WHEN SHORTCUTS DON'T PERFORM AS PROMISED
When certified divers are asked what they wish their entry-level open water certification had focused more on, every instructor – ours or theirs – should listen.
You might expect old-school and the super experienced to mention the esoteric, the stuff that only comes from a few hundred dives and hours and hours underwater. But that’s not the case. It’s the basics that they talk about.
The general complaint is they wish there’d been more practical, real-world watermanship talked about and practised rather than being rushed through the most basic survival drills.
They mentioned wishing their entry-level open water certification had focused more on practical, real-world statesmanship rather than just basic survival drills.
They wished their OW course taught them how to hover flat, with streamlined horizontal trim, instead of being told hanging like a seahorse or Buddha in the water demonstrated ‘good buoyancy control and trim.’
They wished their OW course had included at least an introduction to alternatives to the standard flutter kick so they could avoid kicking up silt and damaging coral.
And often, they mentioned wishing they’d been encouraged to focus on independent gas management instead of relying on their instructor or divemaster to remind them to check their SPGs.
Not sure what to take from that... but it sounds a lot like they wish they’d certified with RAID.