I am currently enrolled in Advanced Scuba Diving (including Advanced Rescue Diving and Nitrox) and Scientific Diving through UF, for credit. COVID-19 has had a major effect on all university functions, including the transition last month to all online classes. Originally, the practical (pool) section of my diving courses, where we practice all the skills we learn, were exempt from this since there is of course no way to learn the skills that is adequate for our certifications while our lectures were moved online, however as the situation progressed we were no longer allowed to meet even for the pool classes. Additionally, our open-water dives that are mandatory for certification (including dives to ~120 feet, night dives, low visibility dives, and science dives at Hudson Grotto, Manatee Springs, and Pompano) had to be cancelled per university regulation.
This means that my spring class and I will not be eligible for certification at the conclusion of this semester. However, we are continuing to meet virtually and complete the academic portion of our classes, including assignments, certification exams, and research papers. This means that we will be able to be certified as soon as we are able to do our open water dives at a later date. My instructors are planning on scheduling our dives as soon as we are allowed to and tentative plans include at the end of summer, the beginning of the fall semester, or having the spring class attend the normally scheduled dives with the fall class.
Either way, there are plans in place to enable us to get our remaining certifications: we were able to get Advanced Rescue Diver and Nitrox certified, but not Advanced Open Water or Scientific Diving. The requirement to have these certifications done before taking the next course was also waived due to the circumstances, so I will be enrolling in Scuba Leadership 1, which results in a NAUI Master Diver certification and preps students for becoming a Divemaster- the first level of professional diving certification.
COVID-19 has certainly rocked the plans of people across the world, so I am grateful to have dedicated instructors committed to working with us as soon as it is safe to do so, and appreciate the university putting in place policies to preserve our safety, and the safety of those around us even at a personal inconvenience.
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