PADI master scuba diver rating

[drrich2]

Simon:

I think some here don't like the way PADI does it now, and use the forum as a 'town hall' to discourage potential applicants from getting it, and raise public ill will against it hoping it will somehow change, and either be renamed (not going to happen I'm thinking, for marketing reasons) or made into a course of its own (like NAUI's).

Which would be a step back from PADI's very modular approach and I think is also not going to happen.

Richard.

P.S.: I'd get it if I met all the qualifications.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I am slowly working on master diver rating at the PADI shop I deal with. Their policy is that if I do all the courses for master diver with them they will pay for my card and give me $150 store credit. I would take the courses anyway but it is nice to get something back.

How much are your paying for each specialty? It's nice they are doing that for you but it just makes me wonder how much you are paying. Most dive shops don't make a lot of money so for them to just give away $200 dollars makes me wonder. I just finished up my five specialties and am doing the application today as a matter of fact. My buddy only charges $125 a course with card included. I've checked with other shops for specialties that my buddy couldn't do and their courses were as high as $400 each. What kinda irks me is that PADI Asia is doing the card free through Dec 31st. I don't see why PADI couldn't do that for everyone.

I did the MSD just as a goal. I want to go on to dive master and I had to get dives. I took Enriched Air, Wreck, Nav, Search and Recovery, and Deep which I think will help me be a better dive master. And to my understanding...if I go the instructor route these automatically cross over and you become an MSDT. I really enjoyed my course and I have to admit I learned a lot...not so much from the manuals but more from trying to apply everything and the one on one critiques and the thousands of questions I asked my instructor and the other DMs. Mine was more like an internship because I paid for all my courses at once and I dove all summer long and was kinda grouped in with the DM candidates. I got to help with students...not instructing but as a rescue diver in the background in case one panicked and bolted for the surface, did two mapping projects with the DM cands, led quite a few dives doing the navigation, helped set up a nav course...got around 20 deep dives in plus a lot of lift bag work and a ton of navigation and got instabuddied several times and also go in 5 night dives. In total I got around 40 dives and I honestly believe that my instructor went above and beyond to make sure I was a squared away diver. I don't consider myself a "Master" by any means. What I really got out of it was it made me more self aware and showed me what more I needed to learn and what I needed to improve on. I would recommend MY course for anyone.

 

[spc751]

That's the only PADI MSD I've ever heard of with actual value.

The card itself may not have value but the training required to complete the five courses plus rescue have value if you pick the right courses and instructor.

I did Drysuit first followed by PPB. The dives in both courses also ended in practicing frog kick, helicopter turn and reverse kick. I was amazed at how much my diving improved by the end of these two courses. My last two courses were deep and Nitrox taught by a RecTec instructor. He included more advanced information that he felt was useful. The dives also ended practicing frog kick, helicopter turn and reverse kick as well as deploying a SMB and air sharing.

The PADI Deep course was more expensive than getting a SSI Deep card. My SSI shop charges $100,plus $40 for the card plus the cost of the book. All the student needs to do is provide proof of two dives deeper than 100 feet (log book and computer), write the exam and poof they are a deep diver.

My PADI class consisted of several hours of classroom and four dives. The price was around $200, I think, including the card. To me SSI Deep diver is all about the card and PADI Deep diver was about the training. The PADI course was more expensive but it had VALUE.

People collect different things. Some people collect stamps, some cars, and some collect ex-wives. I am not going to put down someone who collects course cards but I do agree that they should have the skill to go with the card.

 

[TMHeimer]

Simon:

I think some here don't like the way PADI does it now, and use the forum as a 'town hall' to discourage potential applicants from getting it, and raise public ill will against it hoping it will somehow change, and either be renamed (not going to happen I'm thinking, for marketing reasons) or made into a course of its own (like NAUI's).

Which would be a step back from PADI's very modular approach and I think is also not going to happen.

Richard.

P.S.: I'd get it if I met all the qualifications.

Yes. Every time MSD pops up the thread seems to go on & on (guilty as charged). Seems to be a lot of concern over something quite minor. I agree with Jeff in that the card should be free. I think it costs about $50 now. I wonder how much making one of those cards cost-- If you pay $250 for an OW course does $50 go toward making the card? What about a $90 EFR course?

 

[Simon-]

Cost is a moot subject. How much do you think any organisation actually makes from any individual certification/issue of a card? Very little.

To complete a cert from a course, the instructor submits a PIC, this is where, in this example, PADI get the money from the course. UK price is around £20 for a PIC. Hardly a cash cow for them.

Granted they make money from training materials, but when compared to other organisations, PADI do actually produce some decent material.

 

[Max Speed]

My wife successfully pretends that my Master Diver Card makes me a real hard guy.

My cave instructor failed to buy into that...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I have the divers plate on the front of my van and the sticker on the back as well as a sticker on the back of my motorcycle helmet. I waited 48 years to earn the right to honestly display them.

Vehicles with dive stickers on them tend to get broken into a lot, especially near dive sites.

 

[dytis-sm]

The topic of PADI Master Scuba seems to draw as much debate as Solo Diving... Personally (and I do have one) I feel the MSD card represents an accomplishment. Does it make a statement about one's abilities? Maybe not but it does require a minimum of 50 dives which means that the diver has made quite a few dives past being certified to Rescue. I say that because I have met divers certified to Rescue from OW over a period of a few weeks with 30 some dives all during training. I believe we all agree that diving experience with an instructor is a lot different than diving experience with random buddies and conditions. Having a MSD card confirms at least that you have dived a little beyond training...

 

[Curtis Dawson]

It will interesting to see when PADI Tech offers a saturation diver certification.

 

[TMHeimer]

Vehicles with dive stickers on them tend to get broken into a lot, especially near dive sites.

Depends on where you live & dive.