Recreation, Sports & Exercise
Scuba Certification : Questions You Need To Ask Before Getting Certified
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your family. To help you comparison shop, I’ve compiled a list of
questions any potential certification student needs to ask before
Scuba certification is performance based, meaning there is no set amount of hours required for completion. You move from one level to the next during the course at your own pace. You will find that most PADI certification courses advertised are based around an estimated 3 day time frame for completion. For the average person, however, this may not be enough time. 4 days for certification is a much more realistic goal.
Lowball prices are designed for 2 reasons.... to attract your attention, and to get you in the door. The hidden charges for the course, such as books and equipment rental, are conveniently never advertised. Look for an all inclusive certification course experience. Remember, in the end, you always get what you pay for.
Always ask for phone or E-mail references from the most recent certification students who have
5. How Long Have They Been An Instructor?
6. How Many People Have They Certified?
Good instructors, who have an extensive resume of experience teaching scuba certification courses, are extremely hard to find. Dive shops have a notoriously high turnover ratio of scuba instructors to staff. Many of the ones who are
While PADI doesn’t require its scuba instructors to hold these important certifications, any instructor who’s serious about teaching a certification course needs to go the extra mile and make this a requirement, not an option.
This is a common practice some dive operations use where one instructor “Team Teaches” the course with another, exposing you to differing personalities and teaching methods that will only confuse you. Unless you are doing a referral certification, where you are starting and finishing your course in different locations, steer clear.
11. Will The Course Incorporate A Giant RDP Table Into The Academic Sessions?
Learning how to use the dive tables is perhaps the toughest academic challenge a student faces during the certification course. A quality dive operation will have available a giant version of the standard dive table, allowing students to more easily master this important academic information.
Any reputable dive operation should give you a generous student discount towards future diving activities and/or equipment purchases you make from them, in appreciation for taking their certification course.
Jay Umbenhauer has been a PADI instructor in Hawaii for more than 12 years, and has certified 100’s of individuals who now travel this Earth in search of the ultimate dive. His dive company, Scuba Gods, based on Maui, features first class service, professional scuba instruction, and all-inclusive pricing. Learn more at http://www.scubagods.com/ - thescubagod@hotmail.com
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