Which PADI specialties are useful and which ones are "underwater basket weaving"?

[Brian Sharpe]

...dive in the 3rd world and you will learn all sorts of new and scary safety rules!

too true........

 

[japan-diver]

Yes, interesting point. Especially since PADI changed the DM course to reflect less on theory (physics, etc.) and more on the practical. A La NAUI, where the theory is in MDS and I believe MSD is required (?) to start NAUI DM.

That is correct NAUI MSD is where we teach the physics, physiology, environment and other dive knowledge and work on perfecting dive skill without the teaching theory or dive organization and supervising diving that is taught in DM. MSD is required for DM in NAUI (PADI MSD would not count as equivalent training as there is no set curriculum for the PADI MSD rating)

 

[dmonroe04]

A lot of these courses seem like a waste of good money. Which ones are really useful and help you as a diver, which ones are money grabers, and which ones did you do and like?

Thanks in advance,

Hostage

Well, in my humble opinion, you have it wrong from the get go. I also took my BOW with PADI, but that was it. Everything since has been SSI training. The plusses with SSI are the experience requirement and the ability to take one or more specialties and, if you want, you can stop there. Wanna do Wrecks? You can get wreck certified on top of your basic and stop there. Wanna go deep? Same deal. Now, if you go on and get 4 of these specialties and have 40 dives or more, then you can get the Advanced Cert. But you don't have to. It's a lot more flexible and, imo, a better cert.

 

[rligon]

Interesting. Most posters listed night as worthless. I guess it really does totally depend on the instructor. We were taught by a team that prefers night diving, and it was an interesting and informative course. Sure it taught "carry lights and backups", don't shine it in your buddies face, etc. But we also learned a lot about creatures of the night, how to find them and what they were doing. And I think the most critical part was how to navigate in the dark. So by going above the requirements, they made it a great course that has proven very useful.

 

[markmud]

Hello All,

For me, AOW and Nitrox were very worthwhile. The Nitrox card has been worthwhile because I like diving EAN. The AOW card is worthwhile because I like being "allowed" to dive "deep" (I am a rec diver only, 130' is deep enough for me).

I wish I had accomplished the Nitrox cert online. The instructor-lead course was useless.

The AOW course was useless except for the supervised deep dive. During my OW, and AOW courses, I became the de facto trainer for navigatoinal issues, as my navigational skills far out-weighed anybody elses involved (I was an "old school" navigator, as GPS was not even on the drawing boards; we used celestial, DR, rhumb line, great circle, speed-time-distance, set and drift, etc.)

Most of the information I gained was from the books, which should have been accomplished online.

However, my wife's experience was different than mine.

I was raised in and on the water. I travelled oceans as a career and for sport. I was cleaning boat bottoms with SCUBA in my teens, even though I was not certified. My wife grew-up in the UP of Michigan. She had no swimming or ocean experience.

The PADI system was a way for her to gain low-level experience while under the supervision of some very well trained and experienced instructors (Barry, Jeff, and Mike are the exceptions to the rule--they are good!). This allowed my wife to gain confidence in a slow and measured way. She is now a PADI Master Scuba Diver (she never flashes her "master" card because she knows that she is not a professional master scuba diver).

She tells everyone that her rescue diver training was very good and worthwhile. For me it would be a "little" redundant as I was a certified rescue swimmer/safety coordinator for tournament waterski events.

Depending on one's life experience, the PADI courses can be a waist of time, or very valuable.

thanks,

markm

 

[k ellis]

The AOW course was useless except for the supervised deep dive.

That tends to be a general feeling. Though some instructors go the extra mile I obtained mine simply to get it and be able to get on the better dives that so many operators are starting to demand AOW for. With this in mind I got some great dive time in with friends and the instructors did an excellent job. The curriculum itself though I feel was a let down on its bare minimum requirements. I mean you do the first dive of 5 specialties but really get nothing out of them except the right to say you have been there done that. I loved my deep dive though and it showed me how much I really did not know about deep dives. I consumed almost all of my air in a bounce dive more less. and I realized how aweful my sac was.

After that I just began to improve without even thinking about it.

A course I would say is worth its weight in gold and is sort of a pre requisite for the Master diver (Or any course past AOW) is EFR and I think that is an awesome thing to take if your not already a medical professional!

 

[Scubajonny]

I feel the most important speciaties are
1) enriched Air
2) dry suit

then do your AOW and you can dive virtually everywhere.

 

[markmud]

I feel the most important speciaties are
1) enriched Air
2) dry suit

then do your AOW and you can dive virtually everywhere.

Brevity combined with a profound truth! That sums it up in a sound bite.

markm

 

[burak]

I'm sorry but peak buoyancy specialty is just a way of stealing money. The exercises in this specialty should have been done in the OWD class. They're just taking extra money for something they should have given to you.
Also if you want to do wreck diving go get some tec courses and do it with proper knowledge and technic.

Nitrox is nice. Diving nitrox up to 32% with air tables should be thought in the OWD if you ask me.

 

[scubadada]

Although a long time ago, my nitrox, deep, navigation, wreck, and DPV courses were all worthwhile and helped advance my diving at the time. I had very good instructors who took the classes seriously. I do not side with the PADI bashers on this topic. If you don't want it, don't take it.

Good diving, Craig