Learn 2 Scuba

How to become a P.A.D.I. Course Director

instructor — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:09:49 +0000

So I am looking to be a Course Director when I grow up. I took the I.D.C. Staff online update from P.A.D.I. I was happy to hear that the course has shorted to 8 days. Thats nice since the cost should drop for the hotel and food. I also like the fact that they have the EFR Instructor Trainer before the the start of the course. I also like that work with Project Aware counts, since I find that a good thing.

They have also changed the requirements to become a Master Instructor. You know have to have certified 5 Assistant Instructors 5 Dive Masters and 5 Rescue Divers. The rest of the requirements are the same.

One day I will probbaly apply for the Course Director Course. I do believe the program is worth my time and I also think I will make the money back in about 2 3 years. At that point I will a positive income for my scuba instruction.

5 Point Ascent

instructor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:30:28 +0000

So you want to remember an acronym for your ascents. It can not be done, or maybe it can. Lets look to see what the 5 point ascent is:

1) Signal your buddy to go up

2) Check the time (this is the end of the dive)

3) Start your ascent to the surface

4) Rotate as you ascent

5) Swim up slowly not to exceed 60 ft/per minute.

S.T.A.R.S. would work for the acronym. Just like the descent acronym S.O.R.T.D.

PADI O2 Course vs DAN O2 Course

instructor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:42:21 +0000

So P.A.D.I. has released a O2 course, why do I want to teach it when there is a well known DAN O2 course? Is it an good?

I called P.A.D.I. and asked if there course was any good ad I got the standard answer why of course we have the best course out there….SO I switched my distinctive specialty to the P.A.D.I. O2 specialty bought the instructor and student manual I why not give it a try. I just got my material in the mail and started to read the out line and get familiar with it. Wow that is looking pretty nice. I like that fact that this course can integrate into the P.A.D.I. Rescue Course. You just need to add part to the lecture and practical skills and you are done. The student manual looks great, it is well written and flows very nice. Tonight I am going to have my 7 year old daughter read the student manual to see how kids like it and what she would want different in the book.

The negative of the course. There is no video for this course as of yet. There is no digital version of the instructor course, so you need to keep the paper copy. These are the only negatives of the course.

What is need to get certified as a P.A.D.I. O2 course. First you must read the manual, complete the knowledge reviews. Then go work with P.A.D.I. O2 instructor and get some additional information after reviewing the knowledge reviews get answers to the questions you missed. Then we get to the meat of the course. You need to get your hands on the O2 equipment and complete the four skills. I personally want to add this to all of my P.A.D.I. Rescue courses because I believe that O2 is the answer to most first aid issue like D.C.S. and non diving issues like Trauma, Heart attacks, strokes to name a few.

Digital Underwater Photograph

instructor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:36:24 +0000

Why did P.A.D.I. come up with the Digital Underwater Photo course? Were the bored or was it a great idea?

I must say the book that P.A.D.I. wrote is one of the best underwater photography books out there. I have been on shoots for other agency photo books a few years ago, and the pictures and techniques that PA.D.I. has in there book are great. I am an instructor of this course and it is a blast to teach. There are two parts to it. On is in the pool and the second one is in Open Water. This means that you can teach this course to snorkels as well as Divers. Also this course can be taught in the winter in the pool ad finished up in the Open Water when the water warms up.

At first I thought that this course had broken down to basic, but after my first class I relied that not everyone has used a computer and some did not realize they need one to down load their pictures in order to take more or to modify their pictures. I do believe that the Digital Underwater Photography (DUP) class will be a great class to teach people of all ages, espically since they can see what the picture looks like before they surface with some cameras. I hope everyone who read this blog, at least takes part I of the P.A.D.I. digital underwater course so they can see how easy and fun it is to take pictures underwater.

OWSI Instructor to be required EFR Instructors

instructor — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:18:11 +0000

P.A.D.I. is requiring there new Open Water Scuba instructors to be E.F.R. Instructors after June 2009. Why ? Well the best answer is that this will make the Instructor well rounded. Since P.A.D.I. Rescue Diver requires first Aide and CPR why not get the instructor to teach that course as well. At the end of the day this will only help the instructor because they will be familiar with any new changes that happen in the CPR world, like 200 compressions that is be tested in some markets. So in the unlike event something happens to a diver and they are around, they will be able to act and hopefully resolve the divers or non diver issue.

Should the E.F.R. instructor be required to become P.A.D.I. scuba instructors? Why. CPR Instructor may not want to be a scuba diver, but a Scuba instructor should know how to teach CPR and First Aid. Since the Rescue course requires CPR and first aid portions. In fact there is more information in the PADI rescue course then in some first aid courses, and it is dedicated to water issues.

P.A.D.I. Open Water Course

mgearhart — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:01:17 +0000

I have been diving for over 20 years and I still remember my first breath on SCUBA. I remember the problem I had and some of the students in the class and the problems they had. The P.A.D.I. Open water course is one of the most fun courses out there as an instructor. I love when you see the wheels turn and the light turn on when they all of a sudden see what you are saying. Since the start of E-learning the class has been made much easier for the student and the instructor. Most divers’ people are nervous the first time they take a breath underwater, but 20 seconds after their first breath they are hooked, just like I was. By the end of the course they are ready to dive every weekend and I really hope they take the next step in becoming a well rounded diver.

Lake Rawlings vs Millbrook

instructor — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:53:59 +0000

I have been a diehard Milbrook Lakes diver. I have been diving at Millbrook for the past 20 years here in Virginia. When people would say to me that there is a nice dive site just past Richmond Virginia I would say why do I want to drive 3 hours to go diving when I could drive 15 minute to Milbrook. So I finally was forced to go to Lake Rawlings, because I was trying to stay out of 40 degree water. So 6 of us loaded up the trucks and drove down. When I got there I was not impressed, but then we headed down the dirt road. I saw a small room that was for teaching? Get to the entrance and there is a dive shop with air fills and equipment. Rounded the corner and there were some tents to keep out of the wind and weather. Walk up to the water and I can see the bottom of the lake. The entrance had gravel (no silting when you enter the water because of the gravel). So we get in to the water and it is cold, but warmer then Millbrook, by four degree 44 vs. 40 degree.

I must say that I was impressed by the water and layout of the dive site. I plan on taking students to the site to go diving; I think it is worth the 3 hour drive. Millbrook is still a good dive site, for a 15 minute drive but it needs to be fixed up to make a great site. If they put an air fill station on site, sold drinks and basic equipment it would be nice. If they filtered the water so it was a little clearer.

Pre Dive Check

instructor — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:30:01 +0000

Pre dive Check what is it?

BWARF is the way PADI remembers it with. Begin With Review And Friends. What does that stand for?

B BCD (Make sure you know how your buddies BCD works and is operational)

W Weights (make sure they have a right hand release or the quick release are free and clear)
R Release (Make sure you know your buddies gear)
A Air (Make sure it is on some people are a little pick about people touching their Air so becareful)
F Final OK (or as I like to say Fins don’t forget them back at your seat)

5 Point Descent

instructor — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:23:17 +0000

Why do you need to perform the 5 point descent? The five point decent is all about calculating your bottom time and making sure you know were you went down underwater and making sure you have done everything to go diving. I have seen several seasoned divers forget to put their regulator in and remembered half down a decent. I have seen divers not know were they enter the water because they used boats as their object and the boats moved. So what is the easy way to remember the 5 point decent?

The five points are S.O.R.T.D. (Signal, Orient your self to two permanent objects, Regulator snorkel Exchange, Time (This is the start of your dive) Descend) Hope this help remember the 5 point descent

IDC Staff Instructor Should they teach Perscriptive as well

instructor — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:06:55 +0000

The IDC staff Instructor is to teach just Micro teaching to the Assistant Instructor (AI) and the Course Director teaches the prescriptive teaching. The only problem I see with this is when an AI stop their training at this level to get more experience before they go to the Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) course, they will be working with Open Water Instructors who may have just gone threw the OWSI and try and teach them what they think is prescriptive teaching and accidentally misdirect them. Or they try and do this on there own and not understand the concept and teach incorrectly, which will make the program more difficult for the Course Director when they come threw the OWSI with them after a year or two of doing it wrong.