Griffo
Contributor
Around here the ops are anal about you having the relevant c-card. So the Master Diver card is useful as a single piece of plastic that has all the night/nitrox/deep/wreck/rescue/whatever certs all written in one place.
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So you can teach scuba with only 50 dives and a card? That doesn't even seem right. I may do the nitrox thing because some folks actually want to see a card.
I think you are confusing training (not education) with experience. Diver one hasn't done anything to prove his abilities to you other then demonstrate that he collects c-cards. Dive two is being dismissed summarily on the incorrect assumption that because he eschews the 'PADI way' that he hasn't bothered to master those skills in other ways.
You just painted me as diver two but that's ok. I rarely dive with a 'pro'. Master Sergeants don't need 2nd Lieutenants.
The same as "Master of Science", "Master of Engineering", and just about every other "Master" out there? Practically useless, in the sense that it is not required for any type of job I heard of and rarely is worth the time invested (in terms of financial gains), does not really prove anything, but it does motivate you to study in a focused manner for a period of time. I think it is good to have excuses to push oneself a bit harder, even if this means getting just a silly title...
No, you can not teach SCUBA with 50 dives and a card. The discussion is about the PADI Master Diver Certification which recognizes the fact that you have the following:
PADI Open Water Cert or another agencies equivalent rating
PADI Advanced Open Water Cert or another agencies equivalent rating
PADI Rescue Diver Cert or another agencies equivalent rating
5 PADI Specialties
minimum of 50 logged dives.
here in the Asia Pacific Region, the processing fee has been waived for the last 2.5 years.
Cheers,
Roger
So you can teach scuba with only 50 dives and a card? .
here in the Asia Pacific Region, the processing fee has been waived for the last 2.5 years.
From reading this thread, it seems that PADI Instructors and Dive Masters will respect your perceived abilities if you are in possession of the Master Diver card.
I'll leave it to you to determine what that might be worth.
-Mitch
Not true at all. Diver one has proof that he has done 8 training courses including deep diving, navigation, rescue skills, and logged 50 dives. He has proven his abilities to an instructor.
Its actually a lot beyond AOW. 5 specialty courses, Rescue Diver, and 50 total logged dives. This is more training and experience than 99% of all divers.
The PADI Master Diver cert. provides:
1.) Encouragement (via a goal) to some (not all) to seek more formal training than they might otherwise (e.g.: perhaps Rescue Diver, or a couple of extra specialties.
2.) A single card summarizing a fairly substantial listing of formal training.
3.) A sense of accomplishment and pride for those who value it so.
...I have a dive buddy with 30+ years diving with over 3000 dives and just have a open water card. Cause all he want to do is dive.
...Its actually a lot beyond AOW. 5 specialty courses, Rescue Diver, and 50 total logged dives. This is more training and experience than 99% of all divers.
Sorry, didn't mean to piss on anyone's pancakes.
Sure, but so too is Rescue, so the pragmatic question is that from the perspective of a diver who's shown a Rescue card, just how much more 'proficiency' does a Master card really mean?
Since specializations can vary so widely, we can't be assured of their content, so the answer must be: "Not Much". That's IMO where the popular cynicism comes from where the poster is that the Master is merely a demonstration of a willingness to buy a 'useless' product.
Pathetic gullible fools, seduced by the illusion that a piece of plastic really means something.
I have a few cards, but only carry and show one, a basic scuba diver card from 40 years ago. On that card, my hair is long, dark and curly. In general I like the way I looked in 1972, all things considered. I also am willing to show my nitrox card when I want to.
Some of the dive operators I've known in the Caribbean and Mexico have died or retired, but a few still remember that it was me who taught them a few basics long ago. I didn't give them a card and they don't ask me for one.
People who ask for my certification card are either satisfied with what I show them (it's pretty funny) or I go snorkeling, exploring the forests and fields, looking for artifacts, old foundations, buried or hidden history, maybe learning some local lore, language.
Somehow the agencies never got aroung to issuing cards certifying knowledge of the fascinating places we sometimes visit and not infrequently trash. Maybe because they are collectively as ignorant as Congress.