Very pertinent topic even if we were almost in danger of going off point here and defending our own research methodology etc
. Lots of good points and a good laugh from Stu S (I’m still laughing)
I’d like to see what Cawan or Limeydiver thinks. Because it seems to me that the article was really criticising the dive agencies for letting loose a bunch of roto tillers on an unsuspecting reef. Is it really up to all of us to teach buoyancy control or reef awareness to newer divers? (Commendable though DA Aquamaster may be.) It seems to me that Padi (especially) puts out the massive list of different certifications like it’s a fast food menu. Boat diver specialty? Rescue diver in 2 dives? Would somebody more experienced than I am comment on that?
I found the responses from Neil Fishburne, Padi head of quality management, (embedded in the original post) to be a bit unsatisfying. Hope he’s on this board. The leading certifying agency could do better. But I checked their site; easy to find the list of expelled members. Wouldn’t mind seeing reasons for being expelled. Statistics on complaints vs action taken? Sending “questionnaires to students” is really not good enough. Students are not the right people to be sending this to.
“Padi courses are run by instructors, dive centres and resorts who are independent of Padi” Independent of Padi??? Neil, I think you could have worded this differently. But maybe you don’t take this seriously enough. How about requiring all centers that employ Padi members to conspiciously post some sort of complaint flyers?
“Regarding the “Pay and Dive In” comment, as the market leader in scuba-diving education around the world, we are bound to get this type of comment from competitors”. Neil, I am not your competitor, and I think you should pay attention.
Others have raised the point that divers are just a very small part of the problem compared to dynamite, shark finning, environmental degradation, coral bleaching etc. But still, seeing a fellow diver beating up the reef or molesting fish life is very off putting in itself. I think the article was making the point that if people are not prepared to take care of the reef, they should not have a diving certificate. I think most people, even those who are current offenders, would do better, if pressured. And the teaching agencies and dive masters are in the best position to do this.
For the record, in Belize, Blackbird Caye, the divemasters are very good (after an earlier verbal) about unceremoniously pulling up camera hounds and their wrecking ball consoles (thanks DAA). Plus: good resort, good diving, turtles, eagle rays….
By the way, nice Pogo reference, Peter Guy.
