Quick Question--Just a Little Confused on All of the Cert Agencies

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Ah, wow, I did not realize there were so many, but that is helpful. Thank you! I am not sure in what direction to go after OW/AOW. I think as I get more experience, I will learn better and have a better sense of what I want or need.

Do classes like fish ID count? I would think not--but they won't hurt, either!


Yes unfortunately. But I wouldn't take something like that for a master diver card. And you can search here to find out a lot of us don't like that it can count towards master. If you are wanting a master card take courses that will genuinely increase your diving knowledge.

Intro to tech
Nav
Deep
Wreck
Cavern
Dry suit

Things like that. It's your dime, but there are a lot of courses you can take to get a solid foundation without taking courses just to take them.
 
Yes, fish ID will count towards master. Master diver, at least for Padi, is more of a "hey, I took a bunch of specialties and then paid for a master diver card" kind of cert. It isn't a course of its own.

This isn't to be confused with divemaster, which is a totally different thing.


The only real master diver card I've seen so far that is extensive, is from Naui and I've spend hours on this.
 
Yes, fish ID will count towards master. Master diver, at least for Padi, is more of a "hey, I took a bunch of specialties and then paid for a master diver card" kind of cert. It isn't a course of its own.

This isn't to be confused with divemaster, which is a totally different thing.

Ahh......... Okay, thank you. I absolutely was mixing up the two. Majorly. I will research more.
 
The only real master diver card I've seen so far that is extensive, is from Naui and I've spend hours on this.
Thank you. I appreciate the insight a lot. I am not ready for advanced certs yet, but it is very helpful to get this knowledge now so I don't make super rookie mistakes in the future.
 
Ahh......... Okay, thank you. I absolutely was mixing up the two. Majorly. I will research more.


Divemaster is basically the first rung on the professional ladder. The direction one goes if they want to teach, guide dives, etc and is a fairly involved cert.

Master diver is the "highest non-professional" cert but, at least for PADI, is basically just "I took rescue and a few specialties then paid for a card". That isn't to say that taking rescue and a few specialties is bad, it's just a bit silly to have a separate cert that says that.
 
Ahh......... Okay, thank you. I absolutely was mixing up the two. Majorly. I will research more.


Dive master is the first step to being a professional. In other words, making money being a dive guide.

You have to take all the way through rescue to get there. And you have to stay current and carry insurance at that point and pay ongoing yearly fees to padi or ssi or whoever.
 
I am not 100% sure where I want to go yet. I know I want to be safe and have fun. I like to teach others, but I don't think I'd ever want to with SCUBA. Maybe, but I am a teacher from the start of my career, and have always taught (baseball, martial arts, high schoolers, other teachers, administrators). It is sort of nice to just be a learner now, blank slate!
 
Thank you. I appreciate the insight a lot. I am not ready for advanced certs yet, but it is very helpful to get this knowledge now so I don't make super rookie mistakes in the future.

No problem. I've spent more time than I should on this stuff you're asking. And checked it all again in the last couple of months as things might have changed.

You have a helluva instructor by reputation in your backyard it seems. Talk to him to really get some good classes
 
I am not 100% sure where I want to go yet. I know I want to be safe and have fun. I like to teach others, but I don't think I'd ever want to with SCUBA. Maybe, but I am a teacher from the start of my career, and have always taught (baseball, martial arts, high schoolers, other teachers, administrators). It is sort of nice to just be a learner now, blank slate!
No need to make that decision now. You'll want a bunch of dives under your belt anyway.

Rescue is a class that I would highly recommend though. Not now, but when you get a bit of experience under your belt.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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