Liset
Hi I’m a Padi Staff Instructor and as you can see from my Padi number (#76959) I’ve been around teaching for awhile.
I’ve worked on Kho Tao staffing IDC’s with a 100% sucess rate and you dosn’t seem to have the full knowlegde of how the Padi system works.
The Padi system and General Standards are an evolving system.
I was involved in a change of the standards for 9 years ago during an IE there Padi accepted the way that a certain exercise was thought locally at Kho Tao as a safer way and more effencient way tog conduct the exercise and the Kho Tao way bevare the new standard at IE’s (Instructor Examination).
So standards are subject to change if they can be improved.
Sincerly
Ewald

Go for it Sandy! I’d love to hear about it if you do!

You should definitely consider it Kristin! I think it would help anyone become a more confident diver. I really enjoyed the drills we did for scenarios I’d never even considered — I’ve never felt more prepared!

The comment of mine you quoted is out of context, in a reply to another reader in the comments section. Again I will repeat that I do not dive alone or out of sight from my dive buddy, though when I am diving with other dive pros and especially other photographers we are often out of arm’s reach from each other, which is exactly why I wanted to take a course on self reliance. There’s nothing to be scandalized by here. And it is really not for you to decide if I was ready for this course — it was up to the extremely qualified and well respected PADI Course Director who taught it.

I actually consulted with a PADI Instructor Trainer to address your concerns over PADI’s teaching methodology. They confirmed that as long as the instructor is not teaching ahead to material that is included in another course’s curriculum, instructors are welcomed to go, as I wrote “above and beyond” the checklist. They are not deviating from the standards. They are following them, and exceeding them.

Finally. I am quite shocked that you consider yourself qualified to wave me off from a career in diving simply because of this blog post (which, frankly, you widely misinterpreted.) Again I feel the dozens of instructors and mentors I have worked with over the past eight years are surely more qualified to judge that than you. Taking this course was a demonstration of my interest in becoming an ever more educated and safety-proficient diver. There’s no thin ice for me to get off. But there is a high horse you might want to consider coming down from.

Admittedly, I’m nowhere near as experienced a diver as Alex, but I have been a diver for 10 years now and while the thought of diving alone TERRIFIES me, there have been times when I have been separated from a group—like during tough swells in Cabo with less than 15 feet of vis where I was caught in a torpedo of fish and wound up surfacing alone because all of the group got split up simply due to environmental circumstances.

On another dive, I ran out of air early, and my buddy and I surfaced together, only the swells were huge, the dive boat was a tiny zodiac and the captain couldn’t see us. It took nearly half an hour for him to find us as we were but two tiny specks in one massive ocean, and it was terrifying.

Those two scenarios themselves are enough to make me want to take this self-relaint course simply to help quench that rising panic I felt in both cases.

It’s interesting how just pointing out what I see, my opinion, and comparing it to what I’ve experienced is interpreted as an attack.

As far as Divemasters in the water by themselves, you write, “we are all pretty independent of each other and every once in a while I look up and I’m like, oh hey there… I’m alone.”

That seems to illustrate diving solo or ending up solo. Looking up to discover the divers you started with are not there means that communication and situational awareness failed. This is only my observation, but you said it yourself! If you could look up and you’re alone, especially if you started with another, this reinforces that you are not ready for a course that allows a diver to dive independent of others.

“I don’t see why that means all instructors should be check-list following robots. Every day, teachers around the world in every industry manage to meet industry standards while adapting material to both their teaching styles and their student’s learning styles.” I am not referring to other industries as I cannot confirm nor deny that their standards are being followed. However, PADI requires the checklist and does not approve of diverging from their teaching methodology. It is very possible for your instructor to find an agency that is inline with your instructor’s way of approaching teaching divers. But to make the decision on his own to deviate from standards is unprofessional. As an emergency room physician, deviating from established standards could get someone killed and in a lawsuit, find me negligent.

All these illustrations are presented to you so you might see that there appears that diving isn’t a career for you, but a place to go for fun. I understand that fun should be a part of diving, but where then is the professional in Divemaster? I’ve had a dozen years of post-graduate studies to be an emergency room physician, so I speak from experience.

Here are some statics from a recent survey that I hope you read over correlate to what I’m saying. In the end, you’ll do what you want, but if you can take any of this as advice, get off the thin ice. Someone is going to get hurt.

Human Factors in Scuba Diving
September 20-21, 2014
Gareth Lock, Ph.D. Candidate
https://www.humanfactors.academy/pages/nts-diving

Online Survey and Results

1,415 surveys started
775 completed

10 weeks data collection period

n=332 (43%) didn’t have an ‘incident’

41% respondents were instructors

20% OC Tech, CCR, or CD/IT

Type of Incident Encountered, n=443

physically OOG on a dive: 6% less than 50 bar (500 psi): 26% (unplanned)

entangled/trapped: 10%

uncontrolled buoyant ascent: 8%

unplanned separation: 23%

hyperoxia: 1%

hypoxia: 1%

hypercapnia: 4%

mild/severe DCS: 8%

major narcosis (N2 or CO2): 6%

major equipment problem: 22% (the use of the equipment properly)

Type of Diving When Incident Occurred

OC Rec: 67%
OC Tech: 19%
CCR: 11%
OC Rec Instruction: 1%
OC Tech Instruction: 1%
CCR Instruction: 1%

The areas with the highest proportions where action had not been take were:

61.1% (n=2,164) who had not practiced dropping weights

28.6% (n=1,012) who had dived without practicing a safety drill

19.4% (n=687) who had continued to dive when below 50 bar (500psi)

17.5% (n=620) who had not had their own equipment serviced in the last 12 months

12.4% (n=437) who had dived beyond their maximum depth

Major Factors #1

complacency: 44%

overconfidence: 39%

error in judgment due to lack of experience: 36%

inexperience in that environment: 35%

poor and/or failure to communicate: 33%

unfamiliar conditions/environment: 28%

haste: 26%

problems involving use of equipment: 24%

poor decision to continue dive: 22%

misplaced motivation (goal orientated diving): 22%

failure to use all resources (not using teamwork): 20%

lack of awareness of buddy leading to unplanned separation: 19%

normalization of deviance / external motivation factors: 19%

Major Factors #2

misjudged gas consumption: 18%

direct contravention of training: 18%

failure of ‘leadership’: 18%

incorrect weighting: 15%

poor buoyancy control (ascent): 13%

Heuristics (problem solving)

“normally OK, no need to check. trust me”: 12%

“looks fine to me”: 9%

“not really important”: 8%

Hey Liset,

Happy to address all your concerns here but I have to admit I’ve read your comment multiple times and I feel a lot of hostility towards either me or this course or both so I’m not sure anything I say will be well received, but I’ll do my best.

Yes, PADI does indeed have this kind of course. You can read more about it on their website! As you pointed out and as I wrote in my post, this is not a technical diving course but a recreational one. However, tech diving places a strong emphasis on self-reliance, which is the focus of this course. My instructor was an extremely experienced and highly trained tech diver who drew this parallel for us many times.

My dive education, from start to finish, has also focused on communication, following limits, and all the other basics you outlined in your comment. I strongly disagree with your assessment that my original certification failed to teach me how to be a safe diver — frankly, it’s kind of a rude assumption to make. I never once in this post referenced “divemasters in the water by themselves.” We were never encouraged to dive completely solo recreationally or to finish dives separately if we became separated from our buddies in this course. Just the opposite, in fact.

I will paste again what I wrote in my post regarding why someone may be interested in a solo diver course: “occasionally, experienced divers may want or need to make a solo dive, or be independent from their buddy underwater. This can be the case for photographers, videographers, rescue divers, or dive professionals who can’t necessarily rely on their students to assist them in an emergency. Don’t worry, you don’t have to ditch your dive crew — the emphasis of the course is on self reliance both without or with a buddy.” As I emphasized over and over again, the focus is self-reliance.

Moving on, I really don’t understand what point you are trying to make about Master Divers. It is a compliment to say they are meeting and exceeding the minimum standards set by PADI for their courses. I’ve been lucky to take several courses (like my Advanced Open Water) with decorated PADI Course Directors, many of whom added extra little lessons or skills or flair to their courses. The standards are there to ensure that each student receives the same minimum base to their education, but that doesn’t means all instructors should be check-list following robots. Every day, teachers around the world in every industry manage to meet industry standards while adapting material to both their teaching styles and their student’s learning styles.

To your final point, I meet enthusiastic divemaster trainers every week who are taking the course for fun, or to further their personal dive education rather than as a career step. Yes, it is a professional training, but it’s also an incredibly good time, an amazing way to meet new people, and a great way to go diving every day and to learn every day. I love being a student! I see nothing crazy about wanting to go to a new island, click in with an awesome new dive school, and do my DMT all over again!

I hope this clears up some of your concerns.

So, when I learned how to dive, I learned about communicating with my buddy, not diving beyond the limits of my certification, how to share air with my buddy, and even do the swimming ascent to the surface exhaling all the way up. I learned that being in the same ocean but not close enough to your buddy to help lend a hand happens a lot too. From what you’ve said, it sounds like your original certification failed to teach you how to be a safe diver if as a Divemaster you, “are all pretty independent of each other and everyone once in a while.”

I never recall seeing Divemasters in the water by themselves, but it would seem like that would go against what you want to teach students. Divemasters and instructors that bend the rules are bad examples and if you work in a place where it is done and you are expected to do it, then that is dangerous — and all for the sake of a job.

As far as using this course as a gateway to technical diving, those guys don’t dive alone. If the Tech guys don’t dive alone, then why should a recreational diver EVER dive alone?

You also mentioned that the dive shop, Master Divers, goes beyond the book. I found out recently that PADI instructors use a checklist and cannot deviate from it, not to mention not let the student progress if they haven’t accomplished the skill they are on. So, if they are going beyond the checklist, they are not following the standards set forth by their agency. Now, I can concede that more training is better, however, if the instructor doesn’t follow the agency standards, even if they are offering more, and there are no consequences of those actions, what is that saying about those instructors?

To clarify, it’s not my intention to point out issues, but your story seems contrary to the way I learned to dive. With that said, I also have to show my instructor “autonomous confidence.” He described this as being able to get separated from the group and having the ability to safely and independently make it to the surface. To avoid panic and if it happens, manage anxiety. He said, “What good is all this training if only for it to go down the toilet by losing sight of your dive buddy?”

I also wonder if people are going to use this course to start dives together and when separated, complete their dives because they have a certification card that tells them they can. Seems to me if you start together, you finish together.

You also said you had fun in your DM course so you want to take it again as a newbie? Why would you pay again for training you already got? Was it lacking in some way? I had fun in some of my classes in medical school, but I would never take them again for fun, including, paying for it a second time. Wouldn’t the prudent course be to take continuing education and build on what you’ve already learned? I don’t know how confident I’d be with a DM that took a professional course twice.

I look forward to your responses.