Selachimorpha
Contributor
I totally agree with you, PADI should get rid of the vertical CESA, if you have to perform horizontally in a confined water dive. This is the same problem PADI has with their approach on "hovering", bouancy control. SSI, Cmas America, NAUI don't make you hover to get certified, but PADI does.
So you expect people to get certified without the ability to make themselves neutrally buoyant? I think hovering is pretty essential. I mean imagine you stop swimming for a minute to look at something on your dive, how to you expect to maintain your depth in the water, by kicking continuously? People who can't hover and are not taught basic buoyancy concepts are the ones who feel they have to keep moving continuously on a dive, wasting loads of energy and gas.
Anyway back to the CESA....