Specialty Questions

I've got a few questions about some of the PADI Specialties. I want to spend the summer working on my Dive Skills and getting the PADI Master Diver. Someday ill go for Divemaster/Instructor, but right now I just dont think I have developed my own skills enough to responsible for anyone other then mayself and my buddy.

I've Already taken the OW,AOW, and Rescue courses with NAUI, and Nitrox through PADI, and I think ive decided on the 4 Speacilites I wanna get to Finish the Master diver Requirments

1) Equipment Specialist
2) Deep Diver
3) Navigation
4) Peak Bouyancy

Im also Considering getting Night Diver as well. Most of the other Specialties dont really seam like they are worth it.

My Main Question is what are the Dive Requirments for Deep, Navigation, Peak Bouyancy, and Night Specialties? I cant seam to find that info anywhere. Thanks.

Here is a thread in which I set down my thoughts about some of the specialty courses that I did (which overlaps with your list to a degree):

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/q-.../249725-thoughts-padi-speciality-courses.html

Here is another thread on which SB members voted on which specialities were thought to be good value for money:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/256170-specialties-worth-money.html

Be warned, the words "Master Scuba Diver rating" are a flame magnet on SB. I am going to leave now before the burning starts...

Rhone Man:

Be warned, the words "Master Scuba Diver rating" are a flame magnet on SB. I am going to leave now before the burning starts...

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orionnt:

I've got a few questions about some of the PADI Specialties. I want to spend the summer working on my Dive Skills and getting the PADI Master Diver. Someday ill go for Divemaster/Instructor, but right now I just dont think I have developed my own skills enough to responsible for anyone other then mayself and my buddy.

I've Already taken the OW,AOW, and Rescue courses with NAUI, and Nitrox through PADI, and I think ive decided on the 4 Speacilites I wanna get to Finish the Master diver Requirments

1) Equipment Specialist
2) Deep Diver
3) Navigation
4) Peak Bouyancy

Im also Considering getting Night Diver as well. Most of the other Specialties dont really seam like they are worth it.

My Main Question is what are the Dive Requirments for Deep, Navigation, Peak Bouyancy, and Night Specialties? I cant seam to find that info anywhere. Thanks.

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They can all be taken directly after OW.

If it's wise to do so in every case is, of course, the relevant question. In particular, I think deep diving isn't something to be done lightly.

R..

Yes, I have seen the Flame Wars over the NAUI/PADI Master Diver certifications. lol.

I Think I am less concerned with the rating, and more concerned with developing my own personal dive skills. Just trying to plan my summer. gonna go "collect some badges" like Rhone

Suppose Ill have to go harass the guys at the LDS when I get off work.

orionnt:

My Main Question is what are the Dive Requirments for Deep, Navigation, Peak Bouyancy, and Night Specialties? I cant seam to find that info anywhere. Thanks.

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Do you mean (entry) pre-requisites, or requirements for completing each course?

If you are considering specialty "c" cards, then may I suggest that you consider those specialties which would be more usable in the event of an emergency.

How would an "Underwater Videographer" help save someone?

How could an "Underwater Photographer" help raise an unconcious diver.

How could the ability to identify fish help get a distressed diver to shore?

I'm sure someone WILL find a way to rationalize answers for these questions, but . . .

Just some rhetorical questions.

the K

If you have already done AOW, you must know what the quality of the courses your instructor/s is/are offering. It was my experience, with my shop, that the specialties didn't have much to them, and were designed more to give somebody a little more supervised dive time than anything else. In particular, the deep specialty left out a TON of stuff I think ought to be included in a class on deep diving -- in particular, there was NO gas planning information.

The one class I thought was well worthwhile was the navigation specialty. Navigation is something we all have to use, and doing the set courses and exercises really was helpful.

Peak performance buoyancy has the potential to be an excellent class, but rarely is.

All in all, you might be better off hooking up with a good mentor and just doing a bunch of diving this summer, and doing a lot of reading.

The Kraken:

If you are considering specialty "c" cards, then may I suggest that you consider those specialties which would be more usable in the event of an emergency.

How would an "Underwater Videographer" help save someone?

How could an "Underwater Photographer" help raise an unconcious diver.

Click to expand...

Video and photographic evidence of the state of the diver while approaching them. Might be useful in determining what happened.

How could the ability to identify fish help get a distressed diver to shore?

Click to expand...

Help identify the fish that bite them that triggered the allergic reaction...

I'm sure someone WILL find a way to rationalize answers for these questions, but . . .

Just some rhetorical questions.

the K

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Of course diving is suppose to be fun so there really is nothing wrong with taking fun classes. Diving has an element of danger so taking classes that reduce or help respond to those dangers also make sense.

I wouldn't focus so much on the rating as the dive experience. With the possible exception of deep, the classes you list won't get you anywhere you couldn't already go if you so choose, but they can all help to make you a better diver. That is not to say I think taking a specialty class makes you a better diver. Rather they force you to think about topics and do exercises that you may not have thought about in the past. When is the last time you tried changing weights to different locations to improve buoyancy or actually used that compass? It's easily something you could do without a class, but the class will force you to think about these things.

To get to your question, I wouldn't worry about what the specific requirements are to complete the classes, they are basically all "do several dives with these skills." Even if you have trouble with a a specific skill (my first navigation dive didn't go so well), you still get the experience of the dive and better understand how to improve your diving. Moreover, the specialty classes I've gotten the most out of were the ones that focussed less on what PADI required and more on what the instructor thought we should know. Even if you never get a little piece of plastic, you still learn something. Having experience and knowledge is immensely more important underwater than a card in your dive log.

BTW, if you do take a Nav class, look up info on building a compass board. It makes navigation so much easier. Diving compasses were not designed for precision navigation.