OW Diver Students Take Written Exam Underwater
ANew England dive shop has come up with an unusual approach to scuba examination. The divers finishing up their Open Water certification have an option to take the written exam while hovering underwater.
East Coast Divers, an SSI shop based in Brookline, Massachusetts, says that taking the exam while neutrally buoyant is not a requirement for the program, but rather a challenge, created for the newly trained students to help them get completely comfortable underwater.
“The thought process behind this is to create divers, not just people who want to get certified,” says Kim Malkoski, Training Director at East Coast Divers. “The benefits we have found is a lot of our students feel very comfortable diving in New England, and really stick with sport.”
In the video above you can see the divers, finishing up their certification through East Coast Divers in a course at Boston University, in action.
The shop’s regular Open Water Diver course requires 14 total hours of pool work over seven sessions, two classroom sessions, an online component and checkout dives.
Would you be up for such a challenge? Do you think it’s a good idea? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
