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In my opinion, Proficiency makes the diver.
Someone can be comfortable in, and around the water, yet still not be a proficient diver. Comfort just means they're not likely to stress or panic if something doesn't go well.
Experience doesn't make someone a good diver. They could have a ton of experience in the water doing things wrong.
Gear doesn't make someone a good diver. Even if you have top of the line gear that doesn't mean it's suited to your particular diving or that you know how to use it properly.
To me, someone that is proficient in their skills, proficient in their equipment, and comfortable in the water are going to be the best divers. So, I think that it's a combination of the things listed previously *along* with the ability to use them properly.
Agree on all of this. Of course, it's difficult to find much of anything in the whole thread to really disagree with. Being comfortable in water and with skills (the actual mechanical skills as well as buoyancy and general diving) and properly using equipment would be a given after a few post OW Course dives (at least you would think). Those that are still sorely lacking in one or more of these areas would probably quit (you would think, or at least seek additional training/advice to correct things). You said experience doesn't make someone a good diver as they could have a ton of it and still do things wrong. I would guess this doesn't happen too often though. As I mentioned, it's hard for me to recall someone with a lot of experience that wasn't good. If you keep doing things wrong over 100s of dives and don't correct them (assuming you are aware they are wrong), you're not the brightest bulb, etc.