International Diving Educators Assoc. or "IDEA".

[SCUBAVIP3R82]

Does anyone have info for IDEA?
I have My open water with them but looking at what it takes to become a "MASTER DIVER" i KNOW A MIN. OF 40HRS OF "TBT"....

 

[Simon-]

Have you asked the instructor that did your initial course?

Not an organisation I am familiar with

 

[SCUBAVIP3R82]

I did once but he never gotten me the info.

 

[t-mac]

Maybe I'm just ignorant and out of line here, but I had never heard of IDEA either so I looked for them. They are a member of WRSTC, like PADI and others, but finding anything on them other than on wikipedia is hard (seemingly an old organization going back to 1952) -- their website domain has expired. There is phone and street address contact info on the WRSTC website, but I did not try to contact them. That is probably where I would start, if I were you. On the other hand, if you have an instructor that does not give you the standards and the agency does not keep up its website (very odd in today's world), I have to wonder about its future. Do you want to invest further training time in them? You might be better served switching now to PADI, NAUI, SSI or another agency with a little more transparency (and a clearer future?). My 2 cents.

 

[Lemna]

The US homepage is at IDEA Scuba Diving, it's not very informative but at least lists some contact information. IDEA Europe mentions 5 specialties as a requirement for master scuba diver: I.D.E.A.

 

[t-mac]

Thanks, Lemna. Indeed, the website does exist, but isn't very informative. The European site is a little better, but interestingly the link back to the US site doesn't go there. (The links in wikipedia and even on the WRSTC site don't either.) SCUBAVIP3R82, obviously, this is a legitimate agency with a long history, but it has the appearance of being poorly supported/funded at present -- and it seems like your LDS/instructor is not as enthusiastic and I would think they would be about advancing your education. I certainly am not in a position to say anything negative about them or any other agency, but before proceeding with further education, I think I would conduct a little due diligence. Good luck and happy diving!

 

[Lemna]

Forgot to add: I believe that Luc Dupas is an IDEA divemaster... it has been a long time since he visited scubaboard but he is very active on Belgian and Dutch diving forums. You could send him a message and ask him about his experience.

 

[SCUBAVIP3R82]

I got the info. I needed Thanks!