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Cozumel
Scuba Diving Classes
NAUI
Master Scuba Diver Course
OVERVIEW
The course is a continuing education certification
course for divers who wish to increase
their understanding and enjoyment
of diving. Emphasis is on student participation and
practical application
of knowledge
in
open
water after a classroom discussion
of subjects. This course is an excellent
progression toward
NAUI Leadership roles. Some subject
areas are a review and expansion of material
from
previous courses.
Each subject area
is
a
progression in
study not a definitive study in the particular
diving activity.
However, instructors
will specify performance objectives for related
course diving
activities, for example, during a
navigation dive the student
will
swim
a
reciprocal course to
within 10 feet (3 m) of its origin. The course
may
be divided
and taught in sections with the student’s Diving/Training
Log being signed off for each activity
until all requirements are met. Upon successful completion
of this course,
graduates are considered competent
to engage in
open water diving activities
without supervision, provided the
diving activities and the areas dived approximate those
of training.
PREREQUISITES FOR ENTERING THE COURSE
• Age. Minimum is 15 years.
• Diver Certification. NAUI advanced certification or the equivalent is
required. The instructor is to ensure
adequate student knowledge and capability before any open water training and
shall use skill
or other evaluations
to do
so.
• Equipment. Students shall furnish and be responsible for the care and
maintenance of their own diving equipment.
The instructor shall initially assist the student in checking all student gear
to insure it
is adequate and
in proper
working order.
COURSE POLICIES
• Ratios. Standard ratios apply (see “Policies Applying to All Courses”).
If dives are made to depths
greater than 80 feet (24 m), the maximum number of students that shall accompany
one instructor
is
four.
If one or more
active-status
assistants are used this
maximum
may be increased to eight.
• Hours. Academic - 23 hours estimated. This includes classroom sessions
and on-site discussions, briefings and debriefings as necessary to prepare for
or conclude a dive’s
activity in confined or open
water.
• Deep Dives. No dives are to require actual stage decompression.
• Open Water Dives. A minimum of eight open water dives is required. A
maximum of three dives per
day shall be applied toward course requirements. No more than one skin dive may
count
toward the eight
dive minimum.
• Deep Dives. No training dives are to be conducted in excess of 130 feet
(40 m). No dives are to require
actual stage decompression. However, simulated stage decompression may be
added to
the ascent of a no-required
stop
decompression
dive. Any simulated decompression
time spent deeper than 25 feet (7.6 m) must be included in the actual dive
time. The instructor
is to accompany
students
during the first training
dive in excess
of 60 feet (18 m).
• Projects. Assignment of independent projects outside of classroom may
be utilized to enhance the
learning of the students.
SKILL REQUIREMENTS
Skill requirements shall be targeted toward
the specific activities of the
dives conducted and shall be performed
at a level significantly
higher
than that expected of divers
at previous levels. The following considerations
can be utilized in determining
required
dives and associated skills:
• Sites. The greatest possible variety of diving situations shall be used,
such as: boat, shore or dock;
lake, ocean, quarry, reservoir, or river; surf, or current; weeds, kelp,
sand, reef,
wreck,
rock,
mud and so on.
• Dives. Open water diving activities shall follow as closely as possible
after the academic preparation
on the subject and include those listed below. The required dive topic areas
listed
represents five
separate
dives
of the minimum
eight required. The remaining
three dives shall be planned by choosing from that list, from the electives
listed or from
interest
areas of the class.
Dive topics
may be combined or repeated
to complete
the minimum of eight open water dives:
Required Dives:
Emergency procedures and rescue
Deep/simulated decompression diving
Limited visibility or night diving
Underwater navigation
Search and recovery – light salvage
Elective Dives:
Skin diving
Review of basic scuba skills
Environmental study or survey
Air consumption (practical application)
Boat diving
Shore diving
Hunting and collecting
Special interest
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
• Applied Sciences - This area is a review and continuation of the material
covered in the NAUI Scuba
Diver and Advanced Scuba courses. Included are physics, physiology, medical aspects
and
fitness.
Emphasis
must be placed
on the applied
aspects, so that the diver
is
able to perform diving skills and tasks involving buoyancy control, pressure
changes,
air consumption
and personal
limitations.
• Diving Equipment - this area reviews and expands upon the information
presented in the Scuba Diver
Course by covering the care of equipment, detailed functioning, specialized
gear and applications, plus additional gear to be used in the
Master Diver Course. Technical
information on scuba mechanics may be included.
• Diving Risks - This is to cover rescue, first aid and emergency procedures
as applied to diving in open
water. Underwater communications, orientation and navigation, the environment,
dive
planning and
safety measures,
including
the
benefits of emergency oxygen
first aid, are also to be covered. First aid is to include the definition,
types, cause,
prevention,
signs, symptoms
and care
of: shock, wounds, drowning,
heart attack,
fractures, sunburn, overheating, exposure, hypothermia, lung overpressure
injuries, decompression
sick-ness
and seasickness.
Rescue training is to include
problem recognition, diver assists, rescues, in-water rescue breathing techniques,
transports, carries
and an orientation
to CPR.
• Diving Environment-This area is to provide the diver with a better understanding
and appreciation of both
the physical and biological aspects of the environment which affect or en-gage
the
diver.
Coverage is to
include: plant
and animal identification,
relationships, dangers, regulations
and uses; conservation, preservation and pollution; water movement
and characteristics; shore, bottom
and surface
conditions;
and diving locations.
• Underwater Navigation-This area provides the diver with the skills needed
to use a compass and natural
aids for orientation in order to: establish relative position, swim in pre-scribed
directions
for
set
distances and find
particular
locations while submerged
and at the surface.
• Limited Visibility Diving-This area prepares the diver to function safely
and effectively in dirty
water or at night. The problems, techniques, skill levels, hazards and safety
procedures
are to be covered.
• Search and Recovery-This area provides the diver the information and
training needed to select
an appropriate search pattern and method for a given area and then perform a
search
using
proper techniques.
The problems,
planning,
methods, techniques and equipment
are to be covered.
• Light Salvage-This area prepares the diver to recover intermediate-sized
objects with limited or basic
equipment. Theory, problems, hazards, methods, gear, rigging, calculations
and principles
involved
are to
be covered.
• Deep and Simulated Decompression Diving - This area enables the diver
to anticipate and prevent
problems, utilize concepts, methods, and equipment used in this type of diving.
The
diver is to
acquire
a thorough knowledge
of
the dive tables. Deep diving
in this case is defined as any actual or simulated dive made between 60 and
130 feet
(18 and 40 m).
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