Zombie Scuba Cert? Really?!?

[deeper thoughts]

Sounds like good fun. That is what diving is still about

 

[freewillie]

I read either an brief article or ad for the class in the last PADI sport diver magazine. It sounds like a fun combination of skills with humor. Part of the skills include night diving and diving in low viz. There is also a search and recovery underwater obstacle course where you have to avoid "zombie" divers. Overall it sounds like a fun thing for kids which means a fun adventure for a diving family. Given what it cost for summer camps for kids, who cares if it is a "money grab" from PADI. It is a clever way for PADI to disguise diving skill class to younger divers in a fun and educational course. And you get a pretty cool patch too.

 

[KY_BOB]

Well, that gave me a great idea. I don't think that zombies have the dexterity to get into a drysuit. In the even of a zombie apocalypse, I can strap on a set of doubles and see how long those zombies can make it at the bottom of the quarry in 42deg water.

 

[James R]

Although I do not know exactly what is taught, I know students have to learn and demonstrate scuba skills in order to finish the dive. I believe there is some kind of an obstacle course course demanding skills, but I could be wrong.

By the way, it is a distinctive specialty, which means that the only money PADI gets if a student passes the class is the processing fee for the certification card. If the student takes the class and decides not to get the card, PADI doesn't get a dime. It's hard to call that a cash grab.

Man, come on. You could prevent needless PADI bashing with posts like this

I didn't want to jump into yet another rant I may make over how PADI has dumbed down open water cert so much that you HAVE to take expensive and NUMEROUS extra courses to even be a slightly proficient diver, but........ I hate that training that was always part of Basic courses (before PADI) became extras you had to pay for.

This is a little over the top, in my opinion, and is more likely the result of low quality (bare minimums) level of instruction rather than the agency. We all have the minimum standards we have to use, no matter which agency prints the cards.

 

[Allison Finch]

Man, come on. You could prevent needless PADI bashing with posts like this




This is a little over the top, in my opinion, and is more likely the result of low quality (bare minimums) level of instruction rather than the agency. We all have the minimum standards we have to use, no matter which agency prints the cards.

Probably, unlike you, I was diving when PADI came into existence. Suffice it to say they started very poorly and was the joke of the industry. I remember PADI instructors allowing students to put incorrect info on their cards telling them they could use i as a "fake" ID. THEY were the first agency to dumb down the basic training so that they could sell extra cert cards. All of those extra skills used to be part of the basic courses which were long and tough. THEY decided people didn't want to go to classes so long and gave certs before adequate training was given, IMO. Sadly, to compete with folks wanting Quick and dirty certs, the other agencies followed suit.

Sorry you think this attitude is "over the top", but I watched this happen and feel it was a bad direction. I dive with too many "certified" divers who would never have graduated in any class I dealt with. Some of these divers are scarey at best....and dangerous at worst.

 

[3D diver]

Well, that gave me a great idea. I don't think that zombies have the dexterity to get into a drysuit. In the even of a zombie apocalypse, I can strap on a set of doubles and see how long those zombies can make it at the bottom of the quarry in 42deg water.

Being undead (and imaginary), I'm not sure zombies need air or warmth. I think I'd rather swing my banjo at 'em on dry land where there's some chance of out running them. Can you imagine having one swim up to you in poor viz?!?!?!?

 

[agilis]

This is a joke, right? Are there that many idiots out there? Fun? You want fun? Try fart flaming. I'll bet it can be done underwater. With the right training, naturally. And fart flaming underwater has got to be much safer than doing it at home.

But what if there is Oxygen enrichment involved during the flaming fart dive? Obviously only divers with an UW Flaming Fart C card should try this advanced kind of diving.

Getting back to Zombies, though, I can see the hand of cultural insensitivity at work here. To devotees of many religions, especially syncretic Caribbean belief systems like Voudun and several others, Zombies are no joking matter. I've lived in the Caribbean, with local people and far from tourists and dive shops for extended periods, and I can tell you that the concept of the reanimated dead is taken very seriously by some highly educated and advanced thinking people. Just watching Dick Clark on New Years Eve TV specials a couple of years ago almost made a believer of me.

To make a game of other people's religious beliefs, to ridicule them, is wrong. It would be much like making a game of Christian beliefs regarding entering Heaven or Hell.

Actually, now that I think about it, PADI may have inadvertently already done that with their OW course materials.

 

[doctorwhodiver]

nevermind.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Great. Alcohol always results in great ideas. I always expect to learn something new in any course. If I don't I'm not taking it or I am getting my money back. Someone is laughing all the way to the bank. Charge people for doing something they could do as a fun outing at little cost. PTBarnum is loving this one. Right up there with Manatee Wrangler and Cement Pond diver.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[doctorwhodiver]

nevermind.