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#205
Stacking Up On Specialtys
jasonchromes - 7/22/2008 2:42 PM
Category: Training
Replies: 12

In the past month and a half since my open water dives I’ve done navigaton dives, search and recovery, altitude diving, deep diving, boat diving, shore diving, wreck diving, night diving, and this past weekend I finished my advanced rescue dives.
 What do you think I should tackle next? I was thinking nitrox.
How fast did you burn through your certifications?
#8208
GypsyDiver - 7/22/2008 4:03 PM
I did Nitrox first. It does help you decide if you want to go the technical route. IF you want to take pictures and don’t know a lens from a viewfinder, U/W photography maybe for you. If you haven’t done alot of Boat dives, the Boat Specialty may be the way to get a reduced rate on a couple of Boat dives. the list goes on and on. You can look at it from Strengths and Weaknesses. Go for what you are interest in or what you don’t know alot about but want to know more. With an Instructor, You know that you will get good training. With a divebuddy, You may just get what he or she thinks is right, not what is doctrine. Then again this is just my opinion. And as far as fast, I would go for quality, instead of quantity.
#471
senorfroggie - 7/22/2008 6:50 PM
I know for me, I chose between what my shop offered and cross referenced it with what I was interested in. Such as wreck, deep (I am 22 years old so i want to push the envelope), I am going to get into extended range and cavern, cave and technical soon. Now the only thing limiting my scuba knowledge is the lack of money on my end.
#3066
mukashi - 7/22/2008 6:58 PM
I did Nitrox first and then Equipment Specialist next. I can’t decide what I want to do next. I enjoyed the night diving, but I especially like Wreck Diving, so that might be my next one. Who knows???
#205
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jasonchromes - 7/22/2008 9:00 PM
I think the bigger conundrum I was flirting with is wether or not to try entering the dive master program. I know I don’t have enough dives logged yet but, I’ve never felt more confidence in life doing anything else. advanced rescue was a breeze and I don’t want to sell myself short on a class like photography.
#1064
polarbear - 7/22/2008 11:23 PM
me and my dive buddy both took our first o/w class back last july and have not looked back since. we told the dive masters at our local shop the first day of o/w checkouts that we were coming for their jobs. they just laught at us 4 months later we were working on our last of five specialties. then had to wait 6 months for a rescue class to open up. finished that now just waiting for a dive master class. all this in a year and some change. my buddy plans on continuing to instuctor i think i will just stay with dive master and probably get into the tec side.
#8590
dalehall - 7/23/2008 1:14 AM
EAN is the only "real" specialty card I carry. I’ve got a "Manatee Awareness" specialty, but that was more a novelty than anything. Collecting cards never meant that much to me. I wanted my ratings more than I wanted cards. (AOW, Rescue, DM) I should finish my DM later this year. The only reason I would get any other specialty cards is if I decide to get my Master Scuba Diver rating (5 needed for that with PADI) or I want to teach them later on. Other than that, I’ll spend my money on the diving and not the cards.
Dale
#14712
tardmaster - 7/23/2008 9:06 AM


I got my "ow" 4/07 and finished my "dm" 10/07, I’m about to start my my instructor course. Since dm, I’ve gotten my deep, wreck, night & nitrox. Will have my manatee and whale shark specialties very shortly. I’m not the card collecting type, but I want the experience so I can talk honestly to students when they ask questions. I also will get a new "distinctive" specialty from PADI, which was authored by one of my instructors...FOSSIL AND ARTIFACT RECOVERY.


I agree with gypsy, go for quality and not quantity.
#65
hntr2k - 7/23/2008 4:13 PM


As a former SDI DM and now a PADI DM, My only advice is to not get too far ahead of your actual skillset. You may have completed a course for basic specialty requirements, but you should continuously strive to practice and hone those specialty skills or else the card/cert. will become valueless over time. If you aspire to Divemaster, focus on that and acquire any specialties that pique your interest along the way.


Just my humble opinion.


Most of all, enjoy diving for itself and I wish you 100% safe ascents.


hntr2k
#3485
FINSUPHAMMERDOWN - 7/23/2008 5:22 PM
I got ow cert in 06 didnt get a chance to dive much in 07 . This year I exploded I’ve read the book and have done most of the adv. dives. just finished my rescue course and I start my divemaster course the 29th.I plan to go all the way to instructor and some kind of Tec course within the next year so any thing is poss.
#205
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jasonchromes - 7/24/2008 9:13 AM
Thank You all, for your great input on this subject!
#95
Foot - 8/18/2008 4:59 PM


I just joined DiveBuddy and your question about what to tackle next has been on my mind as well. I have been diving longer than I have been certified (that’s another story), anyway, while I have some experience and am progressing with advanced training, I have been wondering about how intensive and comprehensive some of the courses actually are. If you and I can "burn" through these specialties as fast as we can sign up, are we really getting the training we think we are?
#436
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Pdillard - 9/29/2018 1:58 PM
Technical diving....