I recently completed my Open Water Certification and am super excited about scuba. In my college days, I used to scuba dive and was certified by IDEA. This time, I got my certification with PADI. It was only after signing up, I started sensing a general dislike for PADI from the scuba community. From what I pick up, PADI tends to push courses (other agencies may be guilty of this too), rush divers through programs and reward dive centers based on their revenue production with little regard to quality.
Is that the gist of it or is there more? Do PADI divers tend to be over confident or jerks? Having just gone through the course, I felt ok with it. However, I am extremely comfortable in water so I may not be a good judge. It may be more dependent on the instructor versus the agency and I'll say that our instruction did not let anyone take any shortcuts; everyone had to do everything.
Just interested to know what I've got myself into and if I should hide the fact that I got my certification via PADI.
Is that the gist of it or is there more? Do PADI divers tend to be over confident or jerks? Having just gone through the course, I felt ok with it. However, I am extremely comfortable in water so I may not be a good judge. It may be more dependent on the instructor versus the agency and I'll say that our instruction did not let anyone take any shortcuts; everyone had to do everything.
Just interested to know what I've got myself into and if I should hide the fact that I got my certification via PADI.