A different take on Master Scuba Diver

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Next question: I’ve also just completed the PADI Dive Theory course. Does anyone have any experience or factual information about how it compares to SSI Science of Diving or NAUI MSD Dive Theory?

I have the NAUI master diver manual. It is very good. Blows away the PADI materials. The NAUI MSD certification carries a lot more weight in my opinion.

 

[Centrals]

I have the NAUI master diver manual. It is very good. Blows away the PADI materials. The NAUI MSD certification carries a lot more weight in my opinion.

You ought to start a new thread on this! LOL.

 

[scubadada]

I have the NAUI master diver manual. It is very good. Blows away the PADI materials. The NAUI MSD certification carries a lot more weight in my opinion.

How so?

 

[boulderjohn]

Advanced Open Water NEVER meant you were an advanced diver, it only has meant -- from the beginning -- that you had advanced beyond Open Water.

Just like AOW is a misnomer. There's nothing 'advanced' about a diver who just finished their AOW.

So, tell, me, Tursiops, do you ever get the feeling no one is listening to you? Do you ever get tired of having to say the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again?

 

[boulderjohn]

We've already had the discussion on what the definition of Master is for any endeavor.

When an organization takes the time and effort to define precisely what it means by a word like "mastery" in its standards, don't you think it is a little pointelss to tell them what you think their definition should have been?

 

[scubadada]

So, tell, me, Tursiops, do you ever get the feeling no one is listening to you? Do you ever get tired of having to say the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again?

Ha, that's SB. Just as true for everything you write, correct?

 

[RobPNW]

If no one was allowed to have or express an opinion on something, there would be a total of like 3 posts a day here from people trying to sell stuff.

 

[lowwall]

Thirdly, The name is at least 30 years old (not sure when it started, but pre 1994) and words and their meaning evolve with time. Advanced Open Water NEVER meant you were an advanced diver, it only has meant -- from the beginning -- that you had advanced beyond Open Water. MSD NEVER meant you were a master of all things, only that you had achieved the highest recreational rating.

A stupid title with 30 years of history is still a stupid title.

It's pure marketing fluff. And it's insulting to everyone who had earned the title in other professions such as Master Diver, Master Gunner, Master Rigger and Master Chief.

 

[drrich2]

As a newbie with around 100 dives and 8 "specialties" done, I kind of have an issue with the name "master diver". Even though I have more than the requirements, when I hear that title, I think of the folks here that have been diving for 30 years and have 10,000 dives- not me. It's like taking a weekend kickboxing class at the gym and then getting a black belt

Others explained where the titles come from. Your post got me thinking about what one compares it to. An avid diver (which many of us are, even a one or two trip/year intermediate rec. diver like me) might compare the title 'master' against seasoned dive guides with thousands of dives, top quality instructors, advanced tech. divers who cave dive without stirring up silt, people with a GUE Fundamentals tec. pass, people with extensive experience diving in more demanding environments, etc...

But what kind of 'crowd' do most divers fairly early in their diving compare themselves against? Once you get OW, Nitrox and AOW, and you wonder what's next or whether you're done with training and cert.s, who do you compare yourself to?

Maybe a local dive shop or club group that offers courses and organized dive trips to ocean diving in benign conditions? If so, you might dive amongst people with OW, AOW and maybe Nitrox cert.s, and some with DM, Assistant Instructor or Instructor cert.s.

Master Scuba Diver is a recreational cert. If we ignore the dive professionals, by the time you qualify for the Master Scuba Diver certification, you probably have developed a substantial level of mastery in basic OW diving beyond what you had when you finished the OW course, and even your AOW, and you have broader experience.

So if 'mastery' is designed relative to where you started, it's not a bad term. If it's considered in the context of recreational diving and in your local benign conditions vacation diver group, it may not be pretentious or overreaching.

Some of us judge it harshly because we compare it to a context many people don't have or don't use.

To use your analogy, not all black belts are created equal. I imagine the harder core trained black belts might sometimes roll their eyes at some of the others who have them.

 

[Doc]

It's pure marketing fluff. And it's insulting to everyone who had earned the title in other professions such as Master Diver, Master Gunner, Master Rigger and Master Chief.

Baiter