Which is better, Aquanauts or Mermaids?

[Griffo]

Particularly if you do not intend to go professional, why spend a significant sum of money to then have a large portion of your time commited to one shop, 'working' for them and visiting the same bunch of dive sites day after day. If you do not want to become a dive pro, and you do want to do some courses, look at technical training, at the end you will have a qualification that will be of use to you, as it can greatly increase the scope of diving that you can do, rather than one which you will never need or use.

I do totally understand where you are coming from, and appreciate the advice.

I do however subscribe to the theory that teaching is the best way to learn. Having to have all the answers for a large number of different students, and having to answer questions around the theory posed by someone else with a different angle, often means that you yourself get a better understanding that you originally had.

I also believe that, consciously or unconsciously, people instructing future teachers, hold them to a higher standard than they do for most students. It's that higher level of capability that i'm looking for. I don't want to be taught advanced bouyancy just well enough to pass the course for example, i want to become the bouyancy master myself.

And doing this while diving for a couple of months in Thailand seems like a good way to do it. I'd always then spend anouther couple of months exploring other areas.

 

[Quero]

This thread reminds me a LOT of the "good ol' days" of bashing...

I guess it just demonstrates why the Thailand sub-forum (and only the Thailand sub-forum) has a pinned thread that starts out:

I'm not sure why, but every Thailand-related discussion group I've ever participated in (aside from the heavily moderated ones like Teak Door) has, at times, descended into incredibly nasty bickering. This goes all the way back to the pre-forum days of Usenet newsgroups like soc.culture.thai and rec.travel.asia.

But surely you must agree it is a lot more polite now.

Yes, well, there's less of and :chairfight: and also not much of but it still looks to me like a

LOL. And here I thought it was because there's a lady in the room!
I have been considering unsticking that top message in the Thailand forum since things have indeed become much more polite, even if there is still the occasional . (If things go back to and :chairfight: and just hit the report button and we'll get out the wet noodle and apply some lashes.)

 

[lord khram]

I do totally understand where you are coming from, and appreciate the advice.

I do however subscribe to the theory that teaching is the best way to learn. Having to have all the answers for a large number of different students, and having to answer questions around the theory posed by someone else with a different angle, often means that you yourself get a better understanding that you originally had.

I also believe that, consciously or unconsciously, people instructing future teachers, hold them to a higher standard than they do for most students. It's that higher level of capability that i'm looking for. I don't want to be taught advanced bouyancy just well enough to pass the course for example, i want to become the bouyancy master myself.

And doing this while diving for a couple of months in Thailand seems like a good way to do it. I'd always then spend anouther couple of months exploring other areas.

Yes and indeed all of us have our own requirements and opinions on things. I really hope you achieve what you are looking for, just dont rush in, select your location and shop with care. And despite what you are told there is absolutely no need to commit yourself to any thing prior to ariving in Thailand, get here and have a good look around at your own pace.
So many I have met have regrets for varying reasons about dive internships, take your time and hopefully you will not be another one.

 

[watboy]

I do totally understand where you are coming from, and appreciate the advice.

I do however subscribe to the theory that teaching is the best way to learn. Having to have all the answers for a large number of different students, and having to answer questions around the theory posed by someone else with a different angle, often means that you yourself get a better understanding that you originally had.

I also believe that, consciously or unconsciously, people instructing future teachers, hold them to a higher standard than they do for most students. It's that higher level of capability that i'm looking for. I don't want to be taught advanced bouyancy just well enough to pass the course for example, i want to become the bouyancy master myself.

And doing this while diving for a couple of months in Thailand seems like a good way to do it. I'd always then spend anouther couple of months exploring other areas.

I think there's a couple of flaws with this line of thinking for diving. The PADI dive master course, doesn't actually teach you anything specific to make you a better diver. The physics theory module is high school physics level. The decompression theory module is a general overview of decompression, but not in-depth enough to provide useful knowledge for an actual deco dive. The equipment module is also quite generic. You can easily learn the academic portion through the dive encyclopedia. And to your point that teaching is the best way to learn, little of the the items in the theory are included in basic OW courses. You won't be teaching students bouyancy calculations or compartment half times. The teaching item that is stressed in a DM course is being able to demonstrate the 20 PADI skills. You won't learn how to clear a mask any better, only how to do it in a demonstration quality, accentuating the key steps. You shouldn't take that long to master showing how to assemble a kit either. I learned more about diving in my rescue and my tec course where real dive skills are taught than my DM internship.

I could be wrong on the above, and the DM course and internship is the best way for you to learn... but there's still no reason to do it all in Pattaya... or any of it in Pattaya. North/south andaman and Koh tao offer quality instruction and DM internships and much better diving. Pattaya is not some sort of gladiator testing grounds, providing you the best training and southern thailand is not some sort of lollipop park with fluffy bunnies holding your hand. Bad diving does not mean superior training. For example, Hin Daeng and Muang are challenging open ocean pinnacles that will test your skills... and also give you a spectacular view of soft corals and a chance to see whale sharks and mantas.

 

[lord khram]

I also believe that, consciously or unconsciously, people instructing future teachers, hold them to a higher standard than they do for most students. It's that higher level of capability that i'm looking for. I don't want to be taught advanced bouyancy just well enough to pass the course for example, i want to become the bouyancy master myself.

I agree entirely with the last post by Watboy. Courses alone will not give you perfect buoyancy skills, yes of course you need to be taught the basics by an instructor, but the only way you will become a 'buoyancy master' is to follow the following steps.

1) Get your weighting correct.
2) Configure your equipment properly to suit yourself.
3) Become more comfortable and relaxed in the water by doing lots of diving.

This aplies to most diving skills in my mind, regardless of the level of course you are taking an instructor can only teach you the theory and basics, and ensure you are safe in the water before signing you off. After that it is down to the individual to dive and practice skills themselves to improve their diving. Courses alone are no substitute for experience. You can still learn, even whilst enjoying your diving at a variety of locations by observing and talking to other divers, the more divers you meet the bigger the pool of knowledge is that you can draw from.