Padi?

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ARNGUSMCMP

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I have a question.

I've run across a couple posts that were derogitive of PADI. Any particular reason? I'm confused, as all my instructors have been fairly knowledgable, professional, and cool. WHy do some look down on PADI?

Nate
 
Nate,

I'm definitely not the most qualified person to be commenting on this... maybe a Dive Master would be better prepared to give an intelligent answer to your question... but here's my .2 cents anyway.

I was Certified through PADI in 1988, and felt that I had received solid instruction from my instructor. Over the years, I have also noticed the "Derogatory" comments from other divers... and I was always curious as to "Why?"

I began to really take notice of the different curriculums, and have come to the conclusion that the quality of the program depends more to do with the "Dive Master" who is doing the training, than it does the curriculum that is being taught.

I am partial to the PADI Curriculum... only because I was Certified through PADI, and I have received some great information from the people at the PADI Headquarters. And, I'm sure many divers are partial to certain organizations for just as many, and maybe more reasons. BUT!!!... I have yet to hear an intelligent argument as to "Why" one agency is better than another.

Again... it seems to be more of a matter of "Who" is doing the training... not "What" Curriculum they teaching. The program is only as good as the instructor who is providing the training.

Just my .2 cents worth!

Donnie
 
Good reply Donnie.
 
I believe one of the complaints is that their standards have declined over time.
 
ARNGUSMCMP:
I have a question.

I've run across a couple posts that were derogitive of PADI. Any particular reason? I'm confused, as all my instructors have been fairly knowledgable, professional, and cool. WHy do some look down on PADI?
It is the biggest target.

There are more bad divers certified through PADI than any other agency for the same reason that there are more right-handed bad divers than there are left-handed bad divers.

Certainly, there has been some of the "Put Another Dollar In" act going on. That is not unique to PADI and may indeed be more common in other agencies, although the sheer weight of numbers makes anything PADI (or a PADI shop or instructor) does stand out more.
 
Some people boost their egos by knocking down others.

PADI is the biggest certifying agency and is therefore the biggest target.

In some cases, the complaints are about ALL OW certifying agencies --- when asked for an example of who does do it right, those complainers either say "nobody", or name an agency that doesn't certify new divers.
 
From what I've seen one of the reasons why PADI - and other agencies - get flack about standards is about the money.
When people first started to dive way back, when not so much was known about diving, lot's of people did crazy dives by todays standards. In the process things were learnt and people began to realize where the boundaries lay (a process that is still not finished even today). There were many accidents in the early days so when someone taught someone else to dive - they were assuming a heavy responsibility - and generally new divers were often faced with almost SEAL type training regimes - just so instructors felt that new divers had at least a chance of diving - and staying alive.
When some things became clearer - like decompression theory and NDL's - and as the equipment improved - BCD's/better valves/octopuses etc - it became apparant that as long as someone dived within an increasingly recognized set of 'safe' profiles with a buddy - and had a basic understanding of gas compression under pressure - they were fairly safe.
PADI and other agencies set up their basic OW training programs and set out to teach them to as many people as they could. As a result there are now 100's of thousands of certified divers - while 30 years ago there were probably only thousands. Diving is now big business - almost anyone can do their OW at tropical resorts in 3 or 4 days. Unfortunately, while you can learn to strap on a tank and everything you need to dive to 10/15 meters in that time - very few people can learn to dive that fast. The result is poor bouyancy skills, bad weighting, kicking everyone and everything around you etc. The agencies seem to be more concerned about the amount of new divers - rather than the quality - because the more new divers there are - the more they earn. Dive shops/schools are encouraged to turn over as many new customers as they can - within a certain minimum standard - unfortunately for a lot of people that standard isn't very high/high enough. The end result is that it is left to the instructors themselves to determine to what level they instruct, and what they expect from their students. Like you, my instructors have all been very good and conciencious, there are others less so who just want to get it over as fast as possible and move on to the next one.
On the positive side, PADI and the rest have opened up diving to a lot of people - on the negative side, they end up certifying a lot of people who should NOT be underwater.
 
Thanks,

It's wierd, when I was certified I was told PADI was the largest certifying agency, but ever since I moved to the west coast I've ran into shops that seem to specialize more in NAUI and SSI(I think those are the right abbreviations, correct me if I'm wrong).

Glad to see that the fine ladies at the dive shop in GTMO weren't blowin smoke up my butt.

Nate
 
ARNGUSMCMP:
I have a question.

I've run across a couple posts that were derogitive of PADI. Any particular reason? I'm confused, as all my instructors have been fairly knowledgable, professional, and cool. WHy do some look down on PADI?

Nate

Tons of threads on this topic. My feeling - the only thing that matters is instructor and student.

--Matt
 
bubble blower:
I believe one of the complaints is that their standards have declined over time.

Lets clear up THAT generality.

All training agencies standards have delined over time. PADI is but one member of the RSTC, Recreational Scuba Training Council. This is the organization that comes to a concensus as to what the 'minimum' trainig standards should be.

If you're going to slam PADI, be fair and slam all the others that contribute to the problem also. Here's the list, straight from RSTC's website, so you don't miss anyone:

"Members affiliated with RSTC Europe, include ACUC, BARAKUDA, NASDS, PSS, SNSI, FIAS, IDEA Europe, IDD, PADI and SSI, as well as DAN as an associate member in the position of "consultant"."

In the U.S. - IDEA, PADI, PDIC, SSI, YMCA

In Canada - ACUC, PADI, SSI

In Japan - NASDS, NAUI, PADI, SSI

Since it appears to be a consortium of agencies that get together and agree on what the minimum standards should be, is it fair to put all the blame on PADI if we're not happy with the trend?
 

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