Is Master Scuba Diver "worth it" in your opinion

[BoltSnap]

It’s just an odd price point. I won’t hesitate to buy the hat or t-shirt from almost anywhere I dive, or an aloha shirt if on offer. Purely as a souvenir. That’s crept into the $50-60 range (you would not believe what the fitted baseball caps go for these days). The MSD is a smidge more but not by much.

Had sort of planned MSD as a souvenir for 2024 diving but went off the deep end and did Tec instead and have a trimix card. The last two certs had a bunch of souvenirs included (three patches, a t-shirt and a California Ice Divers fancy towel). Gotta decide if I want one more.

One or two more and you will have enough to start a museum

 

[happy-diver]

The more you dive, the better you will become, the more experience you will gather AND you will also realize that you haven't come close to scratching the surface of being a master of anything.

Do you think the guy will struggle to become a masterful diver, or are you using yourself as a gauge
I question if people think these things or just say them to ingratiate themselves with those mediocre

Anything that piques peoples interest in diving is worth every thousand dollars you end up spending

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[Ukmc]

Get it! It is an awesome card! Get as many cards

It’s just an odd price point. I won’t hesitate to buy the hat or t-shirt from almost anywhere I dive, or an aloha shirt if on offer. Purely as a souvenir. That’s crept into the $50-60 range (you would not believe what the fitted baseball caps go for these days). The MSD is a smidge more but not by much.

Had sort of planned MSD as a souvenir for 2024 diving but went off the deep end and did Tec instead and have a trimix card. The last two certs had a bunch of souvenirs included (three patches, a t-shirt and a California Ice Divers fancy towel). Gotta decide if I want one more.

Get it! It is a good souvenir.
Btw, SSI gives it to you at no extra charge.

 

[Edward3c]

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.

I had a club meber who was refused the dive because he didn't have a drysuit certification. I send them evidence of the 20 drysuit courses he had run - allowed to dive, but wouldn't bother again, too much hype over the dive.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

What would be the easiest way to get a Master scuba diver certification and which agency has the coolest looking card?

Asking for a friend.

I know that PADI only allows PADI specialities, same for SSI? SSI has a free card?

SDI I think allows specialities from other agencies but the cards (TDI at least) are lame and SDI doesn’t sound as good as “*P*A*D*I* Master diver” …

 

[Tigerpaw]

Do you think the guy will struggle to become a masterful diver, or are you using yourself as a gauge
I question if people think these things or just say them to ingratiate themselves with those mediocre

Anything that piques peoples interest in diving is worth every thousand dollars you end up spending

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Anything that I post I'm just trying to be helpful and am not trying to ingratiate myself to anyone. I will be quick to tell anyone that I am a tadpole and am still learning myself.

One bit of advice I gave was to dive often and gain experience. Experience can teach you things you don't learn in a classroom or skills test setting. Experiences can also show you that while you may be well trained you can be humbled very quickly, Master Scuba Diver or not.

We all should strive to get better and to continue to learn and grow. That's all.

 

[Fastmarc]

Get the real thing, do the NAUI Master Scuba Diver course, earn it while learning real master diver skills.

This, if you're really interested.
I did the course, but didn't carry the card. Unfortunately my Advanced card disintergrated, so now it's in my wallet. With my diving, I do not have to show my card much, but if I have to, I'm not concerned with what others think. Plus, the only person that would see it is whomever is verifying my cert level. How would anyone else know? Unless you are one of those chatty chatty divers who's talking up their experience which I am not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[NothingClever]

Master Diver | GUE

www.gue.com

 

[Diver-Drex]

I have a different take on this. SB members are not typical divers. Most divers get their OW, log a few dives and then may never dive again. So doing OW, AOW, Rescue, five specialty certs and 50 dives is not the norm.

The cert, and more importantly, the learning and diving process to qualify for it, are worthy goals for the vast majority of people just starting out. And compared to most who get OW and a few dives only, MSD card holders do have significantly more training and experience.

I spent a day driving around with a coworker a few years ago. At some point he told me he and wife just logged their 100th dives. It was more than a little boastful and I could have put him in his place by telling him I had a couple of thousand dives. But what is the point, to be more boastful? To squash his enthusiasm?

Instead, I told him that was great and I was glad he enjoyed the sport I have l enjoyed for my entire life. We talked more about his dives, mostly live aboards and tropical locations, and how different locations can pose significantly different dive conditions. And we also had a good conversation about rock bottom gas calcs and dive planning.

He got to be proud of what he had accomplished, gain perspective on how limited his experience was and learn something. I got to teach something and hopefully encouraged someone to continue their involvement in our sport.

The individual’s humility and perspective, or lack there of, is on the individual, not the card or agency.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Master Diver is NOT a certification. It is recognition/participation award. It does not imply training or competency. Consider it an abbreviation for your stack of C-cards; I guess it certifies on one card that you gots a handful of cards. And some minimal diving experience over and above AOW.

As such, it is kind of cool, if one will not miss the funds to get the card and offers some satisfaction, go for it.

I still maintain that it would be better for an agency to have CONSOLIDATED cards showing ALL C-cards earned, listed in one place. I would actually PAY PADI $100 or whatever to make me up one of those.