PADI necessary hidden skills

[Sbiriguda]

Thanks for all the interesting replies
PADI has an approach that personally I like. Easy and intentionally simplified. This is both for commercial reasons, because simple courses with relatively short pool training are easier to sell as a product, but also because PADI approach is meant not to confuse the students with too many notions they might forget. The result in my opinion is an intelligent approach to recreational SCUBA based on the real needs of most of the people who dive nowadays. On the other hand, sometimes in PADI there is a multiplication of courses and specialties that seems to be more meant to generate cash than based on real necessities. And probably the old fashioned approach of agencies created by people with a background in the navy or in professional swimming and freediving sports like FIPSAS / CMAS and I guess also the British BSAC was more complete and required more pool training. Which is not a bad thing for those who are really committed to SCUBA diving and do not only consider it a passtime for some exceptional occasions

 

[Storker]

In PADI nobody officially taught me how to start a shore dive.

When I did my OWD, the dives were from the shore. Sure, no-one "officially" taught me how to start a shore dive (as in, it probably wasn't laid out explicitly in the curriculum), but we sure were mentored on how to do it. How official do you need every single item in the learning experience to be before you think that it has been taught?

 

[ontdiver]

Anyone who has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to do river, quarry, ocean, LOB, boat and shore-based diving; in warm and cold water; in dry and neoprene suits will realize that diving is a lifelong learning experience in which you must adapt your skills to your environment.

 

[KenGordon]

Perhaps it is better to break up the course into modules/milestones with proof of completion and competency for each module (c-cards). This is what the specialty program is all about.

The first level BSAC course, Ocean Diver, is split in half like this.

All of the supposedly BSAC dive center I have contacted in the past "say" that they offer BSAC training in their advertising but when you contact them or show up at their facility to discuss training they will steer you to PADI or other agency's program. BSAC program is disappearing from the scene gradually and it is almost non-existent at the international scene.

if I ask a school which can teach both why they prefer to sell PADI they say because of the online learning which means they don’t have to spend a long time teaching theory. They don’t say because they want to upsell Nitrox, drysuit or whatever.

BSAC have recently introduced DIY online theory that the students can do alone. It remains to be seen how it goes.

Mostly it is particular geographies, such as Malta, where there are lots of U.K. divers and clubs trips that support teaching BSAC courses.

The limiting factor in teaching BSAC courses in a club is not the obvious thing about volunteers, it is availability of the students. If a couple of students want to get done in minimum time they can, all it takes is actually turning up EVERY time they are asked. Unfortunately that almost never happens.

 

[Storker]

One of the very disadvantages of the BSAC system is that it is difficult to get a real schedule for the course(s) to be completed in a reasonable time. Their courses go on and on and on and may take a year to complete. It is a volunteer system and hence the instructors don't have a motivation to stick to a schedule.

That sounds quite different from my impression of local CMAS classes. Yes, the instructors are volunteers and "work" for the benefit of their club. But they do give and keep to a very reasonable schedule.

 

[Storker]

PADI has an approach that personally I like

I'm in - at least - two minds about PADI's approach. On the one hand, they have very good learning material, and the practice of breaking down the curriculum into bite-sized pieces is a pedagogically sound practice. On the other hand, I personally thoroughly resent being treated as a moron. Which I often get the impression of when I follow PADI classes. Gripping hand, they ARE the major certifying agency in the world. I don't think that's coincidental.

 

[Esprise Me]

I think a lot of the skills covered in PADI specialty courses can be learned with a more experienced buddy, some online reading, a good briefing from the dive guide that day, and/or trial and error. So there's a clear benefit to breaking those things out, so people can learn the relevant skills at their own pace after they've secured their OW card. It also allows some flexibility to account for the fact that not everyone learns at the same pace. Peak Performance Buoyancy is one of the much-maligned PADI specialties; of course buoyancy is something you should learn as part of your OW course. But not everyone is going to get the hang of it in only a few hours of pool work and four short OW dives. Tacking on some additional course time with an instructor can allow those folks to meet the basic skill threshold, while setting the fast learners free to go have fun, and fairly compensating the instructors for the extra work.

It was interesting to read the list of BSAC skills. I think of myself as a pretty well-rounded diver (and my home, SoCal, as a place that produces generally well-rounded divers). But there are a few things on that list I haven't experienced, or have only experienced while traveling or doing specific task-oriented dives that aren't common. I've never been in "cold" (below 10 C) water, even though all my local diving is in either a 7mm with hood and gloves or a drysuit. I think the coldest bottom temp I've encountered so far is 53F/11C. I have encountered visibility less than 4m, but only on a harbor cleanup dive, never at a regular dive site. I've only done a backroll off a small boat in Mexico; all the boats around here are bigger. I only just learned about lifts in a discussion on this board. My only drift dives were also in Mexico. I don't doubt that I could learn some things diving in the UK. But I've been at this for over 2 years and 200 dives; I'd be a little annoyed if I still hadn't gotten my basic qualification.

 

[tursiops]

sometimes in PADI there is a multiplication of courses and specialties that seems to be more meant to generate cash than based on real necessities

What are examples of this?

 

[David Novo]

What are examples of this?

Here we go again

 

[tursiops]

Here we go again

Yup, calling out the people who just say things they can't back up. Almost always, people are denigrating courses that they themselves are not interested in (or think they already know-it-all), or Distinctive Specialties that are taught by only one or a few people.