certification

[chrism23]

I just noticed this topic when scanning through the boards, I am usually on the Silversea site.  And boy, do I have something to say on the subject.  The recent cruises I have been on there were 3 diving opportunities.  I live in New England.  I do not dive here, it is too damn cold and so murky you can't see anything.  I have a PADI advanced  card.  I have been on wrecks near 200 feet.  I have done night dives, long drift dives, in short just about everything.  Yet the dive masters on the last three cruises I had wouldn't let me in the water. 

 

Among other things I missed a long swim with a whale shark, and worst of all, in the Galapagos I missed the annual convention of hammer head sharks, there were 100's of them at about 80 feet deep.  Harmless.  

 

The main problem is the last time I dove was 10 years ago.  The PADI authorized dive school here said I would have to get a new card and go through the 6 week introduction course.  I contacted PADI directly without success.  Obviously I don't want to take the damn course again.  Yet I see these bozos taking resort dive courses for a couple of days then they are allowed to go into open water.  Any advice on how to work around this.  TIA

[Bobroo]

I believe the the dive shop that said it will take you 6 weeks to retake the Open Water class is exactly correct because it is going to take you at least 6 weeks to come to grips with who the Bozo actually is.

 

First and foremost, there are rules and we do not fault those who are applying and following the rules. There are no work arounds, there is only a "work through".

 

 

 

 

 

 

[omeinv]

@chrism23

 

As long as you have your certification card, you should be looking for a skills update; what PADI calls a "Recactivate" course, and SSI calls a "Scuba Skills Update".  Most operators will require this if a diver has not had any logged dives in the prior two years.  Here's the PADI information on it:

 

https://www.padi.com/courses/reactivate

 

Here's the similar SSI course:

 

https://www.divessi.com/en/get-certified/scuba-diving/scuba-skills-update

 

A common issue when divers come for an update is that they cannot locate their certification card, and if it was issued prior to a certain date (that date varies by agency) dive shops cannot locate it in the agency's on-line database.  At that point the only hope is to contact the agency and have them conduct an internal search.  If you have your physical certification card (either original Open Water Diver, or the Advanced Open Water Diver), then they won't need to locate the proof of your certification.  I've had several people want to do an update, but without being able to associate it to an original certification it cannot be done.  In that case the only option is beginning again, as you were told.  Another common concern that comes up at a higher rate for update courses is that to participate a student needs a current medical form, and in many cases it will require a doctor's sign-off.  Student's fail to plan, and thus arrive for a scheduled update, and are not allowed to complete it for lack of a valid medical.  The point is allow time to locate your certification, and to be seen by your doctor.  Customers failure to plan for these issues is the most common reason - by far - that they cannot complete an update they want.

 

A less common issue, but one that occurs, is that the student cannot demonstrate competence with the required skills after the update course.  In that case the instructor does not sign them off, and they are told that they must begin again with a full Open Water course. 

 

Chrism23, I have to say the tone of your post has reasonably inspired @Bobroo's concern.  I'm hoping this is a case where the written word may not be the best medium.  But, just in case I'm going to address some of the issues you've raised.  If I fail to make a friend, I'll survive.

 

6 hours ago, chrism23 said:

 I have a PADI advanced  card.  I have been on wrecks near 200 feet.  I have done night dives, long drift dives, in short just about everything.  Yet the dive masters on the last three cruises I had wouldn't let me in the water.

 

The main problem is the last time I dove was 10 years ago.  The PADI authorized dive school here said I would have to get a new card and go through the 6 week introduction course.  I contacted PADI directly without success.  Obviously I don't want to take the damn course again.  Yet I see these bozos taking resort dive courses for a couple of days then they are allowed to go into open water.  Any advice on how to work around this.  TIA

 

A PADI Advanced Open Water certification is a bit of a joke in the industry.  A diver can attain this by completing a grand total of nine dives, never once out of sight of an instructor.  I imagine it was presented to you as something of an achievement; but please understand it's not going to sway anyone's opinion of your diving knowledge or ability. 

 

If you're hoping to convince someone that you should be allowed to dive, telling them you've dived "near 200 feet" is an awful way to do it.  If I were working for the dive operator you'd approached, that would definitely tip the scales against you if I was having to make a decision.  You're stating emphatically that you dived well beyond the level of your training, and to a depth where oxygen toxicity becomes a concern.  If you said this to me, I would have been the fourth one to tell you "no".

 

Finally, a "resort course" is a term for a "Discover Scuba Dive".  This is an experience dive, with an instructor (not a divemaster or assistant instructor), it's depth limited to a maximum of 40 feet, and requires some simple classroom and confined water instruction prior to that.  If someone is spending a couple of days, it's likely they're completing the full Open Water Diver Course.  The full course requires about 16 hours of class and pool (or confined water) instruction: and then four open water certification dives, conduced on separate days.  If done at a dive site, it's fairly easy to schedule this to take two full days,and then a morning; and even possible to do everything in two days.  Your post sounded condescending since it seemed to assume anyone who attains their certification in a different manner than you're used to is a "Bozo".  I'm going to guess if your dive center is offering the Open Water course as a six-week program, it's likely one three-hour session per week, for a total of 18 hours class and pool.  I trust you see how that could be turned into a two-day course, since less time is lost to things like set-up and breaks when the sessions are longer. 

 

Presuming you can locate your certification card, I think you should be able to find an update course.  If for whatever reason the first dive center you contacted doesn't offer this, hopefully there's another close enough to you that you can make it work.  Even though your original certification was PADI, you can do an SSI Update, and it will be equally valid. 

 

Best of luck, and I genuinely do want you to be able to get back in to diving (safely and competently).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

 

[chrism23]

17 hours ago, omeinv said:

@chrism23

 

As long as you have your certification card, you should be looking for a skills update; what PADI calls a "Recactivate" course, and SSI calls a "Scuba Skills Update".  Most operators will require this if a diver has not had any logged dives in the prior two years.  Here's the PADI information on it:

 

https://www.padi.com/courses/reactivate

 

Here's the similar SSI course:

 

https://www.divessi.com/en/get-certified/scuba-diving/scuba-skills-update

 

A common issue when divers come for an update is that they cannot locate their certification card, and if it was issued prior to a certain date (that date varies by agency) dive shops cannot locate it in the agency's on-line database.  At that point the only hope is to contact the agency and have them conduct an internal search.  If you have your physical certification card (either original Open Water Diver, or the Advanced Open Water Diver), then they won't need to locate the proof of your certification.  I've had several people want to do an update, but without being able to associate it to an original certification it cannot be done.  In that case the only option is beginning again, as you were told.  Another common concern that comes up at a higher rate for update courses is that to participate a student needs a current medical form, and in many cases it will require a doctor's sign-off.  Student's fail to plan, and thus arrive for a scheduled update, and are not allowed to complete it for lack of a valid medical.  The point is allow time to locate your certification, and to be seen by your doctor.  Customers failure to plan for these issues is the most common reason - by far - that they cannot complete an update they want.

 

A less common issue, but one that occurs, is that the student cannot demonstrate competence with the required skills after the update course.  In that case the instructor does not sign them off, and they are told that they must begin again with a full Open Water course. 

 

Chrism23, I have to say the tone of your post has reasonably inspired @Bobroo's concern.  I'm hoping this is a case where the written word may not be the best medium.  But, just in case I'm going to address some of the issues you've raised.  If I fail to make a friend, I'll survive.

 

 

A PADI Advanced Open Water certification is a bit of a joke in the industry.  A diver can attain this by completing a grand total of nine dives, never once out of sight of an instructor.  I imagine it was presented to you as something of an achievement; but please understand it's not going to sway anyone's opinion of your diving knowledge or ability. 

 

If you're hoping to convince someone that you should be allowed to dive, telling them you've dived "near 200 feet" is an awful way to do it.  If I were working for the dive operator you'd approached, that would definitely tip the scales against you if I was having to make a decision.  You're stating emphatically that you dived well beyond the level of your training, and to a depth where oxygen toxicity becomes a concern.  If you said this to me, I would have been the fourth one to tell you "no".

 

Finally, a "resort course" is a term for a "Discover Scuba Dive".  This is an experience dive, with an instructor (not a divemaster or assistant instructor), it's depth limited to a maximum of 40 feet, and requires some simple classroom and confined water instruction prior to that.  If someone is spending a couple of days, it's likely they're completing the full Open Water Diver Course.  The full course requires about 16 hours of class and pool (or confined water) instruction: and then four open water certification dives, conduced on separate days.  If done at a dive site, it's fairly easy to schedule this to take two full days,and then a morning; and even possible to do everything in two days.  Your post sounded condescending since it seemed to assume anyone who attains their certification in a different manner than you're used to is a "Bozo".  I'm going to guess if your dive center is offering the Open Water course as a six-week program, it's likely one three-hour session per week, for a total of 18 hours class and pool.  I trust you see how that could be turned into a two-day course, since less time is lost to things like set-up and breaks when the sessions are longer. 

 

Presuming you can locate your certification card, I think you should be able to find an update course.  If for whatever reason the first dive center you contacted doesn't offer this, hopefully there's another close enough to you that you can make it work.  Even though your original certification was PADI, you can do an SSI Update, and it will be equally valid. 

 

Best of luck, and I genuinely do want you to be able to get back in to diving (safely and competently).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

 

Thank you all so much for your in-depth responses.  I am sorry if in any way my use of the term "bozo" is in any way condescending.  I just shudder when is see hotel guests with 4 hours experience diving to 40+ feet.   I guess I am being short sighted and selfish.  It's just that spending hours at the bottom of my local YMCA pool, and freezing my ass off in murky water off of Port Judith Rhode Island are experiences I don't want to repeat-but it looks like I will have to because my card is really outdated.  

 

As for the deep dive, it was just off of Curacao, our dive master caught holy living hell.  Only afterward did i realize what a stupid dangerous move this was.  I was much too much of a beginner to be hanging off of lines with tanks, for what seemed forever, ascending, so I didn't get bent.  

 

I am too old, 71, to start over again.  So I guess I snorkel.  Not to belittle snorkeling.  The best experience I ever had in the water was in the Galapagos.  We went snorkeling off a beach on our second day, we found ourselves in a middle of a sea lion colony.  There were over 100 of the critters.  They loved us.  After the initial shock of having a sea lion barreling toward you at, (how fast to the do they go, about 30 mph?) thinking that a bad collision is about to happen, only to have the sea lion jump over you is a one off.  It was spectacular.  These critters just wanted to play with you, going over you, under you, every which way.  I was laughing so hard I inhaled too much water andI had to surface and take off my gear and catch my breath.  .  

 

Oh well, anyone want to buy an old BC?  I really do appreciate the time spent on the comments.  Thank you for preventing my further searching for a short cut when there isn't any and in hind sight it was just stupid  on my part which might not ended well at all.  

[Bobroo]

Allow me to step in again and make a few points so that anyone in the future reading this does not get any wrong ideas. 

 

Hammerhead sharks are NOT harmless! Hammerheads are known man eaters. They are beautiful, majestic animals and you are lucky to see one as a diver. Their annual congregation for mating in the Galapagos is stunning. Those lucky enough to do that dive have way more experience than an OW card. These divers follow and obey a very, very strict dive plan     of sticking close to the wall and maintains buoyancy at 80ft in 2000’ of water. During that dive if any one of those frisky hammerheads gets an itchy trigger finger, the entire group of them will attack. There will be no warning.

 

The water in the Galapagos is just as cold as the water in New England. What makes anyone think it is different? For reference, the iguanas that dive to eat the algae have to surface before the frigid water slows their metabolism to zero. Yeah— a reptile species that has inhabited the Galapagos for millions of years can’t stay in the water longer than ten minutes to eat it’s primary food source. Yeah, that kinda cold.

 

Whale sharks. Have you ever noticed that no one scuba dives near the largest pelagic species like surfaced whale sharks, dolphins, elephant seals, and whales? It’s because it is too dangerous. We are fortunate that we can snorkel with whale sharks in the vicinity.

 

PADI, PADI, PADI they are NOT the end all, be all of scuba diving. They are one of many, many agencies and organizations that do the exact same thing. By agreement and design a PADI certification is (nearly) exactly equal to a same level certification in any of the other 60-70 certifying agencies worldwide. That’s why the requirements to achieve what ever level are called standards. Standards to become open water, standards for rescue, standards for instructor, standards for Nitrox, etc.etc.

 

Admitting it has been a long time since you’ve last dove. Realizing there are many roadblocks to getting back in the water. And, knowing what you are missing out on. Why would you not be eager to retake the OW corse from step one? Asking PADI about 10 years ago to go back and research their microfiche for my OW cert despite I knew the approx date, instructor name and location was too big of an ask for them. So for all the right reasons I started from square one again and I am grateful I did.

 

 

[mac66]

I will reiterate in just few words what has already been said.

 

If the OP has his original Certification card he just needs a refresher class. I've seen them done in less than an hour or two.

 

If the OP no longer has his cert card he needs to take at least the OW class again. A suggestion might be do the confined water part in a pool at home and the OW referral dives on a cruise in warm water. That's what I did. I only dive in warm water on cruises.

[omeinv]

7 minutes ago, mac66 said:

I will reiterate in just few words what has already been said.

 

If the OP has his original Certification card he just needs a refresher class. I've seen them done in less than an hour or two.

 

If the OP no longer has his cert card he needs to take at least the OW class again. A suggestion might be do the confined water part in a pool at home and the OW referral dives on a cruise in warm water. That's what I did. I only dive in warm water on cruises.

@mac66 makes a point I likely did not make clear:

 

The refresher course is conducted entirely in the pool or confined water, and runs a max of 3 hours (usually less).   And again, if you've lost your C-Card, it's likely possible to verify your certification through the training agency (e.g PADI, SSI, etc).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[mac66]

9 minutes ago, omeinv said:

@mac66 makes a point I likely did not make clear:

 

The refresher course is conducted entirely in the pool or confined water, and runs a max of 3 hours (usually less).   And again, if you've lost your C-Card, it's likely possible to verify your certification through the training agency (e.g PADI, SSI, etc).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

And..."confined water" can be shallow water in the ocean.  I saw a guy do his refresher while I did my discover dive training at Eden Rock in Grand Cayman. The same training.

 

I was certified in 2019, last dive was in Dec 2019.  I didn't dive again until Dec '21.   I did my refresher in Roatan with my kids who did their discovery dive training. Training and skills checks were the same.  I could probably have lied and skipped the refresher as it was just two years but I was fairly new diver and the refresher brought me back up to speed.

 

Another suggestion is if the OP kept a dive log and maybe wrote his ID number in it or not. He might be able to talk his way through. On my last cruise, all three dive ops asked me if I was certified but only 2 asked to see my card or asked for my ID#.  I had forgotten my card for the 3rd day's dives. I just told them I have dived the previous 2 days with the other named dive ops. They took my word for it.  On one other occasion I forgot my card but had my dive log/notebook with my ID# written it it.

 

I think I read the PADI no longer gives out ID cards. Everything is done online with your ID#.

[chrism23]

23 hours ago, Bobroo said:

Allow me to step in again and make a few points so that anyone in the future reading this does not get any wrong ideas. 

 

Hammerhead sharks are NOT harmless! Hammerheads are known man eaters. They are beautiful, majestic animals and you are lucky to see one as a diver. Their annual congregation for mating in the Galapagos is stunning. Those lucky enough to do that dive have way more experience than an OW card. These divers follow and obey a very, very strict dive plan     of sticking close to the wall and maintains buoyancy at 80ft in 2000’ of water.

 

The water in the Galapagos is just as cold as the water in New England. What makes anyone think it is different? For reference, the iguanas that dive to eat the algae have to surface before the frigid water slows their metabolism to zero. Yeah— a reptile species that has inhabited the Galapagos for millions of years can’t stay in the water longer than ten minutes to eat it’s primary food source. Yeah, that kinda cold.

 

Whale sharks. Have you ever noticed that no one scuba dives near the largest pelagic species like surfaced whale sharks, dolphins, elephant seals, and whales? It’s because it is too dangerous. We are fortunate that we can snorkel with whale sharks in the vicinity.

 

PADI, PADI, PADI they are NOT the end all, be all of scuba diving. They are one of many, many agencies and organizations that do the exact same thing. By agreement and design a PADI certification is (nearly) exactly equal to a same level certification in any of the other 60-70 certifying agencies worldwide. That’s why the requirements to achieve what ever level are called standards. Standards to become open water, standards for rescue, standards for instructor, standards for Nitrox, etc.etc.

 

Admitting it has been a long time since you’ve last dove. Realizing there are many roadblocks to getting back in the water. And, knowing what you are missing out on. Why would you not be eager to retake the OW corse from step one? Asking PADI about 10 years ago to go back and research their microfiche for my OW cert despite I knew the approx date, instructor name and location was too big of an ask for them. So for all the right reasons I started from square one again and I am grateful I did.

 

 

During that dive if any one of those frisky hammerheads gets an itchy trigger finger, the entire group of them will attack. There will be no warning.

 

You absolutely right about the hammerheads.  It is truly a mind blowing site.  The dive master made sure that those diving understood the risk.  As I understand it, the mating orgy of the hammerheads takes place at about 80 feet, and the SS dive was limited to 40 feet.  Then there are the white tipped reef sharks, they are much smaller tha a hammerhead but they will take a bite off you too, in a beach snorkel one passed within 2 or 3 feet of my wife. and I totally freaked out. They were all over the place.

 

 

[Advanced Diver]

I'm an Advanced Diver (BSAC - NOTE proper Advanced, CMAS 4*), Open Water Instructor and the Diving Officer for our club. Qualified to 50m on air and to lead expeditions. PADI Advanced Open Water DIver is not "Advanced" in the slightest, it doesn't even start looking at rescue skills for instance.

I just looked up 200' - it's 61m, that's way beyond any agency certification for air. The main dangers being Oxygen Toxicity and Nitrogen Narcosis. Really really bad on the Dive Master. You were lucky not to get DCI if "I was much too much of a beginner to be hanging off of lines with tanks, for what seemed forever, ascending...", not sure how you did your deco stops. Heck you probably weren't even qualified to do deco.

Anyway enough of that. If you came to me not having dived for 10 years I would insist you did a refresher in the pool before diving. With BSAC that would be buoyancy check, Reg ditch and recovery, Alternative Source (e.g. use of Buddy's Octopus), and Controlled Buoyant Lift off the top of my head. Probably followed up by DSMB, Compass. I would also like to see you take your first dive in Open Water with a Dive Leader or Instructor.

[ROUS]

After a long gap, I did the entire OW course again.  And, I was glad that I did so.  Quite a bit had changed since my earlier diving.  The key is to find an instructor that you mesh with.  I opted for individual instruction and it worked out great.  The pro was an old guy like me and I didn't have to suffer through pool sessions with a bunch of youngsters.  We flew through the exercises and slowed down on the parts that were new or different to me.  Good luck with your quest.

[Sigyn]

I'm in the midst of doing my open water certification through NAUI at age 55 and I'm so glad I'm finally making this happen. There was an older gentleman in his late 60's, at least, doing a refresher course in another part of the pool the other night and he was there for about 90 minutes, max, and he completed the course. It wasn't a big deal. 

 

As for my OW course, there are a total of eight students in the class. Everyone is in their 20's, except for myself, and one man who is 62, and another man who looks to be in his late 60's. It's definitely something for people of all ages. I will say I am quite sore the next day after each four hour class (four classes total, I've done two of them.) There is a lot of physical exertion (particularly the 300m swim and 10 minutes of treading water) but it feels pretty amazing to be accomplishing this. 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Sigyn

[Advanced Diver]

On 6/11/2023 at 2:19 PM, Sigyn said:

I'm in the midst of doing my open water certification through NAUI at age 55 and I'm so glad I'm finally making this happen. There was an older gentleman in his late 60's, at least, doing a refresher course in another part of the pool the other night and he was there for about 90 minutes, max, and he completed the course. It wasn't a big deal. 

 

As for my OW course, there are a total of eight students in the class. Everyone is in their 20's, except for myself, and one man who is 62, and another man who looks to be in his late 60's. It's definitely something for people of all ages. I will say I am quite sore the next day after each four hour class (four classes total, I've done two of them.) There is a lot of physical exertion (particularly the 300m swim and 10 minutes of treading water) but it feels pretty amazing to be accomplishing this. 

Wow can't believe a diver training agency is making recreational divers do a 300m swim and 10 minutes treading water. I remember when I first learnt to dive I had to do 25m underwater, but that was dropped a long long time ago. Never the physical exertion you describe.

[omeinv]

Any WRSTC member agency (SSI, PADI, NAUI, SDI, And many others) is going to require a ten minute float/tread, and either a 200 yard/meter uninterrupted swim, or 300 yard/meter uninterrupted swim using mask, snorkel and fins. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[Sigyn]

5 hours ago, Advanced Diver said:

Wow can't believe a diver training agency is making recreational divers do a 300m swim and 10 minutes treading water. I remember when I first learnt to dive I had to do 25m underwater, but that was dropped a long long time ago. Never the physical exertion you describe.

we used a mask, snorkel and fins for the 300m, so it wasn't horrible, but it took a long time. the instructor had us tell stories during the 10 minutes treading water so that we would't focus on the time. we also had to swim underwater for 50 feet. It's a NAUI certification. My son did his with SSI last fall and he didn't have to do the underwater portion, and his swim was 200m but without fins or a mask or snorkel. he did the treading water portion tho. 

[mac66]

Congrats,

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by mac66

[Advanced Diver]

On 6/13/2023 at 4:43 PM, omeinv said:

Any WRSTC member agency (SSI, PADI, NAUI, SDI, And many others) is going to require a ten minute float/tread, and either a 200 yard/meter uninterrupted swim, or 300 yard/meter uninterrupted swim using mask, snorkel and fins. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

This tweaked my interest, and made me move beyond opinion. I'm with BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club) for context, so I looked up the instructor manual for the entry level "Ocean Diver" (equivalent to other agency "Open Water Diver"). There is indeed a swimming assessment still in there, I've just never seen anyone actually do it, hence the surprise. It's 200 metre freestyle in normal swimwear. Speed is not a requirement. There definitely is no treading water requirement.

Now BSAC is not a WRSTC member agency, but it is accredited by the EUF (European Underwater Federation) to EN 14153-2/ISO 24801-2 - 'Autonomous Diver' (for the Ocean Diver course). I'm not prepared to pay to see the actual ISO standard for the purposes of replying here, so I will just have to assume that since it's done by other agencies the swim test is part of the standard, but it's interesting that others interpret (or add to?) the standard with float/tread water test as well as a swimming assessment. I did check the WRSTC standard for Open Water Diver, and the swimming and treading water are both there in that standard so as you say all member agencies will require both.

 

At the end of the day it's all moot - you do what your agency and school/club require you to do, just interesting enough for me to do some digging.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Advanced Diver
add in WRSTC standard

[Sigyn]

On 6/15/2023 at 4:24 PM, Advanced Diver said:

This tweaked my interest, and made me move beyond opinion. I'm with BSAC (British Sub-Aqua Club) for context, so I looked up the instructor manual for the entry level "Ocean Diver" (equivalent to other agency "Open Water Diver"). There is indeed a swimming assessment still in there, I've just never seen anyone actually do it, hence the surprise. It's 200 metre freestyle in normal swimwear. Speed is not a requirement. There definitely is no treading water requirement.

Now BSAC is not a WRSTC member agency, but it is accredited by the EUF (European Underwater Federation) to EN 14153-2/ISO 24801-2 - 'Autonomous Diver' (for the Ocean Diver course). I'm not prepared to pay to see the actual ISO standard for the purposes of replying here, so I will just have to assume that since it's done by other agencies the swim test is part of the standard, but it's interesting that others interpret (or add to?) the standard with float/tread water test as well as a swimming assessment. I did check the WRSTC standard for Open Water Diver, and the swimming and treading water are both there in that standard so as you say all member agencies will require both.

 

At the end of the day it's all moot - you do what your agency and school/club require you to do, just interesting enough for me to do some digging.

yeah, it was interesting that I had to do the treading water requirement for my pool work for my certification for NAUI last month. There was 10 minutes of treading water for our group. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't super easy, either. It just...was. They said you could float if you wanted, but you couldn't touch the sides of the pool, so since that was super important to stay away from, and when you float, you move toward the pool sides, it was easier to tread water. 

 

we asked about the purpose of the 300 meter swim and the 10 minute treading water and the instructor said it's so that if you are separated from your dive boat you have the stamina to survive long enough to wait for the boat to come back and get you, or swim over to the boat if it's 300 meters away. 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Sigyn

[Advanced Diver]

5 hours ago, Sigyn said:

we asked about the purpose of the 300 meter swim and the 10 minute treading water and the instructor said it's so that if you are separated from your dive boat you have the stamina to survive long enough to wait for the boat to come back and get you, or swim over to the boat if it's 300 meters away. 

Odd that. I've never tread water waiting for a dive boat (been diving dive 1991). Your have a buoyancy aid (wing, stab jacket, even ABLJ) that supports you. I don't swim to a boat either, I may fin over once it's close, but that's a bit different to swimming.