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Take the NAUI Master Scuba diver course. It is actually a class. One of the more difficult courses that I've run into. Excellent prerequiste to some of the classes Mike was talking about.
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2 Bar:...
Maybe Master Scuba Diver should not be a "certification", since there is no specific knowledge aquired for it. But maybe it should be an automatic rank given to a diver, acknowleding all that extra training for the 5 specialty courses, where an AOW diver just does the 5 specialty dives. If you had 2 divers in front of you, one having a Rescue Diver card and one having a Master Scuba Diver card, who would you bet is the more advanced diver? I wouldn't say the card means nothing.
Does anyone respect this school of thought?
matt_unique:Phew this is an old argument. I basically agree with your train of thought. Virtually all standards for all certifications (recreational and pro) are too low in my opinion. I am most familiar with PADI and TDI as a caveat.
This is perhaps a bit off topic but just a thought.....it would be great if a certification level represented a "real" level of competancy and knowledge. We all know people (or have seen people) with various certifications with hugely different levels of skill regardless of the level of certification or agency.
--Matt
I wouldn't bet. The person with the Rescue card might have done lots of specialties and simply not sent PADI more money for the card. Or they may have learned a lot more on their own. The person with the Master card may have taken a bunch of lightweight specialties just to get it. Taking specialties may or may not have taught someone anything extra. I'd say the card means little to nothing, but then a lot of the cards unfortunately don't prove much ...2 Bar:If you had 2 divers in front of you, one having a Rescue Diver card and one having a Master Scuba Diver card, who would you bet is the more advanced diver? I wouldn't say the card means nothing.
matt_unique:Phew this is an old argument. I basically agree with your train of thought. Virtually all standards for all certifications (recreational and pro) are too low in my opinion. I am most familiar with PADI and TDI as a caveat.
A certification would have the most value if there were real skills and knowledge to be demonstrated to an independent body. Similar to that of pilot training - it does not matter what flight school you go to - you have to sit with an FAA certifying pilot to get your license. If you can't demonstrate skills and knowledge to their satisfaction, you don't pass - period. This would not eliminate the idea of school favoritism because this certifying diver would have had to be trained from some agency - but it would minimize some of the problems with lax certification.
This is perhaps a bit off topic but just a thought.....it would be great if a certification level represented a "real" level of competancy and knowledge. We all know people (or have seen people) with various certifications with hugely different levels of skill regardless of the level of certification or agency.
--Matt
DanL:What are some additional worthwhile training opportunities where the learning/$ spent ratio is high? My interests are cold water (out of necessity), longer dives, Lake Superior wrecks and carribean drift diving.
Thoughts appreciated....
2 Bar:Thanks Matt. I never looked into Master Scuba Diver until recently, so I didn't know it was an old argument. Since, everyone on the thread before me was negative I thought that was the general view. I guess there's two sides to this arument as well.