PADI Beyond Master Scuba Diver

[Efka76]

I just found out that one dive center is offering PADI Beyond Master Scuba Diver program. You can achieve 5 stars according to this program. This is extract from their website:

"As a PADI Master Scuba Diver, you are recognized for having earned all of the core certifications in the PADI curriculum, completed 5 PADI specialty courses and logged 50 dives. Once you have completed the basic Master Scuba Diver rating, you are eligible to earn one of five "Star" ratings.

• Two Star Master Scuba Diver: Complete 10 PADI Specialties with 25 additional open water dives (75 minimum).
• Three Star Master Scuba Diver: Complete 15 PADI Specialties with 25 additional open water dives (100 minimum).
• Four Star Master Scuba Diver: Complete 20 PADI Specialties with 25 additional open water dives (125 minimum).
• Five Star Master Scuba Diver Tech Diver: Complete 20 PADI Specialties, TEC 40, Tec 45 and Tec 50 with 25 additional open water dives (150 minimum)"

I searched official PADI website and did not find any information about this and contacted this dive center to find out whether this is official PADI rating or just simple marketing gimmick They told that "We originally wanted to apply for it to be a distinctive specialty for our store. However, PADI liked the idea enough, they wanted us to test it out as a continuation of their Master Scuba Diver Program"

So, what is your view to this program?

 

[Manatee Diver]

I can barely think if 5 specialties that I would be willing to spend money on, let alone 20.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Must. Not. Respond.

 

[maj2]

Your shop came up with a highly lucrative distinctive specialty.
Has a better ring to it than "card collector" anyway.

 

[Skulmoski]

I am a fan of PADI; is it perfect? No. Are they good at extracting money from divers? Yes. Am I a better diver with PADI training or without it? Better with PADI training and training materials that I review on a regular basis.

I teach at a university so I have some insight into the business of learning. I believe that the more one learns about diving, the better diver one can become. More training and more diving is what PADI advocates. Do I agree with PADI's content 100%? No, but overall, PADI provides a training product that is suitable for most divers, most of the time.

Will I work towards achieving all the stars? Probably not. Do I endorse the program? Yes.

GJS
PADI Divemaster

 

[Esprise Me]

So I don't completely hate PADI's business/teaching model. Their bite-sized courses, glossy training materials, widespread presence around the world, and upbeat, diving-is-for-everyone ethos all seem to be really effective at getting new people into the sport. But I don't really see what these multiple levels of "master" add to their offerings. It's kind of like giving a Ph.D. to someone who took every 100-level undergraduate course the university offered.

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Some of the worst divers I've encountered are Master Scuba Divers. If they don't tell you, you can usually find a patch or a logbook that says so. Not my thing, but if it works for someone else, more power to them.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I am a fan of PADI; is it perfect? No. Are they good at extracting money from divers? Yes. Am I a better diver with PADI training or without it? Better with PADI training and training materials that I review on a regular basis.

I teach at a university so I have some insight into the business of learning. I believe that the more one learns about diving, the better diver one can become. More training and more diving is what PADI advocates. Do I agree with PADI's content 100%? No, but overall, PADI provides a training product that is suitable for most divers, most of the time.

Will I work towards achieving all the stars? Probably not. Do I endorse the program? Yes.

GJS
PADI Divemaster

Just curious, have you ever taken a course like GUE fundies or UTD Essentials? It may reshape the value you see in the past training you've received.

Sure, my PADI training made me better. But just barely. Not enough to justify the price after I learned how a course should be taught when I took fundies.

 

[runsongas]

FFS

well, they are run by a hedge fund right? gotta extract that short term profit as fast as possible. who cares if the company implodes next year?

 

[Angelo Farina]

I teach at a university so I have some insight into the business of learning.

Here I did loose you entirely.
Also I am a professor, at the University of Parma, Italy.
Teaching is not a business, it is a mission!
For me, it is really strange that an academic can endorse so enthusiastically the PADI commitment to hook divers, with the main goal of squeezing money from them.
Do you think that this is also the goal for universities?
Do they exist, since more than 1000 years, for the main purpose of squeezing money from our students?