoyancy skills as a result of the try dive position during the course. Thanks for watching. Freddy
Loved this, so informative! I had an unfortunate ow training experience and yours and other common sense programs on here, helped me through it all. One of my sons is now interested in diving, my other 2 kids are not because they think they will be nervous. Too bad your shop is all the way in Colorado! 😀
Congratulations on making it through. It is a strange thing teaching your brain that it is ok to breathe underwater. Tricky to get through some times. I hope your sons will want to give it a try so you can all do it together. Thanks for watching. Freddy
My local SSI shop charges 175€ as far as i can tell from the web page
I did not yet watch the whole thing, but saying "not many ppl are interested to learn to dive, and it is not that important for them anymore" is borderline infuriating. I live in Europe, landlocked country. 7/10 of my personal friends said to me this summer, when they learned that I'm getting certified, that they really want to learn to dive. The reason why that 7 is not getting a cert, is because in many places in the world the ppl in their 20s can't even afford to move out from the family home, and diving is expensive as hell. I think with all the respect simply saying they are not interested or it is not that important anymore is kind of ignorant?
It is not surprising that it is going down, when the overall financial status of ppl is going down at an insane rate. Looking at my US friends, the ppl in the US are actually in a great bubble despite their financial struggles. If you leave the US, the product prices go up by 50-100%, you get a bunch of new fees and all those good stuff, and the salary drops significantly. The training cost the same if not more, but while you have around 29,8$ hourly wage, we in central Europe have 6-10$....
You obviously have the interest. But I am not being ignorant to state the sad fact that there really is a lack of interest today. I live it every day of my life. I have a business that is conditional upon this trend. We (the dive industry) are doing everything we can to stimulate that interest. Yes, it is expensive, but people always find a way to pursue their passion. And those that live on coasts or near good diving locations still notice a severe decline in the interest of those from 18-28 years of age. Trust me, I wish it was simply an ignorant statement, but it is all too true. Makes me sad. Thanks for watching. Freddy