As we are now in the full swing of summer season here, more and more people are wanting to get back into the water, some of whom haven’t dived for a few months, some for a few years. At my current dive centre, we recommend that many such people take a ReActivate (or refresher) course to make sure they are comfortable before going out into the open water again. Some people are very happy to do this, others a bit less so.
One of the nice things about the PADI Open Water certification is that it doesn’t expire; once you have it, it’s yours for life. But does that mean you should go back into the water after an extended break?
As with a lot of things in life, I guess the real answer is “it depends”.
Imagine two scenarios:
- A PADI Instructor who has logged more than 1,000 dives over a 10-year period, but has not dived in two years because she moved countries for work, and has not had the time to dive since.
- An Open Water diver who has only completed Open Water dives 1-4 in their OW training 12 months ago, and has not dived since.
Which one would you suggest does a ReActivate? Neither are required to, but the Open Water student would certainly benefit from a quick refresher course. The comfort of having a PADI Pro around them to remind them of various things is invaluable, and I know this from experience of having newer divers on the boat. For the instructor, it would greatly depend on the proposed first dive. A clear, calm, recreational dive would be ideal, and I’d be happy to take them out diving. However, if they also wanted to jump in the pool (especially to test out their equipment that may not have been used in a while), I’d certainly recommend and arrange that.
The one thing that I have found when dealing with this situation is that the people who actively ask to do a ReActivate are often good divers, whereas those that are resistant are the ones who need it most.
What do you think? Should there be a mandatory time limit, after which a ReActivate is required? Let me know in the comments below.