Any benefit to Master Scuba Diver certification?

[Lorenzoid]

I can see a benefit in taking five PADI specialty courses, but I would be embarrassed to imply that I was a "Master" diver without having, I dunno, a thousand or so dives under my belt, including many dives in each specialty. PADI should more accurately call it the "Five Specialty Club."

 

[chrpai]

I can see a benefit in taking five PADI specialty courses

Serious question... and which 5 would those be? My list is:

1) Nitrox
2) ???
3) ???
4) ???
5) ???

I look at their list of courses and I've been doing those types of dives for years. Why would I pay to take a class for them?

 

[D_B]

I'll venture that those that are interested in taking the courses necessary for the PADI MD cert, are not going to be the ones that have been doing those types of dives for years .. I think this kind of training is geared more for people with less dives and haven't been under the guidance of a skilled mentor
Misnamed? sure, like AOW and Rescue ... I certainly didn't feel to be an advanced, or a rescue diver after taking them .. but I am a better/safer diver for having taken them

if you do take the courses, then talk with any instructors, make sure that they will teach you well and stress you a bit .. a good instructor for any training is a must ... you don't need the card, but good classes with good instruction are well worth it

 

[Bob DBF]

My instructor presented the PADI MSD card to me, I did not apply for it, and did not pay for the card (directly). The reason I wound up with the cert is a long and boring story that has nothing to do with my diving, now I do kind of miss being a career OW diver.

Like anything else, it's what you want to make it, just because PADI dosen't include all the same information as NAUI does not mean you are not allowed to learn the info. You can take the specialties that will make you a better diver or go for the underwater basket weaving, you are the one who will be making the dive as a MSD.

And some wonder why older divers reminisce to the days when there wern't many cards and divers cared about them less, because it's what you know and show in the water that makes you a diver, not the cards.



Bob
-----------------------------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet

 

[k ellis]

well it depends on what you want. There are those who think driving a ford is worthless and there are those who think fords are the best thing since sliced cheese.

there are those who think Nitrox is placebo and there are those of us who think Nitrox really does work to relieve post dive fatigue

there are those of us who think that 70 degrees is freezing and then there are those of us who think its comfortable.

There are those of us who love to dive in cold dark lake waters and there are those who dont.

there are those of us who love to be a divemaster then there are those of us who dont want the responsibility.

there are those of us who think riding a bicycle to work is more convenient then driving a car and there are those who will never ride a bicycle.

What you have to remember about ratings is one thing. To hold a certificate or award or even a rating only means something to someone who cares about it. Take for example a drivers license. Its something we have to have to drive but it means nothing to over half the population as more people drive without one then do. Look at Instructors ratings. Someone who has no desire to dive and has no desire to get in the water would see it as a waste of money. Some one who wants to learn to dive would expect you to have it so they can get a c-card.

If you want the card there are people like me who say go for it and display your card with pride. If you dont want it and feel its a waste then to you it probably would be and therefore have no beniefit to you.

 

[So-Tx-Rich]

For the question marks I would choose stress & rescue, navigation, science of diving, and search and recovery because I feel these are the ones that most contribute to your safety and the safety of the other divers around you. These are SSI course names, though I'm sure every agency has equivalents. For SSI, Stress and rescue is a requirement for Master Diver. For me, its one that I would love to see every diver take regardless of advancement aspirations. You can pick and choose your specialties as you see fit, and by what your individual needs are. If you have buoyancy issues, you may want to throw "perfect Buoyancy" in there, but at the same time, you can also learn that on your own or just by asking for tips as you do the other courses. Also, with SSI (maybe PADI too) there is a minimum requirement of 50 dives to get a master card, so that experience alone will help with basics like buoyancy.

Serious question... and which 5 would those be? My list is:

1) Nitrox
2) ???
3) ???
4) ???
5) ???

I look at their list of courses and I've been doing those types of dives for years. Why would I pay to take a class for them?

To address the last part of your question: You have several hundred dives under your belt. There is very little reason to take quite a few of the specialties offered. Training certainly has it's merits, but experience is irreplaceable. A combination of both is omniscient.

 

[chrpai]

These are SSI course names, though I'm sure every agency has equivalents. For SSI, Stress and rescue is a requirement for Master Diver.

The question was geared specifically to PADI. I've already done Rescue Diver ( although I wouldn't mind sitting in it again ). My typical boat dive in Lake Travis is deep, cold, low vis search and recovery (loot from party boats) activities. Let's see...

Altitude Diver - perhaps, not really on my radar
Fish Ident - that could be fun if I ever see blue water again. Until then there's bass, carp, cat fish..... any questions?
Boat Diver - Um... enough said ( I do miss Blackbeards... )
Photo/Dig Photo/Video ectera.... ya, not my thing. Too much $$$
DPV - That'd be fun but $$$ and would be part of tech training for me (Um, SeaDoo's don't count )
Drift diver - Um, I miss Cozumel too..
Dry Suit - Perhaps. As long as they don't try to convince me to use my drysuit for buoyancy control. I think I can learn this from a mentor
Oxygen Provider - perhaps
Equipment Specialist - I'd rather take a Hog regulator tech class
Nitrox - sure, done
Multilevel diver - really?
Nighy diver - pretty much every day dive is a night dive here
PPB - I'd rather take a DIR-F


I guess my point is even if I wanted to waste $500 on four more classes, I just don't see anything worth taking.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Well this is my take on the question, I have been flamed for it before but here goes. I cant speak for other agencies but for PADI and SSI the Master Diver cert is an absolute joke. Yes the classes you take leading to the cert can be an excellent learning experience but to call someone with as little as 50 dives a "Master Diver?" come on you have to be joking, 1000 dives yes You may be considered a master diver but after just fifty and some classes I don't think so. This master diver thing is just like all the products in the stores now, just throw the words, maximum strength, industrial strength, professional strength, ETC on the same old product and all of a sudden it is better. Just to prove this is just a marketing ploy (for PADI at least) along with your Master Diver cert they send along there "Going Pro" package. Well they got you so far they figure there must be more money to extract out of this person. Please don't get me wrong, I strongly believe in training as it definitely makes for better and safer divers, What I don't believe in is the useless titles made up by the marketing departments.

 

[So-Tx-Rich]

Well this is my take on the question, I have been flamed for it before but here goes. I cant speak for other agencies but for PADI and SSI the Master Diver cert is an absolute joke. Yes the classes you take leading to the cert can be an excellent learning experience but to call someone with as little as 50 dives a "Master Diver?" come on you have to be joking, 1000 dives yes You may be considered a master diver but after just fifty and some classes I don't think so. This master diver thing is just like all the products in the stores now, just throw the words, maximum strength, industrial strength, professional strength, ETC on the same old product and all of a sudden it is better. Just to prove this is just a marketing ploy (for PADI at least) along with your Master Diver cert they send along there "Going Pro" package. Well they got you so far they figure there must be more money to extract out of this person. Please don't get me wrong, I strongly believe in training as it definitely makes for better and safer divers, What I don't believe in is the useless titles made up by the marketing departments.

I can't say I disagree. I also don't think someone with 12-25 dives can be considered advanced, either, no matter what their training is.

---------- Post Merged at 02:47 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:43 PM ----------

The question was geared specifically to PADI. I've already done Rescue Diver ( although I wouldn't mind sitting in it again ). My typical boat dive in Lake Travis is deep, cold, low vis search and recovery (loot from party boats) activities. Let's see...

Altitude Diver - perhaps, not really on my radar
Fish Ident - that could be fun if I ever see blue water again. Until then there's bass, carp, cat fish..... any questions?
Boat Diver - Um... enough said ( I do miss Blackbeards... )
Photo/Dig Photo/Video ectera.... ya, not my thing. Too much $$$
DPV - That'd be fun but $$$ and would be part of tech training for me (Um, SeaDoo's don't count )
Drift diver - Um, I miss Cozumel too..
Dry Suit - Perhaps. As long as they don't try to convince me to use my drysuit for buoyancy control. I think I can learn this from a mentor
Oxygen Provider - perhaps
Equipment Specialist - I'd rather take a Hog regulator tech class
Nitrox - sure, done
Multilevel diver - really?
Nighy diver - pretty much every day dive is a night dive here
PPB - I'd rather take a DIR-F


I guess my point is even if I wanted to waste $500 on four more classes, I just don't see anything worth taking.

As I said, its all about what benefits you. If your buoyancy is perfect, then obviously taking a class on it would be a waste of time. If you don't take pictures, then why take a photography class? My response was really geared more toward a newer diver who is looking to become less new. I didn't even glance over at your number of dives until I had typed it.

 

[scubadada]

So...why would anyone ask this quesion on SB unless they had not searched previous posts and/or simply wanted to stir the same old SB pot?

The responses have been made an infinite number of times. I got my MSD card in 2005 with around 125 dives reflecting OW, AOW, Rescue, EFR, Deep, Nav, DPV, PPB, and Nitrox. I have a single card reflecting MSD and nitox. If you don't like it, don't do it and don't pay for it. If you like it, do as you please.

I now have in excess of 650 dives and am reasonably competant. Can you say the same? WTF?

Good diving, Craig