Then don't go drift diving in the South Pacific.String:
Is the PADI "Drift Diving" course worth it?
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Drift diving is common sense. Apply that and no problem.
You shouldnt have to sit a course to learn how to tow a bag and shouldnt need to pay someone to tell you to carry signalling equipment.
South pacific or anywhere its not exactly hard and certainly doesnt need a course.
You shouldnt have to sit a course to learn how to tow a bag and shouldnt need to pay someone to tell you to carry signalling equipment.
South pacific or anywhere its not exactly hard and certainly doesnt need a course.
I wouldn't bother with the course unless you are card collecting
String,
The diving part of it isn't the issue. You're correct. If you can dive, you can drift dive.
But in many courses there are issues presented that go beyond "diving". They expand the diver's knowledge so that the diver is safer within a narrowly prescribed set of environmental parameters.
Drift diving is no different.
In the South Pacific drift diving is done as the tide changes, because the ebb and flow of the tide moves the divers through the various island passages. As its a live boat operation, if something happens to the boat the divers can be in a world of hurt. As we speak, today, this afternoon, there are four missing divers in the Red Sea who drifted off and (AFAIK - TTBOMK) have not yet been found. It is not uncommon for issues to arise.
So here are some things that might be covered in such a course:
* There are at least 3 satellite networks that orbit the earth and provide satellite telephone service. Two of these are Russian. There may be more that I am unaware of, not including closed military systems. Which satellite telephone would you purchase if you were going to go on a remote diving trip to the South Pacific? Which satellite network offers the most reliable coverage, and how frequently do the satellites flyover that region?
* There are at least 3 different types of EPIRBS. What is an EPIRB, which EPIRB would be best for use in an archepelago without a standby Coast Guard, and which would support satellite relay of the signal to regional stations in Hawaii or Japan? Why is GPS an advantage for an EPIRB carried by a drift diver, and what are the requirements for that GPS signal to be transmitted along with the EPIRB transmission? Name two easy ways that divers can carry an EPIRB along with them on a drift dive?
* What is a "Pelelieu Pack" and what are its contents? Why were they selected? What incident involving six Japanese scubadivers who drifted to their deaths after a dive boat failure resulted in the creation of the "Pelelieu Pack"? How should a drift diver best carry the "Pelelieu Pack"?
* How many uses are there for a jon line, given two or three drift divers who are adrift after their dive boat either missed them or suffered some sort of failure?
* A diver has been adrift in the South Pacific for 52 hours. Given the currents and weather, the diver knows that there is a small group of islands that the diver could conceivably encounter, that the diver could swim towards if the diver only knew which direction to swim. The diver has a compass. What are some things the diver can look for that might yield a clue that an island lies in a certain direction?
* Name three advantages of a closed-circuit SMB over an open-circuit SMB, and describe what two types of SMB a drift diver should carry when going to an extremely remote diving destination in the South Pacific?
All dives are easy, when nothing goes wrong and everything works out precisely the way its supposed to.
The dives that get squirrelly are the ones when things screw up.
Things screw up with appalling frequency, and not only in the South Pacific. In the fall of 2005 a Russian woman diver from New Jersey was doing a drift dive off the coast of Florida when she failed to reappear as expected. Her buddy was picked up, but she vanished. Her gear was later found, washed ashore into a mangrove swamp, but she herself vanished on a dive that wasn't 30 minutes off the coast of Florida. Details of this incident were discussed on this board. Crap happens.
A course doesn't only teach you "BS you already know about how to dive".
A well-taught course by an experienced instructor can lead to a more well-informed diver with a much broader perspective on certain types of diving - which leads to increased enjoyment and increased safety.
That's why a drift diving course makes sense, under certain circumstances and taught by an experienced instructor with international experience.
FWIW. YMMV.
Doc
The diving part of it isn't the issue. You're correct. If you can dive, you can drift dive.
But in many courses there are issues presented that go beyond "diving". They expand the diver's knowledge so that the diver is safer within a narrowly prescribed set of environmental parameters.
Drift diving is no different.
In the South Pacific drift diving is done as the tide changes, because the ebb and flow of the tide moves the divers through the various island passages. As its a live boat operation, if something happens to the boat the divers can be in a world of hurt. As we speak, today, this afternoon, there are four missing divers in the Red Sea who drifted off and (AFAIK - TTBOMK) have not yet been found. It is not uncommon for issues to arise.
So here are some things that might be covered in such a course:
* There are at least 3 satellite networks that orbit the earth and provide satellite telephone service. Two of these are Russian. There may be more that I am unaware of, not including closed military systems. Which satellite telephone would you purchase if you were going to go on a remote diving trip to the South Pacific? Which satellite network offers the most reliable coverage, and how frequently do the satellites flyover that region?
* There are at least 3 different types of EPIRBS. What is an EPIRB, which EPIRB would be best for use in an archepelago without a standby Coast Guard, and which would support satellite relay of the signal to regional stations in Hawaii or Japan? Why is GPS an advantage for an EPIRB carried by a drift diver, and what are the requirements for that GPS signal to be transmitted along with the EPIRB transmission? Name two easy ways that divers can carry an EPIRB along with them on a drift dive?
* What is a "Pelelieu Pack" and what are its contents? Why were they selected? What incident involving six Japanese scubadivers who drifted to their deaths after a dive boat failure resulted in the creation of the "Pelelieu Pack"? How should a drift diver best carry the "Pelelieu Pack"?
* How many uses are there for a jon line, given two or three drift divers who are adrift after their dive boat either missed them or suffered some sort of failure?
* A diver has been adrift in the South Pacific for 52 hours. Given the currents and weather, the diver knows that there is a small group of islands that the diver could conceivably encounter, that the diver could swim towards if the diver only knew which direction to swim. The diver has a compass. What are some things the diver can look for that might yield a clue that an island lies in a certain direction?
* Name three advantages of a closed-circuit SMB over an open-circuit SMB, and describe what two types of SMB a drift diver should carry when going to an extremely remote diving destination in the South Pacific?
All dives are easy, when nothing goes wrong and everything works out precisely the way its supposed to.
The dives that get squirrelly are the ones when things screw up.
Things screw up with appalling frequency, and not only in the South Pacific. In the fall of 2005 a Russian woman diver from New Jersey was doing a drift dive off the coast of Florida when she failed to reappear as expected. Her buddy was picked up, but she vanished. Her gear was later found, washed ashore into a mangrove swamp, but she herself vanished on a dive that wasn't 30 minutes off the coast of Florida. Details of this incident were discussed on this board. Crap happens.
A course doesn't only teach you "BS you already know about how to dive".
A well-taught course by an experienced instructor can lead to a more well-informed diver with a much broader perspective on certain types of diving - which leads to increased enjoyment and increased safety.
That's why a drift diving course makes sense, under certain circumstances and taught by an experienced instructor with international experience.
FWIW. YMMV.
Doc
Doc Intrepid:String,
The diving part of it isn't the issue. You're correct. If you can dive, you can drift dive.
But in many courses there are issues presented that go beyond "diving". They expand the diver's knowledge so that the diver is safer within a narrowly prescribed set of environmental parameters.
Drift diving is no different.
In the South Pacific drift diving is done as the tide changes, because the ebb and flow of the tide moves the divers through the various island passages. As its a live boat operation, if something happens to the boat the divers can be in a world of hurt. As we speak, today, this afternoon, there are four missing divers in the Red Sea who drifted off and (AFAIK - TTBOMK) have not yet been found. It is not uncommon for issues to arise.
So here are some things that might be covered in such a course:
* There are at least 3 satellite networks that orbit the earth and provide satellite telephone service. Two of these are Russian. There may be more that I am unaware of, not including closed military systems. Which satellite telephone would you purchase if you were going to go on a remote diving trip to the South Pacific? Which satellite network offers the most reliable coverage, and how frequently do the satellites flyover that region?
* There are at least 3 different types of EPIRBS. What is an EPIRB, which EPIRB would be best for use in an archepelago without a standby Coast Guard, and which would support satellite relay of the signal to regional stations in Hawaii or Japan? Why is GPS an advantage for an EPIRB carried by a drift diver, and what are the requirements for that GPS signal to be transmitted along with the EPIRB transmission? Name two easy ways that divers can carry an EPIRB along with them on a drift dive?
* What is a "Pelelieu Pack" and what are its contents? Why were they selected? What incident involving six Japanese scubadivers who drifted to their deaths after a dive boat failure resulted in the creation of the "Pelelieu Pack"? How should a drift diver best carry the "Pelelieu Pack"?
* How many uses are there for a jon line, given two or three drift divers who are adrift after their dive boat either missed them or suffered some sort of failure?
* A diver has been adrift in the South Pacific for 52 hours. Given the currents and weather, the diver knows that there is a small group of islands that the diver could conceivably encounter, that the diver could swim towards if the diver only knew which direction to swim. The diver has a compass. What are some things the diver can look for that might yield a clue that an island lies in a certain direction?
All dives are easy, when nothing goes wrong and everything works out precisely the way its supposed to.
The dives that get squirrelly are the ones when things screw up.
Things screw up with appalling frequency, and not only in the South Pacific. In the fall of 2005 a Russian woman diver from New Jersey was doing a drift dive off the coast of Florida when she failed to reappear as expected. Her buddy was picked up, but she vanished. Her gear was later found, but she herself vanished on a dive that wasn't 30 minutes off the coast of Florida. Details of this incident were discussed on this board. Crap happens.
A course doesn't only teach you "BS you already know abouthow to dive".
A well-taught course by an experienced instructor can lead to a more well-informed diver with a much broader perspective on certain types of diving - which leads to increased enjoyment and increased safety.
That's why a drift diving course makes sense, under certain circumstances and taught by an experienced instructor with international experience.
FWIW. YMMV.
Doc
Can you actually name one real life instructor who teaches this syllabus?
The current PADI course IS more like a joke, and less like the "ideal - most educationally fulfilling as possible drift diving course" that you describe.
Doc,
good course description but none of this is in the PADI drift course outline or taught by any PADI instructor I know. Any speciality course is only as good as the instructor, and most good ones will cost a bit of money not $10 more than doing the dives- which is usually the case. So if you could find a course like the one described it would be worth while but the normal drift diver specialty course is not worth it.
good course description but none of this is in the PADI drift course outline or taught by any PADI instructor I know. Any speciality course is only as good as the instructor, and most good ones will cost a bit of money not $10 more than doing the dives- which is usually the case. So if you could find a course like the one described it would be worth while but the normal drift diver specialty course is not worth it.
Gentlemen:String:
I am not discussing the curriculum set forth in the formal description of the PADI drift diving course.
I am responding to this statement, which essentially indicates that drift diving is not difficult and ought not to warrant any special attention.
All of you have (1) acknowledged that an instructor brings their own experience to their courses, and if the instructor is no good then the course won't be either; and (2) that the instructor often presents material not set forth in the formal syllabus. In fact, specialty courses often leave room in the curriculum for the instructor to add other material beyond the basic, precisely because they are "specialty courses".
I am merely arguing that numerous divers have died on drift dives, several of these incidents have been discussed on this board, these divers died because they were uprepared for what happened to them, and - as is always the case - education and information can result in a better-prepared and more informed, safer diver.
Whether the PADI formal syllabus is, as published, adequately complete or not is not the issue. The issue is that in the hands of a competent diving instructor, a course in Drift Diving can be a tool that can result in safer, more enjoyable drift dives.
And thats the point.
lamont
Contributor
Well, I'm signing up for Doc Intrepid's drift diving course, when are you offering it next?
Doc Intrepid:
That sounds to me like a direct response to the OP - saying that "NO - the PADI drift diving course ISN'T worth it" Maybe not those exact words, but that's the message I get from it.
Last time you and I were diving together, we saw a 45' whale next to the boat! So I think diving with you is lucky! I'll take you drift diving in Palau when you teach me your Tech-1 Preparatory class!
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