You hit the nail right on the head.
I just spent two weeks in Kona, and dove with several individuals who were Certified as "Open Water" or "Advanced Open Water" (what ever that means), and really enjoyed being smashed into at depth; having my mask kicked off by a diver who didn't look before dropping down in front of me; and almost getting my face smashed with a manifold by a diver who was not looking up (or at least checking above them) while they were headed to the surface (all on the same dive by the way). It was so bad, I cut the dive short and went back to the boat.
It seems people are being passed with the most rudimentary skill level, and instead of taking the time to learn or gain experience, they immediately assume "I must be OK, as I got this card that reads this".
Now I am no Aquaman, and feel I have a lot to learn. It just seems too many individuals don't feel they need to continually work at improving the skill set they have or need.
Call me old, old fashioned, or just out of it, but I have seen some very scary incidents that made me wonder about it all.
I just spent two weeks in Kona, and dove with several individuals who were Certified as "Open Water" or "Advanced Open Water" (what ever that means), and really enjoyed being smashed into at depth; having my mask kicked off by a diver who didn't look before dropping down in front of me; and almost getting my face smashed with a manifold by a diver who was not looking up (or at least checking above them) while they were headed to the surface (all on the same dive by the way). It was so bad, I cut the dive short and went back to the boat.
It seems people are being passed with the most rudimentary skill level, and instead of taking the time to learn or gain experience, they immediately assume "I must be OK, as I got this card that reads this".
Now I am no Aquaman, and feel I have a lot to learn. It just seems too many individuals don't feel they need to continually work at improving the skill set they have or need.
Call me old, old fashioned, or just out of it, but I have seen some very scary incidents that made me wonder about it all.
