cute, PADI and deep dive in the same sentence

they have a captive audience on the casual diver front.

I remember one woman who wanted to dive so much with her husband that she did the OW course in the Maldives when I was there. They urged her to not do it because she was so crap but she refused to listen and the next day I saw her walking backwards into fan coral whilst buddying with her husband. Yes, I think she got the ticket.....

Well, I know the prejudice... but to be fair have they spend a lot of money and effort on rolling out their technical diving programs in the last years. From trimix to rebreather...

Indeed - I've got PADI's approval until 50m... but I used it only for the knowledge to be honest. I have no interest in going into the technical world.

Lot's of very good techniques to add to recreational diving though.

The biggest change I've seen in PADI "recently" though, is the move away from sitting on the bottom to do skills exercises, and to a neutral buoyancy asset. This was a big change for instructors, as it means you REALLY need a DM to help the students that you aren't actively with... and part of the reason I prefer to do 1-on-1 training.

I have known OW divers with a 1000 dives and Master divers with only 40 or 50....which would you rather dive with?

Anyone up for a dive in Zurisee or Wallensee this summer....count me in.

I'm in Zurisee most weeks... do you have your own eqipment? (drysuit heavily recommended... especially below 10-14m)

the will have a minimum of 50 dives, but I agree.
https://www.padi.com/courses/master-scuba-diver

It's the same with any federation.

How many dives, and how often, do they need to keep the certification?

I know that as an occasional OW diver pretty much every time I go, i.e. once every few years, I have to first do a test dive to ensure I've not forgotten everything, and I'd like to hope that the same is true for the more advanced levels.

everyone needs a refresher if they did not dive for some time. For example my pal in Dubai, a DI, would have forced me (AOW) to do a refresher if I dived with him.

A high number of days does not necessarily mean you are any good or have improved. In the ski world for example someone could train hard for a season and be far technically better than someone who has recreationally skied every weekend for their whole lives.... it depends how they have used their time.

Last time I was diving in the Caribbean did I rush to a DM and offered my help. I saw him dragging a tourist along the reef by holding his pressure gage and having him float around like a balloon. He just signaled "OK" to me and smiled. Thats apparently how the dive industry works for the package tourists and thats why so many break the corals. A simple lack of very basic skills.

Don't get me started on commercial operators in some countries. I had an argument with one a while back when I organized a trip for my partner and me. They found out I was an instructor, and tried to use that to exceed the ratio for their course as "I was in the water nearby" (on a guided DM tour). I don't like ratting people out... but wow did my nerves boil. In Thailand, I've seen DMs take people on DSDs, make them negatively buoyant and then carry them like underwater sacks... so many unsafe operators out there... and sadly, people don't realise they are actually cheating themselves by not getting appropriate training. If you REALLY want a plastic card saying you're a diver - print one... No point in finding a dodgy operator to not teach you, just so you get a card...

To keep? None - you can not dive for 10 years and still be "certified". The guidance is that if you haven't dived for 6+ months to do a refresher.

That said, most good instructors I know will do a check dive with any new student. I know I do. Also because I've had students who have had 20-30 dives in nice warm weather and clear water, who then want to dive in the Swiss alpine lakes... a check dive really helps there to get a grasp of where someone is.

If you're going to get a membership card, there's a lovely club in Donegal that has a very high membership number, but very low participation. Comes with a t-shirt and everything.

https://www.muffdivingclub.ie/product/membership/

Training is everything.

Back in Sydney, I was talking with other divers in a shop, I was careful with my English. Then we start talking about twin tank (cylinder). The only problem, was for 2 or 3 month, I was speaking about "bi" and was making sure not to use the French pronunciation "be".
I can understand I was embarrass the day they told me the proper word was : twin

I had a similar experience when I moved here... took me while to figure out why we use H and Y valves here... but never practice s-drills...

Yeah, I’ve organized group tours where the operator took on more guests than he could possibly deal with. Didn’t take much to see that our „DM“ was just a local dude with dive experience, not a trained DM. „But you are all certified“... yeah, we are. But we are paying for a pro...

In Egypt are the local staff usually so busy with staring at females in bikinis that they make tons of mistakes... can’t do enough safety checks there.

this why I think it's important to be self sufficient.

I remember on day jumping in the water, I couldn't breath, my tank was not open. I set my gear so I can access the tap, but I ,thought it was strange, I test it before jumping. The guy on the boat suddenly was telling me it should be open because it was shut and I turn it on.
Unfortunately I had cylinder coming from twins and this guy turn it off just before I jump.

I've heard this story far too many times.


My "rule", which I also teach, is - once my equipment is setup, no-one touches my equipment.



I also tend to dive with a slightly unconventional setup when not teaching (mares bcd without the conventional inflator pipe, it's on the waist; long-hose primary; and a combination of weight belt + dumpable bcd pockets)... so this gets even more important.



The only person allowed to touch my equipment is my buddy... and even then, when doing the safety checks I spend a good few minutes explaining my rig... and with new buddies I try to do a few exercises in the water to make sure they know what my setup is like.


When teaching the rescue diving course, I'll sometimes throw something unconventional into the mix (e.g. a harness, or these mares bcds) to show how important it is to know what your buddy dives with...

The wife used for some years the aqualung version of those BCDs. It was great fun to use it for the "unconscious diver rescue" in a rescue course. I detachted the inflator hose but kept it in place... rescue diver comes "wtf is this? How do I inflate this thing?" "No idea, I am unconscious"... he keeps pushing all the buttons, nothing happens... doesnt find the alternative inflation pipe... has to pull back a diver without fully inflating the BCD...