Is Master Scuba Diver "worth it" in your opinion

[The Chairman]

Comparing diver specialties to Scout Merit Badges is overly simplistic. First of all, most merit badges require far, far more work than almost any specialty course. Take the drift diving 'merit badge'. 2 dives, you drop off the back of the boat and get back on... twice. Big whoop. Sure, the student mike tote the flag, but they don't have to. It'd be nice if they were taught boat etiquette, but I haven't seen that being covered on the boats, and few divers ever try to keep their stuffola together and out of other people's way. In my eyes, it's a useless specialty.

Then there's peak performance buoyancy, where many students are taught how to float in a Budha pose. OMG x100,000,000. That misses the point, in that trim and buoyancy are a critical open water skill. When my son passed away, I cancelled one of my remedial trim, buoyancy, and propulsion classes. They went to a local shop, one I recommended. What did they do? They simply added a butt tonne of weight, and the student left in tears. I put aside my grief and got him sorted out. It's actually what I needed at the time. No, I'm not especially gifted, just competent. It's my opinion that once taught how, any instructor could have the same results. They just haven't been taught.

 

[The Chairman]

I used to think that the purpose of these specialty dives was to give the student more time with their instructor. Just that would justify the price the student pays for them. Unfortunately, I see it creating more dependencies than them becoming independent. Students jump from class to class and miss the real magic of diving: exploring. Why not stop the needless subterfuge and let them have more time with their instructor, but this time with the idea of helping them to become independent.

 

[landphil]

I used to think that the purpose of these specialty dives was to give the student more time with their instructor. Just that would justify the price the student pays for them. Unfortunately, I see it creating more dependencies than them becoming independent. Students jump from class to class and miss the real magic of diving: exploring. Why not stop the needless subterfuge and let them have more time with their instructor, but this time with the idea of helping them to become independent.

By far, the best class I ever took was an old NAUI advanced, around 2001. There was no real classroom work back then. The entire training was focused on going to advanced dive sites around Monterey and diving them. Each of the sites had a different challenge that mapped to some training goal- like rough water entry/exit and a deep dive at Monastery Beach, rock entry off Lovers Point or Butterfly House, along with things like kelp crawl surface swimming, actual navigation out to a dive site and back to the beach, boat diving, and kayak diving.

It was a challenging class with a ton of diving- like a month of 4 dive weekends. People would occasionally drop out. But when you'd finished the class, you had learned the skills to dive the advanced local sites and successfully completed dives at them. And since the class was really just about going diving, anyone who had completed the class with the shop was invited to tag along on dives with future advanced classes. It was kind of like a club initiation.

Diving around Monterey I'll meet people who took or taught that class; and we all remember it as something really special that has no current equivalent.

 

[ontdiver]

My favorite course was SDI solo. It reinforced importance of self sufficiency/redundancy and dive planning. I only wish that I had taken it around the same time as my Advanced & Rescue courses as I believe they all complement one another.

But the bottom line for me is enjoying each and every dive to its fullest.

 

[The Chairman]

But the bottom line for me is enjoying each and every dive to its fullest.

That's an excellent bottom line.

 

[scottgrizzard]

That Yosemite thing reminds me of when I wanted to do some diving in Iceland with a drysuit. The company handling the trip required a drysuit certification-- to show I could use my own drysuit. Didn't do the diving.

everyone is getting touchy on the drysuit thing... given recent events, I don't blame them.

There are many people with more money than sense out there, so the fact you were diving your own drysuit doesn't mean as much anymore.

 

[scottgrizzard]

Do it for your instructor... seriously... when I have been working with a student for all those classes, and they finally get to 50 dives and come in for that card, it is one of the coolest things ever! We get in this business to share our obsession with diving, and to see a diver go from being a little uncomfortable that first time he/she took off the mask in the pool to MSD... that is so cool for us!

A lot of shops also do something a little special. When I did my master scuba diver, the shop I did it with had a little plaque with all the Master Scuba Divers' names on it, and it was really neat when my name went on the plaque. Of course, then I looked at the plaque next to it, and suddenly I was enrolled in the divemaster course (then instructor, then MSTD, then IDC staff... one DM cert away from my Master Instructor ... oh my gosh! that devious s.o.b.!)

PADI does charge for the card, and only lets you use PADI specialties too (but you can use any aow and any rescue that it recognizes as equivalent). My dive shop ran a special that if you did the specialties with them, they would eat the card, and I have seen that in other shops as well.

Other agencies have different rules on it. For example, I think SDI/TDI lets you use other agencies' specialties (with some limitations) and is not charging shops for the Master Diver card (but is charging for all the specialties leading up to it).

So, yeah, the card is a marketing tool to get you to do more training.

But still, get it anyway... with an instructor you have been working with (not just any random instructor). The reason: it is a big accomplishment for your instructor, and he/she will get a warm feeling in his/her heart (not just his/her wallet) when he/she hands you the certificate.

 

[The Chairman]

So, yeah, the card is a marketing tool to get you to do more training.

Yep. That's it. The truth has been outed!

Some people dive for the certs and that's OK. Most get OW and that's enough. Many get OW and AOW and that's enough. Do you need more? Do you want more? Me? I just want to dive more.