Posted by tleemay on March 28, 2005 at 18:54:35:
In Reply to: Re: Socal beach diving on Saturday posted by rational unified process on March 28, 2005 at 14:04:32:
Yes, but not for the reason you might expect.
I think that an advanced certification should mean
just that. The diver has proven ability in
variety of different conditions - in a variety of
different scenarios. I am a strong believer that
agencies only created such certifications to keep
a student on the dollar hook longer than necessary.
I believe an Advanced Diver certification should
only come after many months of active diving,
followed by another 30 to 50 dives, topped off with another 2-3 dozen more in as many different
conditions and scenarios as possible for the
region where the diver lives. Hard to do with
today's agencies since they strive to meet the LCD
of their typical student's abilities.
I also believe that Rescue Diver should come before any Advanced Diver certification. Self
rescue and buddy rescue should be paramount in
dive skills before photo, naturalist, hunter,
boat, beach, drift, EANx, etc specialties.
Not that today's agencies are going to change
their views or anything, it's worked a great
market for them so far, I just wish it wasn't so
dollar driven.
It's beliefs like this that have kept me from
becoming an instructor all these years even after
being asked to do so at the request of more than one certification agency professional.