What region produces the most skilled divers?

[TCDiver1]

I'd guess the diver used to the added weight, reduced mobility, and general hassle will find the blue water dives much easier than what they're accustomed to (even if there is a lot of chop and current, which can happen almost anywhere), while the tropical diver would feel claustrophobic, task loaded, and out of their element if faced with managing all that extra gear, exaggerated bouyancy changes at depth, 10-15 foot visibility, cold water, etc.

I agree with this. All other things remaining equal, cold, low vis water inherently task loads most divers more from my experience.

If your experienced in cold, low vis conditions, its an easier transition to dive in warm, good vis waters than the other way around IMO.

 

[Diver0001]

I believe the CMAS standards used in Europe are also very good!

You'd be surprised. I've seen a lot of CMAS trained divers and most of them don't look any different than any other agency's divers with similar experience levels. Before I met and dove with BSAC divers I would have full-heartedly agreed with Sting. However, I was surprised at what I saw. It's just not the world of difference that it looks like on paper.... Also, CMAS, like PADI, has a quality problem. In Belgium, the Nelos (CMAS affiliate) has a horrendous track record for safety where as the Dutch NOB has an excellent track record..... Local customs/culture can have a big influence on how CMAS clubs perform. Even within the BSAC I'm sure that some clubs consistently have more incidents than others......

Where I do agree with Sting is that the conditions in Northern Europe are challenging. I've dived all over the place and the conditions here really do require you (for example) to maintain good buddy contact. Many of the CMAS divers here use a buddy line for that but other agency's divers' don't and you find that these divers in particular have good navigation skills and maintain good buddy contact on the whole.

If that makes them the "best" divers.....I doubt that any region can make that claim. I think you learn what you need to learn for local conditions. The only generalization I would dare to make is that divers trained very quickly and with a lot of short cuts (something common in resort locations) are probably much worse than the average.

R..

 

[mstudley]

New England....