ComputerX
Registered
I just finished reading the (most recent) Master Scuba Diver thread. I would like to hear people's opinions on the specialties.
My recent experience... I am a new diver, about 15 logged dives. Nearly all of them have been in classes. After I finished my AOW I wasn't satisfied with my buoyancy control. After paying $60 for the PADI Nitrox pamphlet, I wasn't terribly interested in giving them any more money. So I found a good instructor and told him I wanted to improve my skills. We spent over four hours in the pool and did two open water dives where we worked on buoyancy and trim while doing other drills. I don't have a specialty card, but I learned to, while maintaining buoyancy in mid-column, shoot an SMB, remove and don my BCD (by two methods both with different wetsuits and with and without a weightbelt.) We also did lots of mask and out of air drills, again in the middle of the water while maintaining buoyancy. I also learned proper finning to not stir up silt, back finning, and a bunch of stuff I can't think of now. Best of all, he kept me thinking. When he handed me a SMB on the open water dive it was a type I had never seen before (he had made a point to describe different types in class) and he gave me an extra barrel clip. He challenged me not just to do the skills, but to do them with a cognitive load.
I don't have a specialty card, but he has money, the LDS has money, and I am a much better diver; I am pretty happy. I read the instructor outline for Peak Performance Buoyancy. I am pretty sure I got a lot more than I would have in that class, and I spent less money.
OTOH, this weekend I'm diving the Atlanta Aquarium with friends and we are all getting our PADI Whale Shark Distinctive Specialty Certification. I'm not sure what that will net me.
So, and this is an honest question from a new diver, what are the benefits of specialties? Do they mean I will get better dive sites when I show up at a resort with a book full of PADI cards? Are they mainly for collectors? Are they guideposts to show new divers what is available? I can see a lot of possible reasons for them. I would like to hear what experienced people think.
Thank you.
My recent experience... I am a new diver, about 15 logged dives. Nearly all of them have been in classes. After I finished my AOW I wasn't satisfied with my buoyancy control. After paying $60 for the PADI Nitrox pamphlet, I wasn't terribly interested in giving them any more money. So I found a good instructor and told him I wanted to improve my skills. We spent over four hours in the pool and did two open water dives where we worked on buoyancy and trim while doing other drills. I don't have a specialty card, but I learned to, while maintaining buoyancy in mid-column, shoot an SMB, remove and don my BCD (by two methods both with different wetsuits and with and without a weightbelt.) We also did lots of mask and out of air drills, again in the middle of the water while maintaining buoyancy. I also learned proper finning to not stir up silt, back finning, and a bunch of stuff I can't think of now. Best of all, he kept me thinking. When he handed me a SMB on the open water dive it was a type I had never seen before (he had made a point to describe different types in class) and he gave me an extra barrel clip. He challenged me not just to do the skills, but to do them with a cognitive load.
I don't have a specialty card, but he has money, the LDS has money, and I am a much better diver; I am pretty happy. I read the instructor outline for Peak Performance Buoyancy. I am pretty sure I got a lot more than I would have in that class, and I spent less money.
OTOH, this weekend I'm diving the Atlanta Aquarium with friends and we are all getting our PADI Whale Shark Distinctive Specialty Certification. I'm not sure what that will net me.
So, and this is an honest question from a new diver, what are the benefits of specialties? Do they mean I will get better dive sites when I show up at a resort with a book full of PADI cards? Are they mainly for collectors? Are they guideposts to show new divers what is available? I can see a lot of possible reasons for them. I would like to hear what experienced people think.
Thank you.