American divers get no respect

[kneptoon]

Thanks much for the explanation, regarding the differences between these agencies. My first dive course (NAUI/YMCA) in the 60s taught decompression as part of the course. I can see the pros and cons as to why decompression diving is left as a separate certification. My personal experience with French divers has been great. They are very safety conscious and knowledgeable. I had some miscommunication with hand signals regarding bar pressure, that's about it.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

We still teach decompression using the Navy Air Tables in SEI OW class.

 

[supergaijin]

Yes. CMAS standards are much higher than PADI'S for new divers. More skills, more thorough knowledge, and more requirements for divers to dive independently.

BS.
Having taught PADI, CMAS (FFESSM) and SSI, CMAS Standards are at a par where it comes to "new divers".

 

[dmoore19]

To be quite honest, I find that there is more arrogance displayed right here on Scubaboard than I have seen in my travels in real life, comparatively speaking of course.

 

[cascas]

I have been diving in French Polynesia the past two summers and I have run up against a distinct disdain for American divers based on our predominant certification agency; PADI. You get no respect. Dive operators sneer at the mention of PADI. Fortunately, I also have various certifications from NAUI, SSI, and the YMCA in addition to PADI, so I managed a little more street cred. I asked a friend of mine while there what is the big difference between CMAS (the predominant French certifying agency) and PADI. The laws of physics don't change between certifying agencies. So what is the big deal? Is it just snobbery (I know a French snob, sounds unlikely). She answered that the majority of problems they have with divers are mostly US or Aussie divers. Is CMAS so different? So much better?

Try Belgium... There are quarries there where they will gladly let you in wit a freshly earned 1* certification and frown upon a collection of Padi OWSI + GUE Tech1 + GUE Cave2 cards.

CMAS : Certificates Mean Absolutely **** (if not CMAS) as far as the French go.

The CMAS standards may be higher the quality of a lot of divers I see in the Dutch estuary ( a lot of Belgians) does not show that.

 

[Storker]

PADI AOW has always been a weird one as it's not by any means an "advanced" certification but it is often sold that way. Rescue diver (and all the higher PADI certifications) is CMAS 2 star and I have never heard of anyone having an issue with that. However the FFESSM depth limits are less generous at this level and this too can be annoying. CMAS 3 star lets you dive pretty much as you like, but does need some decompression certification.

Fun fact:

The crossover agreement between PADI and CMAS specifies the following:

• C.M.A.S. One star Diver - may enroll - PADI Advanced Open Water course
• C.M.A.S. One star* Diver plus a minimum of 9 logged dives, within 1 night dive, 1 navigation dive and 1 deep dive ( > 18 meters ) - may enroll - PADI Rescue Diver course
• C.M.A.S. Two stars Diver - may enroll - PADI Dive Master course
• PADI Open Water with a minimum of 5 logged dives - may enroll - C.M.A.S. Two stars diver course
• PADI Advanced Open Water - may enroll - C.M.A.S. Two stars diver course
• PADI Rescue Diver with a minimum of 25 logged dives - may enroll - C.M.A.S. Three stars diver course

The agreement is signed by Achille Ferrero (President of C.M.A.S.) and Drew Richardson (Vice President of PADI). So, according to both agencies:
PADI OW < CMAS* < PADI AOW < CMAS** &#8776; PADI Rescue < CMAS*** &#8776; PADI DM

Another fun fact: Around here, there was a significant amount of animosity between C.M.A.S. and PADI fanboys a couple of decades ago. These days, people are quite a bit more relaxed on the subject, but there may still be some good-natured ribbing going on after a couple of beers. It might be that the OP was unlucky enough to stumble over some vestiges of that 'war'.

 

[jdkerner]

It would be relatively easy to check and see if American/PADI certified divers have accidents at a rate distinct from those trained elsewhere. Any stats?

 

[RJP]

It would be relatively easy to check and see if American/PADI certified divers have accidents at a rate distinct from those trained elsewhere. Any stats?

Why do you think this would be true? (The "relatively easy to check" part.)

 

[Hawkwood]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Okay folks, feel free to start your own threads in the Pub about who is or is not in the EU, Imperial vs. SI, window screens, coffee, contributions during various World Wars, SNL, firearms, cans vs. bottles for beer, the boiling point of water, split fins, smuggling spotted turtles, the shape of various currencies, and other completely off-topic discussions to the Pub. There were far too many to split them off from here so they were simply deleted.

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[shoredivr]

Damn, why not just move the whole thread to the Pub? There was some interesting links there :-(