FP - PADI deep diver needed?

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watboy

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
375
Reaction score
65
Location
Thailand
# of dives
500 - 999
Going to Rangiroa and Bora Bora end of May for a couple of weeks. Trying to finally get the wife's rescue cert done before then. While we are at it, would it be helpful to get a PADI deep diver specialty in? I have my DM and Tec50 cert. IMHO, the Deep Diver card is only worthwhile if its required by the dive centers / local regulations.
 
I don't think that you need more than your 50 certification. I have DM and IANTD Advanced nitrox. I had no problems with it there.
 
Apologies, Deep Diver speciality for my wife is the question. Currently she's just PADI AOW, but will get PADI Rescue done before the trip.
 
It depends on her comfort level diving deep and her knowledge of how to do it safely. I took that class with a friend and I'm a believer that there's no such thing as to much education, with that said, I didnt learn anything new really. If she already has deep diving experience then I wouldn't waste the money. If not, then a few dives deep with a good instructor along with a refeaser on keeping and eye on your NDL and the safety of a deep stop, slow assent etc...might be worth it!
Either way enjoy!!
Happy diving
 
I think the most valuable thing about doing deep dives with an instructor is finding out if you are presently suited for doing deep dives--period.

In most of the cases where I have done such classes, the students were just fine throughout, and the class was probably not that big a deal to them. I have had cases where the experience was totally different, though. In the most significant cases, the students grew fearful and huffed through their gas rapidly, and if I had not been present to keep careful watch over them, I am certain it would have been an OOA situation. Even in the cases of people doing well, it is usually a revelation to them how quickly they go through their gas, and if that is the only thing they remember when they are done, it was a worthwhile experience.
 
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Apologies, question wasn't about the training value of the cert. Question is if Deep Diver speciality a commonly required card by dive op or local rules. I was looking at a cruise ship, and it listed that Rescue + Deep Diver as required for some sites. From my search, FP seems to have some dive regulations requiring CMAS level 2 and that PADI Rescue was considered equivalent to CMAS level 2. I was just a bit thrown off by seeing an op requiring Rescue + Deep diver. I even saw one one op that listed Rescue as sufficient, or Divemaster + Deep Diver as sufficient. Which is odd because Rescue is a requirement for DM.

From a skills point, wife does not need the card.
 
Might be worth reaching out to dive tour operators there and see what they think. However, my limited experience is that for riskier deep diving at nice sites is that the operators want AOW, not deep per se.
 
Well, I JUST asked some French friends who own a dive center in FP this exact question! Me and my husband will get Rescue Diver before we go in Nov. 2018 and I was asking our friend if SSI would be just as good as PADI in the minds of the French diving authorities who define equivalents with the military-esque French system and like to tell us PADI-anything isn't worth much.

I've lived in France 13 years, speak French, my husband too, and we've dived in French Polynesia in the past. (I guess, point being, I 'get' the French, and it mostly drives me up a wall.) That time with just Advanced OW they put us on the beginner boat since we 'only' had 300 and 200 dives each and.... actually the reason was that "we couldn't go deep."

So turns out that my friend suggested that PADI and SSI are same-same to the French and so Rescue Diver with either would probably help us achieve our goal of not being left behind. But then he spent a whole paragraph saying if you get anything, get the Deep Dive certificate! I had never thought of that! I don't need to go any deeper than PADI prescribes, but the thing is that in French Polynesia they limit you to 29 meters, period, if you don't have a French dive certification, or more than PADI Advanced OW. I HOPE Rescue Diver will be plenty, and if we are limited in our dives on Fakarava (we are now at 450 and 265 dives) I'm going to be really ticked.

So I'm thinking, heck, why not go for the Deep Dive cert while I'm working on Rescue Diver. It certainly can't hurt to have the knowledge from the courses! But you never know when diving in France (or a place like FP where French law presides) - they do like to establish and follow strict rules. Anywhere else in the world they will look at your credentials, ask about your experience and number of dives, and then dive within reason on recreational dives. Only with French divers have we heard lots of discussion about how deep they went, or how deep they are allowed to go.... And finally, in Rangiroa we were out in open blue water so the "deep divers" from the other boat were about 20 feet below us looking at exactly the same thing! I probably would have hovered a bit above anyway just to make sure my dive lasted longer. Let's hope Rescue Diver is plenty enough to do all of the diving we'd like while there.
 
Thanks. I've sent some emails to dive centers, but I think we'll try to get the deep diver specialty done in Thailand during the rescue course. It won't be the first time that i'm told something different via email than at the dive center. Last thing I want is to lose time and $$$ taking PADI course at a resort, not be allowed to dive certain sites / placed on a novice boat, or get banned from diving for dropping down to 30.1 meters.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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