RonFrank
Contributor
Various diving conditions IMO is only key if you are having to deal with that. What I mean is that where we live our various diving conditions include cold water (drysuit), and sometimes close to zero vis.
Being comfortable navigating, and dealing with low vis is a good thing. However if one is not teaching in those conditions, it becomes less critical to be proficient diving those conditions. I find ocean diving easy, or at least the ocean diving I have done. I am completely comfortable with 10' of vis in the Ocean, and I've never seen it much lower than that.
OTOH, experience is key, and I think diving in low vis and cold really makes someone a better diver. The biggest challenge I have observed for divers is low vis. I've seen experienced divers just fall apart in 5'+/- vis.
Being comfortable navigating, and dealing with low vis is a good thing. However if one is not teaching in those conditions, it becomes less critical to be proficient diving those conditions. I find ocean diving easy, or at least the ocean diving I have done. I am completely comfortable with 10' of vis in the Ocean, and I've never seen it much lower than that.
OTOH, experience is key, and I think diving in low vis and cold really makes someone a better diver. The biggest challenge I have observed for divers is low vis. I've seen experienced divers just fall apart in 5'+/- vis.