TishaDee
Registered
I have met extremely capable and experienced divers (300+ dives with over 7 years experience) who only possessed an OW cert and I've seen bumbling idots who I wonder how they ever made it through their OW let alone other classes tote AOW, Resuce and even Master Diver certs. I think we've all established that a cert card isn't what makes a good diver.
But I would like to point out that some shops/instructors have standards of their own that go above and beyond their agency requirements to discourage "card collecting" and encourage real life experience. For example my NAUI shop won't let you enroll in the AOW class until you have at least 25 logged dives under your belt and even though 25 dives isn't a lot, it's enough to establish some proficiency and comfort in the water.
While some might argue that it's wrong to delay training for someone if they want it and are willing to pay for it, I personally like my NAUI shops approach. I don't see anything wrong with asking someone to go out in the world and get a little experience and proficiency with what's already been learned before moving on to more advanced training.
But that's just my two cents!
We'll never have a perfect world and there will never be a day when the whole world lives up to our standards. So we must let go and let live. The only people's abilities we need worry about is our own and our buddies.
But I would like to point out that some shops/instructors have standards of their own that go above and beyond their agency requirements to discourage "card collecting" and encourage real life experience. For example my NAUI shop won't let you enroll in the AOW class until you have at least 25 logged dives under your belt and even though 25 dives isn't a lot, it's enough to establish some proficiency and comfort in the water.
While some might argue that it's wrong to delay training for someone if they want it and are willing to pay for it, I personally like my NAUI shops approach. I don't see anything wrong with asking someone to go out in the world and get a little experience and proficiency with what's already been learned before moving on to more advanced training.
But that's just my two cents!
We'll never have a perfect world and there will never be a day when the whole world lives up to our standards. So we must let go and let live. The only people's abilities we need worry about is our own and our buddies.