From personal experience, I strongly recommend those intending to take up PADI Open Water Diver to take the Confined Water Dives in their local area first before heading to the islands to finish up with the Open Water Dives. Why?
Because trying to finish up everything in 4D3N can be too rushed and may not be possible if there's any delay caused by bad weather or learners taking a longer time to pick up the required skills. Even if "zero to finish" could be done in 4D3N for those super fast learners, it's still very rushed and you won't have a relaxed on-holiday mood.
I shall say it again. Take your Confined Water Dives in KL, PJ, Subang, Klang or wherever is most convenient for you if you're in the Klang Valley. Do it after working hours on weekdays, on the weekends if you prefer, or during the day on working days if your schedule's flexible. Take a month or less, or a couple of months. It depends how long it takes for you to get used to clearing your mask underwater or opening your eyes underwater.
Only after you've familiarized yourself with those required scuba dive skills and your confidence level has gone up, then go to the islands. Too bad KL doesn't have any nice beach or decent diving spot within 1 to 2 hours' drive. The islands are all at least half a day's drive away or 1 to 2 & a half hours by plane. Might as well have an enjoyable, relaxed holiday, correct?
From an Internet search I came across a well-written article by "tjs282" on Yahoo Answers. A former full-time scuba instructor himself (PADI # 609394), he gives an excellent, helpful answer to the kind of questions asked by newbies on what to expect for first-time scuba learners. I've included it below for reference because I think it's a good one.
=====[The following by tjs282]=====
While you may well be the youngest person on the course, that's not necessarily a bad thing. By and large, the kids and teens I've taught have picked things up a lot quicker and easier than the older students, and tended to get less discouraged by any setbacks or difficulties. They can also thus act as a spur for the more nervous adults -- "if s/he can do it, so can I!"
The PADI OWD syllabus includes 5 classroom sessions, to review each chapter in the manual (i.e. the knowledge reviews), and do the 4 multi-choice quizzes (10 questions each) and final multi-choice exam (50 questions, pass-mark = 75%, or 38/50); 5 'confined water' (CW) sessions in a pool or shallow (<5 m) open water, where the instructor demonstrates the scuba skills you need to learn, and then you have a go; and 4 open water (OW) training dives, where you show your instructor that you can do the the skills without seeing a demonstration first.
Actual course scheduling is down to the individual instructor/dive centre, and depends on what facilities they have available, and when. If you're particularly concerned, it would be best to phone up your chosen dive centre and ask exactly how they are planning to run the course. To pack everything into 2 days without breaking PADI's course standards, my best guess would be that they're counting on you (and the other students) to learn all the theory on your own time, which will allow the instructor to limit the classroom sessions to just the quizzes and exam (which would take maybe 90-120 mins total, assuming no holdups), and concentrate primarily on teaching the practical dive skills.
The CW sessions can be run together to some extent (although the skills should be taught in the prescribed order), so they could do a CW session on one or (more likely) both mornings. That would leave each afternoon free to do 2 dives, but all dives are likely to be very short (maybe 20-30 mins) and shallow (max. ~10-12 m) for logistic reasons (when I was still teaching, we weren't allowed to take OWD students out for more than 2 open-water training dives per day, although this may have changed since). Please note that the above wouldn't be my preferred way of teaching an OWD course, but I was teaching holiday-makers in tropical resort settings, not local divers on weekend courses.
Regarding the DVD, PADI Standards do not (AFAIK) require the student to watch or own the DVD prior to the course. The DVD is an additional or alternative means of learning the theory (e.g. for people with dyslexia): it contains the same information as in the manual, structured in the same way, but with video footage, animations and a voiceover, rather than photographs, static illustrations and text. The only real drawback to missing out the DVD before the course is that it also includes video footage of every confined water skill, which may be easier to follow than the step-by-step descriptions in the manual (after each chapter). But generally, if you can follow the manual, then watching the DVD is not necessary -- and your instructor will (or should!) be doing in-water demonstrations of all the skills.
PADI Standards DO require that the student be issued with their own copy of the manual to keep, to allow him/her to review the basics after the course ends (e.g. once a year, and/or directly before a diving holiday). While your OWD certification is good for the rest of your life, regularly reviewing what you have learned (and routinely practicing the emergency management skills) is highly advised, especially for new divers and/or those who do not dive regularly. If you prefer to buy and watch the DVD in order to do this, rather than re-read your manual, that is up to you.
I wish you all the best for your course, and happy diving.
Source(s):
Former full-time scuba instructor (PADI # 609394)
Article from: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120407131738AAC7Lvt
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