What we don't see down there...

[Mike Boswell]

In the 90's pre-cruise ship pier era, I conducted a PADI underwater naturalist specialty class in Coz (shore diving). We spent 90% of the dive around a single coral head with a magnifying glass and identified over forty different critters and fish. It is amazing how much we "miss" on a normal dive and how much we can see if we just slow down. I enjoying taking a quality magnifying glass down from time to time and going slow....

Interesting. Lots of people like to poke fun at the PADI "basket weaving" specialties, but after all, isn't seeing stuff the whole point of diving?

 

[Centrals]

Interesting. Lots of people like to poke fun at the PADI "basket weaving" specialties, but after all, isn't seeing stuff the whole point of diving?

All I need is several books on various marine creatures for identification purposes than a lousy PADI course.

 

[Tigerman]

Photos of the critters to identify them dont help if you dont SEE them.. I bet you struggled a lot more to see certain things when you had 10 dives than when you have 1000+..
I know I and everyone else Ive talked to about it did..

 

[diveprof]

Photos of the critters to identify them dont help if you dont SEE them.. I bet you struggled a lot more to see certain things when you had 10 dives than when you have 1000+..
I know I and everyone else Ive talked to about it did..

Exactly!

 

[RonFrank]

saw a sting ray who was hiding in the sand, about 3 feet in diameter. I was about to lay right on top of it.

Steve did not lay down on the ray, nor was it small. More like huge, and he must have pissed it off.

 

[RonFrank]

All I need is several books on various marine creatures for identification purposes than a lousy PADI course.

I get tired of the PADI bashing. They taught me to dive and more important than the agency were the instructors which did a great job teaching our class. A creature ID class could be very useful in CA or FL if taught by the right individual.

Sometimes I miss the forest through the trees. Other times I'm pointing things out. I guess it must depend on my mood. I have seen a lot of difficult to spot nudibracs and small stuff, and an octopus in the day off Catalina. But when it comes to small stuff it takes practice. I wish we had better diving closer. I'll never see a nudi at Blue Hole NM!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

All I need is several books on various marine creatures for identification purposes than a lousy PADI course.

Books won't teach you how to see critters ... it'll just show you what they look like and what identifying features to look for to differentiate it from similar critters.

Here's a pic of a nudibranch I took the other night ...

What the pic doesn't tell you is that the nudi is about a quarter-inch in diameter, and that it was sitting on an encrusted pipe that it blended right in with. Unless you knew how to look for it, you could stare right at it and despite its glorious colors, you wouldn't even notice it was there.

A lousy PADI (or other agency) course isn't worth much ... a well-taught one can be worth a great deal if it helps you achieve your goals. There's only so much you can learn from books ... or internet forums ... the real learning takes place in the water. A properly taught specialty class, through in-water practice and real-time feedback, can teach you a great deal that you'll never learn from reading a book ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Searcaigh]

I have been fortunate to dive with several marine biologists and one of them taught the PADI U/W Naturalist course. His enthusiasm and love for all things underwater is something I have never forgotten and certainly opened my eyes to what is exactly around me.

When I dive I have a camera with me and usually attuned to looking for things that I plan to photograph, I know that whale shark will appear when I have a 105mm lens fitted, but I won't be looking for it and will most likely not see it unless somebody points it out to me.

 

[Tigerman]

I did my nitrox class with a marine biologist..
We pretty much swam around far away from the other divers all day looking for stuff the others didn't get to see. Anything from HUUUUUGE fan corals to tiny little critters..

 

[Mike Boswell]

Books won't teach you how to see critters ... it'll just show you what they look like and what identifying features to look for to differentiate it from similar critters.

What the pic doesn't tell you is that the nudi is about a quarter-inch in diameter, and that it was sitting on an encrusted pipe that it blended right in with. Unless you knew how to look for it, you could stare right at it and despite its glorious colors, you wouldn't even notice it was there.

A lousy PADI (or other agency) course isn't worth much ... a well-taught one can be worth a great deal if it helps you achieve your goals. There's only so much you can learn from books ... or internet forums ... the real learning takes place in the water. A properly taught specialty class, through in-water practice and real-time feedback, can teach you a great deal that you'll never learn from reading a book ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

That is a great photo, Bob. Diving in Fiji last year we were led to the top of a bommie where the guide pointed to a spot under a sea fan, and there was a Peacock Nudibrach. Incredible little thing, we spent a long time looking at it. We never would have seen it, or many other things, without a guide.

As to "lousy courses", it's always interesting to me that most of the people who complain about them, never actually took them.