Posted by Bill Johnson on July 17, 2001 at 11:27:25:
In Reply to: to each his own, dive floats or not posted by CalAbDiver on July 17, 2001 at 10:49:04:
A descent without a line does NOT have to rapid - that is where buoyancy control comes in.
While one could use the anchor line off a boat for descent, it still does not represent real diving. What if there is a surface current and no line has been deployed from the anchor line to the back of the boat. Or what if the intended dive starting spot is right under the back of the boat. The anchor line is useless for descents then. And don't tell me that graduates of cheap abreviated minimal courses can navigate 100% of the time back to the anchor line for ascents.
For beach diving, it is not realistic that the diver descends in 7' of water, then swims out the the dive destination following the slope of the ground. Beach divers commonly surface swim out to the destination and drop down in 30' of water or more.
As far as self interest goes, it was not the intention of my post to gain students nor do I even think that it will result in even one more student for myself. I have all the students I can handle without advertising on this list.
I picked on PADI because they seem to be the leader in certifications and therefore the leader in short, cheap, minimal classes. Don't tell me you don't know what I am talking about. However, shops and instructors from other agencies offer poor couses too. In fact, I know of at least one crappy SSI instructor. What I hoped would be perceived more as my main point was that shops/instructors need to stop teaching short, cheap, minimal classes. Let me make this clear: I do NOT speak for SSI. So ultimately, it is the shop/instructor that makes the difference.
Just like Mike, my original DM came from PADI. I could have been a PADI instructor, but I chose not to...
Your point is well taken though. In the future I will try not to post good things about one agency and bad things about another agency in the same post.
Bill